Bluebird Barbecue — Restaurant in Burlington

BB was recommended by friends so we were excited to try it out. Man were they wrong. The place is VERY LOUD even when they have just a few diners. The acoustics of the dining rooms and speaker placement makes the sound level crazy. I downloaded a dB measuring app and recorded levels that averaged between 70-82.7 dBs .The equivalent of a diesel freight train 45’ away. In a small dining room. Order wait time. We arrived before the dinner rush on a Wed. It took 35 minutes to get our food. These are pre-smoked meats that just need reheating. There was only 1 other table in our dining room and they had received their food by the time we placed our order. Quality/quantity of food. I was very disappointed in my pulled pork and couldn’t finish it. BB charges $22 for ½ Lb of pulled pork. And although getting it on a bun is the industry standard, it isn’t an option at BB. $22 for a lump of pork and no bun. But I finally stopped eating because the pork was disgusting. First of all, it was mushy. Every amateur smoker knows mushy means it’s way overcooked. But what was really disgusting, was that while eating and separating out the over-cooked pork, I pulled out a 6” blood vessel. It was huge. I ALSO FOUND A HUGE CHUNK OF SKIN (not bark) but floppy skin and fat that should have been discarded, not put on a plate! Together, these two pieces of uneatable pieces took up about a ¼ of all my 1/2Lb. These were too big to have gone unnoticed, yet they were still served. This was gross and unacceptable. Even my son’s brisket was suspect. The BB claims it's ½lb of beef and the picture shows 4 slabs. WHAT MY SON RECEIVED was 3 slices, the largest of which was 3.5” x 2” x .75” and couldn't have weighed over 1/3lb, certainly nowhere near ½Lb advertised! And they charge $26! Now for the sides. Every BBQ meal comes with 2 sides. They measure about a scant ½ cup each. I ordered the slaw and “smashed” potatoes. Purchased alone these sides cost $5 each. I’ve had lots of slaw in my life and I can honestly say that I’ve never had a blander slaw. There was absolutely NO flavor! It was like chewing cabbage with a bit of mayo. We also ordered the “smashed” potatoes. According to the menu, it’s supposed to have, “smoked garlic and pitmaster butter.” Not one of us could taste any garlic and no one could tell me what "Pitmaster butter" is! Management’s decision to AUTOMATICALLY ADD IN A MANDATORY 10% TIP whether the waitstaff deserve it or not. They do it even if you are dining alone, not just with large parties. It’s called “One Team,” but it’s a money grab by the management nonetheless. What makes this such a greedy move by the owners in the already over-the-top tipping culture in the US, is that THEY ALSO EXPECT YOU TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL 8%-10% ON TOP OF YOUR ALREADY BLOATED BILL! THEY ACTUALLY PUT THAT IN WRITING ON THE MENU. Let’s say a small party of 4 decides to have a casual dinner at BBs. After you order some basic, sub-par plates and 1 drink each, it’s time to check out and your bill is $136. Chances are it’s more than that, but let’s just say $136. BB will then add on their 10% “One Team” tax (they call it a “Service Charge”) of $13.60. They then calculate the Meal Tax (yes, the 11.64% MT is calculated AFTER they add the Team One tax, not before, so your MT is higher due to the Team One tax). In this example, it comes to $17.41. So for your original bill of $136 is now $167.01. That's $31.01 in taxes. To add insult to injury, their menu strongly urges you to add another 8%-10% on top of that! They literally expect you to tip AGAIN, on the TOTAL bill with $31.01 in taxes! If you did the 10%, it would add another $16.7 to your bill. Your bill has now grown to $183.71. A difference of almost $50! These extra fees have nothing to do with the service that you received, one wonders if the owners sold this “One Team” idea to the staff as way to make it seem as if management cares about the plight of low paid service workers. In reality, it’s just a ploy to pass on to the consumer what the employer should be paying...

While the food was good, I do not recommend this restaurant for larger parties. We made a reservation several weeks in advance for a Saturday night at 5pm and called to confirm the number of people (10) three days prior. Our group was coming separately, two of us arrived first around 4:50 or so and we seated at a super tightly packed table. We had talked with someone who said they had more of a separate room for larger parties, apparently this was not the case as we were just in a room to the side packed like sardines with other tables of between 2-6 people. But fine, we could make that work. A few minutes go by, other members of our party start to arrive and we have gotten our drinks but some of our party is delayed by traffic leaving work. This was about 5:15. A woman comes to our table, possibly the owner, maybe a manager, not sure as she didn’t identify herself. She asks for the woman who made the reservation and then asks if the rest of our party is coming because they have another reservation at 7pm. We say yes, they are on their way. The woman insists we were told about the reservation at 7pm which we were not, during either phone call, making and then confirming the reservation. She goes on to say that they only give about 2hours for larger parties and there’s another at 7. She made it very clear, and fairly rudely in our opinion, that we needed to be out of the way for their later party. We felt pushed out the door 15 minutes into our “time slot” and the restaurant wasn’t even full! There’s no reason a restaurant of that size should have one solitary table option for parties larger than 6. Nor should anyone come over to ensure we are leaving by 7 when we haven’t even ordered yet. This was most definitely not the way to handle the situation. It made our whole party feel pressured and rushed the entire time. We ended up ordering shortly after she came over and we got a random platter for the late comers because the pressure was on to get us out of there apparently. If you cannot accommodate larger parties, do not agree to host them. And it was shocking to us that any restaurant would rush a large party with a $400-500 bill out the door in February of all months when businesses tend to be slower. We were asked if we wanted to order dessert at 6:45 and we wanted to laugh as we had already been told we needed to leave by 7. We are not pushy or obnoxious people, I always try my best to be uber-accommodating to waitstaff and restaurants and I was absolutely floored with this situation as someone who works in customer service. I truly have never encountered any thing like this in any restaurant I have ever been to. If we hadn’t been waiting on people, I honestly would’ve gotten up and left since they very clearly didn’t want or need our business. The whole thing left a sour taste in all our mouths and none of us...

There is something pleasingly barbaric about smoked meat. Perhaps it's that prehistoric genetic activation that comes with tearing into a rib that's been basted and crisped over flames -- or maybe it's simply looking around a restaurant to realize that you're not the only one foregoing utensils and licking your fingers. Bluebird Barbecue in Burlington satisfies both primal urges and disdain for decorum, while serving up delicious smoked meats in a modern and civilized atmosphere. We dropped in on a Friday night (sans reservations) and were greeted, welcomed, seated (within 20 minutes of our arrival), and attended to by friendly and accommodating staff that included hosts, bartenders, waitstaff, and kitchen personnel. There wasn't a sour face in the place, and while an automatic and shared 10% gratuity/service charge is not typical for stateside dining, maybe that had something to do with the happy staff. There's a solid collection of beers and other libations, and we were allowed to sample before ordering -- which turned out to be a valuable experience in likes and dislikes! We enjoyed a pizza-tray size platter of three smoked meats and four sides. With a dozen sweet and moist cornbread muffins to begin, there was more than enough for the healthiest of appetites. Our brisket was typical: fatty, but tender, and sadly, not outstanding vis-a-vis smoky flavors or unique spice combinations. Our pulled pork and ribs shared the meat spotlight and both fared better in the flavor department, with the ribs holding a nice glaze with plenty of pop. A variety of three house-made sauces added the extra flavor for each meat. Our sides were abundant and well prepared. The maple baked beans stole the sideshow, with smashed potatoes making a strong showing. Personally, I would like a little mustard seed or more vinegar in the otherwise tame coleslaw. The house mac-and-cheese and charred vegetables lacked imagination and both were on the dry side. For dessert, the banana cream jar didn't disappoint -- word to the wise: don't plan on sharing, because it's good enough to indulge your selfish side! Good people, nice setting, satisfying food. In Burlington's hit-and-miss dining scene, the...