Shane's Rib Shack

Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Restaurant: Shane’s Rib Shack
Location: 123 Perimeter Center West
Atlanta, GA 30346-4205
URL: http://www.shanesribshack.com/

7.25

Shane's rib shack is not really a shack, but they still have pretty good BBQ. They are a chain with several locations and their meat tastes like it was made for the chain and not made on location. The Beef was very very dry, had to stop eating it. The ribs were a little tough but pretty good. They did a fairly good job with the pork.
They seem to have one of every kind of sauce. The spicy has a really good kick, Carolina Vinegar not enough spices, but had an apple vinegar taste. One of their best items was the Brunswick Stew. Nice and thick.
Shane’s Rib Shack is good for what it is, a convenient chain BBQ restaurant. Stop by if there is one around, but don’t go out of your way.

Full Rack - $19
1/2 Rack - $12
Plate (2 Sides) - $9
Sandwich (1 Side) $7

Dan
Overall Score: 6.75
Main Dish Taste:
      Pulled Pork - 6
      Ribs - 8
Sauce:8
Tenderness: 6
Sides Taste :
      Fries – 7.5
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Cost: 8
Comments: For a chain, it was fine. The ribs were good, but the pork just wasn’t anything special. I wouldn’t rush back to go to Shane's, but the price aint bad and the service is pretty quick.

Matt
Overall Score: 7
Main Dish Taste:
      Beef - 4
      Ribs – 7.5
Sauce: 9
Tenderness: 6
Sides Taste :
      Brunswick Stew – 9.5
      Mac & Cheese - 7
      Fries - 8
      Fried Okra - 8
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Cost: 8
Comments: Chain. Meat seems to be reheated. Beef Very Dry and chewy. Ribs need a knife to separate but tasted good. 5 sauces to choose from. Spicy has a really good kick. Carolina vinegar not enough spices, but had an apple vinegar taste.
Stew, one of the best. Very thick; Fries good seasoning; M&C decent cafeteria style; Okra good

Mason
Overall Score: 8
Main Dish Taste:
      Pulled Pork - 8
      Ribs - 8
Sauce: 9
Tenderness:7
Sides Taste :
      Brunswick Stew – 9.5
Service: 6
Atmosphere:6
Cost: 8
Comments: Even though Shane's is a chain, it was a great BBQ. The stew was excellent. Pulled pork was great. The ribs were definitely on the tough side, but great flavor. The sauce was excellent, many to choose from. The only negative i could point out is the atmosphere, very chainy. But i have to say it excelled where other dives failed. I will be going back here a lot.

Fox Brothers

Date: 12/29/2009
Restaurant: Fox Brothers
Location: 1238 Dekalb Ave, Atlanta Ga 30307
URL: http://www.foxbrosbbq.com/
Recommended By: Peter Drive By, Guy at Poker

Score 7.5

At first glance Fox Brothers looks like a great dive BBQ joint. There is a separate smoke house next to the restaurant, old signage all over the walls and the menu looks like an 1800's news paper. While you are waiting for your food the Tomminator is a must. Tater Tots covered in thick Brunswick stew smothered with melted cheese. The fried pickles or jalapenos are really good as well.
The ribs come out with a slightly burnt sauce. Pretty good, but they were not very tender. The outer ones were more burnt an the inner ones were slightly tender. The beef was not very tender. The pulled pork had a strong bitter smoky flavor. The chicken wings are smoked wings, the meat has a good kick to in and they are covered in sauce. A nice sweet and spicy combo.
Over all, Fox Brothers has a great BBQ atmosphere and some of the best BBQ appetizers around. Their main dishes need a bit of work.

Beef Sand (1 Side) - $10
Beef Plate (2 Sides) - $13
1/2 Rack - $15
Combo 2 meats - $15
Half Tomminator - $4

Peter
Overall Score: 6.5
Main Dish Taste:
      Chicken Wings - 8
      Ribs - 6
Sauce: 7
Tenderness: 6
Sides Taste :
      Tomminator - 9
      Mac & Cheese - 6
      Collard Greens - 9
      Fried Pickles & Jalapenos - 8
Service: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Cost: 7
Comments: Fox Bros looks great from Dekalb Ave. When I walked up and saw the smoker house next door and then the menu, I was very intrigued and excited. I ordered the Tomminator to start. Tots piled high with cheese and Brunswick Stew. It was very good, but more bar fare than bbq. The ribs and chicken wings combo looked really good when set in front of me. But, it failed to impress where the rubber hit the road. The ribs were tough. The flavor was okay, but I could tell that Fox Bros. lost focus somewhere along the way when it comes to translating their original concept with ribs into the finished product. The current execution is poor. The wings were interesting looking. Smokey and spicy buffalo flavors present as well. The Collard Greens were also good, But I won't be planing to come back again. That would require some reason other than the food.

Matt
Overall Score:8.5
Main Dish Taste:
      Beef - 7
      Ribs - 8
Sauce:9.5
Tenderness:7
Sides Taste :
      Tomminator – 9.5
      Mac & Cheese - 6
      Brunswick Stew – 8
      Jalapeno Corn Bread - 8
      Fried Pickles & Jalapenos – 9.5
Service: 8
Atmosphere:9
Cost: 7
Comments: When I first walked into Fox Bros I got really excited. They have a smoke house next to the restaurant, the restaurant was packed and the menu looked like a western newspaper.
We started off with the Tomminator, fried Pickles and jalapeno cornbread. The Tomminator is one of the best side dished I have had, tater tots topped with thick Brunswick Stew smothered with melted cheese. Wow. The fried pickles and jalapenos were excellent too. The breading was perfect. The corn bread was not sweet, I prefer mine sweater.
For the main dish I got a combo beef and ribs. The beef was a bit dry and not the most tender. The sauce was great, sweat and spicy I picked up a bottle on my way out. The put the sauce on the ribs early in the process with gave it a burnt sauce taste, pretty good but they outer ribs were not that tender. As I worked my way in they got more tender. The Brunswick stew way nice and thick, with a sweater tomato flavor. The Mac and chees was very cafeteria style, just OK.
Overall I would say the atmosphere, sauce and sides are amazing. The meat was OK. It may have been excellent at one point, and I see the potential but not our day.

Mason
Overall Score:7.5
Main Dish Taste:
      Pulled Pork - 5
      Ribs - 7
Sauce:8.5
Tenderness:6
Sides Taste :
      Tomminator – 9.5
      Mac & Cheese – 3
      Brunswick Stew – 6.5
      Fried Pickles & Jalapenos – 9
Service: 8
Atmosphere:9
Cost: 7
Comments: There was a 15 minute wait for Fox Bros. It was packed and we couldn't find parking. There was a seperate smoke house on the side that had BBQ smoke puring out of it. During the wait we scoped the menu and it was very impressive. All kind of BBQ creations and different kinds of plates. We ordered some fried pickles and The Tomminator while waiting for our food. Wow it was all amazing. I was thinking that this could be the best BBQ yet....and then I got my plate. The ribs were ok, a little tough. The pulled pork had a very odd taste to it. Like some type of weird wood chips were used during smoking, and it didn't turn out well. The mac and cheese was very dry, I ate about a fourth of it. The brunswick stew was ok. Overall, they excell in the areas that don't really matter with BBQ. I would go back for the appetizers only. They need to revisit

Year End Review

We started the BI Bbq Group back in October. So far we have made it to 8 BBQ restaurants. Here is what we think so far.

Visit Date - Restaurant - Group Score
12/2/2009 Fat Matts - 9
10/14/2009 Spiced Right - 8.17
11/16/2009 Old Brick Pit Barbeque - 7.83
12/9/2009 Swallow At The Hollow - 7.83
12/29/2009 Fox Brothers (Review to come) - 7.5
11/24/2009 One Star Ranch - 7.13
12/15/2009 KC Pit - 6.5
10/27/2009 Ribs Etc - 5

Here are our individual favorites

Best In ___ (So Far....)	Mason	Dan	Matt	Peter
Overall BBQ	Spiced Right	Fat Matt's	Spiced Right	Fat Matt's
Ribs	Fat Matt's	Fat Matt's	Fat Matt's	Fat Matt's
Pork	Swallow At The Hollow	Fat Matt's	--	Fat Matt's
Beef	Spiced Right	--	Spiced Right	--
Brunswick Stew	One Star	--	One Star Ranch	One Star
Sauce	Swallow At The Hollow	One Star Ranch	One Star Ranch	Fat Matt's
Atmosphere	Swallow At The Hollow	Fat Matt's	Fat Matt's	Fat Matt's
Service	--	--	--	Fat Matt's
Side Dish	Fox Bros.	--	Fox Brothers	Fox Bros.

Yet to Visit
Dreamland
Slopes
Pig and Chick
JRs
BBQ1‎
Five Star Barbecue
Lowcountry Barbecue Restaurant
Shane’s Rib Shack
Old Hickory House
BBQ Corner 2
Smoke Jack
Woodys
Rolling Bones
Dusty's
Community BBQ
DBA Barbecue
Williamson Bros Bar-B-Q
Rib Ranch

KC Pit

Date: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Restaurant: KC Pit
Location: 6317 Roswell Road Atlanta, GA 30328
URL: http://www.kcpitbbq.com/

Score 6.5
KC Pit has recently changed locations. The new building made KC Pit change from a dive BBQ joint to an upscale dining experience. Jazz music, waterfall behind the hostess stand, fancy linens, BBQ sauce in mini silver containers…. If you are going on a nice date but still want to eat BBQ, then KC Pit is the place for you. Some may call it "GayC Pit".

Over all the food was pretty good but not the best. The beef was very good. Ribs and pork were good. None of the meat had a smoky flavor. And none of the meat came with sauce, so you can eat it without the mess. They all came platted fancy with garnishes. The sauces were both really good KC style sauces. One thick molasses (without the strong molasses flavor) and the other was a ketchup base with spices (without a strong ketchup taste).

Mac & Cheese was very good; it too was platted all pretty like. Brunswick stew extra meaty. Sweet potato fries were a nice touch.

Pork Sand (1 Side) - $5
Beef Sand (2 Sides) - $8
1/2 Rack - $13

Mason
Overall Score: 6.5
Main Dish Taste:
Pulled Pork - 7
Ribs – 6.5
Sauce: 7.5
Tenderness:7
Sides Taste :
Brunswick Stew - 7
Mac & Cheese – 8.5
Service: 7
Atmosphere:1
Cost: 8
Comments: This is the first time I have ever heard contemporary jazz being played at a BBQ joint. This was a very confusing place. Very contemporary atmosphere, even the menus. Then you open them up and everything looks the way it should at a BBQ joint, even the prices. The food came out and was good. After about 3 bites it just began to have this very chainy taste to it, as if it was not cooked with care. No smoked flavor in the pulled pork or ribs, which were about the same quality. The mac and cheese is the only item which I can say was worth the trip. I also must mention the fact that the BBQ sauce was served in a little silver pitcher-like container that looked like it would come out on a platter to some rich kid being served breakfast in bed. And we had to beg for it, our waiter had to bring more about 4 times due to the small amount. I do like that fact that this place is unique, even if it is not what I am looking for. Overall, I say pass unless you like eating BBQ with a silk shirt on.

Matt
Overall Score:7
Main Dish Taste:
Beef - 9
Ribs – 7.5
Sauce:8.5
Tenderness:
Beef – 9.5
Ribs – 7
Sides Taste :
Brunswick Stew – 7.5
Mac & Cheese – 8
Sweet Potato Fries – 9
Service: 8
Atmosphere:4
Cost: 8
Comments: This KC Pit BBQ is definitely not the same KC Pitt it was 2 years ago. I felt like I was walking into some hit midtown restaurant/bar. Even the menu screams, "we are fancy". The beef was very tender and tasty. It did not have any sauce on it, but it didn't need it. They served two sauces. One a thick KC style, sweet and thick, but it was not too sweet. The other was more tomatoes based with bits of species. The ribs were OK. They didn't have sauces either, but they needed some. Neither meat had a real smoky flavor, it seems they were both mostly cooked in the oven.
The stew was thick, but did not have much stew flavor. Most of the taste is the meat. The Mac & Cheese was very good. It is cafeteria style but much better. I also had some good sweet potato fries.

Dan
Overall Score:6
Main Dish Taste:
Pulled Pork – 6.5
Ribs - 7
Sauce:6.5
Tenderness:5
Sides Taste :
Fries - 8
Service: 7
Atmosphere:2
Cost: 8
Comments: The place was clean, the menus were very sturdy and well put together, the service was courteous and polite, and there was no chance of me getting dirty at all during my meal. This is NOT what I want from my BBQ experience. The restaurant was high scale but the food was low scale.
All in all, the food wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t memorable. The ribs were tasty, the pork was ok, and the fries were good. However, when the French fries are the best part of the meal, that’s not a good thing. We may need to try the "low class" KC Pit to give it a real chance.