Farmers Market Find: BBQ at Legal Beans

I’ve seen the somewhat clumsily named BBQ at Legal Beans at various events downtown and they’re a pretty constant staple at the Grove Street farmers’ market but I’d never actually stopped to get anything. A couple years ago, I went to the storefront and truthfully, wasn’t that impressed but always thought I should give it another shot. Naturally, I never got around to it and in the meantime, it seems as though Legal Beans has reworked and expanded their menu.

Figuring I might as well take advantage of their presence at the farmers’ market, I stopped by to get dinner and see if the food had improved.  As I approached the stand, I was hit with the mouthwatering smell of grilled meat and warm BBQ sauce. It smelled like summer. They had a series of large covered foil pans on one table that held different cuts of chicken, at least two kinds of ribs, pulled pork, and probably a couple more I didn’t see. There was also a second side table with smaller pans containing all their side options; I saw rice, beans, mac and cheese and mashed sweet potatoes. I ordered a grilled quarter chicken with a side of mashed sweet potatoes.  The server asked me if I wanted extra barbecue sauce on top and I went with it, noticing he was being pretty generous when pouring it on without flooding the container. My total came to $8 which I found incredibly reasonable, especially when taking into account the huge serving of mashed sweet potatoes they gave me. 

I started with the mashed sweet potatoes which I found to be just okay at first, but grew to like more and more as I ate. They were well-mashed but not pureed smooth so there was still a nice potato-y texture I liked. I’m sure they added butter, salt, pepper and maybe some sort of stock, but I didn’t detect that much

more by way of seasonings which I found to be a negative.  While I’m glad they weren’t overly sweet or loaded with brown sugar and maple syrup as a lot of mashed sweet potatoes are, the taste definitely fell a little flat and could have been bumped up even with just more salt and pepper.  I ended up stirring it a tiny bit of the barbecue sauce and even that made all the difference in the world – really improved the flavor. As for the barbecue sauce itself, it was surprisingly tasty.  My personal tastes tend to favor vinegar-based sauces so I did find this a little heavy on the ketchup, but overall, I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t spicy but definitely flavorful with a nice tangy, sweet, peppery taste. I was really glad I had gotten extra. The chicken was also pretty good, well-cooked and tender but not dry. However, I again found it be under-seasoned. The flavor of the well-grilled skin and the barbecue sauce ending up making the entire thing tasty, but without that, it would have been very bland. It’s not that hard to season or marinate chicken before grilling and it would definitely go far in making this chicken great.

While I’m disappointed that the seasoning and flavor consistently fell short, I was overall happy with my meal and will definitely go back to try more – I’m interested in some of those ribs! The stand offers platters of a meat and a side but you can also order all of their items as single items to form your own combo which is nice and what I think I will do next time. The store offers a much larger menu with sandwiches, large platters, and they do take catering orders (including whole roasted pig!) so that might also be worth checking out if you want to enjoy barbecue but are limited on outdoor space as many of us in Jersey City are.

While at the farmers’ market, I also picked up a coconut caramel bar from Cocoa Bakery and while I’ll be reviewing their offerings another time, I will say it was very good and if you see them, it’s well worth stopping and picking up a delicious treat or two. I think they are at Grove Street every Thursday but check my twitter to stay updated!

All in All:

BBQ at Legal Beans (located at 2 Division Street, Jersey City and at various events throughout Jersey City) was a pretty good and reasonably priced choice but definitely suffered from under-seasoning.  However, if you’re looking to satisfy a barbecue craving, this will do the trick.

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