Out in the northern suburbs of Indianapolis earlier this summer, I was in the mood for some barbecue. I did a search on line to find something in the area around Westfield and Carmel, and I found a place that sounded intriguing to me - Big Hoffa's. It wasn't far from the hotel where I was staying and I decided to head over to Big Hoffa's for dinner.
Adam Hoffman grew up in California and started out his food career at an early age. In grade school, the young Hoffman would sell candy and beef jerky treats to friends. When he got old enough to work in a restaurant, he found work in a variety of coffee shops near his home. Hoffman's restaurant career evolved over the years and he eventually became an corporate operations manager for California Pizza Kitchen. However, working in the corporate office in Los Angeles wasn't for him and Hoffman longed to get back into working in restaurants.
About 14 years ago Hoffman took a trip to Indianapolis and stayed a few days in the Hamilton County area north of the city. He liked the area so much that he went back to Los Angeles, quit his job and moved halfway across the United States and ended up in an apartment that he had never seen until he got there.
Hoffman decided his new life would be doing barbecue. He studied techniques and played around with some different barbecue styles when he was living in California. His barbecue gatherings with friends out there were always a big hit. Once he moved to Indiana, he procured a smoker and a truck, and he began to sell his barbecued ribs, smoked brisket and pulled pork in parking lots and at events around Indianapolis.
Pictured right - Adam Hoffman. Photo courtesy Indianapolis Star
Like most people who do barbecue contests or have a food truck that features barbecue, Hoffman discovered a following that would allow him to serve barbecue from a store front. He found a small place for his first location, but he quickly outgrew that. In 2007, Hoffman moved into his current location along East Main Street in Westfield in what is basically a pole barn with a number of other businesses in it. (see map) Big Hoffa's has been there ever since. (Hoffman announced last year that he was going to break ground on a new location in Westfield with an opening in the Spring of this year. But as of now, Big Hoffa's is still in the E. Main Street location.)
It was around 8 p.m. when I got into Big Hoffa's. The lot had a number of motorcycles parked in it with a handful of patrons dressed in their road leathers eating barbecue out in front on some picnic tables. The electric smoker for the establishment was sitting out in front. Hoffman says that he slow cooks his ribs for 12 hours, his pork shoulders for 25 hours and his beef brisket for 30 hours ensuring tender, fall-off-the-bone quality to his meats. In addition to barbecue at Big Hoffa's, they also have a small ice cream parlor - cleverly called "Skull and Cones" - that serves ice cream cones and cups.
Inside Big Hoffa's, I couldn't decide whether I had walked into a shrine for the Oakland Raiders or the recreation of a pirate's den. Jolly Roger flags were hanging all around the dining area and pirate artifacts where on shelves on the wall. Hoffman once explained that pirates were possibly the original barbecuers, and that a pirate decor doesn't get dated and is always interesting. I'll have to say that he had an interesting variety of pirate objet d'art.
Big Hoffa's features counter service with a menu on the wall behind the counter. In addition to pulled pork, brisket, pulled chicken, ribs and rib tips, Big Hoffa's has a number of sandwiches with the meats, and also features a number of specialty dinners including a rice teriyaki entree with a choice of barbecued meat on top, a mac and cheese dish with pulled chicken on the top, and something called the Hoffanator - seasoned French fries topped with mac and cheese, in turn topped with pulled pork, baked beans, barbecue sauce, and somewhat interestingly, ranch dressing.
As I like to try different things when I first go to a barbecue joint, I got a half-pound of pulled pork and a half pound of beef brisket. For sides, I got baked beans and some potato salad with cayenne pepper mixed in. The young lady who was working the counter (Adam Hoffman was there, too, but he was talking with some people about some catering) sold me on the cayenne potato salad. I also got a bottle of Bell's Two Hearted Ale. They also had a number of the local Sun King beers available, as well
When they brought the food out to me moments later on a small baking sheet, my eyes must have grown double their size. "This is a lot of food," I exclaimed as the young lady sat it down in front of me. "Don't worry. We have to-go boxes," she assured me. I knew there would be no way I'd be able to eat all of this in one sitting. But I made a good go of it.
The brisket was good - thick slices of beef that had a bit of a smoky taste. I added some of their sweet barbecue sauce to the brisket, but they had a spicy sauce that had a subtle kick on the back side. Mixed together, they were perfect. The brisket was good, but it wasn't as good as the pulled pork.
The pulled pork was outstanding. It was moist, tender and had a nice smoky flavor to it. I do like sauce with my barbecue, but the pork was so good that I didn't want to taste anything else with it. Whatever technique Adam Hoffman did with his pork butt, I have to say he had it down. And then some.
The baked beans were heavy in brown sugar and needed some help with the sauce. I added in both the sweet sauce and the spicy sauce and they perked up in taste rather well. But the cayenne potato salad had a great mustard taste on the front end and a surprising spicy kick on the back end. The young lady did not undersell the cayenne baked potato, they too, were very good.
Big Hoffa's Barbecue was a great find in my travels. While the brisket was good, the pulled pork was outstanding. The baked beans needed a little help with a mixture of the sweet and the spicy sauces, but the cayenne potato salad that the young lady at the counter sold me on had an excellent taste sensation. It's not fancy and if pirate memorabilia upsets you, you're not going to like the interior. But I found it all rather interesting. Big Hoffa's has some very good to excellent barbecue, the portions are more than generous, and I would highly recommend a visit if you're in the northern suburbs of Indianapolis.
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