Eating BBQ out sucks


 
Rick Body

Rick Body

TVWBB Pro
Well I know this has been discussed many times on here, but today I went with my girlfriend and some friends to a BBQ joint. We had been out and about all day and were hungry. My gf wanted some ribs.

Anyway, we got a combo platter with ribs, butt and brisket. Everyone at the table loved the food except me. I was just sitting there wishing I was pulling some ribs off the WSM.

The other people were friends of my gf and I have not known them long so I didn't want to say anything. My gf has had my ribs one time. (known her forever, only been dating a month)

The ribs were, in my opinion, awful and the brisket was dry. The butt was okay.

Sooooo, I guess this crazy WSM/bbq/grilling addiction has taken away the joy of eating at bbq joints. Oh darn ;)
 
Last edited:
Yeah nothing like your own. Wife and I did a week in KC and visited many BBQ joints. Wish we would have stayed home and used the money we spent on meat and fuel for my smoker.
 
Rick,what you are experiencing is normal. Pammi and I hit a couple BBQ joints in Missouri this last summer. The sauces were okay,but over all,the food was not good! Get yourself a slab or three,smoke as you like and you'll be feeling better in no time! Well,maybe 5-6 hours,but that's the best we can do! :p
 
When you cook it yourself, you know what you like, and how you like it.
BBQ is a regional thing, and if there are local joints making good que, the way you are used to, it can be great.
I tend to pass on chains/franchise places.

edit to add:
@Phil
"Pammi and I hit a couple BBQ joints in Missouri this last summer. The sauces were okay,but over all,the food was not good!"

Ouch Phil! :p
like I said, it's a regional thing. :)
did you do Pappy's or Bogarts?
 
Last edited:
We have lots of BBQ restaurants in the Cincinnati Area. I only know of one of them who really merits the name. In general, I concur with Rick. However, I have eaten some decent BBQ in North Carolina (both the tomato sauce crowd,and the vinegar sauce crowd). However, my pulled pork and ribs has it all over one of the famous joints in North Carolina. I'm just an amateur but it's a fact.

We do have a big advantage - we don't have hundreds of customers a day to try to satisfy. That makes it a LOT easier.

Before I head towards the bomb shelter, the best brisket sandwich I have eaten out has been the new offer at, of all places, Arby's! Yep, I have eaten it at three area Arby's and they were all absolutely EXCELLENT! Go figure!

Heading for the bomb shelter!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
[/flame suit on]
here's my take on the subject-

Bob is on the right track. when you do something yourself, there are certain ingrained expectations(conscious or not) of what is to be received/produced. when those standards are not met, disappointment results.
so, for our example, when you do your own Q, it is done to your specifications(flavor profile/doneness/appearance...etc). this, whether you realize it or not, becomes your expected "norm".
now, you're out and about. someone says "let's get some BBQ" and you agree. at this point your subconscious mind is preparing your palate for it's expected norm(see above). the food comes and you dig in. it is now that, unless, for some reason your expected norm is met, your brain realizes this is not what it had prepared for and it is here that the rejection starts.
here's the mind-trick. what you've just eaten (evaluated objectively) may have been the best BBQ ever(based on doneness/flavor/tender...etc). but, because it didn't meet the expectations ingrained in your brain/palate, it will be graded as sub-par.
[/flame suit]
 
I used to get ribs at a place for years and years, thought they were great. then I started doing my own.
went two weeks ago and had some. not bad but for the first time I realized that they were boiled and then thrown on the grill for some char and warm up.
yep, once you do your own you can't go back.
 
Since I've been cooking my own bbq I haven't had one bbq place blow my socks off besides Fox Bros in ATL. Their stuff is legit.
 
@ Bob Correll,no. One was in Columbia,and the other was in a suburb of St. Louis. The one in St. Louis was okay,MUCH better than what we had in Columbia!
 
I judged last weekend at an FBA comp and between turn-ins I went outside to stretch my legs and get some air. I had my judges badge on and a family came up and started asking me questions about what was going on. One of their questions was of course how to become a judge, so I answered and mentioned that a judges class was coming up and if they wanted to try it out then that was the place to start.

I did warn them that once they crossed that bridge into top drawer Q, that they probably won't like their local Q place anymore. They laughed and said that they would always 'just love' Sonny's BBQ. It was really hard to keep that straight face.

Russ
 
Rick,

Your profile says "Jacksonville". Is that NC? If so, what was the name of the restaurant so I never go there.
Ray
 
Sometimes too, the que is pretty darn good, but the sides suck, and vice versa.
Either one can spoil the experience.
 
I have pretty much given up on bbq restaurants, even Sweet Baby Rays, and The Weber Grill. Near Chicago, only
one place does a good job, Uncle Bubs in Westmont. There is only 1 bbq place that I really want to try, its in Texas,
is only open on Saturday and is usually sold out by noon, sometimes 10:30AM. If friends want to go out for
bbq, I usually say come one over well make some.
 
Thoroughly agree with everyone. :)
Have found only a couple of restaurants worthy of anything greater than a 6.
 
Ray Crick said:
Rick,

Your profile says "Jacksonville". Is that NC? If so, what was the name of the restaurant so I never go there.
Ray
Click to expand...

No, it is Jacksonville, Florida.

We do have a place near where I work that produces some decent q, but this was not one of those. My friends liked the ribs and thought they were decent. I thought they were horrible and couldn't believe we were served them at a place that had been there for 3 years. The brisket was dry too. Maybe it was because it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon and we got leftovers from the day before or something


There is a Sonny's about 2 blocks from my house and I NEVER go there. Its just awful to me and processed
 
Chris Hosston said:
Go to Oklahoma Joes in KC and tell me if you still feel that way. It is the best bbq I've ever had.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure I wont be going to Oklahoma anytime soon....or anywhere else to far outside of Florida

I never said they were all bad, just the ones I have been to lately
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top