My wife sends me a text message saying that we are going out to eat tonight. And we're getting ice cream. I'm an "eating out whore" so I'm really okay with that. Then I started to think that I screwed up the cooking lately and she doesn't want to eat my overcooked under spiced meals. So I call her. She was having a bad day at work, that's why she wanted to go out. Fair enough.
I check around for a barbecue joint that we haven't been to before. Found one, the reviews are good and the website says the place has been around by the same husband and wife owner since 1959. I decide that we need to try it. We wrestle the minions into the car and fight the traffic getting to a place that looks like it's been around since the 50's. That's a good sign to me. My wife mentions how it's not promising that there is only one car in the parking lot and you can see the four customers at one table. It's 6:45 pm and the place is dead. It's a slow day in the restaurant business but one table is bad no matter your excuses.
We go in and the employees line up behind the counter. One lady is at the register, one guy is slicing the meat, someone is just hanging out (I think he was the dishrat), and the older guy is doing the sides for the meals. On the sneeze shields are the guidelines for accepting credit cards or checks (what the hell? a restaurant that accepts checks?) and things about the meals. We're in a rib mood whilst two of the kids want sausage.
Decent portion size for the price, the kids meals seem like a major value for the price. For two adult meals (rib plates), three kids meals (two sausage and one rib) plus five drinks the total was $41. That works out to about $11 per adult and $5 per kid with soft drinks (I didn't see any alcohol), add in the tax and you get the full total.
The food was a good value for the portion unfortunately the taste just wasn't there. One of the sides was "baked potato casserole", it had more spice and kick than either the sausage, the ribs, or the barbecue sauce. That side was probably the best part of the meal. On the menu it described the sausage as German sausage, I guess that means that it's not very flavorful and what little flavor there is is sweet. The ribs were tender but they didn't have much in the way of flavor either. The barbecue sauce (the menu said that they make it) was boring, what little flavor it had was also sweet. Looking at one of my kids plate and I couldn't tell which pile of condiment was the sauce and which was the ketchup, they were about the same color. The green beans had bacon but I bet they boiled them because again-not much flavor. The menu said that the fries are fresh cut and made fresh to order. I couldn't tell. They tasted like fries with the skins left on.
While there the place did a good business of people coming in and ordering sandwiches to go, I saw about a dozen customers come in and order; some were big orders and some were smaller. I noticed the cashier lady was very busy if she wasn't ringing up something, she would wipe down a table or clean or stock something. I didn't see the other employees until someone came in and ordered something. The place was clean, the ambiance was about perfect for a "barbecue joint" but I'm not going back unless I'm taking a friend that likes sweet barbecue because I don't.
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