After trying Black Dog Smoke & Ale House last week, I was eager to try a new BBQ joint. In order to make a fair comparison, I ordered the same thing- a pulled pork sandwich. The sauce itself was ok- a little sweet, but unfortunately I couldn't taste the pork. My sandwich consisted of bun + BBQ sauce with almost NO meat. The sauce was so overwhelming, and the lack of protein so significant that you almost couldn't tell if you were eating pulled pork or brisket. It tasted exactly like my mother-in-law's shredded BBQ beef made in the crock pot...Which is fine, for a crock pot dinner, but if your whole restaurant is BBQ- you should make something better than anyone could make by sticking a pork butt in the crock pot, covering w/ BBQ sauce and walking away for 8 hours. The mac and cheese was also meh- it tasted like Stouffer's frozen with salt and paprika sprinkled on top.
If you want great BBQ, skip Blues and Hickory River, head to Black Dog in Urbana!