Chef Richard Hale's Society BBQ: a gift for all

MIAbites loves when fellow food bloggers share their visits to fun and favorite places, and Eleanor Hoh (aka Wokstar) recently visited Society BBQ in the Citadel Food Hall.

I asked Chef Richard Hales why the name “Society” for his latest food concept? “I like that Society is about community but also a reference to being part of a club. BBQ and the love of it is definitely a club. I’m always about community and how my ideas for restaurant impact it.” Therein lies why Hales has been so successful with his FIFTH restaurant concept to date! He cooks for the community. He wants the community to rally round and eat well and we are so ready for good BBQ. The Society BBQ concept especially works well at The Citadel, a food hall in Little River area of Miami.

5 Food Concepts/Grateful Hospitality

All of Hale’s food concepts revolve around foods he himself enjoys, Chinese food at Black Brick, Vietnamese at Sakaya Kitchen, Dim Saam A Go-Go as his food truck, Southern at Bird and Bone and now Society BBQ with one of the most popular foods Americans love to indulge in. Try them all, they are totally different, but all have Chef Hales unique take on the dishes offered.

Chef Richard Hales is one of the smartest chefs around! He doesn’t only know how to cook but he’s good with EVERYTHING. From concept to execution. He looks at business from a different viewpoint, for example, simple things like charging by the rib instead of by the pound, SMART!

And all this after a very difficult year fighting cancer, brain surgery, and other medical setbacks, Society BBQ is his gift to all of us.

The work involved in making BBQ is as Hales said, “a labor of love” with 18 hour work days starting at 4 am. His work ethic makes us feel like “layabouts” my husband’s words and “underachiever” my words.

There is a difference between BBQ, Smoking and Grilling. BBQ is low and slow, Smoking is cooking something with smoke, also low and slow and Grilling is cooking over fire, hot and fast.

So, let’s break down why Society BBQ works well…

One…meltingly tender Beef Brisket and our fav, Burnt Ends and fall off the bone Pork Ribs.

Two…PRICE. Yes, you have to provide VALUE.

Three…great sides.

We absolutely fell in love with the Smoked Squash with Cheese, tasty, tasty, it’s like a vegetable cousin to Mac N’ Cheese and the best part was the crispy, crunchies sprinkled on top. We also loved the cucumber pickle which was more an Asian slant than the normal dill pickle, a steal at $2 a portion.

Be sure to save room for Wife Hale’s Smoked Bourbon Bread Pudding, we had to save for our next visit cause we were so full. Jenny, promise next time!