Official BBQ & Burgers: Pizza Boy Secondary Location
For many locals, they’ve known about Official BBQ and Burgers for a while now. Unfortunately I only found out when Pizza Boy announced they would be using the little unassuming BBQ shack as their secondary location.
And now I feel like I’ve been missing out for quite a while.
You can check out their website, which lists menu, their about information, their services, their catering, as well as the new Pizza Boy beer menu here: Official BBQ and Burgers.
The new Pizza Boy bar at Official BBQ and Burgers is to the right as you enter with it being the counter for ordering your food as well (and opposite of pick-ups if you ordered your food by phone or to-go). They have twenty taps all set-up for Pizza Boy beer only. There is also a fridge by the entrance for non-alcoholic kid drinks as well as four and six packs of Pizza Boy beers.
The bar counter itself is large and with enough seating that it should provide enough space for just drinkers, there is also a row bar against the wall by the main bar where people can eat and drink as well. Plus their is a moderate sized dining room for families and people to get together and eat and drink.
On a busy night the dining room area will be cramped, but not too severely. When my family arrived roughly 6:30-6:45PM Friday night, the place was well packed, but not too the point of cramping (though we did snag the next-to-last table).
Opening night seemed to have a few hiccups and hitches. By the time we got there, Mac and Cheese and Brisket were sold out. And while in line, they took a phone call that got the remaining pulled pork until they could make more (which ended up taking roughly 25-30 minutes, even though they told us it’d be 15 minutes). But things happen and this can be expected for a “new” opening.
I say “new” because its not their first day, and its not an opening. The Pizza Boy bar located inside Official BBQ and Burgers was new and just going live, but the BBQ shack itself has been around for quite a while. Talking to a few locals/regulars, it seems like they’ve been doing ‘ok’ but never consistently busy or crazy packed; and hopefully the new bar with Pizza Boy’s marquee name will change that for them (it seemed to while we were there, though the place was empty when we left at 8:30PM). (They closed at 9PM).
While waiting for our food, I ordered my (first) drink; which was “Not My Style, But May Rate Anyway”. A delicious NEIPA from Pizza Boy.
Since I’m doing a ‘brewery’ / ‘secondary location’ / ‘restaurant’ review rather than a beer review, I’ll just give a glossing over details of the beer.
Beer: Not My Style, May Rate Anyway
Brewery: Pizza Boy Brewing Co.
Style: IPA – New England
ABV: 7%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: IPA w/ almond flour, coconut & lemon
This is a very bright yellow beer, with a very distinct hazy juicy IPA taste and feel with a powerful lemon kick to it. Not sure exactly what all the almond flour adds to it, because I don’t exactly taste almond, possibly because of how over-powering the lemon is (definitely in a good way, especially for me because I love lemon). Slight noticeable coconut but it is pretty subtle. A nice sippable beer with no ‘hop bitterness’ and really embodies the New England style IPAs that are more of the craze nowadays.
My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 3.81 (as of 11.30.19)
The salad came first, and everyone dug into that. The salad was massive, 5$, and as the menu said “NOT SMALL”. It definitely lived up to that. So while everyone chowed into that, I ordered my second beer which I started sipping just before our full meal came.
Beer: Visions of Yesterday
Brewery: Pizza Boy Brewing Co.
Style: Pale Ale – American
ABV: 5%
IBU: None Listed
Untappd Write-Up: (Blank)
This was a fine, well tasting, clear translucent pale ale. No frills, nothing super crazy going on. No adjuncts, no dry hopping, no late additions, nothing silly. Just a down to earth pale ale that was tasty and went perfectly with pulled pork, angus beef burger, and the green beans.
My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.60 (as of 11.30.19)
For a family of four, we got pulled pork, dozen wings, french fries, the salad, an angus beef burger, and the green beans. My daughters enjoyed trying out the numerous different BBQ sauces that were there, and they enjoyed their cream soda and root beer to drink theirs down, while I enjoyed my beers to wash my food down. The french fries were massive for a side. The wings were good with a smoked spiceyness to them even before putting on the sauces. The pulled pork was delicious. The green beans were absolutely amazing.
The food was absolutely phenomenal. I will say as a warning, for a family of four be prepared to drop a decent amount of cash. All told our meal was around the 100$ mark with the beers, the sodas, the food, and the tip. Obviously prices vary on what you order and how much, and the sodas do certainly add up as well as the beers. Most BBQ places are expensive or on the more costly side of things to begin with. And we knew this going in. This is no gripe, just a ‘heads up’ for those with larger families or those living on a budget.
The food is downright amazing though and well worth the costs. The time to receive the food took a while, but we are assuming hiccups with the increased volume of customers. The staff was amazing and downright friendly and talked with the girls and us and were very nice to us the entire time. The building was clean, the bathrooms clean, polished, the locals and regulars all friendly.
The four of us left full (belly aching full), happy, feeling good (especially me with the two beers in me) and with a ton of leftovers (which I am currently picking apart right now). We will definitely be back in the near future and most likely a lot of times after that. Official BBQ and Burgers is only about ten minutes from Hummelstown, two-three minutes from most of Rutherford, five-ten minutes from the outskirts of Harrisburg and fifteen minutes from Harrisburg itself, and fifteen minutes from Hershey and ten minutes from Linglestown. Its kind of ‘out in the middle of nowhere’ but its also an easy accessible drive from everywhere in the near area. Great secondary location for Pizza Boy, and one far closer for those in Hummelstown, Hershey, Linglestown, so this will make a great stop for many. And being so close to other breweries like Boneshire Brew Works, Newfangled Brew Works, Troegs Independent Brewing, Tattered Flag, and Iron Hill (Hershey) it can make for a nice easy stop for a nearby brewery tour. (Its about two minutes from both Newfangled Brew Works and Boneshire Brew Works).
Hopefully you all will stop in and check the place out. I highly recommend checking it out, and not just for the beer. Great food, great beer, great time. BBQ, Beer, Happy. (To go along with Pizza Boy’s other motto of “Pizza. Beer. Happy.”).
Cheers All!
-B. Kline
