Meat Hook BBQ — Restaurant in Laceyville

On the suggestion of a good friend, I decided to finally give the Meat Hook a try.

The decor of the place doesn't say, "Barbeque." It says, "Target" and "Dollar General." Inside is gloomy and the order counter is almost invisible - it looks like a toll booth and the menu is scrawled on boards on either side of this toll booth. There is no physical menu available. Guests have to make their decisions at the toll booth.

The girl taking orders wasn't familiar with greeting the public. She wasn't rude. She wasn't anything. She could have been a bar of soap for all of her enthusiasm. She didn't explain that we needed to get our own drinks out of the cooler and there's a "Tip Bucket" on the immediate right of this toll booth with the barely-there cashier/counter keeper.

Ordered the beef brisket with 2 sides. Mac & Cheese and green beans with sweet bbq sauce and horseradish.

The food was brought by one of the owners, I should think. She was very, very solicitous and almost chipper. She wanted to make sure that we had everything that we needed.

The food was served on Styrofoam plates with a plastic fork and a metal steak knife. Styrofoam does not say, "This is really good food WORTH putting on a plate!" Spend the money for heavy plates and platters along with proper utensils. Even paper plates might have been tolerable, but nobody wants to swallow bits of Styrofoam because their steak knife has hacked up the plate. Sending plastic utensils out with a take-out order might be acceptable, but serving food on a Styrofoam plate with a plastic fork is trashy. I mean, trashy.

What is it with NEPA???? Why can't anyone actually make solid, good, homemade food???? The meat that I had could have been straight off the back of a Sysco truck. The brisket had been pre-sliced much earlier in the day and we were served 2 slices of 1/5 inch meat. If the meat had NOT been pre-sliced much earlier, then there's no good excuse for why it was so awful. It was dry and tough with very little flavor - it was like chewing meat bubble gum. Utterly unsatisfying.

The mac & cheese was absolutely nothing special. The green beans were overcooked and over-salted. Despite the price, rolls were not served with this meal.

The dining area is very, very tiny, but there's an outdoor area that is almost Zen. We have many, many beef farms in NEPA and contracting with any one of them would be sensible and.........amazing. There is a huge difference in flavor between the stuff that's off a truck and meat that is harvested from local grass-fed cattle. We have enough farms in this regions to meet (meat) all of this restaurant's menu needs.

NEPA suffers from a severe lack of creativity and preparation where food is concerned. I hope this place does well, but I won't be going back there for a...

UPDATE: Meat Hook BBQ is back and I have some sad news my friends. Well, sad news for my waistline that is, because they are even better than ever. They also added ice cream to their menu..

Meat Hook BBQ is some amazing BBQ right in Laceyville, Pa!!! Everything on the menu is delicious and fresh. They smoke only what they need for that day, so they might run out of things later in the evening. Which, in my opinion, is a sign of a great BBQ joint!!! The homemade sides are just as good as their smoked meats. The owners are friendly and the service is fast. The property has lots of outside seating if you want to enjoy your meal right then and there, or take it home and share it with the whole family. But be forewarned, my friends, if you take it home, plan on some of it not reaching your final destination because it smells so good you want to pull over and eat it right then and there. (It might of happened to me a few times.)

UNCLE GERRY’S TIP: Like them on Facebook for specials and live updates on what they might be running low...

I tried their brisket for the first time tonight at the wyoming County fair. We've been to the restaurant before in laceyville but I have never personally eaten anything from there as I'm not really a big meat eater (bacon is really the only meat I eat). Well my husband got the brisket platter at the fair (2 times: once when we got there and once on the way out to take home). On the way home I could smell it and it smelled really good and said what the heck and tried it when we got home. OMG it was melt in your mouth delicious. It was so flavorful and tasty. Every time we come up here to our cabin now it will be a place we must go to. The 2 women that were at the stand selling the food were so friendly and delightful. You have to try this place you...