Slows Bar BQ

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

Slow’s Bar-B-Q is on Michigan Avenue in the shadow of what’s left of Tiger Stadium. There’s no parking lot that we could see, but we were able to find street parking around the corner. The area looks a little rundown and not some place I would really want to be at night, but Slow’s stood out as a diamond in that rough. Our first challenge was getting in the place. We couldn’t find the door! There are two doors that actually look like doors, but both are looked and not an actual entrance. We stood looking at the store front trying to figure out how to get in! Fortunately, someone came out. The door is blended in to the facade. It’s has the same wooden slats the cover the building. No windows or even a handle. There’s a hole cut out of the wood to pull the door open. It’s actually a really cool look and once we figured out how to get in, we had a little chuckle and could appreciate the design. We made it to Slow’s just after three o’clock. Not a prime dinner time. We thought we’d be ok, but when we got in, there’s was actually a wait. There were two large groups in front of us as well as a couple normal size parties. We gave our name to the host who told us it would be about twenty minutes. A twenty minute wait at three in the afternoon! Again, that’s usually a good sign, so we stuck it out. Turns out, the wait was about ten to fifteen. Both of us ordered the Carolina Pulled Pork. When you order and entree, you get your choice of two sides. We both chose Mac ‘n Cheese. I ordered fries for my second side and J got the baked beans. Like most BBQ places, it didn’t take long to get our food. Five minutes after the waitress left us, she was coming back with plates of food. It didn’t take long before our table was filled plates and bottles of sauce. The pulled pork is prepared Carolina style with their NC Sauce. That sauce is a true Carolina style vinegar sauce. It was really tangy and had a real sharp bite to it. If you take a bite not knowing what a vinegar BBQ sauce is, you in for a big shock. The sauce was good, but really not my thing. I do like thin vinegar sauces, but this one was really vinegary. They leave bottles of their six sauces on the table and we both went through and tried all of them. The problem was, the NC sauce was already on the pork, so it was always competing with the other sauce. The sweet sauce was good, but again, sort of tart. The spicy sauce was probably the consensus favorite. It’s more like what I make at home. It’s a little thicker, but still had a good smokey flavor. They don’t go light on the pork either. We both had a huge mound on our plates. I ate most of mine and J ate about half. When we started getting full, we dove into the sides since the pork will still be good tomorrow. The mac ‘n cheese was delicious! It wasn’t actually mac ‘n cheese. It was shells ‘n cheese, but it didn’t matter what kind of pasta they used. You could tell the plates just came out from under the broiler. The cheese was a nice golden brown color and it was hot. J suggested I poke mine to vent the steam after she almost burnt her tongue. For a side dish, the serving was pretty large. I’ve eaten at BBQ places that give you a little plastic cup. Not Slow’s. You got a really large serving. The fries were waffle fries. Nothing special, but like the mac ‘n cheese, a really good portion size. The waitress gave me the option for cheese fries, but sine I was getting cheese in my other side, I passed. J said her beans were great. There was a hint of cinnamon which gave them a unique flavor. She didn’t eat them all and is now wishing she had brought them home. Our bill for the two platters was about $27.

A

A Private User

My cousin turned 40 on Halloween 2010. To celebrate I thought it would be great to do a "Grub Crawl" Saturday the 30th. So we rented a limo bus and gatherd up 20 of his closest friends and set out for a night of dining and dashing. Our first stop was at They Say on Jos. Campau for appetizers and cocktails. The food was great...and hot. The drinks were cold. The live jazz was RIGHT. The night started out with a bang. Next stop was Slows for dinner. I had made a 9:00pm reservaton for 20 a month prior. We arrived at 8:50pm, gave our party name and was told there would be a few minute wait. Ten minutes later there would be a 15 minute wait. I called a couple of other places but no one had room for 20. I was getting irritated. There was another large group there and they only have room for one large group at a time. (Should have gone back to They Say). Finally at 9:55 we were seated. I explained to the manager that we were on a time scedule and had to leaving for our next stop at 10:30. He said he would alert the kitchen to get our orders out fast and to hold other orders untill ours was done. ( NOT... while waiting for our food two other tables , seated after us, were served.) The waitress, who was very pleasant, took our drink orders no one ordered alcohol, all soft drinks. My lemonade watery due to the ice melting in the lukewarm beverage. When dinner came I was not impressed. My nephews ribs were cold. Not cool, COLD...and tough. My nieces brisket was cold, looked like it had been pre-chewed and was very fatty. My brothers chili was warm, but not warm enough to melt the cheese on top though. The fries were hard and, yes, cold. The cornbread was not right it was just wrong. Very dense and heavy and again cold. My salmon was cold and dry. The macaroni was hot but it was thick and pasty and charred. Very smoky. My niece will eat M&C all day if you let her but she would not eat that. Instead she ate the tender part of my salmon. I wont mention the green beans...umm...no, I wont. By 10:45 we had all had enough and were ready to leave. We missed our dessert stop (they closed at 11), went over an hour on the bus..$$$. and all we got from Slows was an, "Im so sorry". No let us pay for your drinks. No can we offer you a complimentary dessert. Just Im sorry. And I guess thats true. They are so sorry. So,so sorry.

A

A Private User

Heres a bit of background info: I love BBQ, Im a food snob, and Ive dined across the USA and Canada. After seeing all the hype for this restaurant I really wanted to try it. The wait was an hour so we went to the coffee bar/cafe next door which had a killer cappuccino. When we were called we overheard the wait was 2 hours now. Shortly after sitting down we were very impressed with the large beer and alcohol selection. Food was served very fast, which should be the case when there is a large volume of people. To start we ordered a Cesar salad, which was abysmal. I was happy to see romain lettuce instead of the cheaper iceberg, but the flavors were not distributed at all. I dislike fish and was disgusted when I got a bite of fishy salad (yes I know Cesar has anchovies/sardines). After more examination we realized that the salad had not been properly distributed leaving some ultra fishy bites and some not so dressed bits. Salad aside, the baby back ribs were good after being slathered in sauce. Im assuming the concept of slows is a dry rib covered in sauce. At first when we tried different sauces in moderation I noticed that the ribs were pretty dry, probably because they lacked huge fatty bits. The sauces were all spectacular, but Id say the ribs are no better than subpar. We tried the applesauce which has many raves online- after one bite I was disgusted. It came cold with a whole slice of apple sitting in it, after which the server said it could be hot. It tasted "like dirt" in my bfs words. I make applesauce and I was pretty disappointed. The waffle fries are exactly like those of chick fil-e, not too impressed here. We also ordered a side if Mac and cheese which our waiter neglected to bring. The cornbread was dry. Overall I wouldnt go back, its virtually the same thing as famous Daves. The only differences are the beer selection, wait, prices, and atmosphere.