Blue Ribbon Brews & BBQ — Restaurant in Norfolk

DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY!

I came to Blue Ribbon BBQ because I was visiting for work and decided to eat there because it looked interesting. What was nice: service was very friendly and quick and they offered a 20% discount which I was grateful for. What was bad: the bbq.

I try to give credit where it’s due but I failed to find anything decent in the food I was served. I ordered the “big boy” (small for what I was expecting) platter with brisket, pulled pork and two sides of Cole slaw and Mac and cheese. The brisket was not really brisket slices but really just thin slices of roast beef that were chewy and cut with the grain to make it harder to enjoy. It was also covered in a sauce that I would have preferred not being on it to begin with. The pulled pork had a lingering chemical taste that was unpleasant and was not what I would call naturally smoked, but artificial in taste. Cole slaw lacked major flavor, very plain. The Mac and cheese was salty and the cheese congealed around what was buttered macaroni noodles. I personally wouldn’t try to argue that it was a homestyle macaroni, but more like a cheap attempt that makes the Kraft boxed stuff taste better in comparison.

Again I have to give credit where it’s due, the staff was great, but the food was terrible. I have a high standard for bbq and I can confidently say this is not “blue ribbon” bbq. For a restaurant called “blue ribbon bbq” you think that would translate to the food being award winning and held to a high standard, but it was far from it. My hope is that someone from corporate will take note and make some major revisions to their menu. Just like red lobster or Olive Garden, I see this restaurant becoming another forgotten restaurant that only did the bare minimum to emulate the food they...

After wanting to try some new BBQ spots the wife and I decided to try this place. The food was not good at all honestly. We took it to go, but we only live 5 minutes down the road so it wouldn’t have gotten cold to the point of making the food taste bad or subpar. It came out the kitchen that way. We got ribs, pulled pork, brisket, chicken wings, Mac and cheese, pit beans, and fries. Everything besides the fries was overdone or had some type of bbq sauce slathered over it to make it taste some type of edible. Ribs were dry and tough, brisket was thin and coated in bbq sauce, chicken wings were fine actually, (good heat and flavor on the smoky habanero) and pulled pork had no flavor until I put my own hot sauce on it. I personally liked the pit beans, my wife did not, and the fries were tolerable. DO NOT GET THE MAC AND CHEESE! ITS TRASH! This is already a long review so I’ll get to the point about service quickly. We got our food to go so I personally will not be tipping when you’ve truly done nothing service wise. Young lady had a snarky tone and unhappy look to see people walk in. My wife overheard her and the bartender’s rude conversation about military personnel not tipping unless it’s a Monday (they have military discounts on Monday). And yes, I may be military but you do not instantly deserve a tip when all you did was click eight buttons on a computer and walk my food from the window to the bar where we were seated. Not even 15 feet. Overall not a pleasant experience, and we will not be back to this establishment. Mission BBQ has this place beat by miles, on price, food,...

Went there with a party of 9. The place was not very busy as there were only 10 people at 2 tables and 2 people at the bar.. Service was slow and took forever to get drinks. A couple of appetizers were ordered then we ordered our meals. About 20 minutes lapsed before the first meal came out. The meals were delivered one at a time over the course of about 40 minutes. The appetizers came out after about 4 meals had been served. Two people were finished before the last meal was served and I still had not received my meal. This was a little over an hour after we ordered so I cancelled my order! The opinions of the food quality from other members of the party varied from good to poor. We asked to speak to the manager and when he came over, he was very defensive and acted like he could care less. There was only 1 waitress there. She was friendly but definitely overwhelmed and disorganized. This group has been coming here since shortly after they opened several years ago. The service and food was very good then but not now. This group will not be...