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Smoked cabbage, a $5 starter at JoBoy's Brew Pub, is one of the strangest dishes we've ever encountered. JoBoy's is a barbecue joint as well as a brewpub. Turns out that smoked cabbage is surprisingly similar in taste to Middle European stuffed cabbage, although with a distinctly smoky flavor. The cabbage really is slow smoked, and the sauce is the house barbecue sauce. It's topped with butter and crumbled bacon. This is a dish worth trying.
Manheim is in Lancaster County, and JoBoy's menu features a local favorite, chicken corn soup:
We found it to be undistinguished, but were very pleasantly surprised by the half-rack of smoked St. Louis-cut ribs:
Our waiter warned us soon after we sat down that there was only a rack and a half of ribs left. He'd wacky us some if we wanted any. Nice amount of smoke, meaty, and there was a fair amount of chew left - we do not prefer fall-off-the-bone ribs. That slaw, which is called Carolina Slaw, apparently also gets a dose of the barbecue sauce. Eastern Pennsylvania regional food aficionados may recognize it as a variation of pepper cabbage, that finely chopped sweet-and-sour slaw so popular in Amish country. The menu describes it as bottomless, but a little goes a long way.
A trio of sliders...
... is filled with brisket, pork, and chicken. That's a side of collards.
The beer is good, the barbecue is good, the folks are friendly... definitely worth a visit if you're nearby. More interesting than your average brewpub.
