We Ate Good Barbecue at Jones

Seattlest has long been an on-again-off-again vegetarian. Our last fall from herbivorous grace came in our New York City-living days, when our girlfriend at the time's dad cooked us up a burger and some hotdogs. We didn't have the heart to say no, and they just smelled so good. Thank God, because we wound up moving to New Orleans, where life is meaningless without a good roast beef po-boy and all the juice it produces in a steady stream up (down?) your arm.

Well, a few years ago, after moving to Seattle, we went veghead again, because it seemed like the thing to do, there being few roast beef po-boys available, and all. Nonetheless, the aching for pork ribs has never gone away, and we finally, after four years of vegetarianism, gave in last night.

The joint responsible for our downfall? Jones BBQ in Columbia City, where the medium sauce is just ever-so-slightly on the too-hot side of medium. The ribs are mostly lean and perfectly cooked (even if we did get there 15 minutes before closing, ensuring us the dregs of the day's batch). And the BBQ baked beans are just absolutely sublime. Granted, it was no roast beef-and-gravy juice dripping down our arm, but the sauce stuck rather well to our fingers and face. Who needs a bib when you can just lick that stuff off?

We had to take it to go, so we didn't get the full effect of a meal at Jones, but we wolfed the whole box-o-meat down like it was the last meal of our life. We didn't hurl or have any of those nasty gassy issues that, as a vegetarian, you generally fear will accompany any meat consumption. So, we thank you Jones BBQ for helping us crack our meat-free streak the right way. Next up on the list: Ezell's Fried Chicken. We understand there are few greater joys in life beyond a bucket of Ezell's. I guess we'll finally find out.

Photo of delicious-looking ribs that could just as well have been cooked at Jones, courtesy of Flickr user BBQ Junkie.