Today was National BBQ Day and I had the good fortune to be treated to lunch at Firefly’s BBQ in Marlborough, MA. I also received some additional gifts to bring home with me. Opinions of everything are my own.

I had never been to this location before. Years and years ago I ate at the old Framingham location when I worked out of our building in Framingham. However, in that time things have consolidated down to the one location but the catering service has exploded! There are 12 trailers in the fleet and that doesn’t include all the vehicles that are part of that side of the business. We were mostly focused on the restaurant and the food there today and that location does an incredible amount of business as well. They even have valet service and on Mother’s Day they had about 600 people come through for Mother’s Day brunch. After sampling much of the food there is no wonder why Firefly’s BBQ does so much business. It is excellent.

I arrived early and had a tour through the restaurant. It is normally not open until 4:30pm on weekdays. On weekends they do brunches starting at 11:30 ad they take reservations, which I suggest you make. Chef/Owner Steve Uliss has assembled a menu of epic tastes and all foods are prepared with years of knowledge, experience, trial and error (although I saw plenty of accolades from major BBQ competitions so I’d say that any errors have been hammered out in the nearly 20 years of the business being open) and of course a generous helping of love.

Speaking of Love. Steve and his staff love to give back to the community including today’s free lunch for first responders, fire, police and active military. If you were part of any of those groups you could come up and get a free pulled pork sandwich or pulled chicken sandwich plus chips and a drink and then enjoy the Firefly’s BBQ Backyard.

The Backyard at Firefly’s BBQ is a great hangout spot. They have plenty of tables and chairs plus fire pits and outdoor heaters. They just opened it up for the season and that also includes an outdoor bar, giant TVs and even a Raw Bar.

In addition to the seating, decor and libations there are also two regulation cornhole pits. We learned that you can also bring your kids to The Backyard and they can play as long as they are accompanied by an adult who is also playing.

Getting back inside the restaurant there is a large seating area where they have the brunch buffet on Sundays. There is a wall of hot sauces if you want to kick up your BBQ. Personally I enjoyed all the BBQ sauces that Steve has created and had out for us. There was something for everyone in that selection. However…..

If you are crazy enough you can try the hot sauce that is in this case. This case cracked me up, it is padlocked, as a sprinkler system head above it and I’m sure that there are some lights and sounds when someone decides that they want to sign the waiver and try the sauce.

Also in the building is a music stage that can accommodate 150 people and there is live music at Dante’s Live Music & More on Friday and Saturday nights. Some big names come and play there, too. Also in that space but not pictured are 6 pool tables. The space can also be rented out for private functions.

I really liked this curious looking pig on the wall at Dante’s. It was part of a framed piece that had many icons to blues players.

We went outside and one of the other bloggers, Jeff Cutler, was there flying his drone. He is has his FAA license to fly and even popped in at the closest airport to let them know that he was flying. He’s the guy I go to with all my drone questions because he is so knowledgeable. When he was at the airport he ran into some police who were training K9 units. He invited them over to Firefly’s and they showed up. I had some major drone envy and wished that I had taken my drone with me today to get some aerial shots.

Then it was time to welcome C.C. Chapman, my longtime blogger friend and virtual mentor (see my sidebar virtual mentor list) and get down to our meal. The meal started with some of the best cornbread that I have ever had in my entire life that was accompanied by Sea Salt Honey Butter.

Next we each received a plate of the Fried Dill Pickles. From the Menu: Fried Dill Pickles: Sliced dill pickles, dredged in our Cajun cornmeal and served with our spicy remoulade.. These were very good with a great dipping sauce that I could have eaten all day but I knew that I shouldn’t fill up early because more, much, much more was coming.

Did I mention that the Cornbread was HUGE!!!! I had to take this picture to show the enormous size of it. This is who cornbread should be served, giant slices!

No sooner had we dived into the Fried pickles that the next dish arrived. Everyone got a piece of the Candy Lacquered Bacon Strips. From the menu: Candy Lacquered Bacon Strips°: Our apple-smoked, hand-cut bacon strips, sweetened with a brown sugar glaze and served with a sunny-side-up fried egg.. Easily one of the best things I put into my mouth today.

Our next course was the Crazy Roo’s Wings which was a surprise because it was not on the paper that we received letting us know our luncheon meal. It was a very pleasant surprise. From the menu: Crazy Roo’s Wings: Chicken wings rubbed with a blend of spices, apple-smoked and fried to a golden brown, tossed in a sriracha, molasses and lime cilantro glaze.. I was wearing the perfect shirt for these wings. I loved the sweet and heat together. It was a very different taste than I have ever had with wings, a good taste but unique.

I don’t think I’ve ever had better Burnt Ends than I had today. These were perfection and melted in my mouth. From the menu: Burnt Ends: (Only as available.) Everyone has been asking for this classic down-home delight. These are the “point” (fattiest part) of the brisket, slow-smoked for 14 hours, then trimmed into mouth-watering chunks.

I kept all my plates until I couldn’t keep anymore on the table just so I could capture the photo above because after we had all those appetizers we then got a gigantic plate with the Award Winning Dixie Kiss St. Louis Ribs, North Carolina Pulled Pork, Mac and Cheese and Southern Fried Chicken. Not to mention the sides of Cucumber Salad, Coleslaw and Sweet Potato Pecan Pudding! Oh, and five different BBQ sauces. Cef/Owner Steve Uliss came out a few times to talk with us about the menu and answer any questions that we had. He was a warm friendly guy who thanked us all for coming out to enjoy the food. I definitely want to come back, and soon.

As if that entire lineup above was not enough we finished out the meal with some Chocolate Beignets accompanied with Chocolate, Salted Caramel & Strawberry Sauces. Unfortunately I had to leave right after that or I would have savored the great atmosphere and conversation much longer.

Upon returning home I opened up the gift bags that we were given and inside were some truly special treats like the Smokin’ Dry Rub and Beelzebar BBQ sauce. This is a Memphis Style Sauce with chipotle. There was even a gift card so I can come back with the family! I can’t wait to get a rack of ribs and use these in my own backyard. What a fantastic day at an incredible place and fantastic people. I’d like to thank Firefly’s for such a generous spread. The hospitality was appreciated.