Mighty Quinn's Barbeque — Restaurant in Union

I'm going to preface this with: I grew up in the South and at any particular moment at home I'm less than 15 minutes from a half-dozen or more BBQ places. I've been to more BBQ joints across the US as I travel for work than I care to count.

For NJ, this BBQ isn't bad. I've certainly eaten much worse smoked meat in the Northeast, where options for BBQ can be few and far between.

Portions are okay for the price. I had pulled pork and brisket this trip.

Flavor wise their BBQ is average. If you're not picky on what style of BBQ you prefer or if you didn't even know there were different styles, then this place is perfectly fine. They dust their servings with rock or sea salt, not sure which, which I'm not a terrible fan of. If they'd just added it to their seasoning rub before the smoker it probably wouldn't be necessary. Hopefully it's not an attempt at "fancy" BBQ because it doesn't end up that way at all. It ends up making some bites too salty while others desperately need more. You don't eat "fancy" and expect half the mouthfuls to be "meh" right?

The house sauce tastes like a traditional Carolina vinegar base except without nearly the spice level typically present. It's not there to stand out and accompanies the meat generally unobtrusively. Way to go on this one actually, most chain places focus too much on the sauce and serve bad meats. The table-side pour bottles could use downsizing though. Or, if they want to lean into their vibe a little more get a stitched leather band to aid in grip.

The pulled pork was very good. Their sauce and the pork work very well together. It has the right amount of mouth feel and you get just that touch of pork sweetness in with the right amount of fat. Some places can't even get pulled pork right, and this place hits it out of the park.

The brisket is, unfortunately, not as much as a standout. It isn't dry which good, but there is no bark to speak of and the smoke penetration is poor with no real smoke ring evident. Heart of Texas brisket this is not. It ends up being on the sweeter side when paired with their sauce, which is fine if you like that. If they maybe doubled their precooking seasoning coating it would stand out more. As it sits it's an okay, uniformly savory and safe menu item.

The mac n cheese is uneventful. It adds a nice creamy flavor and additional texture between forkfuls of meat. I appreciate the thicker cheese sauce.

It's an above-average result for a BBQ chain. Good work whoever runs this place.

Edit 6/25 - spelling and...

Skip it.

Husband (a professional cook) was very excited to try this place and finally today was the day! Modern decor was nice, although my booth table was filthy before sitting down so I needed to wipe it down myself.

Right off the bat, ladies in the front of house leave so much to be desired. Bland attitude, when we tried to ask and get some staff feedback about what’s good, etc, we were met with a monotone, “it’s good.” or “I don’t eat pork.” Then yet another girl chimes in, “Yeah I don’t eat pork either.” Bleh! If that’s the case, why are ya’ll working the front-facing line at a BBQ spot?! What a buzzkill off the bat.

Husband starts looking at the sides available and macaroni and cheese is completely cleaned out/gone for the day - It was 4pm when we arrived.

Anyway, I ordered the spicy crispy chicken sandwich. Definitely expected it to be delicious, but instead I’ll paint this picture - Sandwich absolutely smothered in hot sauce, hot chicken patty topped with cold (refrigerated) coleslaw, cold “pickled” cucumbers that lacked a vinegar/sugar seasoning, all piled up on a FREEZING COLD bun.

When I say freezing cold, I mean that the entire bottom bun was COLD. Not room temperature. COLD. Biting into the sandwich was gross. I knew immediately the bun had either been refrigerated or previously frozen and not properly thawed and/or warmed or toasted, but the staff blamed the cold coleslaw and pickles on making the bread cold. I knew this wasn’t the case, but of course I let them give it another try.

Sure enough, they send out a new sandwich, this time with the coleslaw and pickles on the side, and the bun is a bizarre mixture of room temperature and freezing cold - A hallmark sign of poor thawing. It’s just a clear lack of care and attention to detail by management. Husband asked for our money back, which the manager happily obliged.

Dirty fries with burnt ends ended up being my dinner. The meat was flavorful, fries overall were okay, everyone else’s food was simply forgettable.

Like I said, this place is a...

Me and my family were excited to try this new BBQ restaurant. However I should have exited like the couple in front of me. We waited in line for ten minutes before we were even acknowledged- considering we were the only people in line, but ok. Being in the culinary industry I watched the young lady butcher the Brisket while wasting so much profit by throwing it in the trash because she was not slicing it properly- could it have been because she was using a serrated dinner knife??? My daughter then asked the next server who was wearing gloves but scratching her arm and toughing her face if there were fresh sides coming out- the young lady cutting the meat left her station to say “what’s the problem it’s fresh”. Well excuse me since the items were dried up and had no luster in the pan ,forgive me. Since I have to pay for the entree that does not include a side it should be worth the $5. I then asked how were the Brussel sprouts cooked , what type of meat was used- she could not tell me but asked someone in the kitchen who was walking past the window eating. To add injury ,My daughter is then over charged and when I questioned I was asked by the person desecrating the meat says to her co-worker “If you got a problem let me know”. Really ! Obviously the owners of the company don’t require that the staff complete customer service classes. Bottom line, my daughter was over charged by $15, the staff was rude, the tables outdoors were dirty. When I spoke to the Owner who never mentioned he was the owner nor took the time to find out my concerns until I asked who he was. Besides there being numerous Serve-safe violations; I refuse to spend money at a place that does not value me as a customer or appreciation me financially supporting...