I have to preface this review by letting you know that I write a BBQ blog and that I have eaten more than my share of BBQ around the country. I have a lot of small and not so small things that I didn't love about their food. Some are personal preferences.
First, I have to commend the owners for their hospitality and menu. They're eager to educate people about real BBQ and are very interested in what you think about their product.
We ordered chicken, pulled pork and ribs. I thought the smoke level was really quite good. The pulled pork was very dry. I liked it with the vinegar sauce. Which, by the way, was the best of the sauces they had to offer. I also tried it with the mustard, which I liked in moderation but thought it was too sweet and too spicy. Everything was too spicy. BBQ isn't spicy. We got the 1/4 dark chicken and it was moist and delicious. I think the rub is ok. The ribs were a little dry. They might consider a fattier St Louis style rib. I definitely think ribs should be moist and succulent. Fat is flavor. The rub is grainy and adds a mealy grainy mouth feel if you don't finish it on a grill or use enough sugar to turn it into a caramelized coating. The red sauce hasn't cooked it's spices in so it's really grainy and again too spicy. I didn't like the chili powder overtones either.
The stars were the sides we ordered. The black eyed peas were really good, again didn't need to be spicy but nonetheless delicious. The greens were very nice and tasted of their vinegar sauce. I thought they could have been cooked a little longer but I really did like them a lot.
They need to allow you squeeze bottles of their sauce if you are dining in. There's no sense in wasting the little plastic to-go cups or not allowing you to try multiple sauces at will. We didn't finish what they gave us so they were also wasting sauce. Everything is served in plastic and I really don't like the waste. We took some of it with us to recycle at home. A squeeze bottle will cost them a buck.
I liked the people quite a bit and hope that they find an audience here to support them. I am on the fence with the rating, it's 2.5 stars for me.