Hindsight BBQ — Restaurant in Waterbury

I tried the Texas Trio which is beef brisket, pork ribs and beef sausage with cheese and two side for $40 as of 2025. This comes with two sides and I got macaroni and cheese and BBQ beans and I added honey butter cornbread for an extra $5. I also got banana pudding for dessert and got local craft beers at the bar side.

The brisket was extremely dry. Texas barbecue is known for their brisket which should be soft, moist and beefy with little chew. The brisket was close to becoming jerky. This was a Friday afternoon and it was busy and the food rotation was happening so I thought I got the good portion but it must have stayed in their hot box way longer than it should and it dried out the meat. They served a vinegary BBQ sauce and this helped get the brisket down without choking. Very disappointed at their attempt to Texas barbecue.

The pork ribs BBQ sauce was good and one of the two ribs were just good. Fall off the bone for one, barely any meat and hard for the other. I thought I was chewing on bone. I definitely paid ahead for a rib that lived up to the name, RIB minus the meat. I've had store bought that were better and even chain restaurants serves better frozen ribs than here.

The sausage was dry. There was cheese inside but it wasn't soft or blended with the meat. I think it was beef brisket and was a whole sausage cut up in sections. It had a nice snap to the natural casting but no bounce or natural juices to the meat. There was flavor but not enough spices so it remains lower mid level on spice. They did have a mustard sauce in a plastic cup that helped with swallowing.

Along with the sides, they give you dill pickle chips and onions. These were good. Now the sides...Mac and cheese...while not the box kind, was terrible. Maybe I got here at a bad time (afternoon, after the lunch rush but way before the dinner rush) the macaroni was fine but the cheese was solidified and flavorless. Thick white cheese that could have had an amazing taste, but was leftover from two nights before (my opinion) made it bland. The barbecue baked beans was the only winner. Looks like they use two types of beans and the flavor of the BBQ sauce wasn't overpowering or overly sweet. It hit the Goldilock zone. I had better but I couldn't hate the taste. The cornbread was overbaked. Brown, almost burned and air dried. Very, very dry. Very sad as I heard good things about the cornbread just to try it and got the worst of the bunch.

Banana pudding. While there are certainly many recipes, the basics are banana pudding/custard, real banana slices, whipped cream and Nilla wafers. There was no Nilla wafers here but pie crust crumble. This should be renamed as banana cream pie cups. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't the basic banana pudding made with Nabisco Nilla wafers.

Positives: I liked the outdoor picnic table seating. The real wood burning smokers and wood piles that can be seen from the parking lot. Plenty of indoor/outdoor seating with about 10 chairs at their bar. The bar serves at least 9 draft beers and several cans and bottles, hard seltzer, ice teas and a variety of liquors and cocktails. If you want an espresso martini, you can order from here. Non alcoholic drinks and sodas, ice teas and lemonade drinks available. You can inquire about catering as they do have a food truck for any occasion.

Would I go back...? Not at this time. It's more expensive as good barbecue places would be but I think they need to improve or get back to what they once were. The pitmasters may need to be retrained and they need a better understanding of supply and demand. I feel as though the brisket was sliced then put into their hot box much longer than it should have been. Two options: turn the brisket into jerky and sell these as a take out only, limit them as a specialty. Or, turn the dried brisket into a chilli. The sauce will rehydrate the meat. Just get the right recipe and you can still sell these slow cooked for days. There's no chilli or jerky on the menu so it's only...

Amazing spot for BBQ and beer outside Waterbury and on the top of my list any time I’m heading through. Very large outdoor area next to the parking lot with a mix of picnic tables and covered high tables. amazing spot to chill on a nice day or evening with delicious food and a tasty beverage. Also - any place with cornhole outside gets an extra star in my book.

They have a mouth watering variety of smoked meats along with a mix of appetizers, sandwiches and sides. I always come for the food but I definitely stay for the beer. Nice selection of craft local beers on tap plus a huge mix of top shelf local and regional cans from imperial IPAs to sours and stouts. Fantastic - and they’re a verified venue on Untappd which is a nice plus.

This visit we didn’t get too much food, but in previous trips I’ve enjoyed the ribs and pulled pork which are awesome. I like how the serve everything family style on a sheet pan with some onions and pickles and sides of BBQ sauces. Don’t be afraid to go with the Alabama White sauce. It’s meant for the chicken, but like Frank’s Hot Sauce I think it’s darn tasty on near anything.

This time around we went with:

Special Pastrami rubbed beef rib - Delicious, but crazy expensive. Pickles needed more zing, onions were a tasty accompaniment with the right acidity to cut through the fatty beef rib. Great bark and excellent unctuousness.

Smoked chicken wings - darn tasty. Plenty of sauce. Could have used more smoke IMHO, but overall crazy extra large coupled with super tender fall off the bone is one heck of a combo.

Collard greens - I don’t even know what was in here. Think it was pulled pork, but almost had texture of beef. Also some crazy radish things which were fun. Good amount of vinegar and greens were nice and tender.

BBQ Baked Beans - Likeky my favorite thing on the evening, these beans are no joke. Some sort of mix of beans in here, in addition to ground pork or ground beef and a whole bunch of seasonings and flavors. Absolutely fantastic and a must order on every visit. Nice level of spice as well.

Pulled chicken - 1/2 lb ends up with a deceivingly large portion. Definitely not shredded and had a bunch of huge chunks. Very...

Any BBQ fans out there? Wave your hand. *waves aggressively

To say I have been excited to try HSB is an understatement. They have consistently garnered great reviews since opening and CT dsnt have a ton of cue spots that rly rock.

Pulled up on a Friday afternoon for a late lunch on a cold day and the place was pretty slammed due to a family party being hosted. The exterior has plenty of picnic style seating while the interior is more a cramped dive/grotto bar. When its packed space gets tight. Besides that everything seemes clean n brightly lit. Although I would recc' different utensil options or bringin your own as the forks are flimmmmmsy.

As for the food...its a order first spot similar to bear's and some other spots around. The menu is clearly laud out and they have some interesting options.

Me and my company went with A 1 meat 1 side combo. Mine being pulled chicken and smashed taters w/gravy While hers was the brisket with mac&cheese. We added one empanada n one piece of cornbread along with a single iced tea n that rang up north of 50 bucks.

Overall the food was very good, everything came out together on a platter along w/ pickled onions n house cukes.

The brisket philly empanada was a solid starter, the flavor of the meat was really good and along with the russian dressin style special sauce gave it some character. I didn't get a philly vibe but it was good though.

Our mains were also very good, the pulled chicken has a texmex kinda feel to it and the meat is tender and juicy while the brisket was moist and flavorful though I like a more pronounced bark.

The taters with gravy were legit with the mac and cheese being the weakest link. It lacked flavor and identity and was overall forgettable.

Other than the family party and picnic style utensils the food and feel of the place is legit, a bit on the pricey side but would still return to try...