hmmmm - i'm puzzled.. i'm puzzled, pretty solid score and reviews, but they just didn't add up for me ... maybe with the holidays business was slow and food older or made with less care? reminded me of tx bbq (attached to a local gas station). the inside was nice though, prompt greeting from "host"/owner? our waiter disappeared a bit more than i'd have liked in terms of drink refills, but was friendly enough.
as for the food, we had the extreme sampler: 1/4 a chicken, some pulled pork, brisket and ribs. plus we added on a sausage link. for sides, coleslaw and red beans and rice.
the chicken was moist, but not particularly smokey (the skin was, but it was soggy and really chewy). same story for thepork- moist, but not much of a flavor and certainly no "crunchies". ribs were definitely the best part of the meal, a little fatty and on the small side but no big deal. the sausage was boring and really really greasy. the brisket, sad sad sad, so dry. it was more like jerky. i really do not understand why bbq places insist on pre slicing their brisket. slice to order, please. it takes 15 more seconds. i will happily, patiently wait. i promise.
so the dry brisket leads me to the sauces: house, sweet and heat. house and heat both had a weird taste to me and sweet was just that, cloyingly sweet. no salvaging the brisket and the mystery flavors continued with the cole slaw ... it had a red hue and i couldn't quite place the flavor ... oddly tart. not for me. the hubby seemed to enjoy his red beans and rice though.
i've been around the bbq block a few times (just check out my other reviews) and love my green egg in the summer, so i might just be really picky, but i think there is better bbq fare to be had.