BBQ Review - Stubb's, Austin, TX

Ok. This isn't a review of my local grocery store. But yes, this is a review of Stubb's BBQ. If any of you are into sauces and rubs, then you'll likely know this guy. He's the black dude in a cowboy hat on his bottles. I wasn't actually sure if it was the same dude or not but decided to check it out anyway.

It also didn't hurt that I had my heart set on going to Ironworks for ribs...but they closed at 5 the day I was there for a private party (Curses...foiled again!).

At any rate, the menu is just like any really good BBQ joint should be. Fairly limited. I don't think Gordon Ramsey will be in to simplify an over-complicated menu any time soon. They basically had different sorts of plates but I opted for the $17.95 "family style" which was basically all you can eat of your choice of 3 meats - from pork ribs, chicken, sausage, turkey and brisket. I went with ribs, chicken and sausage.

We'll start with the bad first. Sausage was certainly nothing to write home about. One things I've come to expect in my jaunts to TX is a wide variety of sausages. Most are good - this was just so-so. Actually, I sort of didn't like it. It sort of tasted mushy as funny as that may sound speaking about sausage. Oh well, I should have just ordered a link on the side rather than having it be one of my meats.

Then we get to side orders. Although there are other sides available like fried okra and mac-n-cheese, the family style comes with beans and tater salad. Again, nothing special about them in particular. Nothing beats Rudy's creamed corn. I love a place that doesn't think of their sides as an afterthought. Unfortunately, for the tater salad and beans...they were an afterthought. Oh, and cornbread was an extra 75 cents and I have no idea why they charge extra. It wasn't that great either. If someone wants cornbread ya'll...just give it to them. Sheeesh.

I'm not 100% sure if I've ever actually purchased Stubb's mainline bbq sauce. I know I've gotten various rubs and marinades that I usually doctor up after-market style. But I don't recall ever getting just the standard bbq sauce. What was on the table was also simply, ok. It tasted like any bbq sauce you can get at a thousand restaurants all over the country. Nothing really stood out about it.

Now to the good stuff. The chicken was really good. It was fall off the bone done and the breast meat was very moist. The smokey flavor was not overpowering although I can't stand as much as can be dished out. I ended up having all parts of the chicken and they were really good.

Ribs. They were not babyback ribs but they were excellently prepared. Basically, the same as the chicken...fall off the bone done. Very moist and very tender. The rubs lended great flavor to the meat and I could easily eat it without any sauce; just as the chicken.

They were pretty crowded too but service was still pretty good. My server didn't shine me because I was a solo-diner but you could tell she was busy. I did find two things pretty ghetto though. At a table next to me, a kid was waiting for his check. He wasn't dawdling or lollygagging around, he was waiting for the check. Still, one of the hostesses asked if he was done and before he could explain that he was waiting on them...she said "I have people waiting, can I use your table?" Personally, that's bush league. Communicate with your people and understand that he's waiting on your staff member. What's 3 more minutes. Secondly, it was really funny when they tried to cram 8 people at a 4-person table. I know that group was full of good-hearted fun-natured people; but I would have told the hostess to bite me if she tried to pull that on me. I mean they were elbow to elbow and had 4 actually sitting pretty much on top of each corner of the table. I sort of felt like going over and saying that everything looked rosey now...but wait till your plates arrive. Good luck. I didn't say anything as I figured they eventually figure it out on their own.

So, this begs the questions...would I go back? Yes, I would. I know I'd order differently but I can respect the main pieces of the BBQ experience were done right. I love well cooked ribs and chicken and they certainly had that. I'll try some different sides next time that I know you can't mess up (like okra).