Primal 'Cue Barbecue Joint and Catering — Restaurant in Sun Prairie

I wanted so bad to love this place but….

We went on a 20 degree day to try this place everyone in Madison Foodie raves about, and here is what happened with my experience:

When you enter, you are greeted right away by some staff member directing you to the ordering area where you order, get a number and the food is brought out to you. This is great, because once you walk in and see all the table and family style seating you want to leave thinking they are full. But they do mention they have a huge heated outdoor covered seating, which helps.

Now to order: You go up to a counter with a menu board over it and place your order. The person taking the order today was the ONLY ONE who seemed like she did not want to be there. No “ hello” or asking if we were familiar how to order ( I previewed the menu on website before going).

I went with the 2 meat that came with two sides. I always do when ordering and reviewing a BBQ place because I pick the Brisket and pulled pork. I loved how they offered chopped brisket or slices, I went with slices. Brisket: it was moist but not better than North South BBQ or Beef Buttery in regards to taste(spices). It was kinda bland, plain.

Pulled Pork: OMG , the best I have had anywhere! It literally melted in your mouth like I have never had before! A sure winner by itself or in a bun

The Bad: The recommended cheesy potatoes did not have a lot of taste to them, but the bad part was that the potatoes were not done! They are shredded, but mine were not cooked all the way through and parts were hard. I noticed my dining partner had not finished hers and asked her what was wrong and she stated “ the potatoes are not cooked through”

My second side was the coleslaw and I received a nice portion of fresh cut slaw and carrots…but initially thought had no sauce on it. In fact, it comes plain with a little cup of sauce called “moonlight”. The owner explained that he say this at another BBQ place and he uses his white BBQ sauce for the dressing. It is not placed on the coleslaw in case you like more or less sauce on your coleslaw. Another plus is he does not have to waste coleslaw with sauce on it every night. That is a great idea but… I did not like the moonlight sauce. It was vinegary and slightly tasted like horseradish in it and did not pair with the coleslaw at all.

The other drawback is that I am not a fan of vinegary based sauces and that is what they have at Primal Que. did not like the sweet sauce or the next one ( the clerk at counter said was less sweet “SAP SWEET A$$ PRIMAL) just not a fan sorry.

The food did come out fast after ordering. This was a pleasant surprise and served to you.

Would I drive again 40 minutes to go eat here again, no. The lower score was for the cheesy potatoes not cooked through, the brisket only being average and bland and not a very good sauce for the coleslaw. Also, vinegar based sauces are not what like and they should offer at least one not based on vinegar.

Remember I mentioned the 20 degree day, well whenever the front door opened you were greeted with very cold air coming into the small initial eating area making a lot of people keep their coats on their laps, like we did.

The staff though greeted everyone and that was friendly and outstanding ( except person taking order at counter). The small space made it loud in there, but you could always go sit in the covered patio, a great plus...

I LOVED THE PATIO!!! It was like being outside in the winter! It was extremely comfortable and quiet even though they were extremely busy.

We ordered the brisket, beans, cornbread, the chips with the amazing mustard dipping sauce, of course! The chicken thighs, ribs, great Mac n cheese and slaw! EVERYTHING WAS EPIC!!

We invited some friends who had never been there and (duh) they loved it! They said it was the best barbecue they've had! Everyone was full and had a great time!

I am originally from Alabama and I know great barbecue... I've been in Wisconsin for 25 years and have tried MANY, MANY barbecue places and have not found one place that nailed it...until I tried Primal Cue!

THIS IS IT!! The last stop. I will never have to look for great barbecue again! They got it! They are located next to the Sun Prairie East High School and in the same building as the hockey rink.

If you don't try it... you are missing some amazing barbecue! The sauces are so prime!!

Also one thing I love is that they have coleslaw that you can add the slaw mixture to your own liking! There is a twofold reason: So you can have a dryer slaw or a wetter slaw, whichever like, and There's no food waste!! You can't keep leftover slaw bc the vinegar breaks down the cabbage and makes it soupy. There's way too much food waste these days and a I love that they are concerned about this!

Last thing: owned and operated by the nicest Veterans I have ever met!!!

ORIGINAL POST 2 WEEKS BEFORE: So happy we found yall! We had the best rib tips ever! I am originally from Alabama, and I know barbecue. Your food was delicious! It was not too expensive, the atmosphere was great, you were busy, which is a good thing, and everybody seemed very happy. While we were waiting for food, someone had ordered your potato chips. They looked so good that we ordered some too. I could not care less about potato chips at places, but your potato chips are so good! And you recommended dipping them in a mustard sauce, that you had, which even made them better! I’m going to come back just for the mustard sauce alone lol! And what was funny was that when one person ordered the chips and I heard them say how good they were, I ordered the chips and then after my husband and I saying how good they were, the next people down at the bar, ordered the chips, and they said how good they were!

Anyway, all of that to say this, the food is great! The price point is great! The atmosphere is great! And I want everybody to know that you are located in the same spot as the Sun Prairie ice rink next to the high school off of highway N in Sun Prairie. 

RUN...

I was really looking forward to visiting Primal Cue based on the great reviews that I had been seeing. I was torn on even writing this review as I am thrilled that we have another local restaurant option, and I want them to succeed, but everything about the visit was just, ok....and ok isn't good enough considering the high price. We visited on a Wednesday after work, and there were plenty of places to sit available. We were greeted when we came in and told it was counter service, to head to the window to order and that they would bring it out to us. First, not all items are available on all days. Ok, fair enough, smoker time on all these meats are different. So the options available were tri tip, sausage, chicken thighs, and ribs, which had an additional $5 upcharge, for only 3 ribs. The two meat plate was already $22, bringing it up to $27 for my plate. I'm a ribs fan so I had the ribs (3) and tri tip, ordered the mac and cheese and cole slaw for sides. The mac and cheese was very bland, mushy, and not much flavor, and the cole slaw was a bagged salad (the exact one I have purchased at the grocery store before) with no dressing on it, and just a small container of one of the creamy BBQ sauces to go on it I assumed. The tri tip was good and the ribs were fine (not sauced), but unfortunately nowhere near $27 good. My s.o. got a pulled pork sandwich which was dry, and drunken apples, and a baked potato, including an upcharge for butter on the potato. Add in a beer, and our check with a small tip(counter service again) was $69. If this was 'fantastic' BBQ, I would be happy to pay that...I've had that at other places in Madison. This was very average for a premium price. The staff we talked to were pleasant and helpful, so that was a plus. I will go back to try it again, as maybe I caught them on a bad night, but the things I found fault with seemed to be intentional decisions. After my visit, I'm just not sure what all the hype is about,...