IN THE KITCHEN The Riverside Barbecue Company in Nashua has a righteous heritage for a BBQ joint. It is descended from the Sausage King, a hot dog cart that once worked the streets of New Hampshire’s Gate City before settling down in a waterfront storefront.
A year or so ago, owner and pitmaster Dave Manganello expanded the restaurant to take over the tattoo parlor next door, adding seats and a horseshoe bar with full beverage service. He also expanded the menu to include southern style selections to create a menu he calls “south by northeast.’’
THE LOCALE It’s nothing fancy, wooden cutouts of cattle and other livestock on the wall but with a nice view of Main Street.
ON THE MENU The menu is pretty much what you would expect at a barbecue house, with a few flavorful twists.
In the appetizer department, we were particularly impressed with the catfish bites, available in two sizes. We chose the smaller order ($10), a half dozen slices of perfectly fried fish topped with spices and bread crumbs, then gently fried with a kickin’ Cajun aioli for dipping.
The BBQ wings ($9 for three) are smoked for three hours, then fried crispy. Yummers.
But the absolute surprise hit of the day was the jumbo pretzel ($6) served with a creamy cheese dipping sauce. So here’s the thing. So many menus feature “jumbo’’ items and they’re big, even pretty big. But this pretzel was the size of a medium pizza. “Big’’ doesn’t always necessarily mean good. But in this case it was one of the best hot pretzels we’ve ever had and we’ve been to Bavaria on more than one occasion. We would go out with a group of friends for beers and one of these babies any day of the week.
But back to the barbecue.
A quarter rack of ribs, ($12), three good-sized ribs seasoned with a dry rub and smoked for three hours, just fell off the bone and were enhanced with the selection of the house-made sauces: Riverside Original, Disco Inferno, 7 Deadly Sins, Sweet Carolina, Dixie Peach, and one of our very favorites, Colonel Mustard, all of which are set up at each table.
We enjoyed the ribs with sides of macaroni and cheese and a brick of terrific corn bread.
We also chowed down on a half order of the barbecued smoked chicken ($10), half a dry rubbed bird smoked for six hours and served with a choice of one side.
In this case we had the Texas corn, which was worth the trip to Riverside itself: golden, roasted kernels with red pepper and glorious spices.
We also tried the sliced brisket meat platter ($13) with two sides – collard greens and BBQ baked beans – both very good. The meat was well spiced and had great flavor, but we prefer a softer, more pull-apart texture.
Finally, our brisket chili ($5) was nicely spicy with substantial chunks of beef and melted cheese. Very hearty.
When we return to Riverside, we intend to try their cow-cow-pig-pig sandwich ($14) made with sliced brisket, burnt ends, pulled pork, crispy bacon, cheddar and American cheese, and cole slaw stacked on three pieces of Texas toast, and the smoked sausage sandwich ($11) with grilled peppers and onions.
Riverside Barbecue Company, 55 Main Street, Nashua. 603-204-5110, www.riversidebarbeque.com.
Tom Long can be reached at tomflong918@gmail.com.
