Update: Shorty's has moved from the Federal Way location to Black Diamond.
I love barbecue. When I was in college, my girlfriends and I one time drove for more than three hours to get to our favorite barbecue restaurant in a town 180 miles away. The trip wound up involving crazy shenanigans and became much more complex, as these things often do, and the three of us girls wound up spending the night in a dive motel with no heat and had to huddle together in one bed with our coats on and a fifth of Old Crow to keep warm. Classy, I know. The point is that these girls and I are devoted to our barbecue and in fact, one of them went so far as to have her wedding catered by a barbecue restaurant.
You can imagine my joy when we discovered Shorty’s Grub House here in Federal Way. This is the sort of place you walk into and know they will have good food. It’s in a pretty barebones building on Pac Highway with a big pink pig fashioned out of a steel drum in front. The front door sticks and for a moment, I thought it was locked until I heard the owner of the restaurant calling to me to pull harder. When I made it in, he said, “You really have to manhandle that thing.” Yes. I looked around the restaurant and surveyed the trappings. Rolls of paper towels on the tables: check, menu written on a giant chalk board over the counter: check, table devoted solely to holding the condiments, including three different degrees of hot sauce: check. In addition, there was a Tonka truck just waiting for little hands to play with, much to my daughter’s delight.
I love barbecue. When I was in college, my girlfriends and I one time drove for more than three hours to get to our favorite barbecue restaurant in a town 180 miles away. The trip wound up involving crazy shenanigans and became much more complex, as these things often do, and the three of us girls wound up spending the night in a dive motel with no heat and had to huddle together in one bed with our coats on and a fifth of Old Crow to keep warm. Classy, I know. The point is that these girls and I are devoted to our barbecue and in fact, one of them went so far as to have her wedding catered by a barbecue restaurant.
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| Meatloaf Sandwich |
You can imagine my joy when we discovered Shorty’s Grub House here in Federal Way. This is the sort of place you walk into and know they will have good food. It’s in a pretty barebones building on Pac Highway with a big pink pig fashioned out of a steel drum in front. The front door sticks and for a moment, I thought it was locked until I heard the owner of the restaurant calling to me to pull harder. When I made it in, he said, “You really have to manhandle that thing.” Yes. I looked around the restaurant and surveyed the trappings. Rolls of paper towels on the tables: check, menu written on a giant chalk board over the counter: check, table devoted solely to holding the condiments, including three different degrees of hot sauce: check. In addition, there was a Tonka truck just waiting for little hands to play with, much to my daughter’s delight.
Rest assured, the next time my college pals are in town, I will take them straight to Shorty’s Grub House, a convenient 4-mile drive from my home.
Don't forget we also had to slather on the coral melon lipstick because none of us had Chapstick! Beyond classy!
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