Abner’s gives good barbecue to La Salle students

By Carrie Caine
Collegian Staff
March 22, 2006

With a location close to La Salle’s campus and a mission to serve authentic Southern-style barbecue, Abner’s Barbecue provides a great alternative to the normally greasy and gross takeouts patronized by La Salle University students.

Abner’s menu is on an a la carte basis, so that diners can choose their own combination of meat or sides from a wide variety of choices and sizes. The five different varieties of barbecue sauce are not usually served on the meat, but they are available on the side.

The menu is typical, including such classics as ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken, beef brisket and smoked barbecue chicken. The meat is smoked and dry-rubbed, resulting in a pleasingly pink color and a delicious flavor, complimented by the sauces.

The side dishes are also delicious, and I highly recommend the macaroni and cheese, as well as the mashed sweet potatoes, which have just a hint of marshmallow in them. Unfortunately, many favorites, such as green beans, fall prey to seasonal availability, so waiting for another season for your barbecue might not be a bad idea if you love vegetables.

Those who shy away from the meat and starch sector will have difficulty maintaining diets here, as the only thing not barbecued on the menu is a garden salad (even that is only available at the Jenkintown location). Barbecue aficionados will also note the conspicuously lacking cornbread, though is available at the Jenkintown location.

Dessert here should always include a slice of the pecan pie, which is sweet without being too rich or heavy. The key lime pie is also a nice and refreshing option, but more sugary and more fluid than it should be. Brownies are also available for dessert in addition to seasonal pie offerings.

Abner’s serves glasses of southern sweet tea, a staple of the South. It’s a delicious accompaniment to a thick pulled pork sandwich and hearty macaroni and cheese. Without any standard of comparison, having never personally tasted the delight of this refreshing beverage, I thought it was pretty good.

The restaurant offers takeout for all its dishes, in case you’d rather eat your smoked pork ribs in the comfort of your La Salle dorm room, and wash any meal down with its prepackaged bottles of barbecue sauce or a quart of its southern sweet tea. Combo menus (serving a number of people with three different meat dishes) are available if you’ve got a crowd, as are catering packages for your next big event (I’m thinking backyard wedding here).

The best part about a meal here is the price, with meat entrees between $5-10, and sides at a cheap dollar 50 a person. While the restaurant itself isn’t a particularly impressive place, tucked away in a strip mall at Ogontz Plaza (that’s the Philadelphia location), the food makes it worthwhile. Scoring some Abner’s takeout and enjoying it with a group of people is probably the best way to try this food out, and definitely a much better choice than most of the near-campus restaurant locales.

cainec1@lasalle.edu