Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que

I’ve had Lucille’s for the greater portion of 20 years. The quality of meat has gone down noticeable. This last visit will likely be my last. I ordered an online pickup order that according to the website would be ready at 4:51 pm. I thought I would check in early so I could grab the order once it was ready. I checked in around 4:30 and my food was ready to go. I was 20 minutes early meaning my order would have been sitting for that time had I not checked in early. However, I was excited to eat freshly cooked and tender meats Lucille’s has come to be known for. But, similarly to recent visits, meats were tough. What’s worse, the food was cold. Again, imagine what would’ve happened if we picked the food up at the time stated on the website. After working in restaurants for several years, it would be my perception that the ribs were “sandbagged” meaning they were cooked during the lunch rush and saved for later then cooked again over high heat to get them warmed but not over dry the whole serving. Unfortunately, there was a quarter-inch crust on the chewy, non-tender ribs which couldn’t be separated from the bones without being cut off by a knife. Two of the orders had fries but what was given was a poor excuse for sides, more like garnishes. There were maybe 20 fries for each at max, and that’s a generous assumption as they didn’t even come close to filling the boats they were served in. He take-out staff were friendly and I’m sure we may have been able to resolve any issues if I had the time but I was feeding kids and celebrating a birthday before picking up a family member from the airport. My suggestion is to cook food fresh and have it ready at the scheduled time so consumers get hot and freshly made food. And while inflation and COVID have definitely created cost challenges, customers pay for expectations and those were not met on this visit. Potatoes are inexpensive options to pair with lackluster food.