U-Licious Smokehouse and Grill

U-Licious Smokehouse and Grill has a problem. Many tiny problems, in fact: flies. A sunny December afternoon found this barbecue trailer's dingy dining room hosting a small orgy of the pests; by week's end, two dead flies locked in a copulatory arrangement decorated the cash register. A bit gross, granted, but what you came here for—piles of meat cooked within spitting distance of heavy traffic and served in Styrofoam containers—would seem somehow alien in an environment burnished of such rib-shack blemishes. Once you try owner-chef James Harris' barbecue sauce, a vinegar-heavy concoction that flirts with sweetness without becoming too cloying, you'd happily brave another swarm to have it again. The sauce's tastiest carrier is the pulled-pork sandwich ($5), a slop of smoky meat on a gloriously cheap bun that exists only to keep your hands relatively clean, which is all one should ask of barbecue bread. Hot links ($2) are rubbery and unremarkable, and the greens ($1.50) are mushy non-entities, so I advise sticking to the sandwich side of the menu, where you will also find perfectly charred ribs ($6) swimming in more of that sauce (and paired with more wraithlike bread), and a beef brisket sandwich ($5) that is a bit on the dry side until the meat soaks up enough of that which makes U-Licious so great.

1. Best bite: Pulled pork.
2. I’ll pass: The mess of greens.

WWeek 2015