Rib Truck

There is no guarantee the Rib Truck will be at its listed address on any particular day. It is a van pulling a smoker, and it parks throughout northern Aroostook County in Maine, usually on Main Street in Fort Kent, Madawaska, or Presque Isle. Bad weather tends to minimize the truck’s presence. Although proprietors John and Mary Freeman did once set up and sell their ‘cue at the Can-Am sled dog races when the temperature was 36 below zero, they tend not to open as often in the winter. When they are open, hours are limited by the size of the smoker. If you find out where they are going to be (call them or check social media; that’s the only sure way to know), expect the food to be available a little after 10am. When the barbecue is gone, usually about 2pm, the Rib Truck drives away.

The ribs are loin backs, which are as easy to eat as baby backs but bigger. They are presented to you already cut into individual bones, each of which is weighted down with lots of meat and striped in the meatless area with a delicious crunchy skin that melts into pure pork flavor when you rip it away. Rib Truck sauce is opaque red, complicated, and just a little bit hot. It is especially good on pulled pork, which is available in a tray or as the crown of a “pork parfait.” That’s a pint container filled halfway up with Rib Truck beans (also dressed with the good sauce), then topped to overflowing with the pork. Chicken also is available, and while the supremely tender meat is mild, its skin is sheer luxury.

There are no dining facilities.