Mike's BBQ — Restaurant in Escondido

Great experience

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Presentation: The aesthetic appeal and overall visual experience Facilities: The condition, cleanliness, and functionality of the physical environment Convenience: The ease of access, navigation, and utilization of the service or product Value: The perceived worth and quality of the service or product relative to the price Price: The cost of the service or product and its competitiveness in the market Staff Attitude: The demeanor, courtesy, and responsiveness of the staff Staff Common Sense: The practicality, judgment, and problem-solving abilities of the staff Staff Intelligence: The knowledge, expertise, and critical thinking skills of the staff Overall Feeling: The cumulative impression and satisfaction derived from the experience

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This review is for the category of top tier BBQ. Based on the prices, Mike's endeavors to be top notch. We sampled quite a few items. The place is set in a strip mall, kind of a sports bar feel. Lots of giant TV screens everywhere and kinda loud with many games playing. Full bar, though we did not drink. The best thing was the service, which was very excellent from our server to the hostess, all top notch. The meats are served on a personal size metal tray, with a paper liner, which i cut through almost immediately to be eating off the tray, yech. The mac and cheese was outstanding, topped with crumbled cheese-itz for a surprising twist. Mashed potatoes were okay, the clear gravy was more like weak chicken stock, would have preferred a brown gravy to go with the meat. The corn on the cob was amazing. House made creamed horseradish was superb. The baby backed ribs came cold and needed to be refired. 2nd try at ribs, they were tender and flavorful 7 out of 10. The beef ribs were much smaller than I expected, but ok for the price. Kinda tough and not a lot of flavor. 6 out of 10. The brisket was rather fatty, like warm and bland. Reminded me of boiled corned beef without the flavor. Though super tender and went well with the horseradish and BBQ sauce 6 out of 10. Tri tip came ice cold and was sent back. 2nd try the top was hot, lower slices were cold. Very smoky flavor, nice if you like that. Tender and cooked nicely. 6 out of 10. The spicy saussage was outstanding, cooked well, hot, flavorful and juicy 9 out of 10. We did not have chicken. Ended up with a large take home container which is rare for us at a BBQ. Kinda lost interest in the food. Would have been 3 stars for this category, but gave an extra star for superb service. Might go back again, but it will be a while. $90 to feed 2 with no alcohol. Definitely a good restaurant, but today it was only okay...

We did take out for a birthday dinner, and we're less than impressed. I really don't want to be negative, but it was honestly some of the worst barbecue we've ever had. It cost us over $70 and the food was sparse. I was shocked at how small the to-go portions were for the price that we paid. Most of our meat (we ordered a variety) came in small tin-foil wrapped packages with maybe a half cup of meat or less. The family sized potatoes were in a quart container, which is fine but it was over $15. The "large" sides came in small deli-style containers. The online menu we felt was confusing and misleading. We likely would not have ordered if we knew the portions were that small for how much we paid. The meat was really dry and tough. It tasted like it had been overcooked in the smoker. The pork and the chicken had this dry toughness, and the steak was somewhat rubbery. The sauces were OK, but didn't give any real moisture to the menu. We did enjoy the chicharones and the brussel sprouts were pretty good but that was about it. Unfortunately the food also caused my sister and I to have stomach issues we were ill most of the night and morning after eating with stomach cramps, bloating, and well.....I'll spare you the gory details. Between being over priced, small portions, and the food being dry we would not recommend this location, and will likely not be back. I really don't want to be the Karen complaining, but we had a TERRIBLE experience and obviously getting sick didn't help. The employees were very...