Levi's Port Cafe, Washington, D.C.

Robert discovered a new place down in the Barracks Row area near the Navy Yard called Levi's Port Cafe. They're definitely off the beaten track, since they're really in between the neighborhoods, south of Marine Barracks and south of the highway overpass. That's a shame, because it's a delightful restaurant, and we've put it on the list of restaurants for our regular rotation.

Levi's is a soul food place, and their barbecue is North Carolina style. Now, South Carolina, like I had recently at Ollie's, tends to use sweet, spicy sauce, but North Carolina sauces are unique and redolent with the tang of vinegar. The staff was very friendly, chatty, and accommodating. The restaurant dining room was clean and pleasant, with a lot of Navy and Marine decor on the walls. They have a big buffet with chicken of various sorts and a lot of side dishes so people can come in a serve themselves for carry out. We, however, wanted sit-down service in the restaurant.

In order to compare things, I got a North Carolina BBQ Beef and Pork Ribs platter, along with cole slaw, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese (on the recommendation of our waiter). The pork ribs were tender and tasty, and sauced with that vinegar-based sauce they use down there. The beef was quite different. It was "chopped beef," but it was minced very, very finely, and also had a distinct vinegar tang. The cole slaw was nice with a sweet mayonnaise taste, the collard greens were nicely done, and the macaroni and cheese had distinct cheese flavor and wasn't too terribly overcooked (often mac and cheese is mushy around here). The servings were all large. Then, for dessert, I had some really delicious apple cobbler with ice cream. The apples were actually fresh, and cut into smaller pieces than standard slices that were fully cooked and tasty. The pastry on the cobbler was flaky and good.

Meanwhile, Robert got an entire rack of pork ribs. Fortunately, he couldn't eat them all, and took nearly half of them home in a doggie bag.



Levi's is definitely worth a trip down, but for those of you from other barbecue traditions, just be careful not to use too much of that vinegar sauce. For me, at least, a little sour goes a long ways.