Joe's Real BBQ — Restaurant in Gilbert

UPDATE FEB 2022. Snagged dinner here tonight at 5:15 before the crowds arrived. I'm upgrading my original rating to 5 stars from 4. My wife and I shared a full rack of ribs which came with a generous portion of dense, tasty, satisfying corn bread and one side. We went with the braised greens and ordered a second side - mac & cheese. The ribs were YUMMIE. Moist. Tender. Almost "fall-off-the bone". The sides were also great, especially the greens. Pic is attached. The cold bottles of beer were perfect with our ribs. The full rack was so large that not only did it feed the two of us, we took four ribs home with us. The staff was friendly and F-A-S-T.

Our first time here. Saw a show at the Hale Theater across the street and headed to Joe's for dinner after the show. Because we were newbies we weren't expecting the setup. Pretty much the same as the layout at Serious Texas BBQ in Colorado. Line up and shuffle along for, in this case, 45 minutes. Would we do it again? Only if we were in the area and the timing was "off hours" when the lines aren't so long. So, on to the food. To sum it up - we were disappointed. That said, this restaurant serves hundreds of customers a day and that's not easy. It has to be a monumental task to cook hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pounds of ribs, brisket , turkey and chicken and get it right 100% of the time. We bought "the full slab" (12) ribs for $22. I'm no rib expert, but comparing the texture and taste to others I've had, these were dry and the flavor was just flat. My pic of the ribs pretty much shows that they were dry. I don't add BBQ sauce. I like to experience the meet "bare", then if I want, I can add a bit of sauce. But if you have to rely on sauce to boost flavor, that's not a win. The sides are priced at $2.50 and are small. But, the selection of sides are huge. Many people in line were ordering salads, samplers, sandwiches, and not so much half or hole slabs of ribs, which I found interesting. Oddly, as packed as the place was, there were two cashiers in this cafeteria-style setup, but they were CONSTANTLY leaving their posts to perform other service tasks. That was really odd and slowed down production. They have a beer cooler located directly next to the start of the serving line and the prices are great. We paid $3.00 for a Coors, for example. No draft beer is served, all bottles or cans. The priciest beer was a local micro-brew at $5.50. Our sides were the fresh beets and the spicy citrus salad. Both were very good. Again, the portions compared to the cost are small. As long as you're not a rib or a meet connoisseur, I think you'll be satisfied with the food. The service was excellent especially in light of how crowded, loud and hectic the atmosphere is. The restaurant is clean and as quickly as serving trays and silverware were being grabbed up, the staff was attentive and kept everything well-supplied. We've spent a whole lot more and have gotten much less at other restaurants. Tonight's tab for the whole rack of ribs, two sides and two beers was only $35 with...

TL;DR Kansan approved.

Brase yourselves I'm a bit of a barbecue snob: I almost never get barbecue when I travel because I am normally disappointed. And I am happy to say this is not one of those times. This place was simply reverent to what make barbecue good. Tender, well-seasoned beef that you can cut with a fork and that does NOT need sauce. I think that brisket it says a lot about how a barbecue restaurant is able to execute, so naturally that is what I ordered. As Midwestern I would have preferred a slightly larger portion for the price. Pickles are naturally served, however alongside raw onion and cornbread, with honey butter available as a condiment. This traditional execution with their own spin is much appreciated.

They have three sauces: gold( which is a mustard base) and is fine and compliments the meat well, however, it is just not my preference. They're classic which is a tomato base reminiscent which is of Gates BBQ with its darker undertones. As well as a spicy version which definitely is aligned with the region. I was recommended by the staff the mac and cheese which was very good.

Moving away from the food, they promote themselves as a cafeteria style( which my mom would be mortified as she is concerned about cleanliness), however germaphobe's fear not the only thing that you are handling is your own tray and your silverware everything else is prepared and handed to you by the staff there is no communal spoons that are being handled by everyone.

The restaurant is relatively large with plenty of seating it is very clean. They do have a photo booth and John Deere tractor in the window for photo opportunities for those that are from the city lol

A definite must if your in the...

I used to really enjoy Joe's, but I've been having a bad streak with them lately. I visited Joe's recently and I ordered the 4 meat platter with a substitution of extra ribs. On one occasion, of the 5 ribs that I was given, 2 ribs were the end pieces. On another occasion, of the 5 ribs I was given, 3 were the end pieces. I didn't accept this and I brought it to the managers attention. He gave me extra ribs (non end parts) in place of the other pieces, but I still don't know why they would choose to give 1 customer so many of the hard, non- meaty end parts.

I visited Joe's again about 2 weeks ago, and mixed in with the pulled pork was some horrible looking, fatty glob of something. I assume it was fat, but I've never seen anything like it. Picture attached. WHY would they choose to serve this to a customer? I thought my wife, who isn't a big meat eater, was going to vomit when I held it up to show her.

I, again, visited Joe's last night and the ribs they gave me were the tiniest pork ribs I've ever seen. My son and I kept looking at my plate like the ribs were a bad joke. I showed the cashier and even she said "yea, this are really small ribs". Three of these small ribs probably equates to one regular size rib.

I honestly feel like they have my picture hanging in the back and whenever I order, they automatically serve me the parts that were going in the trash.

I got my son hooked on Joe's several years ago, so when he chooses dinner, he often chooses Joe's. If it weren't for him, I'd never go back. With them charging $3 for a single cookie now (that I used to love but refuse to buy now because that price is ridiculous) and with my "continuous rib situation", I...