Memphis Blues BBQ House Red Deer — Restaurant in Red Deer

This is a zombie restaurant, somehow limping along, and anyone who has an encounter with it will learn to stay away afterward. Literally the table next to us were conferring between each other about the poor food. Nearly everything was bland, with the exception of the sauces, which had such an odd flavor that we wondered if they had gone bad. I suppose everything was technically edible, but the food literally anywhere else is better. You could go across the parking lot to the Sobey's and create a better meal from the deli and the BBQ sauce aisle, for half the price at least, I am sure.

I had a sandwich. The bun was factory-like: drastically plain, uniform, not really fresh seeming. It was topped with brisket (good), and sausage (not bad, definitely manufactured) and a huge slathering of BBQ sauce (meh). Overall, it was ok. I got it with a side soup -- tomato rib -- and unlike everything else, it was pretty tasty, but, some of the meat inside was dry-chewy, if you know what I mean. The soup flavor was good enough that I'd go back to a different restaurant for it.

My spouse had the burnt ends meal, or rib ends meal; it doesn't really matter which because it was more like random square chunks from every part of little ribs. The ends were bland, if they were smoked (like you would expect of real BBQ), you couldn't tell, and were not very tender. The baked beans, if not from a can, might have been better from one. The slaw was mysteriously creamy while simultaneously devoid of other flavour (good simple slaw recipes are all over the internet, I don't know how any place can screw this up). The corn bread was neither sweet nor savory, just bland; if you ate it blindfolded I'm not certain you'd know what it was. The fries are good!... until they are cold, then they are mealy, not crunchy.

A positive thing about this place was the pleasant service from the kind, and some might say dainty greeter who also took our payment, covering for our server.

If you want much better barbecue, go to Timberlands plaza on the east side of town, or for the best barbecue go to Olds on the...

Have to preface this review with a note that we're HUGE fans of Memphis Blues BBQ, visiting the Kelowna location whenever we're out west.

The Red Deer restaurant just isn't the same, unfortunately. Food was good, but not 'Memphis Blues' good. Service wasn't great.

Arrived just before 7pm, and was told the restaurant was closing early, due to a lack of business (Google Maps shows a close time of 8pm). We were offered two options: take-out, or miss out on a Memphis Blues Feast. Slightly disappointed, we elected to grab the food and eat at our hotel.

Items ordered: Pulled Pork Poutine and 1/2 rack of ribs with fries, beans, and cornbread.

Just after placing the order, we were informed that the restaurant was out of cornbread for the day. No problem... we great fully accepted the server's offer of a second serving of baked beans. Unfortunately, these were forgotten on the order (we were given a single serving of beans with the order).

Ribs were cooked well, but did not have any sauce applied. Without sauce, they were on the bland side... again, not what I'd expect from Memphis Blues.

One last observation: the bar selection at this restaurant pales in comparison to Kelowna. At the Kelowna restaurant, they have an unbelievable selection of whisky, including some tough-to-find offerings. The Red Deer restaurant has only the basics, which is too bad... nothing pairs with BBQ better than a solid bourbon.

Would I give this location a second chance? Yes... they just could have been having an off-day. Would i recommend this location to others passing through town? Not likely... keep driving and hit up their...

Most places that focus on this kind of cooking do it over sweet or hot. This place, sure they have their fancy bbq sauce and stuff, but honestly the meat stands up on its own! My mother took me here months ago, and I've been craving it ever since. Camr back today, and it's actually better than I remember. Their fries are dusted with spices, which is conpletely unique from everything else in Red Deer. The platters come with cornbread, and while not as sweet as some other places, it is definitely rich and buttery without even adding butter. Now, their surf and turf option doesn't hold up quite as well as the rest of their offerings, but it's still far from bad. Pretty much tge only low point is the side of generic beans and the largely flavorless coleslaw. I would not recommend this place to people whose stomachs are sensitive to oil and grease, as most of the food is a bit oily. The service has been great both times I've been here, with highly personable service staff and a very casual attitude. Really, this place is something special, and I hope they stick around in Red Deer for a long...