Old Carolina Barbecue Company - Rocky River

My wife and I were very excited to try Old Carolina as we are big fans of traditional BBQ and have ate BBQ all across the United States. I might be more critical of BBQ than the average person as I have been trained in smoking by multiple grand champion BBQ chefs in addition to attending multiple butchery classes.

We ordered the Texas platter consisting of ribs and brisket to split with a side of beans and Mac n cheese and sweet tea to drink. Upon ordering the brisket, we asked for a fatty cut. The young man at the register looked perplexed, to which we offered alternative terms such as the point or moist. Still confused he said he would ask. Any restaurant serving brisket should know the difference and it was clear this young man did not.

We then paid waited a long time to be served luke warm food. The brisket flavor was ok, although it was a bit dry and rubbery. The ribs were near inedible. What meat there was, was dry. The membrane was intact on the back as well. The Mac n cheese tasted like it was from a box, the only redeeming quality was the panko on top. The beans also tasted like they were straight out of a can and cool to the touch. The cornbread with cinnamon butter was the star of the show!

From the training I have received, I understand the benefits of removing the membrane on ribs prior to smoking. I know that there are personal preferences and the BBQ is truly an individualized smoking experience, however I felt the need to question if serving ribs with the membrane intact was the intention of Old Carolina. When the initial employee was questioned, she told us that it did not look right and she would get a chef. The manager then approached our table. When asked if they left the membrane on intentionally, she replied yes and that they cook to St. Louis standards. I informed her that St. Louis is the cut of the ribs. She then said she misspoke and it was actually Kansas City Competition standards. Like aforementioned, I know BBQ is highly personalized however there are not set KC Competition standard rules and you would be hard pressed to find a team that would not remove the membrane.

Management did offer a SMILE card which we originally refused as we did not plan on coming back. However we decided that will try again and a platter without ribs and try other sides. We do love to shop local and keep our money close to home. Unfortunately for Old Carolina, Cleveland is in the middle of a BBQ revolution and for the price there are at least a half dozen restaurants that blew us away in this category. We even went to 2 top locations on their opening days in brick and mortar and their game was on point from day one.