Downtown D.C. will get authentic Texas-style barbecue starting this weekend as 2Fifty BBQ will be opening its new location in the city’s Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood.
2Fifty BBQ’s original location, in Riverdale Park, Maryland opened in 2020. It recently closed a small outpost at D.C.’s Union Market. The new location is at 414 K Street in Northwest.
2Fifty BBQ was named one of the 50 Best BBQ Restaurants in America by Southern Living Magazine, a list that was dominated by Texas and South Carolina. It is also on Eater DC’s list of best barbecue around D.C.
Owners Fernando Gonzalez and Debby Portillo moved to Riverdale Park from El Salvador in 2018, and initially sold their smoked meats at farmers markets.
2Fifty BBQ sticks to traditional Texas-style barbecue, slow smoking its ribs, wagyu brisket and sausages using all wood, mostly oak.
Its Riverdale Park location and the new Mount Vernon outpost don’t have actual hours per se. They dish up what’s been smoked until it is sold out each day. Sauce is also sparse.
The menu also includes pulled pork, smoked chicken and turkey, cheddar sausage and poblano sausage, and daily specials like Chicharrones and brisket tamales. Sides include standards like cornbread, beans, mac n’ cheese and potato salad, as well as fried plantains and corn salad.
The name 2Fifty is a nod to the ideal internal temperature of a smoker (250 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Mount Vernon location’s grand opening is Saturday, Jan. 13 at 11 a.m. Unlike the Riverdale Park location, the D.C. location won’t offer online ordering, serving walk-ins only.
WTOP visited 2Fifty BBQ’s Riverdale Park smokehouse in 2021, and got smoking tips from Gonzalez.
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