Disappointed BBQ Experience

I had to go to Crossville, TN for a business trip back in February and knew I had 3 days of dinner there. There were 3 BBQ joints. All sounded good, of course. First night was BigBoy's. Nice looking place, plenty of small-joint atmosphere. Nice guy running it, too. But not a hint of smoke in the food at all. Oven cooked, most likely. Sauce was prob from a jar, too. Disappointed, for sure.
Second night was Big John's. Little hole in the wall, 3 tables, mostly take out, but with a nice big trailer pit right outside smokin' away. It was 5:30 and he was out of brisket and ribs. Nothing but pork left. Pretty dog-gone good. He and I talked for a while. Even invited me to church if I was gonna be there Sunday. He does some comps in TN and the surrounding area sometimes. Next day I went there for lunch and had some brisket and ribs. Brisket was OK; a little dry but decent flavor. Ribs were nice. Small boned ribs (my fav) with a very light bark that snapped nicely when you bit into them. Had a hot and a sweet sauce, and as usual, I combined those.
The last night I went to Lefty's. Big place, like a Denny's, and food to match. HUGE combo plate of brisket, pork, and ribs. I didn't eat a quarter of it. The rolls were good.
Heading back to Crossville for work again next week. I will be eating at Big John's for sure. Probably for lunches since he'll be sold out by the time I can get to dinner. The other two? Wouldn't touch them. At least I found one decent one out of 3.

Sometime I feel a little sorry for the waitstaff, if I think they know what real Q is, if only they know how bad the food is going to be.
Dave

I don't know what's worse: being in an area with 1.8 million people and no decent Q, or being in an area with 1.8 million people who yelp about what they think good Q is (liquid smoke and bbq sauce anyone?). I don't think I've ever seen such a disparity in a particular cuisine, than in BBQ. I'm not saying it's easy, I couldn't imagine it to be at all, but for places to only specialize in BBQ and turn out stuff no better than Dickeys is a shame. Picture is worth 1000 words. 43 reviews, 4.5/5.0 stars. They ONLY do ribs and chicken...










Oh yea.. and a slab of those ribs will run you $30

^ Wow, how sad

My last trip to a Q restaurant was to a Famous franchise that had been open about a month and several of us went there for lunch. I had brisket, hot link, beans and coleslaw... ordered sauce on the side. Brisket on the dry side, below average flavor but a good portion. The hot link was cooked over a fire so hot it was charred and split open. The beans were nothing special and the coleslaw was horrible. The little squares of cornbread and the iced tea were the best things. :crazy: Haven't been back.

Looks like they were drawn and quartered.

cowgirl said:

I don't eat bbq out anymore. I've had mostly bad experiences.
These were babyback ribs with a 1/4" to 1/2" layer of thick sweet sauce poured over the top.
I tried to scrape some of the sauce off to get at a rib. They might have been boiled. They were fall off the bone, mushy and no smoke flavor.

I really did try to eat them but didn't get far. :redface:


When I eat Q out, I go to any of my friend's cookouts. They all cook mighty fine food. :thumb:

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My wife and I went to a shop here in town that people tend to say is really good. Long story short, she got her food and I got mine. The ribs on my plate were gray like they were steamed with liquid smoke added. And the mac and cheese, don't even get me started. :boxing:

She got pulled pork and sides. She took a bit of her pork and set it down and said never again will we eat BBQ out. From now on, only at home. I kinda felt real good instantly.

The food was horrible! We have not eating Que out one time since then but have cooked more than our fair share at home.

smoke ninja said:

I don't think this is limited to just Q. I've had plenty of mediocre restaurant offerings. I've given up on most chain establishments. There are some diamonds in the rough out there. For Q locally I've only tried a few spots. Lockharts is pretty consistent and the pitmaster is a brethren. The combo plater is about $20 and comes with brisket, pulled pork, quarter slab of ribs, a sausage and 2 sides. I like to make my own bit it's nice to get off of work and have some real Q sometimes.

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Absolutely this. Majority of restaurants are mediocre, and it isn't limited to BBQ.

I still try any independently owned bbq restaurant that opens up at least once. Some I won't go back too, but some have at least 1 meat that they do absolutely well and I would pay to eat it if I don't have bbq at the house (usually lunch during the week)

1 Restaurant here their pulled pork is mushy and soaking wet n so much vinegar it is almost inedible, but their Ribs and Sausage are nice and tasty.

Another restaurant the brisket is dry, their pulled pork lacks flavor. But their Jerked Pork and Jerked Chicken along with their sides are amazing (the owner is Jamaican and it really reflects in his food)

Another restaurant has terrible ribs, but their smoked turkey is off the hook and their brisket is decent. Their corn bread is some of the best I ever had.

Another restaurant all their meats are decent but their pulled pork is really good.

There are also bbq joints where I won't ever step foot in. I'm glad Woodchicks (which was highly rated for a while) closed down. The last 2 years they were open, you could tell they lost their passion and were just going through the motions. The food and service were so bad that I brought my pick up order back and demanded my money back.

I've had bad luck in Nashville the few times I have been there. All the BBQ seems like it comes straight out of the crock pot.

I live in Sarasota, Florida, and we have the The Oaks Open Pit BBQ which is a good place I have been going to for a long time. There is also Sonny's, which a lot of people trash, but I have mostly good meals there. Sliced pork, spares, and BBs are good. Meats are served dry with 3 sauces on the table. Make sure to ask for the pork center cut.

Brisket73 said:

Agreed. I was at a reputable establishment outside of Nashville. Unfortunately the Brisket was dry and the pulled pork was mush. On another note, doesn't this tell us why we have to keep cooking for ourselves.

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Is there a listing somewhere of brethren owned q joints? That would be nice to know for those that travel.

I have tried a few of the places in Central Texas. Mostly average q. Taylor Cafe and Franklin were really good but I don't believe it is any better than some of us can do. There are 2 in my town that make lists all the time but I have only tried them once. I drive by and no matter what time of day it is the fires are always dirty. You can taste that in their food. It is what it is... I believe it is extremely difficult to mass produce great bbq day in and day out. In the back yard with just a few pieces of meat we are masters. I also enjoy the process so much that I really don't see paying for something that I just like to do myself. There are still a couple more places in Austin that I need to try but I'm in no rush.

i gotta say im surprised this thread is still in q talk lol

I've had several hit and misses.

Went to a world renowned BBQ joint in Memphis for ribs. Friends said it was the best ribs ever. I came to the conclusion that my friends never had good ribs. My wife got pulled pork, it wasn't that bad.

Been to several Famous Daves. They are hit and miss, I've had some great food from one and horrible food from another.

Been to Q, great food as mentioned. Been to another one in Va Beach that is owned by certain person famous from a TV show that was horrible to me.

BBQ is very hit and miss and very open for judgement. I go in with an open mind. I know it's not always going to be the way I would cook it, but I try it and see if I like it. Majority of the time, I'm disappointed, but sometimes, you get a pleasant surprise!

i love cooking my own bbq but i also love to try what others are doing too. unfortunately, i live in upstate ny, which is pretty bleak when it come to que. i've had bbq from probably 20 or so places in the upstate ny/northeast PA region and out of those 20 there's been like 5 that i liked, so many of which are overrated by yelpers who have no idea what legit bbq is (even though they claim they do in their reviews), and it's funny how many of these places claim to have the best bbq in central new york. i actually went through and made a list yesterday of places in the area i still have to try, and i ended up getting 16 places on the list, only of which about 2 or 3 places seem legit. a lot of people tell me i should do my own restaurant (i'm sure a lot of us get that), but i'm not sure that it's something i would want to do. i imagine it's totally different than back yard cooking, and i'm also not the most social guy either, and it seems like a people's person business.

Mo-Dave said:

I hold back going into a bbq joints, until it has been in business for at least a year. In the last year there has been maybe close to a dozen, go in and out in less than a year, all that in about a 30 mile radius. I have not been able to eat at a bbq joint for about 3 years now. If I am out of the area, and my wife is not with me I may try one, but that has not happened in a vary long time either. We do have at least one chain Q joint only ate there once, a pulled pork dry as hell no taste at all, wont be going back even though the have been running about 5 or 6 years.
Dave

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Dave,

I see you are in the Ozarks. Give the Branding Iron on highway 5 right by Capt Ron's a try. Kelly the owner smokes his own stuff out back on a big trailer rig. It's some of the better I have had down there and Kelly is my friend so I have to give him a plug when I can lol.

It happens. I think brisket is one of the hardest things to get right in a BBQ restaurant.

I still try it, but am usually disappointed

Most of my BBQ disappointments were my own "teachable moments" because when I eat at a BBQ joint I already expect it to be subpar. Every now and then I am pleasantly surprised with good Q from a restaurant.

My worst experience hands down is Rendezvous in Memphis. Extremely small overprices portions and nothing tasted remotely like the reviews/reputation rated the place. My party left there and went to a Krystal's...

Single worst q item I have had was the sliced brisket at a local Sonny's...

DjPorkchop said:

My wife and I went to a shop here in town that people tend to say is really good. Long story short, she got her food and I got mine. The ribs on my plate were gray like they were steamed with liquid smoke added. And the mac and cheese, don't even get me started. :boxing:

She got pulled pork and sides. She took a bit of her pork and set it down and said never again will we eat BBQ out. From now on, only at home. I kinda felt real good instantly.

The food was horrible! We have not eating Que out one time since then but have cooked more than our fair share at home.

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17th st grill is decent there in Marion and Murphysboro (sp?) its probably the best bbq in a hundred mile radius. I prefer it to anything in Memphis or st Louis.

I've had experiences like that as well. Not just with BBQ either. I'm no world class chef by any means, but my wife and I have had times where we look at each other and wonder why we just didn't cook at home. Better food, not as noisy and you can have an extra beverage and not worry about driving home!