Old Carolina Barbecue Company — Restaurant in 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...

Price: Got 8 ribs, 5 super small chicken tenders, and 4 paper thin piece of brisket for $33.97 - that's pretty ridiculous. $8.99 for 4 ribs is outrageous.

Quality: The chicken tenders were miniscule. You'd be better off going to McDonald's for the quantity and size. The tenders were so small I could fit 2 in the palm of my hand. The ribs were a typical size. The "brisket" was about as thick as deli meat, it took about 3-4 pieces of the brisket stacked on each other to equal the thickness of a normal slice of brisket. Brisket was also pretty dry and not much flavor.

Service: Did carry out and didn't get one of the sides. Also, the order payment was messed up - was supposed to pay in store but an employee had mistakenly charged another customer for our order. No one initially knew what was wrong and it took time for them to realize the issue. Turns out someone accidentially paid for our order, but we kept being told we didn't owe anything by both the cashier and manager. Being honest we said we didn't pay and still owed our bill. We waited quite a while to pay, then when we finally did we were not thanked for being honest and paying our bill.

Overall: Overpriced, poor quality (not much flavor and small portions for the extravagant price), the only redeeming thing was that the sauce what some flavor. After sampling BBQ across the south for going on 3 years now this was a disappointment. In the end, save your money from 3 trips here and buy your own smoker - you'll get better quality, more food, and...

Heard great things about this place, but definitely not all it's cracked up to be. I was expecting super flavorful, tender delicious ribs. However to achieve that, one of the most important things you need to do when preparing ribs is to remove the inedible membrane on the underside prior to seasoning. Leaving the membrane attached to your ribs will result in less-flavorful ribs and a tough texture... Unlike the cartilage and other connective tissue between and around the ribs, this membrane does not soften when it's cooked. It just comes out tough and chewy, like a sheet of plastic. Welp, Old Carolina does not remove the membrane. And don't even get me started on the flavor. Yeah, it tastes smoked, but whatever they're using to season the meat is extremely lacking. My ribs tasted like nothing without the sauce. I even had to add my own salt and pepper to make it worth my effort AFTER applying the sauce (not to mention my having to remove the membrane that I'm sure took all of the flavor with it - if there even was any to begin with...). I HAVE HAD BETTER RIBS COOKED IN MY OVEN AT HOME. My husband got the sliced brisket. After one bite, he didn't even waste his time - it was completely flavorless and almost nothing but fat. Huge turn off. No way I can believe their food is "competition worthy". Will not be going out of my way to ever get their food again. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed... It was nice to meet you, Old Carolina, and it's been nice knowing you....