In early May, Heritage BBQ & To-Go was spawned out of the Heritage Tavern catering division in Fitchburg. Now you can order for a group or on the individual level.
Note that the only dine-in option is in the outdoor tent, which was set up in mid-July. You order and pay at the “counter” (a table at the front), and your food will be brought to your table. All tables are far more than six feet apart.
The BBQ items are sold by the half and full pound. You also can get most of them together in the BBQ Family Meal ($70) that serves about 4-5 and comes with corn bread, coleslaw, cookies and brownies. This big dish took more than 40 min. to be served at our table.
- Parts of the brisket and pulled pork were tender and delicious, others were very dry and required a lot of BBQ sauce to get through. Also, both the brisket and pulled pork needed to be shredded more, as the big, stringy pieces were hard to cut with the plastic silverware.
- The smoky flavor was more prevalent in the brisket, which also had more seasoning than the pulled pork.
- The artisan sausage had a good snap. It was not as spiced as I thought it would be, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.
- The pork ribs were meaty and tender, but not fall-of-the bone kind. They had a strong smoky flavor.
- The baked beans were incredibly dense and a tad salty from all the big chunks of meat in it.
- As an FYI, the BBQ sauce is super smoky and not that sweet.
After some of the items being dry, I thought the smoked half chicken ($18) would be, too. Instead, it was just the opposite, fortunately. The char on the seasoned skin was quite good.
For an appetizer, I tried the bulgogi beef skewer and shrimp lettuce wraps ($14). The beef had lots of spices and was quite tasty. The shrimp was fairly bland, but it didn’t matter since the awesome and spicy kimchi and gochujang BBQ sauce created the flavor profile.
Among the sandwiches, the Heritage BBQ Burger ($13) did not meet expectations. The peppercorn dry rubbed-burger was really thick but dry because it was cooked to well done. Despite all the toppings–Hooks sharp cheddar, haystack onion rings, pickles and apple cider mayonnaise–the burger was simply okay.
Meanwhile, the crispy chicken sandwich ($13) fared better. The fried chicken was moist inside, with a nice crispiness outside. I would have liked a little more chili aioli in the sandwich.
Heritage BBQ & To-Go is open for dinner (carryout and outdoor dining) Wednesday-Sunday.
