One of the great crimes of this world, and especially in the current economy, is to see a great food joint go under. Consider this review a pre-emptive strike in order to save one such place.
This past fall, I was driving my kids to daycare and school, and on my way, I pass this little food stand. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for almost 7 years and the place has changed hands 7 times. I remember a burger and hot dog joint, followed by another burger joint, and then… brace yourselves folks… yet another burger and hot dog joint. Clearly nobody got the memo that another burger joint was not needed, and the addition of hot dogs did not sweeten the deal. However, this year, the clouds parted, the sun shone down, and what appeared is Dave’s Take Out Rib Shack.
I like this place for 4 reasons:
- If you go into Dave’s Take Out Rib Shack, you’ll actually meet Dave (Nice guy too!).
- It’s not another burger and hot dog joint.
- The man gave us what we don’t have: a rib joint.
- He just doesn’t sell ribs. He celebrates pork.
What I mean by celebrates pork is that his menu includes not only ribs, but bacon, ham, sausage, scrapple, pulled pork, and kielbasa. His doesn’t serve french fries, but what he does serve is actually far better: actual homemade sides. Macaroni and cheese, scalloped potatoes (nobody serves these), baked beans, cornbread, etc.
The first time I went into Dave’s, I didn’t even get ribs. I went in at about 6:30 in the morning (he opens at 6am) and I got a ham egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.
Best breakfast sandwich I ever ate, and here’s why:
- The ham is real ham. Not shitty lunch meat ham. Real ham. Thick ham. Ham like a slice you would get at your grandmother’s Sunday dinner ham.
- He used two eggs instead of one. And there were chunks of FRESHLY CRACKED PEPPER on my eggs.
- He uses good quality cheese. You can tell good quality cheese by how it melts.
- It’s on a soft kaiser roll.
- It’s only $3.75.
The man clearly has the attention to detail to get right a simple but really good thing on which most people will automatically lower their expectations because the extent of their experience with the breakfast sandwich is at the low end of the food spectrum: the cookie-cutter corporate fast food joint or the combination gas station/convenience store.
If you time it right, you can not only get your breakfast sandwich, but you can stand there and watch Dave working on getting the day’s rib supply ready for lunch and dinner. And a fine smell it is. The man is clearly proud of what he’s doing, clearly has taken a huge gamble by probably sinking his life savings into this, and is probably one of the hardest working people on the planet as he is there every day from open to close doing everything himself. This place clearly has the ingredients to be successful, but as a lot of business owners and successful restaurateurs will tell you, one of the hardest things is getting the momentum of the first wave of customers that will sing your praises to others.
So consider this the beginning of that wave. here’s the details:
Dave’s Take Out Rib Shack, 1339 E. Philadelphia Avenue, Gilbertsville, PA 19525
7am – 7pm Monday through Friday, 9am – 7pm Saturday and Sunday
610-473-7777
