Jimmy Jack's Rib Shack & Craft Bar — Restaurant in North Island

First visit here and my partner and I were looking forward to some ribs, etc. The welcome was friendly, we were shown to a table. The place was not busy [Sunday lunch], except for maybe two small tables in the main section, one with a very noisy child, and, in the partitioned section, what seemed a big, busy family table.

We were then given a tablet and the system was briefly explained. There were hard-copy menus on the table, so I was a bit confused. We weren't given the option of ordering in person, and I find the tablet system - and any other gee-wow digital system at restaurants - very impersonal. I understand it may make stock-taking easy and convenient, and can be a big help when under-staffed and busy, but why not have the waiter hold and use the tablet? Having a waiter take the orders also allows for last minute questions and/or confirmations, especially if it's the patron's first visit. I don't want to be googling when I'm out and about. I hope, in any case, that the tablets are given an anti-septic wipe after each return.

We had some beer and ordered the Ribs and Fried Chicken plate (it comes with chips and five (!) onion rings, all enough for two people). The ribs were OK. I mean, they were tender and succulent, the bbq sauce was a bbq sauce, but the ribs didn't seem to have been near any sort of grill. Yeah, they're slow cooked (and damn tender) according to the menu, but how are they slow cooked? Steamed, pressure cooked, or in a bbq barrel over coals or flame? Other than the lashings of sauce, the meat itself didn't taste of barbecued meat. Why not give them a brief char over flame before serving? Isn't that the attraction of restaurant ribs - a bit of crispy char to the fat and at the edges?

The "Louisiana Fried Chicken" was a big, over-cooked disappointment - dry as gnarls of wood in some miscellaneous, over-spiced batter. The batter itself - by appearance and texture - looked as if the chicken had been sitting in it for hours, the flour having coagulated with moisture from the chicken and forming an almost uniform carapace around the meat, and not crispy in the typical way one expects when it comes to fried chicken. Were they refried, in a misunderstanding of the Southeast Asian method of twice-frying battered or breaded meat? Or had they been sitting and drying out under lights? Really disappointing.

The onion rings were unremarkable and indifferent, the chips fair.

In terms of presentation, it would also have been nice if the food had some sort of garnish. I know it's winter, but a leaf of lettuce and a slice of tomato would go a long way to break the queasy monotony of the platter and make it look more appetising. Sure, we as customers made a decision to have that platter of fatty meat and fried foods, but the establishment could help alleviate our guilt with some fresh, vegetal colour, LOL!

We'll maybe eat there again, try the burgers, but it will probably be because they have free parking and we couldn't decide on where to go - a...

Despite being a California girl, I pride myself on my BBQ palate. I've had Memphis ribs on Beale Street, lived in North Carolina (not a fan of the vinegar tinged pulled pork), and grew up with tri-tip cooked over oak most weekends.

BBQ is one of my favourite cuisines.

When I moved to Whangarei my Hubby told me of an "American BBQ Restaurant" that had him hopeful given my love of ribs.

If you are American, or have visited any of the famed BBQ destinations or restaurants while in the States you will share my horror at the sacrilege of calling Jimmy Jack's "American Style" ribs.

First point of contention is the uncooked sauce that drowns anything resembling ribs. I even asked that they not put any uncooked sauce on my ribs, and the waitress claimed that all the sauce is cooked. If that is the case, the sauce was an abomination.

We ordered the huge assortment, thinking we would find something palatable. Sadly, most of it was taken home and sat in the fridge for a week before it was binned because no one in the house could stand to eat it.

If you have never had decent American BBQ, you will likely love this place. The cocktail I had was delicious and a decent size. Quite a few of the non-meat meals looked pretty good too.

I WANTED to love this place. Especially with its roots in Northland. However, if you want the best BBQ in NZ, in my opinion thus far, head up to Kerkeri Packhouse Markets and see Matt. He is there most weekends, but sells out early. He is WORTH that drive!

Next best option is Lonestar.

If you don't really care about the food, and want a fun lively place to have some beers/cocktails with some Mates or the kids, this is a good spot.

Just set your expectations accordingly and you will have...

As we are not locals, we relied on Google reviews and decided to have our dinner here. We ordered what was known as ‘The Premium Rib Platter’ for “A bit of everything” experience.

I have to say, thank you for not charging us $1 per takeaway container. That was offered when we placed our order. (Hence the 1-star)

However, food was rather disappointing, definitely ill-fitting for a 4-star restaurant. Prawn cocktail served tasted off. Initially I thought it was just one or two bad prawn, but when I had the 3rd/4th bite, I know it’s definitely not the case. Returned it and although server did offer for a new serving, I wasn’t keen at all. The aftertaste was bad.

Anything fried was good (like their onion rings, golden fries, curly fries, fish bites) but it’s not like they need much skills to prepare.

Ribs are supposedly the signature dish. Meat from the ribs do fall off the bone, but the sauce were flat, tasted like any store bought BBQ sauce.

Smoked chicken wings is just regular fried wings with sauce that tasted suspiciously similar to the rib’s sauce. Same with the sauce on their smoked chicken thighs, but fortunately it wasn’t dry.

Smoked hotlink sausage was okay (a little salty for my liking but each to their own), crab dip sadly just feels like cream with no meat.

I’m not sure if any discount were given for our meal but we did order 1 beer with our platter and our bill came up to $128.

Very very disappointing. Don’t think I’ll ever come again or recommend...