Ricky D's Rib Shack — Restaurant in New Haven

The counter girl was very rude upon entering the establishment. My party had already been seated. Once we were ready to order we had to get up and tell her what we wanted. I swear I wanted to leave just because of her attitude but I wasn't the driver. Food: So we order our food. I had BBQ wings. Macaroni and cheese Sweet potato fries Corn on the cob Collard greens.

Nice size helpings. I was not impressed with the flavor of the macaroni and cheese. They used thyme or something. Through the flavor off. The collard greens were old!!! How do I know? The greens had meat in them and the meat was discolored and super hard. Ususally, when cooking greens the meat is tender and is bright in color if "Smoked". Also, the greens were very salty. Sweet potato fries were so good!! Corn on the cob was old too. The color was darker and the kernels were separated. Usually, when eating an ear of corn, you need to really dig your teeth into it. My baby loves corn and after 2 bites she told me it was nasty! The BBQ wings... ehhhh. If you like your chicken to be able to fly when it's done cooking then this is your place. I pulled so many feathers off of my chicken before eating it that I just asked for a to go container. My daughter even got mad because a feather was stuck to her tongue. Just gross. Which leads me to believe that they do not clean their chicken before cooking it. There's no way that they missed all of those feathers. The feathers were just too big to miss. The guy was very nice. I will say that. The music selection was a plus. Which was old school R & B. Other than that I didn't care for this...

When I see a place rated 4.7 of 5 stars when I'm searching for a place to eat, I'm intrigued. Admittedly, I was skeptical upon walking in. The restaurant is located in a building that in no way resembles a rib shack. In my mind I'm already deducting points from my review. I was assuming that this was going to be another white owned barbeque place that employs minorities to pull off the look of authenticity. I almost turned around and went elsewhere. I'm glad I didn't. I looked around and saw pennants from HBCU'S, and a few other things that made me feel a bit more comfortable with my decision to eat here. The musical atmosphere was pleasant, as was the staff. And then I saw the menu. It had what I was looking for. All the right meat selections and all the right sides to go with them. Usually I prefer to order a sampler so I can try out a bunch of things. Unfortunately I now drive a very thirsty truck instead of my good old Honda that only sipped at the gas I put in it. So what do you get when you go to a rib shack? RIBS! How do I describe them? Fan🤬tastic! I showed no shame in cleaning the bones of every available piece of meat on them. And I'll do it again. Soon! Why did I only give them 4 stars instead of 5? Honestly, because I wasn't able to try more of the menu. When I return I plan to do just that and I'll adjust my rating accordingly. Moral of the story: Don't judge the food by the building that houses it. Try it, then decide. In the case of Ricky D's Rib Shack, you'll be pleasantly...

First visit was due to seeing Ricky D on WTNH. When we arrived we met Ricky D and informed him of this. The restaurant was very clean! Great music and atmosphere all around. We ordered full rack ribs, 3 sides and Catalina fries! Everything was SO GOOD I took menus to pass out to family and friends. We enjoyed the food so much we came back on Saturday. Ordered another full rack of ribs and Catalina fries. The young lady who took ordered seem bothered, I just brushed it off as Ricky D was not there. I asked her to have the cook put extra barbecue sauce on the Catalina fries, she said okay. Once we got the food she gave me one sauce cup as she did not tell him to add the extra sauce I asked for. Not sure why she did not? But because Ricky D was nice when we met him I didn't make a fuss. We got home to eat our order and the ribs were not like the first time. They were hard on the top and not as good as our first visit. But we thought it was a fluke and said we would try again. Our family wanted to try due to all of our praises, so we made a third trip. Ordering 3 full racks, 4 sides and of course Catalina fries for myself. Again the some of the tops of ribs were hard and not fall off the bones like our first visit. So my husband said we won't go back due to the inconsistency of...