Mo-Chilli BBQ — Restaurant in Port Townsend

Last year when we drove to Port Townsend we saw this BBQ place on the way into town but decided to eat elsewhere. This time around on our annual PT visit this was our eating destination. I own a smoker and have smoked a lot of brisket, ribs and pulled pork over the years. I like to check on how the pros do it and see how my stuff compares.

Mo-Chilli BBQ is a small store with outdoor picnic table seating in a fenced in area. When you get our of your car the first thing that hits your nose is delightful smoke. In fact, there's a row of of professional smokers in a covered area adjacent to the store. We placed our order at the counter and our food was served quickly on two separate trays.

I ordered the Brisket Plate (a half pound of sliced brisket--your choice if it's served on a slice of white bread or not) and chose Ranch-Style Beans as my side dish, It also came with pickle slices, sliced pickled Jalapeños and what tasted like sliced sweet onions. The brisket was very good. I prefer a bit more smoke but the meat was tender, juicy and flavorful. I could see the smoke ring nestled into the meat and bark. For the price of the plate serving it was a bargain. The Ranch-Style Beans were a letdown, a bit spicy but otherwise bland. I was hoping for more of a rich, slow-cooked sauce-based flavor. Still, the brisket was the star of the show, as it should be. The BBQ sauce on the side was a killer, among the best I've had. Don't know if it was storebought or housemade but it didn't matter, it was that good.

My wife ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich Combo which was , which included the side of her choice (potato chips). A heaping pile of delightful saucy, smoky pulled pork was served on a round bun along with cole slaw and sliced pickles (she declined the pickled Jalapeños). She loved the sandwich and I had to agree based on the first bite she allowed me. Tender, juicy smoky pulled pork that was way up there with the best we had. My only critique was that when I wife allowed me to finish her sandwich, the cole slaw and what I thought was a little too much BBQ sauce had made the bun soggy. I still finished it but my preference was for a sandwich with less sauce. As my wife just told me, "Strangely, there were bits where there wasn't a lot of sauce. But I still really enjoyed it."

We both agreed that we'll eat here again on our next visit. They have ribs and after brisket, I always gotta try the ribs. My wife will almost certainly order the Pulled Pork Sandwich Combo again. Man, I can already smell...

The Brisket was good, but I had alot of fat. So I wish I had more meat, as it was good with the BBQ sauce.

The chicken was also not bad, not much of a smoky flavor, but that's just the way chicken smokes. The thigh was a good sized with lots of meat.

Now, for the not so good.

Ribs, well they tasted good and that's what's counts. But, these were way overdone. Fall off the bone, done. You want a little pull off the bone. You want to be able to chew on the bone some. These were falling apart, still had a good taste though. Just not what I was expecting. I cheat when I make my ribs, as I use the "texas crutch" as I use the 3,2,1 method. Three hours of smoke at 220, 2 hours of wrapped and maybe one hour of smoke again while adding bbq sauce, every ten minutes to get a nice varnish and pull off the bone. These I mainy didn't like as much for the texture, fall of the bone

Some do and some don't like it that way.

The pulled pork, more savory then I would have liked. I smoke and like a nice not too sweet pork with what is called Fat Johnny's Basterdized Piedmont sauce. Spicy and vinegar type sauce, that goes perfect with pulled pork. This just didn't have a good taste, and it was too salty.

The Jalapeño cheddar sausage not bad, at first, then you get an odd after taste, I just didn't like. That's more of the issue with the sausage itself and not the restaurants fault. They just need to find better sausages, unfortunately.

Cole slaw not bad, not too sweet and it had onion in it which I liked.

I'm not an expert, but I have been in the Smoking foods community for over 15 years, building BBQ/Smoking controllers for amateurs and professionals all over the world and I have also built smokers and smoke regularly.

The food was better then most bbq restaurants I have been to, just not great, infact I try not to go to BBQ restaurants as I will always compare it to what I make and like. Would I come here again, sure. I know not to eat the pulled pork or sausage....

Worth the trip to Mo-Chilli BBQ! If you're looking for authentic Texas-style barbecue in Port Townsend, look no further than Mo-Chilli BBQ! This small, friendly joint does all its smoking on-site, and the results are truly delicious. The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, and everything we tried was absolutely tasty.

We had heard they were open limited hours, so we made sure to double-check before heading over. It's a good thing we did, as we arrived on the last day of their week and the ribs were nearly sold out! The staff were great and were able to hook us up with the very last dinner order, though we had to cut our order from two racks to four ribs. We supplemented our order with pulled pork sandwiches, and we're so glad we did! The pulled pork was amazing and definitely worth trying.

They have inside and outside seating and offer beer on tap. If you do decide to sit outside, be aware that the yellow jacket bees can be a bit of a nuisance. They have traps everywhere, but they're still around. It's a small price to pay for such great food!

While it might be a little pricier than other places in town, it seems on par with other BBQ joints, and the quality is well worth it. A highlight for us was the range of delicious hot sauces available, especially the habanero and Ghost pepper sauces—they were fantastic and added a great kick...