Goodwood Barbecue Company
| Address: | 7849 W Spectrum St, Boise, ID 83709, USA |
| Phone: | +1 208-658-7173 |
| Site: | goodwoodbbq.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
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David Honan
I’m giving Goodwood 3 stars because I’m a BBQ snob. Their service was absolutely excellent at the peak of a Friday lunch hour, which is highly commendable, but their rendition of BBQ fell far below my expectations. If this is what passes as the best of Boise’s BBQ scene by the local paper’s rankings, I feel sorry for the folks who live in that fine city that they’re being led astray. My BBQ preferences are heavily influenced by a couple Texas pitmasters exported to Seattle, Stefan Giles and Jack Timmons. Their brisket offerings are consistently rated top in the area and, lacking my own pilgrimage to Austin, are the standard to which I hold others: A crunchy salt-and-pepper bark, heavy (1/4”+) smoke ring, and thick slices from which bite-size hunks can be easily pulled apart by hand. (No utensils, please, except for sides.) I ordered a two-meat platter with “brisket, I prefer fatty and burnt ends,” and back ribs. When brought to the table, the brisket I was expecting instead appeared in the form of a dozen or so sliced cubes of beef. They were completely lacking in bark, almost popped between my teeth, and didn’t have much flavor. Upon flagging down my waitress, she explained that instead of trimming the heavily barked edges of the brisket for burnt ends, which was my expectation, Goodwood “uses the top cut so we better utilize the entire brisket.” I should have taken a cue from the menu listing an upcharge for brisket, but not burnt ends. She graciously offered me a few slices of brisket in place of the beef chunks, but to my continued disappointment, they were delivered drowning in sauce and proved to be undercooked: I couldn’t pull the slices apart, and the fat didn’t melt when squeezed between my fingers. For the ribs, I was served an unsliced 1/3-rack from the short bone end, which is exactly how I like ‘em on my plate and my favorite part of the rack. While tasty, they suffered from the fallacy of “fall-of-the-bone tenderness” – the bones pulled out with a quick twist, showing that the rack was overdone (the meat was a bit mushy, too). Also, the silver skin was left on, which I consider to be a hallmark of lazy BBQ: If you’re trying to offer a quality product, why serve the customer that chewy thing? If it won’t peel off during prep, at least take five seconds and score it repeatedly before smoking the racks so it won’t be as noticeable. As noted above, Goodwood leans heavy on the sauce; after scraping off the excess from the brisket slices, I was left with a puddle the diameter of a muffin. The ribs were also quite wet. I’m not sure if this is a nod to the people for whom “sauce is everything” when it comes to BBQ, or if it’s a tacit acknowledgment that their meat can’t stand on its own. For the sides: The steak fries were excellent, and the beans were unremarkable. Goodwood BBQ unquestionably offers excellent service, and it bears repeating that I was given a replacement serving of meat when I expressed my disappointment that their burnt ends weren’t anywhere close to what I expected. However, the quality of the BBQ trends towards mass production and widespread accessibility, not the finely-crafted Central Texas style that I’ve become accustomed to. Those who, like me, pass through Boise looking for a good BBQ meal might want to choose another destination. I hope to explore the local scene more during my future visits to the city.
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Jeri Simpson
Amazing food! Ribs fell off the bone. Tender. Juicy. Yummy. BBQ Chicken was ON POINT. Moist and flavorful. Burnt ends just tasted like unseasoned meat that had a char on it. Had better, but it wasnt terrible. The sides we had were the loaded potatoes, pecan sweet potatoes, Mac n cheese, coleslaw. All were freaking great. We also ordered the potato skins app. Tasty, but a bit forgettable. Cheese was off the chain in amount but NO flavor. For a dinner BBQ DINE IN restaurant it is about average in price point. Our server didnt seem as good as the others. Less available. The server at the table next to us chatted up her table. And even refilled our water and brought us our check and take out boxes. Our server came running over after everything was all said and done then started to clear plates. She was very nice when she was around, but I wouldnt say she was very attentive. Seemed like she was running the bar and also trying to serve. Overall good food, beautiful restaurant, & pleasant servers. Would try this place again. Thank you
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Danielle Orem
Let me start out by saying I am a vegetarian, my boyfriend is the opposite, and this place has become our tied for first place to eat because we both get a meal we enjoy. The portions are great for the price, the staff is always nice, and this is literally the only place in the valley Ive been that will reduce the cost of items for ordering them without meat (specifically I always get nachos and they always do it even if I forget to ask!) also nachos second day are ick right? Not these! I can eat them the next day for a meal as well because the portions are huge! Despite the fact the servers have many tables we are never forgotten and often get to have brief fun conversations with the servers. They have lots of food for vegetarians (if you are peskatarian eating fish clearly there will be more) but love all the food options and they dont look at you funny for not ordering the meat-on-meat meal. Totally recommend and we keep going back!
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HolyKngt
They messed up on my girlfriends burger, and didnt put the cheese and bacon on her fries, and put it on the burger instead. The server informed us there was an up charge for bacon and cheese fries. We had to call a manager over, and she blamed it all on the server, and tried to up sell us again. After discussing the mistake, the manager finally agreed to give us another burger, and fries with no extra charge. When the manager brought it back out, she put bbq sauce on it, which was wrong again. My brothers steak was cold in the middle. My burgers bacon was tiny for a $2 charge. After all this, the manager only gave us a free desert, and didnt really try to make us feel comfortable. We had to switch tables because they say us at a tiny 4 person booth....(the same size as 2 person booths at standard restaurants) Overall the seats were tiny, the good was mediocre for expensive price, and the manager did a poor job at getting us to come back.
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Dave Shaw
Have been going here since they opened almost 15 years ago. I will say this that the food and service has always been consistent. I think the reason is many a time Ive seen the manager/owner helping out and interacting with the customers. Thats how you manage a business Pricing is fair and have always had my food prepared in a reasonable amount of time. Theres been a couple of times that the prime rib was dry or way to fatty, but they always made it right. If any improvements are to be made....drop the big screen T.V.s. its not a sports bar. Just one of the few places that you can have a nice dinner. Also it can be a little on the nosy side. One thing though I dont like was there margaritas, way to sour and onion rings waaay to much batter.. But will always be back due to everything else being so good
