The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word “Pontiac” is a 1970’s muscle car with a screaming chicken on the hood (a la Smokey and the Bandit). You might be screaming about your food when you leave Pontiac Bourbon and BBQ but it probably won’t have anything to do with a black and gold Trans Am.

Pontiac is the latest venue to open in the Gateway District on Vine Street in Over the Rhine. I have been eagerly awaiting its arrival since it was announced last year by the owners of Senate and Abigail Street, both restaurants that have garnered not just spectacular popularity, but national acclaim as well. As is evident by the name, Pontiac specializes in barbecue. This is not your garden variety chicken breast slathered in Open Pit, or even City Barbecue for that matter. Let’s start at the beginning though. Pontiac has a unique seating philosophy, especially for Over the Rhine. As is typical for the neighborhood, Pontiac does not accept reservations. However, you may procure a table by waiting in the restaurant until one becomes available. The extremely friendly staff will find you at the bar and let you know that you may be seated once your table opens up. They do not participate in the roulette style game where diners in the neighborhood put their name in at every restaurant conceivable and eat at the first place to call or text them with an open table.

All of these shenanigans are worth the wait though. There are ten beers on draft and between twenty and thirty in cans and bottles, comprised of a nice mix of locals like Blank Slate and Rivertown and popular craft brews from around the country such as Ommegang, Founders and Southern Tier. If you aren’t a beer drinker, the mixed drinks are great as well, including one that is now called “Purple Drink”. I say “now called” because it started out with another name that several people with nothing better to do found offensive. In the words of Joy Behar, “So what. Who cares?”. And of course, there is a bourbon for everyone (most of which are well beyond my palate).

We ordered the Pulled Pork Nacho Cheese Poutine as an appetizer as well as the Pimento Cheese with Ritz crackers. The cheese had a little kick to it and disappeared before we could really figure out why it was so tasty. Were we really hungry or was the cheese delicious? I’m not sure but I’m going to go with the delicious cheese theory. The Poutine was great too, but if you have preconceived ideas of what poutine should taste like based upon a visit to Senate (or elsewhere), leave those preconceptions at the door because this another dish entirely. For those of you not familiar with the most delicious dish ever to cross our Northern border, poutine, by definition, is a Quebec Canadian treat made of French fries covered in a light brown gravy and cheese curds. Needless to say, poutine at Pontiac is highly modified from that familiar formula. For entrees, Pontiac offers sandwiches or smoked meats by the pound. Everybody at our table wanted the Smoked Brisket, but apparently so did everyone else in the restaurant, as they were out of brisket by 7:00pm when we ordered. I settled upon the turkey, which was moist without being soggy. Others at the table ordered Pulled Pork and St. Louis style ribs. The barbecue sauce itself (both regular and spicy) is served in ketchup style squeeze bottles that remain on the table. The entrees were all good, but the stars of the main course were the side dishes. They are all served a la carte and are only $3 each. I think between the four of us, we tried nearly all of them. The Bacon Fat Grits were delicious (if you like grits) and so was the Mac and Cheese.

I don’t remember exactly how much the check was when we paid out, but Pontiac definitely ranks among the more reasonable venues in the neighborhood. As usual, when eating in Over the Rhine on a weekend, park your black and gold Trans Am in the garage across the street and plan to make a night of it.