Prospectors - Mount Nittany Rib Company — Restaurant in College Township

Ordered takeout, and well I'm just not an idiot. The very nature of BBQ means, by default, that it is not made "to order", it's BBQ....smoked, braised, roasted, broiled etc, what have you, all EXTENDED cooking processes that fine bbq (IMO, BBQ is Michelin level) of this type REQUIRE. And that's the basic jist leading directly to my entire point. There are aging, prep and resting processes, as well as others, that if implemented, would further the time block of start to finish....etc, etc. THE POINT, is I ordered brisket, pulled pork, slaw and beans. Ive worked in or around food service of some degree practically my entire adult life-and I'm old like grossly pushing 50 (grrrrrrr). Everything I ordered was, at Best, yesterdays batch. WHICH, would be fine and expected, not the issue. The first issue was that it took 40 minutes from order to pick up, never notified either, I just got tired of listening to my stomach scream at me and went in. 2 tables of 2 diners each when I picked up. No other orders waiting to be picked up (that I saw) nor did I see anyone waiting in their cars outside ...possibly to also pick up. THE WORST PART THOUGH, this was not great BBQ, not like I remember years ago at Prospector's. I regularly consume quality BBQ, idc where I have to drive to get it. No exaggeration, zero. zilch. PG-13: This was disappointing. Truth: it severely pissed me off, HOW do you make mediocre BBQ?! Even the sauce was just not what I was expecting, the slaw was flat -almost no flavor, BEANS WERE GREAT, And the inside of their restaurant was IMMACULATE, perfectly decorated and clean as a whistle. I'll give them all of that, but I'm sorry, the bbq-and the sides I chose weren't worthy BBQ to me. I wished very much this had not been my experience....

I really wanted to love it. I came at 30 minutes before they closed on a random Tuesday. I'm fairly sure if I'd come in at 5:30 on a Friday this would be at least a 4 star place. The Mac and Cheese was very good, I wanted a bit more salt in it but that's my preference. The pulled pork and corn bread were both pretty good. Pork was a bit dry but I'm sure that an hour or two earlier at prime dinner hour it would have been just right. The fries were so close to being excellent. Clearly these are house cut and I'd guess twice fried. Mine needed to spend a bit longer in the oil the second time, where they could have been light and crisp they ended up fairly soft and not quite right. Clearly they know how to make a good fry but the execution wasn't there when I ate there. The ribs were over cooked too soft, couldn't pick them up. Still they retained decent moisture and had good flavor. Most disappointing was the brisket. The flavor was meh and it was dry, not borderline maybe if I came earlier it would have been right dry. It was simply over cooked and dry which is a complaint I noticed in at least one other review. If I was local I'd definitely give them another try as I feel like all the pieces are there it just didn't come together on my visit. Service was...

I came here with very low expectations. I've not been in the state college area long but having visited most of the east coast, I'd hit up some pit barbecue spots and a few holes in the wall that were pretty high up there in quality. So I'd resigned myself to not finding anything in the area because a barbecue search doesn't turn up a lot of restaurants (surprising for a farm heavy, landlocked area). I was pretty much expecting to be disappointed.

I was not.

The friendly service, the serving sizes, that smokiness in the ribs and that slightly sour tang in their barbecue sauce; not to mention what might be in my opinion, the best corn bread I've ever had in a restaurant... This place is legit. It's obvious they know what they're doing. The only shocking thing is how empty the place was when I was here, on a Sunday afternoon no less.

It's not many times I get to say this, but it appears State College doesn't know what they've got. I hope they...