Gluttony at its Finest

On West 26th Street, there's a porthole to Texas. Although the granite outcroppings and the hills of yore have been paved over with concrete and festooned with skyscrapers, Hill Country is aptly named considering the etymology of Manhattan (mana-hatta means "island of many hills" in the Native American Lenape language). Walking in, you can anticipate the yee-hawing, finger-licking, down-home fun you are about to have.

Upon being seated, a friendly hostess will explain the cafeteria like set-up, with each person receiving a meal ticket. Everything you order will be marked off on the ticket and you will use that to pay on the way out. You will find a meat station with every bbq offering known to mankind that has been rubbed and cooked for hours on end to achieve that perfect bbq essence. The ribs are honking huge as well. 

After heaping monstrous packages of meat onto your tray, you move over to the sides station, where all the fixin's are served. From Cowboy Pinto Beans to gooey Mac 'n Cheese, and Confetti Cole Slaw to Sweet Potato Bourbon Mash, everyone will find one or two or ten things to happily fill the empty stomach space between the meat.

Mac 'n Cheese

Armed with a $50 gift certificate and a Scoutmob discount, my boyfriend Mike and I essentially had $75 to spend and had saved up our calories for the entire day to eat this meal. Sunday is definitely the best day to go because they have a $20 special - 1/4 lb. brisket, one beef rib, one pork rib, 1/4 chicken, 2 sides and a dessert. Holy majoly - that's a lot of food. We each ordered the special and sampled the Sweet Potato Bourbon Mash, Deviled Eggs, Cornbread and Mac 'n Cheese for our sides. 

Texas Thunder

With money to burn, we also decided it was only appropriate to have something tasty to wash everything down with. Served in mason jars, the drinks are very creative. I tried the Texas Tornado with Firefly Sweet Tea vodka, Southern Comfort, lemonade and mint and Mike had the Rolling Thunder (they're big on weather names apparently) with Sailor Jerry's Spiced Navy rum and IBC root beer.

I told you the ribs were ginormous!

Mike attacks!

Carnage shot

But wait! You must save room for dessert! After all it's included with the Sunday night special. Mike and I opted for two of Hill Country's signature cupcakes - German Chocolate and PB&J. They were, in a word, AWESOME. Just the right amount of gooey and not overly sweet, but still indulgent and fantabulous.

Even though at the end of the night Mike and I packed away a very large portion of BBQ, we still had three lunches worth of food to take home for the two of us. With a downstairs lounge and another bar, Hill Country is a great venue to catch live music most nights. They also offer weekly specials and an appealing happy hour. My only complaint was that the whole restaurant only has one restroom. But true to Texas standards, it is fairly large. 

Hill Country Chicken just opened as a fried chicken outpost a few blocks away from the original BBQ joint. If it's as good as this, I might gain 1000 pounds by the end of the year. Just sayin'.