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| - Just visited this new establishment on Saturday, for their first official weekend. My usual expectation for new restaurants run by new restaurateurs is slow service and working out kinks. I was incredibly surprised not only by the quality of food, but the warm and efficient service.
The hostess was friendly and welcoming, not stressed out which would have been acceptable given how busy it was. Even though we had to wait a bit to get seats, I love that they take phone numbers. I was able to take a stroll down Roncesvalles to kill the time. I like the decor, with a clean look with the natural exposed brick on the outside wall, a few 4-6 seat high tables near the window, a bar with about 8-10 seats and a number of tables towards the back of the restaurant. The indoor smoker can be spotted right away near the back and it looks pretty serious, made by a company in the US called southern pride. I like the sound of that!
Sat at the bar, and the server/bartender, Alex, was super friendly and was great at highlighting what to order. They have a number of St. Ambroise beers on tap, a limited wine selection and what looked like an above average selection of scotches. To start, they provide a nice bucket of fresh popcorn with one of their spice rubs on top. Very yummy way to start my meal. They also provided their 2 signature BBQ sauces. One was a mustard/tangy South Carolina style, the other more sweet/tomato based sauce (KC Style?? I don't recall)
We started with Miami short ribs which were kindly brought to the table by chef Dave, who explained a bit about the dish and restaurant. Nice and rendered down with a good balance of smoke/sweetness. Really simple but tasty dish you don't see a lot at BBQ restaurants.
For the main, I shared the sampler platter. Its a choice of 3: Chicken Thighs, Back Ribs, Brisket, Beef Ribs. Went with the first 3 and although I am no BBQ expert, have been to many places in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee among the usual selection in T.O(stockyards, Paul and Sandy's, drake, etc.) The brisket is hands down the best and juiciest i have had. Great smoke flavor, it barely needed the BBQ sauce. The Chicken and Ribs were also well done, but to me the brisket stood out. I read that they don't use hickory or mesquite, which I am so thrilled about as I find too many BBQ places do this and it overpowers the flavor of the meat. Had 2 sides (Cesar salad, and Cuban corn) and pecan pie for dessert. The salad was good, but nothing too special, and the corn was delicious with the spices and cheese draped on top. The pie was also extremely tasty but I prefer it served up a little warmer.
Sadly, this place will become extremely popular if this keeps up, and as much as it saddens me, the owners deserve it for taking the time to really show Toronto what good BBQ is all about.
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