I guess they decided that the bit of sand they would spread out on the ground wasn't quite worthy of co-billing anymore, as the name of this event has changed to the Phantom Gourmet BBQ & Music Festival from the Phantom Gourmet BBQ Beach Party. With this year's focus on as a music festival featuring Salt-N-Pepa on Friday night and The Mighty Mighty BossToneS on Saturday evening, tickets are offered at a variety of prices this year - $5 for Daytime tickets for admission in advance/$10 at the event (kids 6 and under free), $15 for the Salt-N-Pepa concert, and $32.50 for The Mighty Mighty BossToneS.
A benefit for the local worker-bees in the City of Boston, however, is free admission on Friday from noon till 4pm. With the two year construction project underway at the Government Center MBTA station, the set up of the BBQ Festival was a bit turned around, which we unfortunately did not realize till we ran into a dead end, as they lacked both directional signage and staffers pointing the way. The entrance this year is located at the Congress Street side of the plaza, across from the glass towers of the Boston Holocaust Memorial. Though entrance was free, they had a bag check line that was more than a formality. Water and other liquids were the target of their search as there was water available for sale within for $3 per pop in addition to the alcohol in their beer gardens and other additional chilled drinks.
With no idea as to how the six BBQ stars compare to one another, I just popped into a short line and waited nearly 20 minutes for my lunch. Hey, and we were there on the early side!
With my bounty from Johnson's Hickory Smoked Bar-B Que in hand, we headed over to the relatively shady beer garden by the JFK Federal Building, where entrance was allowed even for those with no interest in a liquid lunch.
The meat in my one meat boneless rib sandwich ($5) was unexpectedly a molded meat patty, reminiscent of the old McDonald’s McRib in shape, though not in flavor. It was actually pretty tasty. The cole slaw it was advertised to come with was easily swapped out for potato salad, but it also arrived with unannounced soft, sweet baked beans - which my cashier informed me comes with everything. I also got a side of your average one in the blue box looking creamy mac & cheese made with overcooked elbow pasta for $3. Not a bad meal on the whole - could have been better, but could have been worse.
Phantom Gourmet BBQ & Music Festival
June 20-22, 2014
City Hall Plaza
Boston, MA
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