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Phillie Phoodie at the PBR Bar

Outlet: PBR Bar & Grill at Xfinity Live!We went: Pregame, 5:45 p.m. Wait: None.

Outlet: PBR Bar & Grill at Xfinity Live!

We went: Pregame, 5:45 p.m.

Wait: None.

Order: Slow-smoked ribs.

Cost: $14.

Phindings: Looking for a change of scene, the Pharaoh of Phoodelphia decided to taste-test Xfinity Live!, the mega-food court that now occupies the site of the beloved Spectrum. For the first of several cross-Pattison-Avenue excursions to be undertaken this season, PP settled on the PBR Bar & Grill, which stands for Professional Bull Riders, not the downscale beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon.

I was immediately seated at the last remaining open table, which was on an outdoor patio that offers views of Lincoln Financial Field and the Wells Fargo Center. It would have been a more pleasant experience had the sun not been in "summer" mode.

From a rather limited menu that includes typical bar fare like nachos, burritos and grilled chicken, I went with a half-rack of what were billed as "slow smoked BBQ ribs." Fifteen minutes later, what looked like a diner breakfast steak appeared, accompanied by junior-size helpings of coleslaw and "potato hash," a/k/a plain old hash browns.

That "steak" was a smallish helping of pork ribs. The "pigsicles" (thanks Hawkeye Pierce!) were meaty enough but almost devoid of the smoked pork taste that is a rib rack's raison d'être. The tepid sauce painted on the mini-rack offered no help, and the meat was dangerously close to the "too dry" line. The coleslaw was pleasingly chilled but average-tasting. The potatoes were, at best, uninteresting.

Final score: The Phoodie's first — and last — trip to PBR Bar & Grill was an error.