Horn Barbecue — Restaurant in Elk Grove

I’ll be talking out of two sides of my mouth in my review, after having visited TWICE over Opening Day weekend (once on Saturday afternoon, then again as they opened on Sunday). First, let me say this place has MAD promise … the food is scrumptious, and that’s the most important thing, right? Love what they’ve done to the place (decor, darkened walls, floating market-lights, great murals), improved over the previous venue (I visited Slow/Low many times as well) … the classic/country music they play in the background perfectly sets the mood.

Is there a place for a dining option like this in Elk Grove? HELL, YES!!

So, if I have a gripe, and by the way … I do … it’s in the service model itself. Ordering is done at the carving station the moment you enter the large hall. Meaning, one stands in line, picks the available sides first, moves to next station where you choose your main(s), its carved as you stand and watch, then on to the 3rd station where you pay and receive your waiting tray. All this is opposed to, say, ordering what you want, paying, with the food being brought to you by staff once it’s prepared. What this all means is that instead of making a quick order, finding a table where you can chit-chat with friends while waiting for your meal to arrive … you instead wait, and wait, and WAIT, in a line that moves at a snails pace at best. There’s inviting, mostly empty tables spread throughout the restaurant … but so few are occupied, cuz everybody is bunched-up in line near the restaurants front-doors. On Sunday, I arrived as they opened their doors for business … was only 4th or 5th in line, but it STILL seemed like I waited FOREVER before it was my turn to order. In short, the ordering process is bafflingly slow/inefficient … there just has to be a better way - and I truly hope they find it.

There’s a great bar area, by the way … one that essentially spans the length of the large hall. Can you order some of this great BBQ at the bar, though? Nope. Gotta go wait in the food line first, pay for food, collect it and carry it over to the bar, then take out your credit card one more time to buy yourself a drink as your food gets cold … almost like they (bar/drinks vs grub) are two different businesses.

So, bottom line: part greatness, part exasperation. This dude (Matt Horn) obviously knows BBQ … if your aim is to get some of this 1st-rate food at any expense (not negatively referring to prices here, by the way - cuz they are absolutely reasonable), make your visit … just expect plenty of delay/waiting/line-standing as part of your experience. For me, over this first busy weekend, it kind of felt like 80% standing/waiting, 20% actually enjoying my meal. I recognize it won’t always be so busy … but my point is, even if you arrive to find there’s only a few people in-front of you navigating thru the ordering process, it’ll still likely feel like lunch may end up being dinner … cuz the guy in-front of you will no doubt order 10lbs of everything to-go (after asking a bunch of questions), and they won’t get to YOU until that guy collects every bit of his extensive order. Figure out a way to promptly get my complete order (food & drink) in the queue so I can get-on with being seated and enjoying the vibe this restaurant has to offer, and I change this review from 3 stars to 5 … or even...

Party of 3 adults. 11:30 am last Thursday. No line. Menu is on wall, maybe there's one on paper for people with visual challenges. No lunch menu, priced accordingly There are no "instructions on how to order, that would be nice and save time. Order is buffet style. First there is a sides station. The sides we had were good, I'd rate them 8 out of 10. We had greens, Mac and cheese, beans and cornbread. The young lady was pleasant. I asked how things worked, she explained. I shouldn't have to ask. It should be on the wall with the menu. The next station is the meats. I was the first at this station of our group. The young man at this station. Did not greet me. I could not hear what he was saying, it a busy restaurant. He appeared to be annoyed at ne for asking questions and asking him several times to repeat what he said. Never smiled. I asked the difference between brisket plate or brisket sandwich, he was really annoyed and flummoxed. He did not mention there were 2 different types of brisket. He did not give me pickles. He was once again annoyed because the cashier asked him to add the pickles. If I had been informed, I may have ordered differently, because ultimately I did not care for the sandwich. Spoiler alert I will likely not go here again. Back to the review. My friends ordered a sausage, brisket sandwich and chicken. Too many flies freely flying around the meat station. Luckily none landed on my food. Seriously, the flies are an issue. All the meats are all handled on the same wood service, chicken, beef, sausage. Just thought I should mention that. Total for my meal plus a drink without tip, over $30. Portion for brisket was good. The brisket itself was cold, that turned me off. Drier texture than I like.i did not eat the roll. Flies were around the table. The sauce is thinner than the style I'm used to, but this is Texas style. I'm used to Louisiana style. One friend had half chicken. He hated it. Flavorless. No grilled flavor. Meat cold. We both question if this meat was grilled on this day. We drove up the large grills outside weren't grilling. We came to our own conclusion regarding if this was meat grilled the day we were visiting. He will not be going back either. The other friend said he'd give it another try but order something different. I also want to note the meat guy was very friendly, smiling, chatty with everyone after me. Very odd. If this was not a lunch with friends I would have left just based on his attitude. If I am spending this amount of money I better see smiles and welcoming voices from everyone. Not if this meal had been 10 or 15 dollars this review may have been different. But at $150 plus for 3 at lunchtime, this is not a good place, value, experience or the taste of the main food, meat! No...

We will not go back. “Sad face emoji here”. The only employee that is busy, is the guy w the knife and scale. The flies on the meat stayed busy as well. It’s BBQ and you have a single person serving-up, what your entire business is based upon. The bar wasn’t busy, yet there are 5 people behind the bar. I asked for two Shirley Temples and bc they don’t serve sprite or Sierra Mist or 7up, the bartender, being the alchemist he attempted to be, made up his own “sprite” with out telling me. The drink was disgusting. Did he refund my $ after I returned the drinks?….NOPE.

The line was long, a young kid, probably 15-18 yo, legitimately passed out in line on Saturday. It was hot as heck in there, no air moving, no ventilation and everyone crammed together for over an hour in a corner.

A possible solution, have the line start by the bar, not at the entrance. This way people can at least spend $ at the bar and not pass out from the heat.

You wait in line for 45-60 min. You get your sides, you watch your Mac and cheese and beans cool down, as you wait again to get the BBQ, it’s at this time you will order from their side kitchen ( if you want fries or chicken wings), then you pay. Now that you have your bbq food, you still have to wait for additional food from the kitchen. Then you order from the bar, then you determine who is serving your table. Then you grab your own side plates, as this family style, then after the bbq is all done bc you so hungry from waiting an hour, the food from the side kitchen finally comes out. So if you ordered from the side kitchen, most likely the main course will have been completed by the time you get the fries and wings. Don’t even try wrap your head around what to do if you want seconds… The food is good, the venue is nice, but there is lots and lots of room for improvement in the service arena. For these reason, the employees at the cash registers weren’t that busy. The register is where you want the most business.

Too much time spent waiting. Hard to spend my $ when you make me wait an hour to do so. Also, if I wanted seconds, no way I’m waiting in that line again.

The servers seemed to lack purpose and direction. They were friendly and approachable, and willing to help.

If you want me to spend my $, why are you making it so difficult?

I say this with EG LOVE, I wish you well, this is Slow and Low 2.0. Slow services, and LOW chance of retaining...