A diner from Williamsport, PA
May 22, 2010
This ain't BBQ. Don't know who wrote previous reviews, probably Henry's family, but I know BBQ, and this ain't it. I spent over 38 years in Missouri, and St. Louis and Kansas City are BBQ Headquarters USA. Bar-B-Que is supposed to be smoked, long and slow, with thick, rich, sweet and/or spicy tomato-based sauce with a generous helping of molasses mixed in. And that's where you START with good BBQ.
Henry's resembles NOTHING about good BBQ. I tried the "pork" sandwich and my wife had the "BBQ beef". It was a total joke. It may have been pork or beef, but it was greasy, with ZERO traditional BBQ sauce on it... Instead there was some runny, vinegar-like "au jus" substance lathered on it, dripping off the sandwich.
I was so convinced they made a mistake, I took our plates back up to the counter and said, "Uh, did you forget something?" The man behind the counter said, "Like what?" I said, "Like, the BBQ sauce!" He started getting agitated with me, and said, " There IS BBQ sauce on it!" We conrtinued arguing back and forth for a minute. Since I didn't feel like giving him a seminar on the finer points of REAL Bar-B-Que, I finally gave up, took our plates back to the table, tossed them on the tabletop, got our things and left. We've never been back, needless to say.
I'd like to add that our sides of potato salad and fries were also poorly-prepared and unappetizing, but we only had a bite or two of each. The decor was dingy (with sticky, unsanitary tabletops, like they hadn't been cleaned lately), and of course, the service was less than stellar.
There is absolutely nothing I can recommend about this restaurant, except that they visit some BBQ competitions in the Midwest or Deep South and take some notes. Either that, or close the doors, because they are embarrassing themselves. Speaking of competitions, what legitimate awards did this culinary crap ever receive? Best Bar-B-Que Served To People Without Taste Buds?
The good people of Pennsylvania deserve better. The only reason Henry's is still open is because their customers are ignorant about what real BBQ is all about. Period.
Henry's resembles NOTHING about good BBQ. I tried the "pork" sandwich and my wife had the "BBQ beef". It was a total joke. It may have been pork or beef, but it was greasy, with ZERO traditional BBQ sauce on it... Instead there was some runny, vinegar-like "au jus" substance lathered on it, dripping off the sandwich.
I was so convinced they made a mistake, I took our plates back up to the counter and said, "Uh, did you forget something?" The man behind the counter said, "Like what?" I said, "Like, the BBQ sauce!" He started getting agitated with me, and said, " There IS BBQ sauce on it!" We conrtinued arguing back and forth for a minute. Since I didn't feel like giving him a seminar on the finer points of REAL Bar-B-Que, I finally gave up, took our plates back to the table, tossed them on the tabletop, got our things and left. We've never been back, needless to say.
I'd like to add that our sides of potato salad and fries were also poorly-prepared and unappetizing, but we only had a bite or two of each. The decor was dingy (with sticky, unsanitary tabletops, like they hadn't been cleaned lately), and of course, the service was less than stellar.
There is absolutely nothing I can recommend about this restaurant, except that they visit some BBQ competitions in the Midwest or Deep South and take some notes. Either that, or close the doors, because they are embarrassing themselves. Speaking of competitions, what legitimate awards did this culinary crap ever receive? Best Bar-B-Que Served To People Without Taste Buds?
The good people of Pennsylvania deserve better. The only reason Henry's is still open is because their customers are ignorant about what real BBQ is all about. Period.
