I was excited to find what promised to be a great ...

I was excited to find what promised to be a great local BBQ joint.

First impression when walking in was the lack of smoke smell in the building. Granted, smokers are usually outside but that hypnotic, alluring smell is the norm for the BBQ joints I frequent.

We went on a Saturday night and were looking forward to the burnt ends special. Unfortunately they were out by 4:00 p.m., and I wondered why they didn't make enough to sell more instead of running out so early.

When I went back up to the counter to order something else, the two girls on the counter were gone; the guy in the kitchen said he didn't know where they went, and I stood there waiting for them to saunter back in.

So I ordered, grabbed drinks, and sat back down. And waited. And waited. By this time more people were coming in and they were getting busier. I was sipping on sweet tea and was disappointed that it was barely sweet and very watered down, with little tea flavour at all. Oh well, not the end of the world.

About 20 minutes after ordering, a waitress came to our table to tell us they has run out of one of the upgraded sides we ordered. Ok, I get running out of stuff - but why did it take 20 minutes to tell us? We were sitting there wondering why it was taking so long to slap some brisket on a bun.

When I talked to the cook (might have been an owner or manager, but he didn't have the courtesy to tell me) to get a refund, I asked why it took so long to tell us they were out of the side. He said when he went to put the order together he discovered they were out.

Here are the two major things that are contributing to the one star rating:

1. The order sat for 20 minutes before even beginning to put it together. Why? This is a sandwich, folks, not a five star meal. The meat is already cooked.

2. Why didn't he know they were out of the side? What about the person who put the last of it on another order prior to our order?

The entire staff acted like they didn't give a flip. Slow, poor service.

We ended up driving over to Dickey's Barbeque Pit, had two brisket sandwiches with 2 sides each and drinks for far less than Pitmaster charges. Had our food within 3 minutes of paying, and it was good. The sweet tea tasted like sweet tea. The place also smelled like a BBQ joint!