Utah > Salt Lake City: Pat's Barbecue

[Rick H (brdprey)]

http://www.patsbbq.com/

155W Commonwealth Avenue
South Salt Lake, Utah 84115

located off of 2100s and just off west temple (west side).
neat atmosphere, certain nights have live music. its an old garage (repair shop)
had good flavor on ribs and brisket definitely worth trying. i believe it was also highlighted on diners drive-in and dives.
its now a must for my youngest to go to once a month if money permits.

 

[Chris Allingham]

Pat's Barbecue has been featured in three episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, the first in 2009. Mrs. TVWB and I like to visit Triple D joints when we travel, so we decided to give Pat's a try. The location at 2929 S. State St in SLC was convenient, so we went there.

We visited on a Thursday afternoon at 2:40 PM. It was after lunchtime and you could have fired a cannonball through dining room and not hit anyone. It was a nice physical space, pretty big dining room, lots of wooden tables, some booths, some high-top seating, and a good-sized, convenient parking lot.

We shared a brisket sandwich with fries, three bones of spareribs, a bread pudding, and two soft drinks for $32 including tax but before tip.

First thing that turned me off even before the food came was that our ketchup bottle was gross. A small thing, I figured, I'll just swap it for the bottle at the next table. Same gunk. I went from table to table and could not find a clean bottle. I swear, I checked over 20 bottles before going to the front counter where I found a new, unused bottle. This explains why places have ketchup pumps these days instead of bottles--much easier to keep clean.



Second thing that bothered me is that the food did not come out all at once. The brisket sandwich basket came out first, then a few minutes later the ribs, then after another five minutes the bread pudding. Just one of my pet peeves.

Third thing was that the bun for the brisket was toasted to within an inch of its life. Not quite burned, but almost. Thought it was odd that the bun was toasted on the outside surfaces, not the inside.



Huge amount of brisket on the sandwich, but hard to eat given that slices were thick and folded over and only plastic cutlery was available to cut the sammie in half. Meat was perfectly tender and had OK flavor, I'll give them credit for that much, but somewhat dry as might be expected for brisket flat. Was not asked if I wanted lean or fatty, nor did I specify. I added some of Pat's mild sauce for moisture, it was thin and tomatoey with a hint of vinegar taste; I would have preferred it a bit thicker.

Fries were the skin-on, coated type, served hot and crispy. No complaints. We didn't try the pickle chips.



I absolutely hated the spareribs. First, I don't like them served whole like this, I prefer a St. Louis cut. Second, I was unable to get a clean bite, partly due to the tough membrane left on the back, partly due to them being slightly undercooked. They were also really fatty and not very well seasoned. The ribs were my biggest disappointment. The little square of cornbread was bland.

As for the bread pudding, it was nothing special. Served like a slice of cake with a big dollop of whipped cream on top and a little container of unidentified red sauce on the side--not the caramel listed on the menu. Not gooey like a good bread pudding should be.



I wanted to like Pat's on State St. more than I did. Perhaps we went on a less than perfect day. Perhaps the Commonwealth Ave location would have been better.

Here are some pics of the restaurant.



Not a big fan of the flashing pig, but whatever turns you on!

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Good read and interesting review

 

[Allen Bales]

We have eaten at several restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. We have found them to be hit and miss.

 

[BryanO]

Could be that quality has a problem keeping up with quantity. I’ve read a few articles about places having growing pains after being featured on DDD.
Sucks that you had a bad experience Chris. Thanks for the intel.

 

[Bob Bass]

We have eaten at several restaurants featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. We have found them to be hit and miss.

Guy seems to almost always bring positivity to whatever he is doing. Be it when he announces the cooks going home during a Grocery Game, or when he has a less than enjoyable Triple D experience. My wife seems to pick up on Guys responses to whatever he's tasting. Not that uncommon for her to blurt out 'He doesn't like it'. I have yet to read Guys responses with such certainty.