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Restaurant Ratings

The ratings are based mostly on the degree to which the food excites us, and a little on environment, service, and other considerations. I rate restaurants relative to all other restaurants in the New Orleans area. Here's what the stars mean to me:

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Among the best locally.

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Excellent and ambitious.

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Worth crossing town for.

starstar
Recommended.

*
Acceptable.

No star
Unacceptable.

Cost Ratings
Each dollar sign indicates a ten-dollar range, including a normal meal for the restaurant (dinner, if they serve other meals), not including drinks, or tips. So, for example. . .

1$--$5-15
2$--$15-25
3$--$25-35

. . . and so on, with no upper limit. While this scheme may suggest mathematical precision, know that perception of price varies from diner to diner as much as the star ratings do. So consider this an estimate.

All reviews are based entirely on meals I have personally taken at the restaurant and paid for from my own pocket. I don't take free review meals, nor am I reimbursed by anybody for my restaurant expenditures.

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The Joint

Barbecue.
Bywater/Downtown: 801 Poland Ave.. 504-949-3232 . Map.
Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Very Casual.
MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
As New Orleans continues to discover what real barbecue is about, we've managed to hold onto a few really good purveyors. The Joint, despite its abbreviated menu and minimal surroundings--is one of the city's best. This is barbecue for people who know that a bite should leave crunchy black shreds stuck in your teeth, and that the meat shouldn't stay on the plate when you pick up a rib.

WHY IT'S GOOD
Barbecue is all about slow cooking, smoke, and a great dry rub. All of that conspires to leave an exciting bark on the outside and intense flavor in the inside. They are very aggressive in this matter, and that's what this barbecue lover is looking for.

BACKSTORY
Pete and Jenny Breen, after deciding the the Bywater District was among the most culturally promising parts of town, opened the Joint in 2004. It had already established a reputation for goodness by the time Katrina hit, and when it reopened afterwards was one of those places whose return was much rejoiced in.

DINING ROOM
Nobody goes to a barbecue joint for creature comforts, but even with that in mind the premises come across as--well, they named it The Joint, didn't they? No misleading advertising, that. The neighborhood is interesting, full of century-old houses waiting to be renovated. It's also adjacent to one of the major administrative facilities for the Port of New Orleans.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
St. Louis cut pork spareribs
Pulled pork
Beef brisket
Barbecue chicken
Barbecue chaurice (hot sausage)
Pulled pork sandwich
Beef brisket sandwich
Sausage sandwich
Cole slaw
Potato salad
Baked beans
Macaroni and cheese
Pecan pie
Key lime pie
Peanut butter pie

FOR BEST RESULTS
Buy half again as much as you want and take it home. Barbecue is one of the few cuisines that lends itself to traveling in a car and saving in a refrigerator for a few days.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Really, they could clean this place up a bit and make it more comfortable.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

This review was updated with new information on 6/14/2010.

A list of over 350 full, current reviews is here.