Rib Truck

130 West Main St., Fort Kent, ME - (207) 834-7427

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Posted By Michael Stern on 8/11/2009 7:48:00 AM

I can't promise the Rib Truck will be at its listed address on any particular day. It is a van pulling a smoker, and it parks throughout northern Aroostook County in Maine, usually on Main Street in Fort Kent, Madawaska, or Presque Isle. Bad weather tends to minimize the truck's presence. Although proprietors John and Mary Freeman did once set up and sell their 'cue at the Can-Am sled dog races when the temperature was 36 below zero, they tend not to open as often in the winter. When they are open, hours are limited by the size of the smoker. If you find out where they are going to be (call them; that's the only sure way to know), expect the food to be available a little after 10am. When the barbecue is gone, usually about 2pm, the Rib Truck drives away.

The ribs are loin backs, which are as easy to eat as baby backs but bigger. They are presented to you already cut into individual bones, each of which is weighted down with lots of meat and striped in the meatless area with a delicious crunchy skein that melts into pure pork flavor when you rip it away. Rib Truck sauce is opaque red, complicated, and just a little bit hot. It is especially good on pulled pork, which is available in a tray or as the crown of a "pork parfait." That's a cardboard pint container filled halfway up with Rib Truck beans (also dressed with the good sauce), then topped to overflowing with the pork. Chicken also is available, and while the supremely tender meat is mild, its skin is sheer luxury.

There are no dining facilities other than a few places to stand and lean.

Scorecard

Overall: Excellent - Worth a Detour

Pork Parfait	Half Chicken Breast
Ribs (half slab)	Medium Pork Tray

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Reviewers Photos [Upload Your Photos]

"Ribs are cut into individual bones and packed in an aluminum dish. Portions are big enough that I saw chef John struggling with several orders to push down the plastic top so he could get it into the aluminum groove. "
Michael Stern

"Pork parfait has extra meaning here along the New Brunswick border, where French is spoken as much as English. The layering of beans below (here, unseen) and pork on top with good sauce drizzling through is pretty darn close to perfect."
Michael Stern

"So it's easy to eat by hand, each chicken breast is sliced nearly through with a knife just before it is served. You can see juices flow when the knife cuts through the succulent skin."
Michael Stern

"Mary and John grew up in northern Maine. John said he's been smoke-cooking meat since he was a boy."
Michael Stern

"If you are driving in northern Maine with a hankering for barbecue, hope you see this truck sometime around lunch."
Michael Stern

"The northeasternmost town in the US doesn't get the hype that the southernmost one (Key West) does. I'd guess that's because Key West has the ocean and really seems like The End. Madawaska is located on the St. John River, which, while very pretty, isn't as dramatic."
Michael Stern