After a visit through the National Zoo on a trip to Washington, D.C., my family and I stopped into the nearby Fat Pete’s Barbeque for lunch. The restaurant is located along Connecticut Avenue, very convenient for anyone walked to the Cleveland Park Metro station.

Pulled Pork Sandwich & Candied Yams

A quick look at the menu and I knew exactly what my wife was going to order. She is a sucker for candied yams and these house roasted sweet potatoes are deliciously sweetened and topped with plenty of marshmallows. To accompany the desert like side she went with a pulled pork sandwich ($10.99 including the side), which is hand pulled after 16 hours on the smoker. The meat was smoky and tender, just as it should be.

NC Chopped Pork Platter

I opted to get the NC chopped pork platter ($12.99) which adds a NC style vinegar sauce to their regular chopped up pork and tops it with coleslaw. Of course there is extra sauce on the table, six different varieties actually, but having the vinegar sauce already added can even add to the flavor of the other sauces. I think my favorite of the bunch was the KC style spicy sauce.

The platter also included two sides and my choices were the BBQ beans and hush puppies. The beans are a combo of pinto, kidney, and canneloni beans which are baked overnight with onion, poblano pepper, and bits of smoked meat. These were really good with a touch of smoke to compliment the sweet onion and spice from the peppers. The hush puppies are made with goat cheese and smoked poblano and these are outstanding! The are served with a side of apple honey butter for dipping, which isn’t necessary but adds a nice sweetness to the heavenly fried bits of dough.

Kid Food

My wife enjoyed a couple of dark & stormy cocktails with her meal and I was happy to see beers from DC Brau available. Fat Pete’s also was very accommodating for the kids and featured a grilled cheese sandwich with waffle fries ($5). Our service was fast and attentive and the restaurant had plenty of TV’s to enjoy your favorite game. This was one of our favorite stops in DC.

Happy New Year! Below is the list of cities that I visited in 2016 with at least one night spent in each place.

• Sevierville, Tennessee *
• Cincinnati, Ohio *
• Sandpoint, Idaho
• Nassau, The Bahamas **
• Great Stirrup Cay, The Bahamas **
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Effingham, Illinois
• Williamstown, Kentucky *
• Orlando, Florida
• Cocoa Beach, Florida
• Lake Mary, Florida
• Montgomery, Alabama
• Gulf Shores, Alabama
• Bowling Green, Kentucky
• Lexington, Kentucky
• Washington, D.C.
• West Portsmouth, Ohio
• Portland, Oregon

* Those cities marked with an asterisk were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.
** Those cities marked with a double asterisk were ports on a Caribbean cruise.

See also: 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006