challenge

Ribs Challenge WINNER! (And a $100 giveaway!)

by Stephanie on September 12, 2012

in American, challenge, ribs

Good morning, loves!

I’m feeling a little groggy today. I didn’t get much sleep last night, because I was busy rocking out to Jason Mraz!

I was in the 5th row, front and center. And it rocked my world. Totally worth the missed hours of sleep.

Anyway, on to food. We have ribs to talk about! And I have a winner to crown!

Before I pick my personal favorite, I’ll do a quick rundown of each place I visited (in order). Let’s do this!

Week 1: Smoki O’s and Bully Boys

Smoki O’s, located in north city, was quite the experience. The area is a little rough, but the moment I stepped in the door, all was forgotten. The smoky smell of BBQ made me forget where I was!

IMG_24612

These ribs were saucy and delicious. The meat fell right off of the bone! They were a bit messy, but that’s what wet naps are for, right? Winking smile

Bully Boys was on the other side of town, in South St. Louis. Their ribs were a bit different; they weren’t drowning in sauce, and relied more on a flavorful dry rub.

 

IMG_25482_1

These look amazing, but they honestly weren’t my favorite. They were a little tough. Tough meat = no bueno!

Week 2: Richard’s Ribs and Charlotte’s Ribs

Richard’s Ribs is located in Kirkwood, and much like Smoki O’s, these ribs came already sauced.

IMG_26002

It’s just too bad they didn’t taste as good as Smoki O’s! The meat itself was tasty, but the sauce destroyed any chance these ribs may have had in my challenge. Bad sauce is a dealbreaker for me. Next!

Charlotte’s Ribs were much better. This Ballwin spot was quite a drive for me. A long drive deserves two different styles of ribs, right?

IMG_26172IMG_26142

Baby back and pork spare ribs. Both were amazing. Simply amazing. The sauce that Charlotte’s uses is thick, sweet and smoky. The meat fell of the bone and was tremendously flavorful. Good stuff!

Week 3: Rib City and Bandana’s BBQ

Rib City, located in West County, was the first chain BBQ spot I visited. My expectations were low (because I’m a ridiculous food snob sometimes).

IMG_26252

Unfortunately, my instincts were correct. I was hoping to be proven wrong, but such was not the case with Rib City. Tiny ribs with tough meat? Looooooser! The sauce was tasty, but it wasn’t enough to save these sorry ribs.

Bandana’s BBQ wasn’t much better. The ribs looked fantastic…

IMG_26462

…but the meat was so tough I couldn’t enjoy these. The dry rub was finger-lickin good, but if I can’t get the meat off of the bone, all of that fantastic dry rub is wasted, no?

Week 4: Rib Shack & Roper’s Ribs

Let’s go to Jennings, baby! Rib Shack was right in the thick of this north St. Louis county suburb. I couldn’t wait to see what they had to offer.

IMG_26532

Sauced up ribs that were already separated for me! How sweet. Speaking of sweet, these ribs fell into that category. Sticky, sweet and messy sauce? Check. Meat that falls of the bone? Check. It was flavorful as all get out. Two (dirty) thumbs up. Where are my wet naps?

Roper’s Ribs was also in Jennings (not too far from Rib Shack, actually!).

IMG_26692

Come on, baby. Kick them daisies. (Can you tell it’s late? I get really silly—and weird—at night!)

Enough of that. These ribs were the bomb. Not even joking. Aside from the meat being ridiculously tender and flavorful, the sauce was like nothing I’ve tasted in my life. Sweet. Spicy. Smoky. Tangy. This sauce was the boss!

Week 5: Holland Café & Meats and Boodle’s BBQ

Holland Café is located in the heart of Fenton. Not exactly where I would expect to find stellar BBQ, but I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

IMG_0073

And surprised I was! These ribs knocked my socks off. You should have seen me tear these suckers apart. It was not pretty. Hey…I’m very serious about my ribs, okay? And I’m not afraid to get a little dirty.

I sound like a broken record at this point (I hope I receive a thesaurus for Christmas!), but it must be said: the meat fell off of the bone, and it was delicious and flavorful. The sauce coated these ribs perfectly. Fit like a snug glove. Or something like that. Again, it’s late. Just roll with it, okay?

Last (but not least)—Boodle’s BBQ!

Okay, I lied. These definitely my least favorite of the bunch. Good grief, where do I start? I hate tearing restaurants apart (Or do I? Just kidding. No, really…yes I am. Kidding. Spare me the hate mail, would ya?)

Anyway. Tough meat. Weird flavor. And the icing on the cake? These ribs smelled bad! How does something like that even happen?! Boo on you, Boodle’s. Boo. On. You.

Now you have the rundown. Ready for a winner? Drumroll please…

Roper’s Ribs!

Yes, Roper’s. Everything about these ribs were perfect. Delicious sauce, tender meat, and a hearty portion of ribs all factored into my decision to crown them as my winner. I highly highly recommend Roper’s. Take a drive to good old Jennings and try it out for yourself. Try to ignore the sketchy neighborhood. I promise it’s worth it.

Moving right along to a giveaway!

Remember when Chevy let me drive a 2013 Malibu Eco for a week?

Oh, how I miss that car.

Anyway, Chevy was generous enough to provide me with a $100 Visa Gift Card to give away to one of you! That will buy a lot of ribs (or whatever else your heart desires! But I recommend ribs…)

Winning the card is easy. There are just two requirements:

1. Follow @ChevySTLKeys on Twitter. If you don’t have Twitter, get an account! It’s 2012, people. Smile

2. Become a fan of Off The Eaten Path STL on Facebook. Once you become a fan, leave a comment on my Facebook page telling me about your favorite place to order ribs. If you’re a vegetarian (or you just hate ribs/America/freedom), leave a comment with a recommendation for a restaurant you think I should review. Before you suggest a restaurant, you may want to check and make sure it’s not one I already visited. Winking smile

That’s it! Two steps. 100 buckaroos. I’ll choose one lucky winner this Friday, so hop on it! And tell your friends.

That’s all, folks! See you back here on Friday.

{ 2 comments }

Ribs Challenge, Week 5: Holland Café & Meats and Boodle’s BBQ!

by Stephanie on August 29, 2012

in American, challenge, ribs

It’s here. It’s here! It’s Week 5, the final week of the Ribs Challenge.

Over the past five weeks, I’ve visited 10 different restaurants to try their ribs. Did you read that correctly? Ten. Restaurants.

I’m going to be completely honest and say that I don’t want to see another rib for a long time. I still love BBQ, and I’ll always hold a special place in my heart for ribs, but much like bread pudding and chicken wings, I need a break.

This timing was actually quite perfect; I started marathon training this week (I’m running the Disney Marathon in January!), so I needed to clean up my eats a bit anyway. Smile

Enough of that. This isn’t a running blog. And even though I am a little tired of ribs, I still have two restaurants left to talk about! Let’s get to it.

First up? Holland Café & Meats!

This cute little shack is located in the heart of Fenton, MO. I’ve passed by it numerous times while on the way to work, and I finally had a reason to stop in!

I ordered a half rack of baby back ribs, of course.

Look at that sauce! Yum. I couldn’t wait to tear into this sucker.

And tear into it I did. Smile

Wow. I’m speechless right now. I wasn’t sure what to expect with these ribs; after all, it wasn’t a place that was specifically recommended to me. Their ribs could have been terrible for all I knew!

Thank goodness they weren’t. Oh nooooo…these were awesome. The meat fell right off the bone, and it was juicy, smoky, and ridiculously tender. And the sauce? That was pretty fantastic as well. It was a little sweet and just a tiny bit tangy. I really enjoyed these!

Next up? Boodles BBQ.

(source)

Boodles is located in Affton, MO. Again, this was another spot that wasn’t necessarily recommended to me. However, Boodles has been on my list of places to try for quite some time, so I was anxious to see what they had to offer.

I went with a half rack of baby back ribs.

Hmm. Well, once again, I’m speechless. Unfortunately, this isn’t the good kind of speechless. No…it’s more of a “What did I just put into my mouth?” kind of speechless.

I don’t know what exactly offended me the most with these ribs. Was it the smell? That definitely played a part, I think; these certainly didn’t smell like any ribs I had ever tasted before. It wasn’t a smoky or meaty type of smell like the other ribs I tried. It was…well, it was interesting. I honestly can’t identify the smell, but it was pretty off-putting.

However, taste is much more important to me, so I dove in and took a huge bite.

Hmm.

No.

To be fair, I did like the taste of the outer part of the ribs. It had a nice caramelized crust that was pretty tasty.

However, the rest of the meat was majorly lacking something. The flavor was just off. These didn’t taste like they had come off of the grill; they tasted like they had been microwaved. I hate to throw out the dreaded “m” word, but I had to.

I’m not going to be overly dramatic by stating that these are the worst ribs I’ve tasted in my life. I’m sure they’re not. I’m sure I’ve had worse. But out of the ten places I’ve visited during this challenge, Boodles is pretty close to the bottom, sadly. I hate to be mean, but you know me – I’m always honest!

So there you have it. Ten rib reviews under my belt.

Now it’s time for the fun part – choosing a winner! I have an idea of what my top choices are, but I need time to really mull it over and look at all of my notes.

Next week, I’ll have a rundown of each rib place, and I’ll choose the winner! I can’t wait. Smile

See you next week!

{ 1 comment }

Ribs Challenge, Week 4: Rib Shack & Roper’s Ribs!

by Stephanie on August 22, 2012

in American, challenge, ribs

Welcome to Week four of the Ribs Challenge! It seems like this challenge just started, and now it’s almost over! Can you believe next week is the last week? Can you believe I’ve visited eight places for ribs already?! I can’t.

I know you’re wishing for more pictures and less chatter, so let’s do this.

This week, I decided to explore a few hot spots in Jennings. It’s in a suburb of St. Louis…is it considered North County? I’m from St. Louis, so I feel like I should know this, but I don’t. Help me out, fellow locals!

Anyway, I went to Rib Shack first. I’d say that the name is rather fitting. Winking smile 

IMG_26512

I don’t judge a book by it’s cover, though; actually, I feel like some of my favorite restaurants are the ones that aren’t too fancy. I was excited to give this place a try.

I didn’t snap any pictures of the inside, but it’s tiny! There was hardly any room to stand, much less sit down and eat. So I ordered my ribs to go.

You probably want to see a picture of them, don’t you?

 

IMG_26532

There ya go. Winking smile

These were pretty darn amazing. The sauce was a little thin, and didn’t add a ton of flavor, but I liked that; it gave the smoky meat more of an opportunity to shine. And boy, did it ever!

You want ribs that fall off the bone? Rib Shack is the answer! Wow. Just…wow. I fell in love with these. I feel like I need a thesaurus, because I can’t think of any other words to describe how delicious these were! Juicy, flavorful meat, sticky sweet sauce…these ribs had it all.

I wanted to eat every last one of these babies, but I had one more stop to make, so I restrained myself.

Next stop? Roper’s Ribs!

 

6137525816_879a9faf8d_z

(source)

I was really excited to try this place. I’ve been meaning to try it for ages! The ribs here have won quite a few awards, including Steve Harvey’s “Hoodie” award for best BBQ.

Again, Roper’s was incredibly small (even smaller than Rib Shack!) so I took my order to go.

IMG_26592

I couldn’t wait to tear into this!

 

IMG_26692

Wow. I can honestly say I’ve eaten a lot of barbecue in my life (and lately, a lot of ribs!), and I know I still have two spots left to try, but these ribs were some of the best I’ve had in my life. IN. MY. LIFE.

Where do I even start? Let’s start with the sauce.

I loved this sauce. It was thick, so it coated the ribs nicely, and I had plenty of sauce in every bite. But more importantly, the flavor of the sauce was like no other I’ve ever had. I can’t place my finger on it, but something about this sauce was just different. My palate is nowhere near refined enough to discern the different flavors, but it was spicy, sweet, smoky and tangy all at the same time. It was a party in my mouth! There was something special about this sauce, and you’re just going to have to try it yourself; words can’t express how much I loved it.

And the meat itself? Divine. It was so tender, it fell right off the bone. It was just…amazing. Geez…will someone buy me a thesaurus, please? I’m at a loss for words.

Enough of my blathering. Let’s just say that the next two places I try are going to have to blow me away in order to beat the ribs I had at Rib Shack and Roper’s.

See you next week!

{ 2 comments }

Ribs Challenge, Week 3: Rib City & Bandana’s BBQ!

by Stephanie on August 15, 2012

in American, challenge, ribs

I really wanted to name this post “a tale of two chains”. Both places I visited this week are chains! You probably already know how I feel about chains – I’m not a huge fan of them. But my opinion is slowly changing. I still prefer to eat local, but I’ll step outside of my box and eat at a chain (or local chain!) occasionally.

My apologies if this post seems all over the place; it’s ridiculously late (or early, depending on how you look at it!) as I’m typing up this blog post right now. Expert procrastinator? Yeah…that’s me!

One thing I don’t procrastinate on: eating ribs! You know the drill. Let’s do this!

My first stop for week three? Rib City! This sweet spot is located in Des Peres, MO (STL locals: West County!)IMG_26212

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve passed Rib City on the highway. I’ve always wanted to visit, and I finally had my chance!

IMG_26392

Real BBQ? We’ll see about that. Winking smile

I went with the ribs, of course!

IMG_26252

These ribs were coated in a sweet and smoky barbecue sauce; Rib City also had a number of other varieties of sauce to try. There was a spicy sauce, a mustard-based sauce, an apple cider vinegar based sauce, and the sweet and smoky.

Enough about the sauces. What did I think about the ribs?

They were pretty good! They definitely didn’t fall off the bone like the ribs at Charlotte’s and Smoki O’s. But they had a rich, smoky flavor that I liked. Would I order these again? The jury is still out on that one. These didn’t really knock my socks off. They were just average.

On to the next! I also went to Bandana’s BBQ to see what they had to offer in terms of ribs.

Half rack of ribs, please!

IMG_26462

Done.

I’ll admit it – upon first bite, these were very unimpressive. However, I’m not one to give up after one bite! I kept taking more bites, and before I knew it, the ribs were gone! Don’t you hate it when that happens? Winking smile

I’ll be honest and say that while the flavor of these ribs were decent, they also weren’t my favorite. The meat was actually pretty tough, and it was impossible to clean the bone. I was more than a little disappointed.

The good thing about these ribs? They were super flavorful, even without adding BBQ sauce! I wouldn’t order these ribs again, but at least I can point out positive things about them, right? That’s me…always looking on the bright side!

See you next week! Can you believe the rib challenge is more than halfway over? Where did the time go?

{ 0 comments }

Ribs Challenge, Week 2: Richard’s Ribs and Charlotte’s Ribs!

by Stephanie on August 8, 2012

in American, challenge, ribs

It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means! It’s another week of the Ribs Challenge. My stretchy pants are on, I’m armed with wet naps, and I’m ready to talk about the next two contenders! I hope you’re ready to listen. Smile

First up? Richard’s Ribs!

IMG_26082

This little shack is in Kirkwood, and if you’re driving through the area, you’ll miss it if you’re not paying attention! Ask me how I know…Winking smile

Anyway, once I finally found the place, I was ready to order. I went with a half slab of ribs, of course.

IMG_26052IMG_26002

I had high hopes for this place for two reasons:

1. The smoker outside. Maybe it’s just a marketing thing, but whenever I see a smoker outside of a BBQ place, I assume that their ‘que is going to be GOOD.

2. The fact that it’s called Richard’s Ribs. I mean…if you’re going to name your restaurant after your specialty, it’s gotta be good, right?

I’m sure you know where I’m going with this, so I’ll just say it: I wasn’t a fan of these ribs. I didn’t like the barbecue sauce; it was pretty thin and didn’t have that smoky sweet flavor that I typically go for. Usually, I wouldn’t give a place poor marks because of the sauce, but since Richard’s cooks their ribs in the sauce and I don’t have the option of having them unsauced…well…it is what it is. Sorry!

Unfortunately, the ribs themselves weren’t that great, either. The meat was tough and chewy and didn’t fall off the bone like it did at Smoki O’s (and to some extent, even Bully Boy’s!). No bueno. Sorry, Richard’s!

Moving on to my next stop: Charlotte’s Ribs! This spot was allllll the way out in Ballwin, which is quite a drive for this city girl.

Spoiler alert: It was definitely worth the drive. Winking smile

Charlotte’s offered Baby Back Ribs as well as Pork Spare Ribs, and since I wasn’t sure of which ones to order, I did what any fat kid foodie would do: I ordered both! Winking smile

First up? Baby Back Ribs.

IMG_26172

I also ordered a few sides (which I’ll talk about on a later review!). For now, let’s talk about the ribs.

Oh man.

OH. MAN. These were good! The meat was super duper tender and fell right off the bone. The meat had a rich smoky flavor that I loved. There was no smoker outside of Charlotte’s, but I didn’t need to see one to know that these ribs had gotten the royal smoker treatment.

And the sauce? The sauce was fantastic! It was thick, smoky, sweet, and a little spicy. I made sure that every last bite was drenched in this stuff. So good.

Next up were the pork spare ribs.

IMG_26142

Another home run! Just like the baby back ribs, the meat just fell right off the bone. I’ll admit that I enjoyed the baby back ribs more than these; the bits of cartilage in the pork spare ribs made them a little hard and unpleasant to eat. But once I moved past that small complaint, these were fab.

Two thumbs up, Charlotte! I was hoping you wouldn’t let me down, and you certainly didn’t.

Now that I’ve visited four rib restaurants, this is where I would usually give you a rundown of the standings. But this time around? I’m not going to do that. You’ll have to wait until the very last week to see where everyone ranked (and who my favorite is)! A little mystery is fun, right? Winking smile 

See you next week!

{ 5 comments }

Ribs Challenge, Week 1: Smoki O’s and Bully Boys!

August 1, 2012

Good morning, friends! Happy August! Wow…I can’t believe it’s August already. Summer is almost over, and even though it’s been a scorcher, I’m a little sad about it. You know what I’m not sad about? The Ribs Challenge! Ever since I made the announcement about the challenge last Friday, it’s all I could think about! [...]

Read the full article →

Pappy’s Smokehouse and an announcement!

July 27, 2012

Okay…so I’m a little embarrassed. The place I’m reviewing today has been talked about for at least a few years now. It’s been all over The Travel Channel and The Food Network. It has won numerous awards, and if you’re from St. Louis (and hey – maybe even if you’re not!) you’ve heard of this [...]

Read the full article →

Chicken Wing Challenge WINNER!

July 20, 2012

It’s time. Here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. It’s been ten weeks in the making. I’ve eaten enough chicken to last me the rest of my life. Can I tell you a secret? I don’t want to see another wing for a long time! Last Saturday, the Marathon Chicken Wing Eating Extravaganza took [...]

Read the full article →

Chicken Wing Extravaganza!

July 11, 2012

Hello, friends! As you (hopefully) know, for the past 10 weeks I’ve been doing the Chicken Wing Challenge here on the blog. I visited ten local St. Louis restaurants in search of the best chicken wings. Well, I’ve narrowed it down to my top 3. The winner will be selected (by you!) this Saturday during [...]

Read the full article →

Chicken Wing Challenge: My top 3!

July 6, 2012

Hello there! Was anyone else’s week as weird as mine was? I think having Wednesday off for Independence Day totally screwed up my week. I’m glad it’s Friday, but it certainly doesn’t feel like one! As you know, I finished up Week 10 of the Chicken Wing Challenge. I can’t believe how quickly these ten [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries