Meaty's Roadhouse BBQ & Sausage Shack — Restaurant in Bay City

I would easily give this place 5 stars for the food alone, but it was not a full service restaurant. I'm a chef with a background in butchery and have worked for 2bbq operations, so I am very knowledgeable about this food.

First impression of this place: as I walked in, I could smell smoke. If you are walking into a bbq joint, and you don't smell smoke, it's a red flag, and you're probably gonna get sub par food. This place is also a meat shop and a store.

So the ribs are absolutely perfect. They weren't mushy like a lot of restaurants serve them, which is something I despise. "Falling off the bone" is a huge misconception regarding ribs. That's overcooked. These ribs pulled clean off the bone, but not overcooked.

The brisket was amazing, but there's 2 parts to a brisket that has the grain going in 2 directions. Usually I would sperate the two, but half of my brisket was sliced with the grain. That said, it was still amazing and pleasurable to eat. I would give it 4.7 or of 5 stars because it was cooked properly.

The chicken was great, but I'm not a big chicken eater. No complaints here, it was a large portion, had a nice smokey flavor and it was cooked well.

The sides were definitely better than average. I got to try the mustard potato salad, the red skin potato salad, and the Mac and cheese. The mac was decent, but not much different than any bbq place. I personally like a mac that isn't so creamy, but rather with whole cheese, and not just cheese sauce. The mustard potato salad had an almost fermented element to it, as it had a weird tang. That one was okay, but the red skin potato salad was very good. It was creamy, tangy and zesty from the addition of red bell pepper.

They had a cooler with a bunch of squeeze bottles of sauce. There must have been a dozen and a half, different sauces, and I tried a few. The sauces I grabbed were; ghost pepper, chipotle, and a gold mustard based sauce. Gold is always my favorite and this one was on point. The ghost pepper was good, and it wasn't overly spicy. My favorite of their sauces was the chipotle. It was pretty mild heart wise and it was a perfect red sauce.

Now here's my only critique: this is not full service restaurant. They had tables where you could sit and eat, but they didn't really have a server. We had to go up to the register to order, and the lady working the cashier seemed to have other responsibilities, than working as a waitress. We were told to pick whatever we wanted to drink from the cooler, and I had to go back up to get condiments, because this place was also a meat shop. I honestly didn't mind any of this at all, because the food was so great. But when we grabbed the sauce and brought them to the table, the lady told us that we were supposed to fill up souffle cups because other people ordering food could have access to them. I wish that they had multiple bottles of sauces, and pre portioned sauce cups for takeout orders to prevent this from becoming an issue. There should be multiple bottles of sauce for dine in dinners to take to tables.

That being said, this was by far the best bbq I've had in mid Michigan, and I say that as a person who worked for a pop-up bbq vendor that works in the area. They would be very successful full service restaurant, if they tried. I will DEFINITELY be getting food from them again. I do wish they were on GrubHub or door dash, but I do understand why you wouldn't want to deal with them, as they gouge restaurant operators. All in all, I highly recommend them because they actually cook real bbq, and that's the most...

The first time I had this was a year ago around the pandemic. Then I had the ribs and the pulled pork. Ribs were dried out meat, sauce, and a lingering campfire smoke flavor. Quite unappetizing for me. 2/10 Pulled pork was sauced already so I was unable to try just the meat. Sauce was heavy and tasted like KC masterpiece. 3/10 Coming in today I had a sample of everything: ribs, chicken, sausage, and brisket. Chicken was nice and juicy, but no Smokey flavor and it was lightly sauced then grilled. Which I would of preferred more of the sauce they put on the chicken. 5/10 Sausage was over cooked and dry. Any moisture left was from the grease inside. Seasoning was modest and had a thick grind to the meat inside. Smoke was present in the taste which kinda saved it a little. 2/10 Ribs were WAY over cooked every edge of that meat was like chewing on jerky. Sauce couldn’t even save it. Zero moisture and nothing but rendered fat left. The end 2 bones were inedible. They threw it back on the grill to heat it up or something but all it left was a campfire smoke flavor that was unpleasant and off putting. Couldn’t even taste the meat, all it was is smoke and sauce with chewy meat. 2/10 Brisket was about the only good smoked item I could eat. It was still dry and required sauce to even choke it down. It had good smoke flavor, but the rub was not very pronounced with seasoning so couldn’t taste it. 4/10 Got the cheese potatoes Don’t get them! OMG nasty cheese … I think cheese needs to be in quotes as that is the weirdest sauce I have ever seen. 1/10 Next side was the baked beans Yet another BBQ place reselling Bush’s beans with some left over meat in it and that’s it. Better off getting something else on the sides list 1/10 Overall this will be a place I will not be coming back to. For the price I paid ( close to $50 bucks) the value was not there for me at all. They claim this to be the best BBQ in Baycity….. um … no. You can find better...

WOW !!! This place is most definitely one of the best BBQ joints I've eaten at , I've been through Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas city MO., Nashville This place would definitely hold its own against any of the most famous of BBQ joints Down to eat pricing especially for the quantity of Meat you get with each meal. NEXT DOOR and affiliated with Meatys is a Butcher Market, specialty, general store their premade foods are absolutely worth every penny. It's a old style butcher where attention to detail and customer service is paramount to them. Staff at both places is like your talking to friends and family. They make you feel comfortable and are very knowledgeable about the products they sell. My wife and I ate here for dinner on memorial day 2025 , wife received the sampler platter if was literally falling off the bone. Came with Brisket, Ribs, chicken, Sausage and two sides. She picked the red skin potatoes salad and BBQ beans. I ordered the brisket meal which came with two sides as well. I ordered the Mac and cheese and also chose the beans. Their sides menu was expansive, it included healthy alternatives as well as comfort foods. Both meals with drinks were not to much more than we would pay at one of the fast food places. The quality and care put into the finished product showed and was definitely amazing. If you're far away ITS WORTH EVERY MILE OF THE DRIVE, If you're in the area and you've never tried their food or market unfortunately you are missing out on an excellent place for a delicious meal or great cut to take home to cook yourself. I highly recommend you to patronize this establishment I'm sure you will find it to be one of your top places to eat...