Hi Everyone,
Sorry it's taking so long to respond. I've been busy as all get out. Last sunday one of our waitresses broke her hand <not on the job> and couldn't work this past week and our other waitress was in Ca. So I had to be the waiter and also run the kitchen during the day. I made it through the week and what a week it was. We were jambed packed all day yesterday and all night lastnight. We ran out of brisket at 10pm, Good thing I smoked off alot of ribs, pulled pork, chickens and so on. WOW what a night. When I left lastnight 1 hour before closing <we close at 11 for now> People were still comming in. The guests we had over the weekend were fantastic, they love the place, food as well. There wasn't an empty seat in the house. here is the latest review on Yelp.
11/08/2007
Going from best to worse, I have to say this joint is better than Blue Ribbon (Great Sides), Redbones (Cooked just right), Tennessee (Good sauce), Village Smokehouse (large portions), and Firefly (Yuk!) because it combines the best of Blue, Red, Ten, and the Village.
I personally like having a choice of sauces and this place has lots to choose from, my personally favorite is the North Carolina Mustard which is nice to see amidst common tomato based sauces. This mustard could have used some more vinegar to balance the delicious fatty cuts of meat, but the best I've had since I was stationed at Fort Bragg with the 82nd Airborne.
Joe's had lots of sides, everything is good except the Mac and Cheese Not enough cheese and no bread topping =(. The collard greens were excellent with a touch of bacon to sweeten the leaves. The cornbread was moist with a good amount texture from the cornmeal.
Sweet potato fries a great alternative to regular spuds.
The ribs were perfectly dry rubbed to allow for a crisp outer crust. The ribs had a little chew to them, meaning the meat doesn't just fall off the bone, which to me is the way all BBQ should be...a little tug and off it comes....ummmmm. The chicken was average nothing to special to report other than it was still moist after a 2 hour spit roasting sauna. And the pulled pork had the perfect amount of tang and smoky flavor.
This is the cleanest BBQ joint I have ever been to and my girlfriend said the bathroom was spotless. It says a lot about a place when they dare to have white floors in the bathroom, Brass balls!
The only downfall, the waitress (Greta) <who is new> was sooooooo slooooooow. She didn't even come by to ask if we needed second drinks or anything else before handing me our check an hour into our meal. At least she was friendly and smiled.
Prices were fair, I have the Smoken' Joe Sampler, Chicken, ribs, pulled pork, cornbread, and 2 sides for 19 bucks. I have enough leftover for lunch tomorrow so I guess you could say the cost was 9.50 a meal, not bad.
Also, they get their desserts from Petsi's Pie in Somerville, whom makes excellent southern sweet potato pie and pecan pies!
A definite return visit!!! Good job Joe.
