Bobbie Sue's Roadhouse — Restaurant in Lowell Charter Township

I went a few weeks ago, kind of in the midst of their opening week. I will give this place another chance in a few months, and I'll note any improvement in this review.

The layout of the place is.... interesting. It's certainly optimized for more of a sports bar kind of feel, but what feels like 60% of the floor space is behind a 4-sided bar surrounded by two-tops and maybe two to four 4-6 tops. There's TV's everywhere, even in lines of sight that make zero sense. Acoustics are pretty bad as well so it was a little loud/echoey, but I know they're working on that. In my opinion, this is not your best choice for a family meal if you're seating 4+.

Service was okay, not great but have had worse. Servers seem to be trained to mention that everything is made from scratch and from an age old family recipe at any and all occasions, which lays it on a bit thick. Again, this was just after they opened so the script may be completely different now. My server had to be reminded to bring us waters that we had requested, and I had to put my empty cup right on the edge of my table to catch my server's eye enough to see I wanted a refill. The beer selection wasn't great outside of your typical light beers, and I don't recall anything outside of those light beers on draft. I ordered a Founder's beer and it came out in a can. Our appetizer came out at the same time as our entrees. Which isn't that big of a deal, but on such a small table top we struggled to find a safe spot for our drinks.

The food is a bit of a different story. We did the brisket nachos as an appetizer. I went for the brisket sandwich, and my friend went for the chicken sandwich. All 3 items came out at the same time.

Put bluntly the brisket was disappointing. The first blip on my radar is that their brisket is brined (brining + nitrates = corned beef, corned beef + smoke = pastrami). The brining did no favors to the texture of the brisket. The brisket in the sandwich was diced, which is not how I'd expect to see it. Would rather have it cut across thinly and layered, which would also help with the texture. It was chewy and bouncy, not pull-apart tender. And I had to chew through more gristle than I care to admit. The flavor was okay, and there was a visible smoke ring, but the texture and gristle made it really hard to enjoy. This may not be fully down to the brining process. I would hazard a guess to say that part of the toughness comes down to the fact that the brisket was probably smoked earlier in the day, and kept warm in some form or fashion until I came in for dinner. The texture I would blame on the brine but the dryness seems like a function of how it was kept until serving. Again, flavor was there, but it just didn't eat like brisket.

The fries were phenomenal though.

I will be back, and I will try other things, but brisket at a BBQ place is like alfredo or spaghetti at an Italian place, it's a litmus test, and it fell short to me.

I know I've gone a bit long in the tooth with this, but I don't want this to come off as a lambasting at all. I've tried to be very specific in my criticisms and have tried to be more constructive rather than just tearing it down. I want to see this place succeed, without question. Too many restaurants have come to Lowell and have failed or otherwise moved on, and this place has a nice "towny" kind of atmosphere that I can absolutely see gathering a real troop of regulars with some...

This restaurant is the epitome of putting looks before anything else, and it hardly looks very good in the first place.

To start the looks of the building were conflicting. It felt empty while also having too much going on. It feels like the budget given to decorate the area wasn't spent very well. It feels both empty and cluttered. The cluttering comes from the giant sports bar style bar that takes up easily 60% of the floor space. Which I guess if you're just going there for a beer seems fine, but it seems to try to pride itself in the food.

To start, the menus are too compacted with info and are virtually impossible to understand. They seem to completely lack dollar signs which seems somewhat scummy as finding the price is the second thing people look at when deciding what to order. However that may just be pedantic. The food for the price was just terrible. I had the brisket dip with "beef tallow" jus and a side of Fry's. The sandwich comes with chips naturally and costs an extra 4 dollars to upgrade which is just unreasonable. It should just come with fries.

The sandwich was just abysmal. For close to 20 dollars I would expect something much better from anywhere else. The sandwich comes with brisket, caramelized onions, and mozzarella on brioche bread.

The brisket itself was dry and didn't have much of a flavor. Even the bark was disappointing.

I couldn't taste the onions whatsoever and truthfully have nothing more to say about that.

Putting mozzarella on brisket seems like a crime and it should be. At the very least they could get a cheese with a little bit of bite to brighten up the heavy fatty nature of the sandwich.

The jus was just disgusting. It should be a strong enough flavor that adds on to the sandwich but instead it was greasy beef tallow that maybe had a little black pepper added. To be honest I couldn't really tell the difference in flavor of the sandwich with or without dipping. Aside from the fact the sandwich was no longer dry.

The fries were okay I guess. They were crunchy and performed the job the French fry has. They claimed to be seasoned fries and very much failed in that regard, but I will admit the crunch was good.

The only positive interaction I had was with the waitress who was...

Bobbie Sue's Roadhouse is a delightful culinary gem in Lowell that serves up authentic Southern comfort food with genuine hospitality. This veteran-owned establishment has created something special at their location on Fulton Street.

The gumbo is absolutely outstanding - rich, flavorful, and clearly made with expertise and care. Their chicken salad stands out as a perfect lunch option, while the paninis are consistently excellent with quality ingredients and perfect grilling.

The pork chop deserves special mention - perfectly cooked and seasoned to perfection. It's clear that the kitchen takes pride in preparing each dish with attention to detail and skill.

The restaurant offers a warm, welcoming environment that makes you feel right at home. The owners' presence adds a personal touch that enhances the dining experience, and the staff provides attentive service that matches the quality of the food.

Bobbie Sue's Roadhouse successfully combines the casual comfort of a roadhouse with the quality of a fine dining establishment. Whether you're stopping in for lunch or enjoying a full dinner, you'll find consistently excellent food served with genuine Southern hospitality. It's a must-visit destination for anyone in the Lowell area looking for delicious, well-prepared comfort food in a...