bib's downtown

dont waste your money here. horrible ! just eat at little richard's and save your money!
since my husband and i moved here, we've been trying all the different bbq places ( we are huge bbq fans ). we hit up this place last night, and were severely disappointed.
1) i got the pulled pork and he got the pork and brisket combo, since they came so highly recommended. our minimal portions of pork was mostly all fat and his had several pieces of bone !!! he declared the brisket merely okay.
2) the beans were bland and cold and his mac n' cheese was overdone and flavorless. the coleslaw tasted no different than the tub of it u can get in ur grocery store.
3) the only appetizing things were the hushpuppies, but hardly worth mentioning unless u pay yet more for a side order of them because you only get 3 with your meal. the 2 sauce choices were good, but nothing to set it apart from any other nc bbq joint.
4) you don't get as much food for you buck as you would with better bbq places.

we would have tried the desserts, but at this point we had lost all appetite for it, and could not finish out meals as it was. our tummies have been upset this whole night since we've eaten there. the dining area was large, but used to be a auto-repair place or something ( they didnt even change the floors ) so its really loud and echoey and didn't have a cozy feel at all - felt more like a loud cafeteria with bad flooring.
just eat at little richard's !

where's the smoke?????. we had a basketball tournament this past weekend and we found ourselves at bib's for the team dinner on satruday night. i loved the atmosphere and the very nice gentleman that was in the corner playing the guitar who interacted with our ball girls, they had a blast! the food however in my opinion, was lacking a lot, especially smoke flavor. i detected none. i had the brisket and it tasted just like a roast that had been cooked in a croc pot.....the cole slaw was inedible and the mac and cheese looked and tasted like it had potential but it was cold. the hushpuppies are by far the best thing on the plate. i also hate going to a place that specialized in bbq and is stingy with their sauce......please do not make me have to ask for sauce and only bring me a few teaspoons in a plastic container with a lid......it sure was not award winning. i definately would not visit here again if another opportunity arrises to be in winston salem.

laid-back atmosphere but doesnt skimp on quality! we stopped in on our way thru to myrtle beach. it was easy to find right off the highway and prices were definitely reasonable for such a delicious dinner! tons of flavor with every item, and btwn the 3 of us we ordered most of the menu.

best hushpuppies ever.. when everything's going right at bib's, theirs is some of the best food in town. but they can be inconsistent. i have a success rate of around 75% here, with all but a quarter of my visits being excellent meals. i've been about a dozen times, for lunch and dinner.
brisket is one of the highlights of the menu. it is outstanding. tender, tasty. turkey is great, as well. sausage & pulled pork are good, but nothing to rave about. slaws and potato salad are also decent. bib's beans are perfect. and the hushpuppies? son of jor-el, the hushpuppies!!! i could eat these friggin' things as though they were orange tic tacs. i think the corn meal must contain trace amounts of the ashes of cremated angels.

overall, 8/10 (when they're at their best), 5 (when they're misfiring).

it keeps getting worse. i went for the third time to bib's and unfortunately it will be the last. i have requested the pork loin on all three occasions and they have run out every time. how do you have something on the menu that is not available at 5 o clock on a friday? the portion sizes are getting increasingly smaller. the staff is friendly and prompt but maybe a little over-bearing, you don't need to grab my plate as soon as i put the last hush puppy in my mouth..makes me feel like you don't want me there..with money as tight as it is these days, i would expect if i spend $30.00 i could enjoy my night out..how do you go to a bbq joint and not have decent portions..a dining companion said "this is just enough mac and cheese to piss me off"

good but expensive. the food here is really good, especially the meatloaf. i've read a lot of the reviews here and cant say that i agree with the review of the food. but this is nc, when it comes to bbq then it's a noun not a verb so the haters reviewing here are most likely sticking to that mindset. however there's one subject that gets raised in the reviews that is on the money and that is....well money. they're a little bit higher priced than what your typical nc lexington bbq fanatic is use to so that probably didn't help with the other reviews.

the truth is, it's good food but not a regular every week date night location. sure, i will probably go back, but trips there will be few and far between because my money can go further elsewhere.

was disappointed with selection i chose. the buns were stale, the bbq was dry and the beans tasted burnt. was disappointed as i have visited bibs in the past and it was always good. i did have one employee approach me, ask me how the food was and after my feedback she offered to reimburse me which i was happy to agree to. the young lady who brought me my change seemed annoyed. unfortunately i won’t be back.

this edition of exciting about eating takes us back to winston-salem and to bib’s downtown, a bbq joint whose owner, mark little, won the 2013 bbq pitmasters and is a regular on the kansas city barbeque society (kcbs) competition bbq scene. as a kcbs bbq master judge, i have enjoyed bbq at numerous establishments. i always appreciate good que and was not disappointed at this stop.

the meats were juicy, and the sausage had a nice smoky flavor. the brisket could have done with more seasoning, and the watery sauces (of which there were only two) did little to remedy that. among the sides, the red slaw balanced sweet and vinegary while the hush puppies (an odd ball-shaped variant with delicious black pepper notes) were well above average. the mac and cheese, on the other hand, was creamy but quite bland.

i'm not sure what the hype is about. this place is just ok. the brisket was alright, pulled pork was good, mac n cheese was horrible, hush puppies were great. a little too expensive for what you get.

by greg & jenn • february 22, 2015 tonight jenn and i headed over to winston salem with our friends david & carrie. they have been trying to get us to go over to this bbq joint called “bibs downtown” for a while now and the plan finally came together. we met at their house around 6pm and headed on over. bibs is located at the corner of north spring st and west 5th st in downtown winston salem. david and carrie know the owner as they both attended the same arts school alma mater, so they gave us some of the inside scoop. the building is an old firestone tire building that lends a neat retro look to the glass lined walls of this casual bbq restaurant. we arrive to an already sizeable crowd, but are able to order almost immediately. here at bibs you order at the counter and then the servers bring your food to the table, while the drinks are self served and the atmosphere is pretty laid back. while it is a bbq joint, it’s a little different from your typical “lexington style” place, with some not so traditional (to us nc folk anyway) bbq offerings like beef brisket, pork tenderloin, ribs and pork spring rolls. david and i placed the orders while the ladies grabbed a table. after about 5-10 minutes our order arrived at the table: david had the “ribs and 2 meat” plate, which is served with your choice of any 2 other meats. he opted for the “smoked sausage” and “beef brisket”. plates are also served with texas toast, hush puppies, 1 side of your choice & either white or red slaw. he let me sample the sausage which was smoky and delicious. carrie ordered the “ribs plate”. i’ll give my take on those angelic meat lollipops here in a second. for our entrees jenn ordered the “pulled pork” with collard greens and red slaw while i echoed david and went with the “ribs and 2 meat plate”. now jenn grew up close to lexington,  so she is no stranger to good bbq. while she wasn’t overly excited about the pulled pork, she cleaned her plate, which i suppose speaks for itself. she did men

not my choice for bbq. while in the area on business today, we decided to revisit this popular downtown bbq eatery to see if we felt any different about the smoked meats and such served here - and we found that our original opinions were basically unchanged - the the vast majority of the food here is just not to our liking, especially at these prices.

we ordered the beef brisket plate ($8.95) and a 2 meat combo of pulled pork & smoked sausage ($13.95). sides with these 2 entrees were red slaw, white slaw, collards, and a side salad, and each plate comes with hush puppies.

the pulled pork is served unsauced, and the taste was simply not fresh - this meat was not freshly cooked. neither of the sauces on the table over came this problem. the red slaw was a rather nice version, the taste is relatively mild, but the quantity is small. the smoked sausage was quite nice - a full link, moist, and with a full smoky taste.

the brisket was tender, but not mushy as on our first visit, but it is bland tasting, and rather dry. neither of the table sauces (spicy or semi-sweet) did much to enhance the flavor, though they did help with the dryness. the white slaw is a very dry slaw, but not without some flavor.

the hush puppies are crusty, very dark (cooking time?), and have a taste we don't care for in this traditional item - sage i would guess. the collards were nice, with some really nice heat, though the vinegar that was brought for this came in small, commercial packages. the service was excellent, the time out of the kitchen for the order was reasonable.

bottom line for us: after 2 visits, four meals (averaging about $14 each with drink & tax for lunch) this is not a place for us. obviously, others here like it, and like it very much - we're just not in that group.


-----03 jun, 2011-----

fast food barbecue train wreck. well, i guess i am now officially not a brisket kinda guy - at least not of most brisket cooked in this state. what i attempted to eat here today was 2 thin slices of soggy mess with charred ends that had neither texture or taste. and it is not that i haven't eaten brisket, i have quite often, including in texas, where it approaches an art form - this is just not good brisket, regardless of where or how it was prepared.

the beans are a strange mixture of of 4 different kinds of beans, onion, tomato, and a meaty substance, which may have been a form of sausage - completely lacked flavor. the white slaw (you can also get a red version) was ok, though a little dry. the m & c was a dense, dry mass, and the method of preparation was not immediately identifiable. the collards had some heat, and a too strong vinegar after taste . the hush puppies were passable.

the ribs here were quite good, although a 3 bone plate for $8.95 is more than a little pricey because it is mostly bone, not meat, that you're getting. you do get 2 sides, but if there not very good sides, well there you are.

the setup here is basically that of a fast food place, place order and pay at the counter, get your own drink, and carry a number back to your table - food will be brought to you. the eating area is a large, open rectangle with rows of tables, so it gets noisy and a little hectic when crowded. this is a place to eat, and move on, not linger over your drink in conservation.

this is not about nc bbq versus the world. there are excellent version of all the items this place offers, even here in backwoods nc, but this place doesn't offer them, at least not to my satisfaction.

went in this wed evening to get the wing special and they "said" they had sold out already!!! i asked for a raincheck for the 5 for 3 price and they said no. will not visit again!

disappointed. we drove 1 and half hours to eat here and was told they were out this is a friday night at 7.30 service was good but feel the management needs to adjust because they said they run out just about daily but for a restaurant to run out of food early on a friday night is just poor management. won't go back.

sweet lady brought food and refills. delicious potato salad and hush puppies. bbq and mild sauce good. my brothers ribs fall off the bone good.