Red Line Grill
Hop on the red line for some down-home ribs

Photos and Story By Gary Barnhart

At Takoma DC's newest eatery, the ribs smoke on hickory wood for four hours.

The Red Line Grill is a new Takoma DC restaurant with a menu featuring smoked pork ribs and spicy chicken wings, along with a straightforward assortment of home-style sides. The restaurant is simple but it has all the essentials: personal and friendly service, an at-home feel, and great taste. For those in the neighborhood who enjoy pork ribs, the Red Line Grill is bound to become a regular visit.

The restaurant opened in mid-January, after a brief renovation following the departure of the previous owners, who ran the restaurant Coconuts at the same location. Eric Johnson is the owner and Rob Ross is the restaurant’s general manager. Both are young but experienced in the business.

The restaurant is located at 6912 4th street, NW, about a block away from the Takoma Red Line Metro Station. Johnson estimates that 40 percent of their customers visit en route to or from their commute on the metro. Locals from the Takoma area make up the larger portion of the restaurant’s base patrons, and Johnson sees these customers as the long term outlook of this restaurant. As an Oklahoma native, Johnson learned the business in an atmosphere of natural warm service. In the DC metropolitan area, friendly service is often difficult to find at family restaurants and carry-outs, but Johnson sees this as a lost art and foundation of his business.

Beyond attention to customers, Ross’s priority is in the quality of the meal, and he sees his methods of cooking as the difference from what is offered by the local competition. Many of the meats at the Redline are slow-smoked. The ribs smoke on hickory wood for four hours and the pulled pork for twelve. The beef brisket also smokes for twelve hours, and although not the restaurant’s centerpiece entreé, it is arguably the most appetizing.

Photos: Gary Barnhart

However, many items are worth noting, as each is made, mixed, and cooked in-house. The catfish fillet is sliced and breaded with a homemade batter flavored with hints of lemon pepper. Red Line’s buffalo wings stand out in comparison with those of other local restaurants. In addition to the entrees, over a dozen sides are on the menu. Some of the best sides are the fried okra, baked beans, and breaded mushrooms. Ross’s years of experience in the restaurant business at upscale DC restaurants such Zola and Kinkead’s Restaurant give him the wherewithal to adapt and inspire the menu to deliver tastes that are well adapted to the diverse Takoma community.

For a family-style restaurant, the prices here are average. For ribs alone, they can be found cheaper per rack at other area locations, however, not all pork ribs are prepared the same. The slower cooking makes the meat tender by breaking up the collagen in the fiber of the muscle tissue. Whiskers to tail, the Red Line Grill serves a variety of slow-cooked home-style food at reasonable prices. Smiles and a pleasant atmosphere, however, are free.

Red Line Grill 202-291-9464 6912 Fourth Street, NW Washington DC 20012 (About a block from the Takoma Metro station on the Red Line.) The restaurant seats 34 and is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

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