Bourbon BBQ & Catering

Reviews 5

SC

Scott Longazel

Im critical with restaurants, and I generally dont write reviews because of that. The food was border line terrible for bar b questions, which is fairly easy to do okay. Hot wings were overdone and deep fried. What bar b questions place deep fries chicken? The only thing that saved it was the fact that it was swimming in an Olympic size pool of hot sauce, so that made it somewhat moist as I chewed on the meet like it was beef jerry. My girlfriend just commented that beef jerry is better by the way. My girlfriend ordered the brisket, and it was good, but not great. I ordered the spare ribs, but they were out. Really? Note that this is a place that prides itself on its ribs. The waitress said they could substitute it with baby back ribs. Knowing that its extremely hard to do baby back rips good, I reluctantly said okay. This is not a place that does baby back ribs good, they do them dry and tough like leather. Now the service. If there is a manager, they should be fired. We had reservations and we had to wait 10 minutes while there were tables noticeably open and no one else waiting. When were were seated, it took 10 minutes to get a waitress to take a drink order, and by that time we were ready to order everything. This place is small and has about about 60 seats, and staffs 3 waitresses, so its properly staffed. The timing was unacceptable. This is a BYOB place, so I asked for a bottle opener when I ordered. No buckets of ice for your beers or white wine, so be sure to bring a red. Ten minutes later there was no bottle opener and my beers were getting warm. I asked again for the bottle opener and 5 minutes later I saw the waitress bringing food to another table. The real problem here with the waitresses is that they sit up front as hostesses and talk to one another as they twirl their hair. I discovered this when I went up front to ask for a bottle opener for the third time. They have one on the wall to the left of the cashier. I walk up and open each of my beers throughout the dinner. We order wings and deep fried pickles/jalapeños. When they were served, we asked if they had any dipping sauces. All they had was blue cheese so we asked for it and for the first time it didnt take 10 minutes to get something. Ten minutes after we get the blue cheese, our entrées come. We are half way through our appetizers, so our food sits cluttering the table while it cools to a lukewarm temperature. The server never comes back during our meal while our sodas are empty and I go up and open my beers. I dont fault the waitresses. It was clear to me that this is not their career ambition at an age range from 18 to 20, I fault the management. The manager never once made sure these girls knew what to do, and I am sure they were never trained.

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J.

J. Jasmine Lee

Not sure what happened to this place, but it is NOT what it was about a year ago. Back then, the ribs were smoky and hot and fell off the bone. Now, theyre still of good quality beef but the smokey taste is barely there, they come out barely warm, and they DO NOT fall off the bone--actually, they barely come off at all. The quality of the ingredients is still very good, and the sauces are the same as I remember--delicious. However, the preparations have changed. It was not only the meat, but the beans were not as smokey, and the collard greens were not as slow-cooked. This was our third time there and we had brought the whole family this time. We were very disappointed. The service, or at least our waiter (~6ft 3in light-skinned young man), was EXCELLENT. When we mentioned that the food was different, he did say they were trying new things in the kitchen. I may be back for the ribs, just because of the high quality of the meat, but considering the cost and the time it takes to get there (~40 min), I think I may just stick with Costcos baby back ribs. I feel really bad, as I really liked the place and was raving about it for a while... I want to know what happened!

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BE

Ben Ashmore

This is authentic Southern BBQ only if youve never had BBQ south of the Mason Dixie line. A McDonalds McRib is more authentic BBQ. Ribs were rubbery, brisket would not pull apart without a sharp knife, pulled pork was rubbery and without any flavor, and Id bet dollars to dimes that the "texas sausage" is nothing more than sliced kielbasa sausage from Costco. The mac and cheese was dry and nothing original, our "boneless chicken wings" were actual breaded strips of chicken breast, and the collared greens were closer to the consistence of dried bay leaves. Best part of the meal was the celery. Oh and the sauce. If yall have a hankerin for bbq in Northern NJ do yourself a favor and stop by Bourbon BBQ to pick up their sauce on the way to A&P to grill at home. Thats the only thing worth your money. And despite the good sauce, copious amounts of it couldnt mask cold, flavorless, overcooked food. Even my Brooklyn-bred better half said that Brooks in backwoods of Oneonta NY made a better $6 plate of southern BBQ back in the college days--she doesnt know good bbq.

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NI

Nick Ward

I apologize in in advance as i scouted this restaurant as a catering option for a friends wedding and am most likely hyper critical... with that being said....Their Carolina sauce and their Mac and Cheese were OUTSTANDING. They both were full flavored and had nothing that i would improve on. I would go their for just mac and cheese... For the rest of what my table ordered everything else i had was lack luster and fairly mediocre. This left me feelings that i ate "BBQ for the masses". The main dishes had no real originality or punch behind their flavors. Overall I did not taste/smell the smokiness in any of their food. I really wanted to add horseradish/flavor to their slaw.... (for such a large portion it needs to stand by itself) ... it tasted as if it was missing something... Please do not take this as a bad review. I will eat hear again... (one more go)... I was just expecting more than what i received.I left feeling disappointed... but full...

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JO

Joshua Kornblum

It pains me to give this place a 3. I really wanted to like it. The owner is incredibly nice and will stop to talk to you and see how everythings going. There is a delivery guy thats an old friend of the owner who will also strike up a conversation. Most of the staff is very friendly and helpful. The food is decent. Ive been going for several years and always get the garbage plate. The quality seems to be declining a little bit each time we go and its very upsetting. They are BYOB and used to bring you free fresh potato chips with an amazing green sauce if you brought your own bottle of wine (they no longer do this). The fried pickles and jalapenos appetizer is one of my favorites. If you are used to REAL southern barbecue, this place will just not do it for you. The dining room has been renovated a couple times and looks really nice. They even sell grills and smokers inside. There are often good Groupon deals available.

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