Owning a barbecue restaurant is generally not what your typical Wharton and Penn Law alumnus plans on doing for a living.
But Michael Berman -- who graduated from Wharton in 1993 and got his law degree from Penn in 1997 -- has followed just this career path, and along with his partner, Keith Gentler, Berman has given Center City its hands-down best barbecue spot.
The Smoked Joint, which was opened just under a year ago by Berman and Gentler, has a fairly small menu, specializing in slow-smoked meats prepared in a fashion developed by the two owners in the years leading up to the restaurant's opening.
The diminutive selection is quickly forgotten, however, as the quality of the food is uniformly fantastic.
The appetizers ($5-$11) range from hot wings to baba ganoush to the uniquely flavored cornbread, served warm and in the skillet. Just about everything on this part of the menu -- not only the appetizers, but the salads and pizzas ($11) -- takes advantage in some way of the owners' propensity for barbecue, and the result is certainly good.
The main course, however, is where the Smoked Joint truly makes its mark. Many of the featured entrees take the form of some variation on one (or more) of four meats: brisket, pulled pork, chicken and ribs.
You can't go wrong with any of these options. The chicken is extremely tender, and being smoked for upwards of three hours brings out a strong flavor that is enhanced by Berman and Gentler's homemade barbecue sauce. The ribs are just as excellent -- the meat literally falls off the bone at the touch of a fork; nevertheless, the towels provided in lieu of napkins certainly help here.
The pulled pork is the weakest of the choices. The flavor is a little bland, and the smokiness doesn't stand out as much as it does in the other options. The brisket, however, is the absolute best. Smoked for no less than 15 hours, the meat exudes a mouth-watering smell that foreshadows a fantastically tender, flavorful dish.
The entrees are available as different sandwiches and platters, but the best way to experience the most variety is the "Smoked Joint Combo,"a sizable helping of any two meats for $14. For the more deep-pocketed (or the hungrier), "The Barbecue Experience" consists of pork, chicken, ribs and brisket for $25 -- perfect to split among several people, so you can sample everything.
Each entree comes with one side, which are of generally good quality. I wasn't crazy about the "Celebration Slaw," but the baked beans cooked in root beer were a good complement to the smoked meats. The dessert selection is fairly unremarkable, but every time I've been there, I was much too full to even worry about dessert.
The Smoked Joint bills itself as being unique because of its decor (defined by the Web site as "Rock and Roll Barbecue"): a modern-looking central bar, complete with several plasma TVs, surrounded by dark wooden tables throughout the remainder of the space. As far as I'm concerned, however, all that's needed to ensure the Smoked Joint's continual success is its fantastic food at prices that any student can afford.
