Another find! It\u2019s Sid\u2019s BBQ and Jerky<\/a>, set at the northern tip of Delaware, just about a block from the Pennsylvania line, and it\u2019s a surprisingly good place. I can vouch for the brisket, pork, ribs, and fatty burnt ends, and Sid\u2019s can boast the very first thick barbecue sauce that ever impressed me.<\/p>\n What, you might ask, was I doing in the northern tip of Delaware rather than scouring Maryland and Virginia for the best pastrami or Italian subs, or sneaking off to one or both of the Carolinas or, it being in the bleak midwinter, Florida? Well, I\u2019ll tell you. I learned from a former high level Justice Department boss, Rena Comisac, that she had a cousin, John Sidoriak, who had opened a barbecue place in northern Delaware. Now, over the course of 30-some years I had a lot of high level bosses at Justice with whom I met directly often. I respect all of them and really admire a good half dozen, but there are only two that I loved: Janet Reno for her kindness and her work ethic despite serious health problems, and Rena Comisac who, in addition to being a wonderful person, left the Washington fast track to help out family. You\u2019ve met her here<\/a> (best neon sign ever!) and here<\/a> (fried macaroni and cheese!).<\/p>\n So I went to Sid\u2019s. I say up front I dearly hoped I would be able to give a good review, but what if it was really bad? I needed a neutral arbiter, so I called Barry Zuckerman of BZ Maestro Eats<\/a>. Barry, the maven of Philadelphia specialties and Central European composers, is famed far and wide for his assiduous field work studying the Philly cheesesteak. Barry graciously agreed to meet me at Sid\u2019s, and was in place when I arrived. You can and definitely should read his report on Sid\u2019s here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019d driven for two-plus hours on I-95 in the rain, and was not in the best of moods. My spirits soared, however, as I drove into the warehouse area in which Sid\u2019s is situated.<\/p>\n You may well wonder at my joy at such a setting, but I\u2019ve had great luck recently with similar areas near Washington, notably Corned Beef King<\/a> and Old Blue BBQ<\/a>, and beauty is in the anticipation of the beholder. These places are a step up from food trucks and Farmers\u2019 Markets for a lot of promising chefs. Unlike many such operations, Sid\u2019s has managed to eke out a smidgen of dine-in space, three stools at a wall side counter. The interior is tiny but pleasant, and Sid\u2019s is a very welcoming place.<\/p>\n Getting down to business right away, we perused the menu.\u00a0 <\/p>\n As we were making up our minds, John brought out some \u201cfatty burnt ends.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t those look delicious? That\u2019s some beautiful bark. The burnt ends were indeed fatty, with a couple that were all fat and bark. The all-fat burnt ends may have been a bit much for Barry, but he thoroughly enjoyed the ones with meat. I loved them all.<\/p>\n Barry ordered ribs, a Wednesday\/Friday special, and some macaroni and cheese (not photographed)\u00a0<\/p>\n As you can see, each of the three pieces held two or three ribs. I took an individual rib and agreed with Barry that they were good ribs. They were very tender, but not fall-off-the-bone mushy, just a great texture. They also boasted a nice touch of oak smoke and the flavor was spot on. I ate it plain, while Barry added some Kansas City style sauce.<\/p>\n I also ordered pork with some vinegar sauce on the side,<\/p>\n brisket, <\/p>\n and a pepper slaw with a little sweetness, a little pepper, and a lot of fresh crispness. I devoured it.<\/p>\n Are these mustard seeds in there? I shared some of both meats, and Barry volunteered that the pork was tender and moist. I know that the brisket looks dry, which happens often in photos that aren\u2019t staged, if only by flipping a dry-looking piece over to expose a moist side, but the proof is in the eating. It was not dry, not at all. Like the pork it was succulent and had a good beefy flavor with a lovely garland of smoke. Again, I ate the brisket without any sauce. The pork was equally tender and positively juicy. I added some of Sid\u2019s North Carolina sauce, a good sauce graced with the right touch of vinegar and free of sugar (but a low-ish level of red pepper) and it enhanced the meat by balancing the pork\u2019s richness and bringing out the subtle oak smoke.<\/p>\n Before we finished, John brought out a sample of ginger-based sauce that he\u2019d just worked up. I was skeptical of a thick sauce, as they usually overwhelm and smother the flavor of the meat. This one worked! The ginger complemented rather than put a pillow over the flavor of the pork. Hats off to John!\u00a0<\/p>\n I also ordered a pickled egg. I\u2019d never had a pickled egg before. During my salad days I sometimes found myself in bars that featured huge jars of pickled eggs. I never ordered one. I did order a lot of Penrose pickled sausages. But when I became a man I put away childish things. Now that my three score years and ten are in the rear view mirror, my \u201cdon\u2019t\u201d function is vestigial, so why not try one?<\/p>\n It was okay. It had a good vinegar bite, but not much else.\u00a0 I thought about trying a cookie, but I\u2019m on a very strict diet.<\/p>\n Here I am with John.<\/p>\n He does the cooking at his home, just a few minutes away, using a wood-fired smoker with a gas assist, and he does it very well. He\u2019s been in business four years, and it\u2019s a family operation. John does the cooking and cutting, assisted by his son. I don\u2019t hesitate to recommend Sid\u2019s. It\u2019s just off I-95 right by the 95-495 split, the first exit southbound in Delaware. If you live in the Philadelphia-Wilmington area, or if you\u2019re just passing through, stop at Sid\u2019s. Make a point of it. You owe it to yourself.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n And while you\u2019re at it, click \u201cfollow<\/strong>\u201d on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box. Or bookmark us and check in from time to time. We\u2019re on\u00a0Instagram<\/strong> \u00a0(johntannerbbq<\/strong>)\u00a0and\u00a0X?Twitter<\/strong>\u00a0(johntannerbbq1).<\/strong>\u00a0If you\u2019re planning a trip, you can \u201cSearch<\/strong>\u201d the name of the destination city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, often close to sites, like the\u00a0Louvre<\/a>,\u00a0Prague Castle<\/a>,\u00a0Vienna\u2019s Old City<\/a>,\u00a0or the\u00a0Van Gogh Museum<\/a>, that you\u2019ll want to visit in any event. \u00a0We welcome comments and questions, and eagerly seek suggestions of places to eat and stories to cover.<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another find! It\u2019s Sid\u2019s BBQ and Jerky, set at the northern tip of Delaware, just about a block from the Pennsylvania line, and it\u2019s a surprisingly good place. I can vouch for the brisket, pork, ribs, and fatty burnt ends, and Sid\u2019s can boast the very first thick barbecue sauce that ever impressed me. What, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[17009,2872,3767,39202,28870,16220,3201,39201,17008],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-76694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barbecue","tag-barbecue","tag-bbq","tag-blog","tag-claymont","tag-delaware","tag-jerky","tag-john","tag-sids","tag-tanners"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sids-de-ext.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sids-de-int.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sids-de-burnt.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sides-de-ribs.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sids-de.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sids-de-brisket.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sids-de-slaw.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sids-de-egg.jpg?w=768\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sids-pic-2.jpg?w=912\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n