Hometown Favorite Rocklands Celebrates 25 Years

Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Company celebrated 25 years on Dec. 1 at its Glover Park location. The hometown favorite opened its doors at 2418 Wisconsin Ave. NW in 1990 during a time when few restaurants were seriously centered around barbecue.

It become an instant hit, especially after the Washington Post gave the new joint a great review: “some of the best barbecued meat and accompaniments north of the Carolinas and east of Texas.”

Arriving from Washington and Lee University, where he perfected his special Washington barbecue sauce, Rocklands founder John Snedden catered his first party in 1983, when he won first place for ribs in the International Barbecue Competition.

“The restaurant’s original barbecue sauce—still its house sauce today—marries a tomato base with plenty of onions and vinegar, still Snedden’s favorite not-sweet complement to chopped pork,” according to the company. Also, Rocklands still cooks the same way, “including smoking only over wood (no gas), offering a limited and barbecue-true menu, and serving the original vinegary barbecue sauce to accompany its smoked meats.”

Neverthless, the company adds, “the menu at Rocklands has changed slightly over the years, including the addition of grilled salmon, more vegetarian options and creation of two ‘sister’ sauces to the original barbecue sauce. The company has been ahead of the clean-food curve as well: In part as a response to the Snedden family’s own dietary changes, everything Rocklands serves is free of artificial dyes. By making the salads and sides in-house, the restaurant can also ensure that only wholesome ingredients go into the dishes.”

While remaining true to his own grill rules, Snedden — involved in business association and other philanthropic efforts — is happy about the food progress he has seen in the last quarter center.

“The whole restaurant scene in D.C. has changed in the last 25 years,” he said. “We have more specialized cuisines, and many more options at the high and low end. This means that for the past few years, we’ve be able to buy reliably from local growers and meat purveyors, so that I can offer truly regional foods, which is how barbecue should be. Everybody wins from the fact that Washington has become a true food town.”

Besides its original Washington, D.C., Rocklands has three other locations, Alexandria, Arlington and Rockville — and continues to runs its popular catering operation. And, yes, it has four food trucks.

For its birthday on Dec. 1, Rocklands rolled back the price of its chopped pork sandwich went–from $5.99 to $3.99 — and hosted a pig pull during the evening, open to all customers.