The Rib House

Reviews 3

MI

Mitchel 5280

We visited The Rib House last night and I decided to get a full slab of the Tracys Famous Illegal Ribs and a side of Red Skinned Mashed Potatoes. The meal arrived after a short wait and the first thing I noticed was their appearance, they were not the deep red color (crust) that I am accustomed to seeing when ordering dry rub ribs...these ribs had a very dark brown un-appetizing look to them, but thats ok, I thought perhaps it was just the seasonings they used. The ribs came with a side of barbecue sauce, something you should never need with properly seasoned ribs. I tried the ribs and the first thing that came to mind was they had no taste at all...not a bad taste, just NO TASTE. I dipped some of the meat in the barbecue sauce and it now tasted like something...barbecue sauce. I went through a few more ribs and again, they had no taste. I asked my friend to try them and he returned with the same verdict...NO TASTE at all. Now if you were to stop reading my review at this point you may think that perhaps the problem with the ribs were with me and my friend, but please continue reading...it gets better. In a quiet and discreet fashion I shared my experience with the cashier and he expressed genuine concern and told me he would go get his supervisor (I later learned his supervisor was Tracy Webb the owner and self-proclaimed Chef "Extraordinaire"). A few minutes later a man emerges from behind a door and walks toward me with a very mad scowl on his face and guns blazing (the cashier must have shared my comments). I once again share my comments with him in a quiet and discreet fashion as to not upset the few other dining guest. Before I even finished my comments he interrupted and informed me that he has never received any negative feedback on his award winning ribs and that I am the first person to have the audacity to question them. He immediately took the ribs from the table and in a very harsh tone, informed me that he would credit back my money. Unbeknownst to the Chef "Extraordinaire", I watched him return to the kitchen and sample the remaining ribs from my plate (health-code violation?). His angry face was immediately replaced with one of concern, he spoke to one of the kitchen staff and pointed to something I could not see. A few minutes later he and I believe his partner returned with another slab of ribs, he informed me that after tasting the ribs that I was served there was indeed a problem with them (mind you he did not apologize). He asked me to try these new ribs which I did, the only difference between these and the other ones was that these were hot, the other ones were warm at best. They still had no taste, of course I expected this as I seriously doubt these ribs are made to order. Either the entire batch of ribs were poorly seasoned and cooked, or the Chef "Extraordinaire" does not know how to make good pork ribs. Its truly disappointing how poorly Tracy Webb Chef "Extraordinaire" handled this, all he had to do was in a polite and professional manner express genuine concern over my comments and offer me something else to try, but instead of doing that, he let his EGO get the best of him. On a side note, I should also mention that unlike other barbecue restaurants that I have been to all over this great country of ours, there was zero barbecue "smell" to be found outside or inside of the restaurant?

AN

Andrew Wootten

My wife and I went yesterday for the first time. The ordering process was a bit chaotic, as it was busy Fathers Day. You should get a menu first to look it over, if you dont know what they serve or dont know what you want, or have never been here, as was our case. No server comes to your table to take your order. You order and pay for your meal and drinks at the same time, but they bring your meal to you at the table. We had a couple of Left Hand Sawtooth draft beers as we waited; we were told around 15 minutes. It arrived around 10 minutes in. I ordered Marks Rib sampler, which had "A 1/3 slab of “Tracy’s Famous Illegal Pork Ribs” and a (6) ounce portion of Dale’s boneless beef short ribs, 3 side dishes and 3 buns". I asked for the "XXX Hot" BBQ sauce. (Also, as it was Fathers Day, they were giving Dads a free bottle of their sauce, any flavor or heat, for free. Kudos for that!) The smoke and flavor of these meats were phenomenal! The bark was outstanding. I was eating these right off the bone without ever using the sauce at first.There was no need to adulterate the awesome taste with a sauce! But I did then start to apply the sauce, and the taste only improved. I love hot, spicy BBQ sauces, and this was one of the best I have had. My wife preferred the "medium". The "hot" almost instantly made my scalp start to tingle and my face flushed from the heat. The medium, in contrast, was sweeter, and, to me, had no heat at all. It was quite a jump in contrast from the medium to the hot, as there is nothing in between them. (Their hottest, "Jessicas Fire" will have to be tried another visit) My wife and I both had a side order of baked beans (which I thought for sure had a touch of whisky cooked into them), and my meal came with three sides total. I had Red Skin Mashed Potatoes and Famous Cheesy Corn Bake. Both were delicious, but the corn bake wasnt what I was expecting. It was like macaroni and cheese consistency, "liquidy", as if the mac was replaced with corn. Still very good, but I was expecting it to be "solid" in texture. I wont rate my wifes meal, as she had the "Matts Combo Meal" which she ordered as pulled pork. I sampled it, and the same wonderful smoke and flavor was evident. But she ate nearly all of it. The portions were very generous; I was a little put off on the cost of my sampler platter, at $24.79, but after enjoying this as much as I did, it was well worth it. I could not eat it all in one sitting, so that to me is a bonus, with the cost averaged out over a second meal! We will not hesitate to return to The Rib House again soon. There are many more smoked meats to try. I am definitely a carnivore, and this place hit the spot! Lastly, this is the third BBQ place we have visited so far here in Longmont, the others being Georgia Boys and House of Q. Sorry guys; The Rib House blows them out of the water!

AN

Anthony Rurup

I went here a couple days ago, and truthfully had a pretty bad experience. Now I also manage in the food industry so I understand that things come up and I am also very forgiving and flexible when it comes to both my food and employee mistakes. However, what we experienced last time seemed to be just a lack of caring. At 5:20 we called ahead to see if we could place an order to come and be picked up at 6:00. The lady on the phone who took our order was very nice and helpful. Now, when me and my girlfriend place an order to be picked up we have a healthy habit of arriving about 5 to 10 minutes later than our scheduled time so that our food will MOST LIKELY be ready. Well when we showed up at 6:05 it had become evidently clear that our order had not even been put in. The lady was frantically punching in our order so she could get a total all the while thanking us for our patience. Again, not a huge deal to me. Ive made that mistake myself before so I understand the possibility of human error. Nobody is perfect after all. We say its no problem and sit down to wait for our order. At this time the restaurant was pretty empty with only two gentlemen before us waiting for their food. Well we wait until 6:30 when someone comes out to talk to us about the status of our order. As it turns out, theyre all out of ribs and tell us that they are cooking some and if we want some well have to continue waiting. Here is where I get frustrated because she tells me there is going to be a 35 minute wait. So youre telling me that I would now have to wait until 7:05 when I ordered at 5:20 to be picked up at 6:00? Your ribs arent even close to ready even an hour and a half after I ordered them! She offered the boneless beef ribs in place of your signature ones and since it had already been 30 minutes late we took it since we were hungry. Took it home and I have to say I firmly regret switching, I would have rather begrudgingly waited the 35 minutes for what I originally wanted. They boneless beef ribs are okay, but pale in comparison to the real deal. This is frankly unacceptable and has driven me to write my first ever review of a restaurant. I spent a good amount of money for a place to both waste my time and provide me with an inferior product to what I ordered but at the same higher price. My experience was an embarrassing performance of the Rib House. I simply dont understand how you would run out of ribs and realize it 25 minutes deep into my order when the restaurant was so slow when I arrived. My whole experience left me with the impression that the Rib House has both a staff that cares little about guest experience and either poorly planned or poorly executed restaurant operations. We love ribs and this place makes great ribs it really does. However, I dont think Ill gamble on it again anytime soon.