I love good barbecue, but it can be hard to find it in the Philadelphia area. This isn’t the south. Here cheesesteak and pizza places are on every corner, not BBQ joints. Lumpy’s BBQ can be literally hard to find. It’s easy to accidentally drive right past because it sits in a nondescript shopping center and isn’t all that visible from the road. I’ve passed it a thousand times and never noticed it. I only found it because I was looking up some other local restaurants on Yelp.
However, I can happily report that Lumpy’s has the best barbecue that I’ve ever had north of the Mason-Dixon Line. It’s a simply decorated place and operates much like most barbecue restaurants. You go the counter to order and you get your own drinks. Your food is brought to your table when it’s ready. When we first walked in and saw we were the only diners in the place, we were concerned, but they clearly do a booming take-out business. I was also really excited to find out that they deliver.
We ordered pork ribs, pulled pork and burnt ends. They were all delicious and served with 2 sauces (hot or mild). The burnt ends were especially delicious. The sides we chose were good, although the mac and cheese was not as good as I would have hoped for.
In doing some research on my phone on the way home, I read that the owner competed on the BBQ Pitmasters TV show, so when we got home, I immediately bought that episode on iTunes. It made me want to go back for more right away or, better yet, get some delivered!