Dan’s BBQ — Restaurant in Modesto

Shame Dan wasn't there last night. I wasted over 30 dollars in his place & got nothing but a waste of time & money! My teenager got what she ordered and liked it. That's the 1 star I had to give. Burger & fries. Can't screw that up; much. She has no palate; what can I say?

My order was to go. A three meat sampler with 2 sides. I ordered Ribs, Tri Tip, and Pulled Pork. The hand written sign said one price, I was charged more; quite a bit more. I certainly didn't get the hand written sales price on anything!

We arrived home and I opened Dan's food. I found the pulled pork. It was hidden under a piece of paper that had 6 pieces of toast on it, then a piece of tin foil, and then, there was some pulled pork. I looked for the other meats I had ordered as part of the sampler. Found some excellent tasting onion rings, that I ordered. Didn't find any other meats.

I weighed the pulled pork. It weighs in at a hefty 3 1/2 ounces! That's what I got for my share of the $30! 3 1/2 oz. of very expensive and very tough pulled pork. There weren't any ribs , which I ordered. There wasn't any tri tip, which I ordered. Just a small mess of tough pulled pork, the bread, [and about 1 1/2 teaspoon of what I think is bottled BBQ sauce in a transparent 2 oz to-go cup.] Colossal waste of money.

The pulled pork was for hubby. He took one whiff & refused to even taste it. We have a college aged boy we can feed it to, maybe. He has a well developed palate & might not want it either.

I gave in & tasted the pulled pork. It was overcooked [by about a year!] and tougher than a bear's ass! Seasoning consisted of some BBQ slapped on when served.

The ribs were supposed to be mine. I was hoping for tender, succulent ribs, with fall off the bone meat. The kind where you eat the meat & want to suck on the bones & then your fingers, afterwards. Yeah, didn't get that, either.

We were going to share the non-existant tri tip, too. Hubby dislikes vinegar based seasonings on tri tip & was hoping for a new & better tasting one. Since we didn't get the other meats, we can't taste them. I can't tell you how they taste.

But, I can say that if the people I saw cooking were in charge of taste, I strongly suspect that the different meats all taste pretty much the same. Maybe even all cooked in the same pot. Nothing to come back for.

I smelled burned seasonings in the shop. It permeated the air like a cheap perfume. Whether they burned the meat, the seasonings, or the BBQ sauce, it smelled rancid. The smell wasn't inviting. There were no individual spices in the air. Just BBQ sauce from a generic jar, that was burned to nothingness.

I'm an executive chef, in my own right, and owed my own successful place, until recently, when I became severly disabled. My husband & I know foods. We know our cuts of meats & how best to cut/serve them. You cannot tell us that pulled pork, tri tip, or ribs even look alike, let alone taste alike. Even if you used the same BBQ sauce [who would ruin good meat doing that?] the taste difference in the meats would come through. Different parts of the animal taste differently.

I know that pulled pork, even the cheap cuts, should glisten and gleam with juices. It should look like it wants to melt, just because you looked at it. When you touch it, it should fall apart and require an eating utensil; preferrably a shovel, to get it in your mouth as fast as possible. Your mouth should water at the very sight & smell of properly prepared pulled pork. Once you take that first bite, you should want to keep eating. THAT, is a properly prepared pulled pork. BBQ Sauce should be an accompaniment, not a cover up. The meat should be out of this world, with & without BBQ sauce.

They saw a tired female with a hungry teenager & took advantage. I didn't even get a receipt to prove I was there. Dan's loss though. I won't be back and my friends won't try the place. Bad food is bad food and all the BBQ sauce in the world won't make it taste better.... unless you're a teenager...

Went here based on reviews but you never really know until you go yourself. Really friendly staff, Read a lot of good reviews and decided to try and food was ok not the best BBQ but it was ok, I ordered the family plate and was told it was for 4 to 5 people and it was $45 but honestly it was really only for me, I am 5 foot 8" and 175 and I'm fit, yes I'm a small guy and this plate is usually what I eat when make this myself at home. This meal had about 6 pieces of ribs about 2.5" each not really meaty and also had tri tip really thin and I mean really thin thin sliced like for a sandwich maybe about 3oz of it and that isn't much, also 6 pieces of bread about 3x2.5" each also side of macaroni and coleslaw and a side of fries. Like I said this is what I usually eat on a weekend myself but I let you be the judge added pictures as well so take a look. Honestly the best reviews on places like this are given by the locals that live close by so try at...

I took my family here for the 1st time today. The customer service is great! The food was just okay. I got the cheeseburger and fries and the burger was a good size just kind of hoped I got a lil more fries but it's cool. My wife got the ribs combo and when we got it we were a lil upset about the quality of them. You get only 3 and they're not the biggest size. She did enjoy the mashed potatoes and the Texas toast. The one thing that really upset me though was the soda fountains were down. Sorry just a big deal for me, when I go out to eat I expect to have an ice cold Coke. Doubt we will be coming back, the price of the food and quality and lack of fountain drinks we can go somewhere like...