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| - I have to preface this with saying that I have a pretty extreme bias against Gilbert. Almost everything about this place and what it stands for annoys me. And, just so you know, Gilbert, everyone else in the Valley hates you. Yeah, even AJ.
This little homogenized, car-centric Mayberry-ish strip crammed onto Gilbert Road is often where I lead tourists if they're, for whatever reason, not interested in leaving the Southeast Valley and have no interest in Downtown Chandler (which I think is a great area). But it may be easy to miss this strip, because there will be at least four of Gilbert's finest waiting for you to tick up to 26, and that, in itself, may distract you.
But I had never actually stopped here. Finding the well-rated, independently-owned Joe's, open on a Sunday, was a good excuse to take the back way up from Tucson on my way to an airport pick-up and grab a brisket sandwich.
The brisket sandwich itself comes at just $6.99 and includes one small (not a size, but a descriptor) side item. They also have homemade cornbread and a few homemade desserts on the menu. Impressive. It's cafeteria style, so you wait with your little tray, while people in front of you act like they've never worked a soda fountain before, and order at the counter. That's a good little scam, because people are much less likely to get a refill if there's a crowd blocking them. And, at $1.99, I would expect a couple of free refills.
And that sort of set the tone for everything in that, aside from my sandwich, the other menu items seemed overpriced. The piece of cornbread that I ended up trying (I can't pass up homemade versions) ran me $2 and the deserts were like $3 for some pretty small servings.
I also should point out something I saw in another review, which mentioned the "homemade" root beer and red cream soda: the root beer is homemade (probably outsourced locally, but close enough), but the red cream soda is Barq's.
The sandwich was relatively small. Maybe three slices of brisket present on a hamburger bun, with just a little bit of sauce. And that was a good thing, because the sauce was far exceeded by the brisket, which itself was a little dry and oversmoked. The sauce tasted like a bottle of Kraft's BBQ sauce with ketchup added. Very little spice, way too tomatoey. At least, for my standards, but I know that everyone has their own opinions.
The cornbread was a mistake. Dry, flavorless, and it probably would have made my mema turn in her grave. It was hot and served with a slop of butter stuffed into a SOLO cup, but I didn't end up opening it. Maybe I'm crazy, but I always eat the first piece of cornbread with no butter, just to get an idea of the flavor.
The side was probably the best thing that I got out of the deal. The cheesy potatoes were a little overcooked (or had been sitting for too long), but they were a nice blend of cheese, cream and green chile (nice touch).
Atmosphere reminded me a bit of some of the places I used to go to in Texas, with the high ceilings, big tables and outdoor patio (another nice touch). And, maybe because of that, something just seemed too deliberate about this place.
If you like this place, feel free to continue coming here. But I'm going to keep searching for a decent BBQ place in this state.
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