I would normally respond only if I had first-hand experience with a place: let me emphasize that I don’t. But, for what it’s worth, two friends whose food-related opinions I value both disliked it. Tremendously.

Again, not my personal opinion. But their opinions were so strong, I thought they were worth sharing. These two friends — who don’t know each other — both made a similar comment: perhaps we need to give the restaurant time. A lot of folks who didn’t like Blue Smoke (another Manhattan BBQ) at the beginning now think it’s really good.

This raises a question for the BBQ-savvy among you: do new pits need time to "mature?"

Regardless, I still plan on trying it soon. Maybe I’ll see you there, Chumley.