Steamboat BBQ — Restaurant in Wheaton

Wow has this place gone downhill since before Covid… where do I start.

Walk in to terrible customer service not handed a menu at all just asked what do I want and then sighed at when I had to take a few minutes to look at the menu. Not my fault they took down their board and only have paper menus now.

Place an order for 3 meat 2 side and an extra side of 10 mac n cheese bites. Ask for 2 sauces and I’m told the first one is free but the second is $1.50… they never used to charge for sauce, it was always out at the table and you filled a few small cups to take home with you.

Waited at a table that was clean/wiped down but was still somehow extremely sticky…

Meats:

Burnt ends Ribs Brisket

Sides:

Pit Beans Corn bread

Total bill: $38.32 honestly wasn’t expecting that, but hey it’s bbq I’ll let it slide.

On to the food review!

Brisket - Grey in color did not pull apart, tasted like I was chewing on rubber, although it had a nice smoke ring, zero flavor and texture was horrible. They only served me the flat, and it was dried out like it had been in the warming drawer for days.

Ribs - fall off the bone, not to my liking, I prefer a little bit of chew in my ribs. Good smoke ring, good bark, lacking flavor though…

Burnt Ends - nothing burnt about them, cubed up meat they reheat on the grill.

Cornbread - dry, not moist, very very dense

Pit Beans - my favorite for the meal! Good flavor, spice and very tasty, well seasoned with small chunks of meat in there as well.

Mac n cheese bites - fried Mac n cheese, they were decent but nothing spectacular.

Overall, I challenge the owner on their quality of the food for the prices they’re charging. If I had paid $20 I wouldn’t have been as upset but close to $40 for a meal that the best thing was beans and you’re a bbq restaurant? I’d be ashamed.

Will not be going back unless the owner makes changes and...

This was my first time having Steamboat BBQ. WOW! If you like smokey BBQ, this is the place for you. Very authentic BBQ taste! I had the brisket dinner and my girlfriend had the burnt ends. The brisket was much lighter in flavor and slightly dry, which most brisket is, but paired with their Apple Bourbon BBQ sauce, the brisket was delicious. My girlfriend got the burnt ends. PHENOMENAL! Super tender, huge meaty smokey flavor, and the fat on the burnt ends is a punch in the mouth with flavor, and the texture, it just melts away as you move it and chew it in your mouth. We both had the beans for a side, and those were the best beans either of us had ever had. Reminded me of camping with my grandparents when I was younger and basquing in the smells of the campfire. So delicious. I also had the sweet corn and the girlfriend had Mac-n-cheese bites for our additional sides. The corn was good, but corn is corn and it's hard to make corn amazing. Their Mac-n-cheese bites were a bit more basic in our opinion, but still a good snacky side dish. Both of us had the Apple Bourbon sauce and it was sweet, smokey, and delicious with the slightest bit of heat that lingers, not too much, just perfect. I can't speak much on the atmosphere as I had a to-go order, however. This isn't a sit down restaurant atmosphere if that's what you're looking for. 80% of their building is taken up by kitchen and front desk, and it shows because the food is TOP NOTCH! Do not hesitate to give these guys a try. We will definitely be...

I expected a much higher review for my very first experience at Steamboat BBQ considering all the awards on their wall. First off, the girl who took my order didn't even say "thank you" when I said "keep the change", she said "ok" after giving her my $20 on an $18 plate so I gave her a second chance and told her "thank you", instead of saying "no, thank YOU", she said "you're welcome". She forgot to tell me my order number so I went back to ask for it, she said "63", I wanted to confirm with her and said "sixty...?", she goes "sixty three". I'm waiting for a bit noticing they're passing my number so I go to the pick up window then ask, "did you guys call number 63 yet?", one of the cooks start looking for my order, then he asks what I ordered, I tell him "ribs and catfish combo", he goes "it's right here", my order been sitting there because it was FIFTY three NOT SIXTY three! I get my order, ribs are dry almost like beef jerky (see picture, the ribs I cook are more amazing than theirs), had a hard time eating so I didn't finish it, catfish was nice and crispy, a bit dry as well so I had to keep dipping it into the sauce for moisture, pit beans were like Libby's pork and beans, I had better home made potato salad and the slice of bread was...well, just a slice of bread. I'll be looking for a much much better place for ribs. Texas Roadhouse got some great meats! I'll be writing a great review soon about my...