Monday, May 16, 2011

Rippy's Smokin' Bar & Grill - Nashville, TN

Yeah, remember how I went to Nashville six weeks ago?  Well, I'm finally getting around to telling you about it.  I'd gone a few years ago and remembered really liking Jack's BBQ, but not bothering with Rippy's BBQ.  A good friend of ours went about a year ago and insisted that Rippy's was 100 times better than Jack's.  Despite the piss-poor reviews of Rippy's on Yelp! and UrbanSpoon, I wanted to go back and try both, just to settle the debate.

We got into the 'ville just before dinnertime, so we freshened up and promptly hit the town.  Our (shitty) hotel was practically in Printer's Alley, so we were within a close walk of almost anyplace downtown.  There was a hockey game happening, so the streets and shops on Broadway were getting crowded fast.  I decided we'd try Rippy's the first night because I didn't want to end the trip on a sour note in case it sucked. Good thinking on my part.  

It took a while for us to be greeted, and regardless of the fact that we asked for a booth, the waitress sat us at a high-top table right in front of the window.  As long as we sat waiting for beverages, we put our order in right away in fear of how long it might take.  We both opted for the pulled pork basket with different sides.  

 The pork was okay - just okay.  they sprinkle some kind of "proprietary seasoning" over top of it that perhaps is supposed to make me think it's been dry-rubbed.  All it makes me think is, "I wonder if Longhorn is pissed that Rippy's stole their patented Prairie Dust?"  Our friend had also raved about the sauce, which I tried in spite of my better judgement.  We've been over this, eaters - good barbecue does not. Need. Sauce. I'm willing to try and give a sauce kudos to complimenting the meat when warranted, but this was not one of those times.  It had a decent spice to it, but was a vinegary disaster.  The Mister didn't care for his baked beans because they had big chunks of onions mixed in. That doesn't mean they were bad, just not for him.  Fries were decent, but likely of the frozen persuasion.
My onion rings were mighty tasty, but didn't make up for the sub-par pulled pork, or the diabetes-inducing sugar-laden cole slaw.  I'm a big fan of a sweet, dairy based slaw, but this bordered on unrecognizable. Plus it was hot inside and out, and I don't think the slaw had been well refrigerated.  Regardless of where it's from - if the slaw's not cold, I ain't the kind of gal to eat it.

Service is to Rippy's what a pleasant experience is to your local bargain theater.  They're not mutually exclusive.  The water glasses were mostly left empty and our server never asked if we wanted refills on our cocktails.  Our buddy had asked us to bring him back a bottle of their  barf amazing sauce, which we asked for twice and never got.

2 out of 5 sporks! 

Rippy's Smokin' Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon

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