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| - As usual, I am going to be the dissenter on the overwhelming WOW's of a new place. As a disclaimer, I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with any of the food - I just didn't care for any of it. From the sea of 4's and 5's this place has gotten, I see that very few had the ribs or BBQ, which is what I had. The chicken seems to be a fan favorite, but I am not going to get chicken at a BBQ joint.
After visiting the folks, I found myself in Matthews and starving at 5:00 on a Thursday. I thought I could mark off a bookmark by heading over to Moe's. Neat brick restaurant (in a building just next to Kristopher's, and on the same street as the library) that looks very nice outside and inside. As expected, there was no one in the place except for the employees at the early dinner time, who all seemed to be working hard tidying up the place for the Matthews Alive foot traffic starting the next day. Including, a diligent young lady who was dragging chairs across the concrete floor (that's a pleasant noise) and using a metal cleaner to de-streak the metal stands on the tables. Great smell from 5' away while I am trying to eat. That was paired with Willie Nelson music being jacked up and down in volume.
Concrete floors, some roll-up windowed garage doors for a covered open patio effect with ceiling fans moving the air through (the doors were down though - it is summer in NC - 90 degrees with a possible storm at any minute). There is also some outdoor seating. I loved the concrete pig bench just inside the doors - very cute.
You order at the counter (be sure to checkout the special/sides on the chalk board at the entrance and the chalk board next to where you order) and are given a number to put on your table, food is brought to you. I headed around the corner to get my drink and saw a sign above plastic squirt bottles of a dark sauce stating they only have one BBQ sauce. You had best like it, because that is what goes on your meats. I didn't like it. I prefer a sweeter western style; this was a thicker sauce, but more vinegar than sweet and very strong. Bleh.
The food:
I wanted to try a little bit of everything, so an order of 6 ribs, 3 oz. of pulled pork, skillet corn (one of the side specials), mac and cheese, banana pudding (it's a side) and a piece of cornbread (and a drink) was just over $20.
The ribs: Meh. Fine in size. They said the meat is smoked, but that isn't what I tasted. They tasted similar to the ribs I do in my oven. Meaty, but with fatty veins, and drizzled with the BBQ sauce that I didn't like. I like ribs that can stand on their own without the sauce, these would not to me. Meat was tender though.
The pulled pork: The pork was vinegary, though cooked well and tender. Covered in the BBQ sauce that I didn't like. Again, I wasn't tasting the smoked flavor, just vinegar this time.
Skillet corn: Excellent. A mixture of tender corn, red peppers, celery and maybe some onion (?), and a couple of small pieces of sausage/kielbasa. Well flavored and a good side. Corn shouldn't be the favorite dish at a BBQ joint.
Mac and cheese: Meh. I believe it was baked at some point and then crammed into the plastic containers that the sides come in, which it then molded to the cup. Lukewarm. Congealed cheese. No.
Banana pudding: Wafer on top, wafer on the bottom, thick and creamy pudding between. Nothing earth shattering, but not neon yellow or jaw-clenching sweet, this was my #2 favorite of the meal behind the skillet corn.
Cornbread: Maybe I am not accustomed to the flavors of wherever this recipe for cornbread came from, but never in my 38 years have I had cornbread that was finished on the grill. I think there were pieces of jalapeno in it - dry, crumbly and grilled. Nope.
I ate all of the sides and pulled pork and took most of the ribs and cornbread to my mom for her to try before she schleps my dad over there. She wasn't a fan either.
This was not a meal worthy of $20 in quality, though the portions were fine. The young man that took my order was a typical ambivalent teen, the young lady that brought my food was pleasant (that is the only interaction you will have with staff - you order with them and they drop off the food at your table - you get your own drinks, condiments, BBQ sauce, etc., and bus your table yourself). I didn't like the BBQ sauce at all. And though I was the only diner in the place, it would have been nice to not have to listen to Willie at full blast (and then silent, and then full blast again) and have the chemical-spraying cleaning crew scuttling about. I like chains, I don't knock them as there is something to be said about reliable consistency of a brand, but this tastes like chain BBQ to me.
"I ain't going back." - Pawpaw C.
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