Back Bay Barbeque — Restaurant in Egg Harbor Township

Back Bay Barbeque is a small, family owned barbeque business that offers homemade barbeque and sides is a cozy and welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff. This place is located right off Longpoint Somers Point Boulevard in Somers Point, New Jersey. They have a colorful backyard with outdoor seating and an air conditioned inside with plenty of room for big party's playing country music that fits the bbq mood. The food was okay and drinks could have been better but a big thing that this place has going for them is that you can bring your own booze! They don't have their liquor license here but that doesn't let them stop you from drinking if you want to bring your own. I would recommend coming here but maybe stray away from a few things that I mention below.

My wife and I split the BBQ sampler plate which included pulled pork, sliced beef brisket, white or dark meat chicken (we got dark), and three ribs. The portions here are generous and for $22 for the plate we defy felt like we got our money's worth. They even gave us an extra rib so we got four instead of three. Not sure if that was on purpose or what, but was appreciated nonetheless. We also got Mac and cheese, baked beans, onion rings, and potato salad as sides and lemonade as a drink.

To start with the good, the pulled pork and the chicken were my favorite. The pork was swimming in sauce and juices and was very flavorful. The chicken was not dry and had good flavor as well. The ribs were good and you can pull the bone right off the meat which is always a good sign. The baked beans were good and came with a lot as a side so there was plenty to share. I also really like their onion rings as it's my style with a light but crispy breading and thin onion. I really liked their cornbread as it had a nice sweetness to it and was a nice size. Their barbeque sauce that they have was tasty and complemented the food well. They even have a spicy bbq that they offer and it burned my mouth but not terribly so that's a win for me.

Now the bad, although the pork was my favorite, there were some pieces in there that were hard and very chewy. Not much of it was like that but it was still in there. The brisket was sliced a bit think and was a bit tough and chewy. I feel as though it might have been overcooked. There were some thin, tender slices but more of the thick tough stuff. The Mac and cheese had good flavor but was dry and wasn't "cheesy" like it said in the menu. Mac and cheese should have a sauce but it seems as though we got served Mac that was made days ago and the sauce soaked into the noodles and the cheese was slightly congealed. Definitely not fresh. The potato salad was okay but also didn't taste fresh and was dry as well for potato salad. It could have used some salt and more mayo. Also, my lemonade was on the sour side. It could have used more sugar to cut the acidity and tartness that it had. And lastly, I had asked for sweet tea but they didn't have any??? What bbq place doesn't serve sweet tea?! That's a staple with bbq!

Overall, if you pick the right things and maybe go there on a weekend when it's busy you might have some luck here with the food. It's not the best but not the worst bbq Ive had and the friendly service and portions definitely make up for their lack of card towards their food. In the end, people come back for the food so I would step it up a notch Back Bay Barbeque.

Food - 3 ⭐ Atmosphere - 5 ⭐ Service - 5 ⭐ Overall - 4 ⭐

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So I heard good things about it so maybe my expectations were too high. When the server finally got to our table we ordered Iced tea and an Arnold palmer. She wasn't sure if the tea was ready so we said lemonade would be fine if the tea wasn't ready. We got lemonade. Since it was our first time here I ordered the sampler with chicken, ribs, brisket and pulled pork. My wife ordered a skewer of shrimp. Reading the menu it said entrees included 2 - $2 sides. We ordered sides since it said that right beneath the food we ordered. When the food eventually arrived the server dumped my wife's order of fries all over the ground... she apologized and said she would bring a new order. The cornbread never arrived. My "cowboy" beans and potato salad were nothing special, kinda right out of the can or whatever. The chicken was undercooked as were the ribs. Also the ribs were more fat than meat. The brisket and pulled pork were actually not bad! The shrimp skewer was tasty but they could stand buying a little larger shrimp. Now, being a bbq joint I expect plastic utensils. Just be careful which pack you grab. The first ones I got were so cheap they doubled over trying to use them. The ambiance could be a lot better. The one waitress was dumping the half empty drinks into the planter with the dying plant right next to us. The trash cans were on the other side of the fence were the busboy was cleaning tables... Soo... apparently the sides are NOT included with the meal WE bought, we didn't buy an entree... not quite sure what they do consider an entree. So about the time we were done, not done eating but had had enough, the waitress brought out my wife's fries.

And people, if your dog doesn't behave, DON'T BRING IT TO A RESTAURANT!...

Wow. If you've got life you'd like to waste with nowhere to be, place your order here and enjoy the wait. This place is supposed to be the local trendy downbeach version of Kelsey's in AC. It's not. Not even close. They tell you a time to pick up your $100 order and you wait 40 minutes beyond that on a hard stool (if one's available) or you stand in sweltering heat. But, the food should make up for it, right? Nope, wrong again. Awful. The chicken is burnt so bad on the outside that it boggles the mind how they manage to undercook the inside. A rubbery burnt mess. The ribs? Not bad, but unless you KNOW you're supposed to ask for/get BBQ sauce for your BBQ ribs, prepare for that surprise after driving all the way home to dry ribs. This goes for the BBQ brisket as well, void of any BBQ sauce, tough and flavorless. The beans were decent. No bread or rolls, nada. And the Mac n cheese? Also bland but homemade and not too bad.

Save your money, seriously. No where near worth the "locals" hype and loads of aggravation.

One last nugget. As I sat watching the insanity (you'll know what I mean if you do decide to risk it), the owner, who was so obviously intoxicated, yelled at two of the young staff members behind the food line for mixing up people's orders, although it was HIM who handed the bags to the first couple. He wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and when they came back, he blamed the...