What do you eat at a terrible BBQ joint?

[Orgetorix]

Yesterday, a group of friends who regularly eat lunch together decided to try a BBQ place nearby. I knew it wasn't going to be any good, but I went anyway for the fellowship. Unsurprisingly, it was terrible. I tried the rib tip basket because it was the cheap special of the day, and the tips were gross. Nasty texture, had clearly never been within miles of a smoker, slathered in mediocre sauce.

When you're forced to eat at a bad BBQ joint, what do you eat? What's the least worst choice? Assume all the normal offerings - ribs, tips, brisket, pulled pork, chicken, etc.

[ssv3]

Kids menu?? :mrgreen: I'm sure there will be a burger or something in there.

[ckelly]

I'd personally go with a hamburger if it's offered ... or sausage.

[Tom Sellecks Mustache]

I go with chicken and hope the sauce is good

[Ol'Joe]

Wait a couple weeks, they'll probably be out of business if it is that bad...............

[gtr]

Hot links are usually OK. Not great, but usually the IMO the best bet at a subpar joint. I love 'em at good places, and usually kinda like 'em at bad places.

[peeps]

Sausage or there is a local place that makes a BBQ frito pie so I get that when coworkers want to go there.

[SDAR]

Beans

[pjtexas1]

If I have never been I try the brisket to judge how well they know their stuff. If I know it is bad then I get sausage. It is really hard to mess that up.

[cb25]

If I'm sure it's going to be bad, or if it's a chain, etc - I usually end up on pulled pork, or a sandwich of some sort. Something that I won't spend much $$ on. PP is usually OK for me - I've had plenty of mediocre pp, but I'm not sure I've ever had pulled pork that I just couldn't/wouldn't eat.

Brisket on the other hand, I've had downright inedible meat that has made me sick. So if I suspect it's a crappy place, I'm not touching the brisket. If it's a potentially good place, brisket (or whatever they claim is their specialty) is my measuring stick.

[Mike Twangzer]

I call in sick ...

[THoey1963]

Drive through on the way over?

Agree with some sort of sandwich that I can hide the taste with extra sauce, and I don't usually sauce my BBQ...

[PatAttack]

I'd stick with the french fries, hush puppies and beer.

[jread23]

Wait a couple weeks, they'll probably be out of business if it is that bad...............

Here they win "best bbq restaurant" in whatever town they're located in. It's easy being the "best" when you're the "only", especially when people don't know what good bbq is.

[pjtexas1]

Here they win "best bbq restaurant" in whatever town they're located in. It's easy being the "best" when you're the "only", especially when people don't know what good bbq is.

I'm surrounded by those too:tsk:

[Gore]

I check out what others are having. Usually pulled pork is least likely to be ruined. Generally avoid brisket. FWIW, I've never had good rib tips in a BBQ restaurant.

[markdtn]

Wings or maybe pulled pork. Wings are hard to make bad.

[Beast Drinker]

Fried pickles. edit something off the fryer menu.

[dirtydingus]

A Pine Float!!

[dadsr4]

"I usually end up on pulled pork, or a sandwich of some sort."
It's hard to make this inedible.

[ButtBurner]

If I know a place is terrible I dont go to it

my hard earned money means more to me that wasting it like that

[smoke ninja]

Salad

[landarc]

I wing it, a lot depends on what I see at the counter.

Sausage is usually safe though. And if they have Macaroni and cheese, I go for that

[rookiedad]

the rolls! :wink:

[Mike Twangzer]

The waitress ...

[Bonewagon]

I'm with ninja - salad.

[okiej]

Cheapest thing on the menu so I waste as little cash as possible. Or I just get beans since my wife hates them and won't allow them in the house

[Teleking]

Salad

That was going to be my answer if no one posted. Or nachos

[Smokee1962]

Lay's potato chips.:grin:

[dwfisk]

I'd stick with the french fries, hush puppies and beer.

I'm with Pat. Get a couple beers and say I'm on a diet:wink:

[ironmanerik]

Here they win "best bbq restaurant" in whatever towns they're located in. It's easy being the "best" when you're the "only", especially when people don't know what good bbq is.

Sounds like a business opportunity!

[Randy3269]

+1 for the sausage. Just hope that it doesn't come out of the microwave like a gal tried to give me at Rudy's. I was also there because of friends. They swore by the Rudy's in Austin.

[cowgirl]

My first choice would be beef ribs, no sauce. Second would be sausage, it's pretty safe.

[HossIsBoss]

A large Dr Pepper and some saltines. :heh:

[SteveKing]

Hmm, anytime I get dragged out to the Dinosaur BBQ I just skip to food and drink the beer!

[mrbill]

if I know it's going to be bad, I go for the chopped bbq sandwich. I've found it's usually the most tolerable choice since it comes with onions and pickles.

[Zin]

My first day being a vegan.

[Royalslover]

Hmm, anytime I get dragged out to the Dinosaur BBQ I just skip to food and drink the beer!

Really? I thought they were supposed to be the big deal.

[SteveKing]

They used to be decent at best. Their consistency has gone way down since their good ol' days in the early 2000s. I believe it was 5 or 6 years ago or so that some restaurant conglomerate bought them out. Since then they are basically just building a brand and focusing on the opening of restaurants rather than bbq.

[BigBuddha76]

Tough to eff up pulled pork sammich...but this place in Richmond did it...ill just eat tums

[Hankdad1]

If you're at a Dickie's, I'd suggest a pickle and the soft serve ice cream.

[SteveKing]

Tough to eff up pulled pork sammich...but this place in Richmond did it...ill just eat tums


LOL. I was driving through the "city" of Rome, NY this summer around lunch time and found some guy making bbq out of a big ol stickburner on the side of the road... seemed like a no-brainer so I stopped and got a pulled pork sammich. I honestly don't think I could have possibly gotten a worse one. He would've done much better using a crockpot and liquid smoke. I threw away his $8 sammich after 3 bites. I couldn't identify what exactly was wrong with it, other than some completely unnatural taste.

It'll be interesting if he's a brother here

[jeffie7]

I thought Dickies was known for having good chain bbq? I saw someone on facebook that lives in TX eating dickies, so I assumed maybe it was good? Hard to believe a subpar bbq joint could last in TX.

[retired trucker]

I will usually go for the "already chewed pork sammie" especially if it is loaded with some sauce, or if extra sauce is available. When I was on the road I found some small truckstops/fuel stops that had bbq sammies in some type of heated contraption. They were edible, but far from good, but usually included a pickle that increased the bland taste to something I could eat and follow up with a couple of Tums.

A lot of times I would grab a cold pimento cheese sammie out of the cooler and go on for a couple of hundred more miles.

Blessings,

Omar

[jermoQ]

If you already think the foods going to be bad, tell them you are fasting and don't eat. Otherwise, get the dirt cheap special so you don't have a problem buying food you won't eat.

You could also make some horrible BBQ the day before so you could appreciate the restaurants better....:noidea:

[landarc]

There is always someone who is gonna really dig someplace, just need enough to make some money. I have a friend from Austin, who just flat loves The Salt Lick, it is his standard for great BBQ. Others folks tell me different, but, obviously he has a lot of company.

[buccaneer]

"Fries, coke and an ice cream please"

[Titch]

"Fries, coke and an ice cream please"

You forgot the Garlic Bread:thumb:

[Stingerhook]

Hot dog off the kid's menu with a beer.

[Blue Smoke BBQ]

Sausage

[thesemicullen]

Usually a hamburger. Our area BBQ chain here in Memphis (Tops) makes average pulled pork, but has a great hamburger.

[mrbill]

.....You could also make some horrible BBQ..........

the ONLY valid reason to intentionally make bad q is to remove unwanted house guests.

[mrbill]

There is always someone who is gonna really dig someplace, just need enough to make some money. I have a friend from Austin, who just flat loves The Salt Lick, it is his standard for great BBQ. Others folks tell me different, but, obviously he has a lot of company.

it's not bad, but it isn't all it's made out to be and way overpriced for what it is

[Wampus]

Honestly, I rarely order BBQ out anymore period.
Just like I rarely order a steak.

Been disappointed to many times.

I tried a new place the other day that I saw something on the news about called, "Zachy's Hot Dogs and Smokehouse BBQ".

I got a Chicago dog and Italian Beef. :becky:

[Bludawg]

What-A-Burger!

[pigville porkers]

The place I go has fries with pulled prok and sauce with all kinds of options like onions and chees.. Covers up the bad taste of the pork lol

[ibanda]

I thought Dickies was known for having good chain bbq? I saw someone on facebook that lives in TX eating dickies, so I assumed maybe it was good? Hard to believe a subpar bbq joint could last in TX.

Is there such a thing a good chain bbq? I am not so sure. I used to eat at the original restaurant and thought it was okay. This current generation of Dickies has been expanding so fast, it is probably hard to keep up with quality.

I grew up down the street from the Dickies in Dallas. I had bbq cooked on a smoker in their backyard on 4th of July in the late 70s when I was 10 years old or so. They knew what they were doing! They helped start a life long love of bbq.

[Displaced Texan]

I normally go with sausage or "pulled pork". I use quotes there because it is normally shredded so fine that they can serve it with an ice cream scoop.

[ak56]

You could also make some horrible BBQ the day before so you could appreciate the restaurants better....:noidea:
Well, maybe YOU could, but some of us don't know how to do that.:tongue:

I'll go with the pulled pork sandwich crowd.

[Zin]

What-A-Burger!

My favorite #2 all the way and whata-size it.

[Demosthenes9]

Man, you all are harsh :grin:. Is it a question of the food actually being bad (inedible, something that you wouldn't feed your dog) ? Or is just not up to our standards of what makes good BBQ ?

Since friends or coworkers want to eat there, I'd wager that the answer is the latter. In that case, I'd go with very low expectations, figuring that I'm just there to put something edible in my stomach.

I mean, it's the same reason many of us eat at McDonald's or some other fast food joint. It's not as if the food is all that good. It just fills a need.

[darkoozy]

I avoid going to bad bbq...If I get stuck going, will have to go with pulled pork sandwich and sausage as a backup...

[Kyle Serlington]

Hmm, anytime I get dragged out to the Dinosaur BBQ I just skip to food and drink the beer!

dude you're crazy! i've been trying BBQ places all over upstate NY and northeast PA and none of em come close to dino. the one in cuse is an hour's drive for me but my friends and i have gone up multiple times just to eat and come back home. i first started going back in 2004 and honestly from 2004 to 2010 or so it seemed just ok to me, but in the last 2 or 3 years i've noticed a couple things... ribs and brisket always seem to be really good, same with the mac n cheese, theirs is my favorite (aside from the stuff i make haha). i feel like their chicken's gone down in quality though. it's still good but i feel they don't render enough of the fat, it could use a little more cook time. the pulled pork's always been good too but i don't usually get it when i go out because it's so easy to make good pulled pork at home.

is there a place in the cuse area that you like better? i've found a couple that i've been wanting to check out, the only one i can remember the name of is limp lizard, my friends have been there and they like it

[Lake Dogs]

Hopefully the beer is cold, so we start there. If I must eat (it's RARE that I ever eat BBQ out any more) at a BBQ restaurant, and I feel it's pretty much crap, I'll probably order the pulled pork because as bad as it can be, it's not THAT bad... I did have one sandwich a few years ago where they put a surprisingly huge amount of pork on it, only to have delivered the most bland mush I've ever seen... My wife took a bite, I took a bite, and we threw them away (I wouldn't give that to my dogs; literally).

Cold beer, hopefully hot fries, and that pulled pork sammie.