I personally don't get the usefulness of crowd-sourced or user reviews. Most reviews, especially at food locations, tend to rate these establishments on any and everything BUT the food you are actually there to try or partake of... Or even worse, the people that do try to focus their reviews on the food are just too ignorant about the culinary science behind what they are eating to be informed enough to even give a useful review making Yelp such a dangerous tool sometimes.
All my preaching aside (hops off soap box)... focusing on Up In Smoke Catering and their food offerings only, I can honestly say this place is nothing short of phenomenal. In the BBQ world there are two philosophies that I've noticed.. There are the places that care about the sauce and only the sauce... They don't really care about the meat that they serve its all the same to them, all they care about is some family secret kept recipe passed through the generations that usually tastes like every other secret recipe out there. The other side of the coin consists of those that can put together a great sauce but truly care more about the meat and the rubs used to flavor the meat. These are the type of people that even though they won't verbally admit it internally respect those that order the meat dry or with sauce on the side so that the care, love, and dedication put into preparing the meat in all its glory is appreciated. I personally believe Up In Smoke is of the latter and I love and respect this place because of it! (Note: I love their BBQ sauce as well as its not thick, pasty, or overly sweet like most sauces, it's has a thinner consistency to it and tastes like it has a balsamic or wine vinegar base to it that I appreciate and allows me to dip in meat as I see fit without a huge sticky mess afterwards)
All the great BBQ places use coal or wood pits to cook their meat (none of that gas crap) and Up In Smoke follows suit. The pit they cook on, while not the biggest or greatest pit I've seen, is a still a great cooking canvas that the artists (what I call pit masters) are able to create masterpieces of cooked meats.
The menu is very straight to the point, I'm not going to list it out as I'm sure other reviews below have and a quick glance at their website would show the same. But as someone that has tried everything on the menu from the pulled pork to the turkey legs and all the deserts and sides in between (I agree potato salad seems store bought) I can honestly say that the food, especially the ribs are some of the best I've had! My girlfriend tends to disagree and as much as I love her she falls into the category of the uninformed in this matter lol. She has never ordered ribs for herself here she only has the Ribs when I do and since I am generally a St. Louis Rib fan which by nature is a tougher, meatier, and fattier cut than the Baby Back Ribs which by nature is much more tender and less meatier because of the location of the cut, she complains that they aren't tender not knowing what kind of ribs she is eating to begin with. The ribs at this establishment are done perfectly, slowly cooked through out the day no less than 4 hours it seems and they are smoked more rather than seared as a proper rib should be with just the right amount of rub for flavor without running the risk of hypertension every time I bite in lol. A perfect rib generally has 3 layers no matter the cut: 1) A crust, turned gently caramel by the long exposure to heat and smoke. 2) a pink layer, and not pink from undercooking as one review I saw suggested, but from smoke in which all the smoky flavorful goodness is trapped. 3) Succulent, moist, juicy meat underneath the two aforementioned layers... and the ribs here are no different, so if you're a true meat man/woman you're going to enjoy the hell out this.
All in all whether you're a St. Louis rib or baby back rib guy or if you're only in the mood for pulled pork or smoked chicken or turkey legs... Up in smoke catering is one of the best stops for your BBQ fix in the Baltimore area in my opinion, so definitely give them a try!!! read more