Ribbins Bar-B-Q has opened in the location that formerly housed Bill's Bodacious BBQ, at 3813 NE 4th Street in Renton.
Ribbins has a history. A sister restaurant of the same name was in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood as early as the early 1980's, and although I think that branch is now gone, they also have an Auburn branch. It's Kansas City style barbecue, and it's good.
The pork ribs stand out, almost fall apart tender, and the sauce is slightly sweet and slightly hot. Too many barbecue sauces disappoint me. They're overly sweet, gloppy, and seem to be a blend of ketchup and Elmer's glue. But not Ribbins. The greens ( (which I'm guessing are a collard-mustard blend) are the very traditional style of cooked for a long time with some pork fat, and nicely spiced. I'll be back to try the brisket, chicken, sweet potato pie, and peach cobbler.
Prices are a little high. Pork ribs dinner is 12.95, and includes two sides (choices include candied yams, greens, fries, beans, potato salad)... It's an improvement over Bill's Bodacious. I didn't hate Bill's Bodacious, I just thought the sauce was too weird.
But Ribbins is good.
Yes, I realize if I got to the gym more, and stopped eating ribs so often, my body would thank me. But it's my duty to eat these things and blog about them. Y'all don't simply want me to blog about tofu and alfalfa sprouts, do you?
Ribbins Bar-B-Q
3813 NE 4th St
Renton 98056 425-255-5565
5 comments:
i love it when you talk food! and i am glad to hear that there is a new "Que" place in town
glad that you and your waistline are keeping tabs on what is new for us out there!
>>But it's my duty to eat these things and blog about them.
We thank you for your noble sacrifice! It's hard work but someone's got to do it.
I agree with your comments about Ribbin's. Food was good, prices a bit high. We loved Bill's -- largely because he and his family were such great folks. Their food was a great value. Their business was a victim of Boeing's cutbacks and the declining economy.
Ribbin's jumped the gun with their opening, and we were disappointed. It still seems a bit amateurish, but I expect that they'll improve. I'm a retired airline pilot, and have been privileged to enjoy regional food from all over this great country, and the world. I enjoy eating at restaurants with strong regional identities. We live in an awesome country, and I enjoy celebrating the various aspects of our identity.
We recently had dinner at A Terrible Beauty, in downtown Renton. Its previous incarnations have included Giant's Causeway and at least two versions of Finnegan's. My wife and I, who tend to be very critical (because of my airline pilot background and her mystery shopper background) loved it. Both of us were un-restrained in our praise of the place. I'd be very interested in reading your review of ATB. I follow your blog closely, and find that my impressions rarely disagree with yours.
Liked your bbq review--just wanted you to know i posted it on the MyRenton section of the Renton Reporter website. I'll gladly take it down if you wish--but that would be a shame...
Casey
Serra Media
I'm with other posters on this one. Overall, good 'cue. When we visited a couple of months ago, things were still a bit rough--they'd just opened. I felt price point was definitely too high for a meal served to me on generic styrofoam and a plastic tray.
But my biggest concern were the "candied yams" (or they might call them sweet potatoes, but I don't think so). They were actually a watery purée containing nary a visible yam. I went back and asked about it, thinking it was a mistake and they had only dipped the sauce. The young man working was very nice, and offered to try to dip another portion from the bottom of the pot because it was thicker down there, but that yes, those were the candied yams.
Where I come from, candied yams have, well, yam chunks in them.
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