Hot Rods BBQ

Reviews 4

DA

David T

We just tried Hot Rods BBQ for the very first time tonight and I have to say, it will be the last. I had such high expectations after reading all the reviews. I live about 25 miles east and braved the Rt 80 traffic at rush hour to eat there. I should have known it was going to start off bad when the host wouldnt sit us in a booth because it was a Friday night and they wanted it for parties of 4 or more. (we were three). After just 3 minutes, they say a family of three there So much for 4 or more. We ordered the Sweet and Spicy wings to start because of all the wonderful reviews. They were so disappointing. They looked awesome, with a great slow smoked cook and meat that fell off the bones, but they had absolutely NO flavor. I made sure they werent the naked wings, but was assured they werent. We ended up getting a side of the hot sauce to give them some flavor. I ordered the three meat combo, pulled pork and brisket. The pulled pork was the WORST I have ever had. It looked and tasted like it came out of a can. It didnt have any flavor and was very wet. The brisket looked good, but again had no flavor. The other people in my party got the 1/4 chicken and ribs and those also lacked flavor. I hope you dont like different types of BBQ sauces. You have two to pick from; neither one was any good and were very spicy. I guess they put the heat in there to mask the lack of flavor in the meats. Also, they give you a basked of corn bread with dinner, but dont asked for more because they will charge you $5 without letting you know (it was removed from the bill after i complained) I will comment that they have a great variety of beer plus a very extensive menu of meads which they offer a flight of (4) 1oz samplers for $11. I like good BBQ. My favorite is the Smokin Pig in Georgia, but in NJ, Im always looking for something good. So far, in my opinion, Finks BBQ in Dumont is the best in Northern NJ. I almost went to the new Finks in Suffern today since they just opened. I should have gone with my first instincts. Hot Rods tries to offer too many thing and doesnt focus on the one thing in their name, BBQ. Disappointing.

JO

Joseph Leahy

This review makes me wish i could place 3.5 stars. I love hot rods, i have been a customer since before the move to the new location. I am very happy to see them expand and love the new digs. The reason i have to give them a lowish score is due to 2 reasons. 1 is my thoughts on their beer menu not being extremely accurate. Every time i go in there is at least two drafts that have changed from the list. there have been times where 3-5 of them have changed. Could be fixed with a simple "on deck" section added. second, their food is generally fantastic, but i think their food pricing is a but hard of a pill to swallow. My fiance and i stopped in and wanted to split an app as a snack before heading home for dinner while we were at happy hour. We had the hardest time deciding between apps, as hush puppies and fried pickles are the only two items that are under 11.99 (if my memory serves me correctly) They do offer a "side of guacamole" for 5.99, but we had no idea until asking that for an extra dollar we could get guac and chips as an app. The dip was delightful, but the portion was tiny for two people to enjoy with the chips served. On a side note, a couple of the bottles of beer that i have had seemed to have major off flavors, could be the proximity to light in the cooler, or maybe they were just way too old and were experiencing hop issues as i drink many ipas. One way to cure this is to stick to drafts, though full sail seems to move, so you are safe there. ultimately i thoroughly enjoy drinking god craft beers at Hot Rods, and i will be back..... often. Their sandwich prices are on par, so that is a great food option, but in general there are a few things that leave an odd taste in my mouth. I have been teetering on 3 or 4 stars, and ultimately this is one point, where i cant have it be just about perfect.

RA

Rachel

BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was told that this was one of the best BBQ places around however, when I went there it was HORRIBLE! The food was flavorless, the pulled pork was dry and tasteless, the ribs tasted just OK but the meat was very dry and it was difficult to pull it apart without a knife, the wings that they claimed were voted #1 in Jersey werent AT ALL. They didnt have a big wing selection either and the flavor of the wings was far from the best in NJ. Ive had BBQ down south a couple of times and it doesnt even compare. As for wings I would MUCH rather go to Marleys in Hackettstown and theyre not even a BBQ place but their wings are legit a MILLION times tastier. Service was even worse. Our waiter didnt come with drinks until our appetizers were almost finished and then didnt come back at all after that until we needed the check. They had a false advertisement on a sign at our table that said the first order would be 10 % off and I asked our waiter about it when he first sat us down and he said that if we filled out their free rewards membership card our first order would be 10% off but at the end of the meal he changed his story and said that was only if we came back to eat then we would get 10% off, which clearly made no sense. I asked for the manger and she told me we could only have 10% off our first order on some "chow now" app which I didnt see the name of the app anywhere on the card and the manager couldnt find it either until before she walked away where it said in tiny letters at the bottom "ChowNow" and she even told us it was worded strangely and they should clarify, yet still didnt give us a discount. Extremely disappointing all the way around and the cornbread came out cold. Beer wasnt even that great. GROSS GROSS GROSS!!!!!!

JO

Joe Vanderkooi

My wife and I have been in for dinner a few times. The atmosphere is fun, the beer selection is very good, and the food has been just OK. We went for dinner last night ( Monday) and we were more disappointed. Knowing the food is not great... we both picked out a burger, which is pretty good, not as badly overpriced as some other things. I also noticed a sign on the table announcing a Monday special on a "flight of beer". 4 five ounce samples of " any of the 20 tap beers". I picked out 4 that my wife and I wanted to try. The waiter came for our order and when we started to order our burgers he informed us they were out of burgers.( Wow!) I then tried to order the beers, and the waiter told me that they had some special beers on tap that night and therefore i couldnt order 11 of the choices on the list. When asked why the sign on the table said otherwise... he said thats what he was told. He said he would send over the manager. I chose different food, and beers, and ordered. The manager came over and just repeated what the waiter had said, and would not answer why they left the sign on the table stating something that wasnt true. No apologies. Our food was coming, so he said he would talk with us later. The only time he said anything more, was when we were leaving. He said good night. To sum up the night... food- OK beer- good waiter- OK false advertising on table ad for beer special -not acceptable manage-r not good! Disappointing experience!