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Detroit Area BBQ: Redsmoke
13 years ago
Me and 
synthfox87 headed downtown to Redsmoke BBQ today.
Traffic and parking were a nightmare, but we went during a Tigers game, so that's most of that. Wait was about 30 minutes, so not bad for a saturday night during a sporting event.
Atmosphere is decent, but the place feels a little cramped and loud. Also might be due to the sporting event, but there were a lot of loud drunkies.
Drink prices were cheap.
Onto the food!
We ordered fried pickles as an appetizer. The pickles themselves were good. The breading tasted good but didn't stick to the pickles. It was also overly greasy. 7/10
We both ordered the Spare Ribs Combo, which was 1/4 slab of spare ribs and 1 other meat, and one side.
I had the ribs and chicken with red beans and rice. He had the ribs with brisket and mac and cheese.
The Ribs: They seemed decently cooked and the rub was very good, the problem here is the meat quality. It was not good meat, the ribs were chewy and tough. The flavor was there, but they were NOT good quality ribs. I can go to Famous Daves and get better. MAJOR strike 3.5/10
The chicken: Chicken looked great soon as I saw it, when I picked up the leg the bone came right out. Good sign! The meat was juicy and full of flavor, and the skin had a GREAT smoked flavor in it. Gotta say, damn, damn good meat. 9/10
The Brisket: I only had a couple bites, but it was good. Good flavor, not dry. It was a winner. 8/10
The Mac And Cheese: Looked good, slight panco crust, very cheesy. Taste...well. At first it was decent, but quickly descended into blandness. The worst part, it had a really funky bad aftertaste -.- So much for that. 4/10
Red Beans and Rice: .......how do you fuck up red beans and rice? Well. Redsmoke knows how! It seriously taste like Zatarans or Uncle Bens or some other frozen food department fare. Blande, watery. And they had tons of green and red bell peppers in it? That didn't help. Seriously bad. 1/10
Cornbread Muffin: Ok, you know, cornbread can be easy to screw up. I expected nothing good after the rest of the meal. Honestly? Good job. Moist, flavorful, had some jalapeno chunks in there that were balanced. Damn good. 8.5/10
Overally? 6.5/10. It was overall meh, and I would not go back, but they had a couple items that they hit out of the park and saved this from being a total write off.
synthfox87 headed downtown to Redsmoke BBQ today. Traffic and parking were a nightmare, but we went during a Tigers game, so that's most of that. Wait was about 30 minutes, so not bad for a saturday night during a sporting event.
Atmosphere is decent, but the place feels a little cramped and loud. Also might be due to the sporting event, but there were a lot of loud drunkies.
Drink prices were cheap.
Onto the food!
We ordered fried pickles as an appetizer. The pickles themselves were good. The breading tasted good but didn't stick to the pickles. It was also overly greasy. 7/10
We both ordered the Spare Ribs Combo, which was 1/4 slab of spare ribs and 1 other meat, and one side.
I had the ribs and chicken with red beans and rice. He had the ribs with brisket and mac and cheese.
The Ribs: They seemed decently cooked and the rub was very good, the problem here is the meat quality. It was not good meat, the ribs were chewy and tough. The flavor was there, but they were NOT good quality ribs. I can go to Famous Daves and get better. MAJOR strike 3.5/10
The chicken: Chicken looked great soon as I saw it, when I picked up the leg the bone came right out. Good sign! The meat was juicy and full of flavor, and the skin had a GREAT smoked flavor in it. Gotta say, damn, damn good meat. 9/10
The Brisket: I only had a couple bites, but it was good. Good flavor, not dry. It was a winner. 8/10
The Mac And Cheese: Looked good, slight panco crust, very cheesy. Taste...well. At first it was decent, but quickly descended into blandness. The worst part, it had a really funky bad aftertaste -.- So much for that. 4/10
Red Beans and Rice: .......how do you fuck up red beans and rice? Well. Redsmoke knows how! It seriously taste like Zatarans or Uncle Bens or some other frozen food department fare. Blande, watery. And they had tons of green and red bell peppers in it? That didn't help. Seriously bad. 1/10
Cornbread Muffin: Ok, you know, cornbread can be easy to screw up. I expected nothing good after the rest of the meal. Honestly? Good job. Moist, flavorful, had some jalapeno chunks in there that were balanced. Damn good. 8.5/10
Overally? 6.5/10. It was overall meh, and I would not go back, but they had a couple items that they hit out of the park and saved this from being a total write off.
There are also a number of places in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area that are absolutely amazing. (The kind of places that have wood smokers sitting in their parking lot).
-Satchel's BBQ: Been here many times; probably my favorite. Pork/Chicken/Beef brisket, a few sides, mostly southern-style.
-Biercamp: They specialize in making their own meats, like bratwurst & sausages, but also serve pork BBQ sandwiches. Worth the trip to eat and then pick up fresh meats to cook later. (Last time, we bought Bratwurst made with swiss & Founder's Dirty Bastard.. and also basic spicy breakfast sausages. Me gusta.)
-Blue Tractor BBQ: Brewpub specializing in BBQ & southern-style food, but with other options available. Been here many times, and never had a complaint. They always have several beers on tap they make themselves. Also quite good.
There are two other places I keep hearing good things about but haven't tried yet.. A Taste of Soul in Ypsilanti... and Ron's Roadside BBQ north of AA.