This is a review of RayRays Hog Pit BBQ.  I was holding off on reviewing new restaurants because it didn’t seem fair to review them when we weren’t eating inside.  But it might be a very long time before we eat inside a restaurant again.  And, meanwhile, there are lots of great new restaurants to try out.  One of the perks about living in the Columbus area is the restaurants here were all doing takeout before the pandemic began.

RayRays Hog Pit BBQ is easy to review because they don’t have an eat-in restaurant.  They are a food truck staple in Columbus, with food trucks in three different locations:  Powell, Clintonville, and Franklinton.  Westerville is the only location where they have a building.  Fortunately, their Westerville location is just three miles from our house.  All the locations are only open Thursday through Sunday.

If you have read the blog for a while, you know that we love good BBQ.  Slow-smoked with just the right sides.  Nothing can compare in deliciousness.  RayRays says that BBQ is easy to find but REAL BBQ isn’t.  On one of our numerous trips to Home Depot, we saw RayRays building with its four smokers outside and knew we had to try it.

Mom and Dad and John and Jackie were our first visitors to our new house.  They came over for dinner the first Thursday we were in the house.  Mom and Dad helped us with a little yard work, and then Mom and Tom went to get the BBQ.  John and Jackie got here about the same time as the food.

You cannot order RayRays ahead.  You cannot place a phone or online order.  It is first come, first served and when they run out of BBQ they close.  The menu has ribs and a variety of sandwiches.  Other reviews mention how good the pulled pork is, but are less thrilled with the brisket.  So we ordered four pulled pork sandwiches, a jerk chicken sandwich, and two hot links.  We also got macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, cornbread pudding, and baked beans.

Unfortunately when Tom and Mom got back, they didn’t have the jerk chicken sandwich.  We figured there was plenty of food otherwise, so we didn’t go back, but we will have to check the order better next time.  Some of the other reviews mention slow or inconsiderate service.  Probably something they should work on.

All of the food was delicious.  All the meat was gone immediately and very little of the sides were left.  We got a variety of sauces.  Tom and John said the hot sauces were only mildly hot but very tasty.  I enjoyed the sweet sauce and none of us tried the vinegar sauce – not our kind of BBQ.  The pulled pork was especially good – not fatty or greasy and not too much.

It was wonderful to enjoy a beautiful evening on the deck with our special visitors.  The good food added to our evening’s enjoyment.  We are looking forward to trying RayRays Hog Pit again.