By Holly Bedard
Staff Writer

I had been in the mood for a good pulled pork sandwich, so a few co-workers and I headed over to the Down ‘n Dirty Bar-B-Q one afternoon for lunch. I had been there years before, but heard it was taken over by a couple of young chefs, and wanted to check it out.

From the minute you step through the door, you are greeted with the overwhelming aroma of delicious hickory-smoked meats. You give your order at the front counter. Two of us got a pulled pork sandwich ($5.95) and an order of fresh, hand-cut fries ($2.75). Our other co-worker ordered the BBQ Chicken ‘N Dirty Rice Plate ($10.95), which is chunks of chicken on a heap of their specialty rice, served with cole slaw and corn bread.

The menu also has many other barbecue choices, including Down ‘N Dirty’s own smoked sausage, ribs and sliced beef brisket, among others. They also offer a fried catfish plate ($11.50), a Key West BBQ shrimp plate ($10.50-$11.50) and Cuban black beans and rice ($6.95).

There is a small dining area, so we grabbed a table while we waited for our food to arrive. Each table had the obligatory roll of paper towels, which is always nice. There were also three bottles of sauce: hot, mild and sweet. Our mouths were watering.

The sandwiches were piled high with delicious pulled pork. We couldn’t decide which sauce to try, so we had a little of each. The hot had a bit of a kick, but was tasty without going over the top. The mild added a nice flavorful taste to the meat, while the sweet added a new flavor. I liked them all and used a bit of all three throughout. The meat was perfectly cooked and felt like it just melted in your mouth.

The fries were another thing to cheer about. I love those hand-cut fries that still have the skins on. Our fries were too hot to eat when they arrived at the table. Fries that fresh are hard to come by these days.

Our dining companion thought the chicken was moist and flavorful. She also liked the tasty dirty rice, which had tiny bits of spicy meat, peppers and onions in the mix.

I finished everything on my plate, right down to the last fry. I think we all did. With food this tasty, you don’t want to let any go. I was pretty full, or else I would have tried one of the Down ‘N Dirty’s desserts, namely the pecan-topped sweet potato pie ($2.75). Not into pie? (What are you, crazy?) They also offer devil’s food cake ($2.25) and chocolate chip cookies ($1.75 apiece).

These new owners may be young, but they know what they are doing. This is one place to be sure not to miss.

The Down ‘n Dirty Bar-B-Q, 168 Amory St., Manchester, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 624-2224 or visit www.downdirtybbq.com.

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