Ordering from Dallas Jones: The Live Blogging Experiment

By on November 7, 2008 7:13 pm in Food

Ok, so it’s Mrs. Fink’s night out with her goomadas and Homer’s hungry.  Since I’m sucker for marketing, the menus from the newly opened Dallas Jones BBQ at 87 Atlantic Avenue left on our stoop made tonight’s decision for me.  Let’s see if these guys have the right stuff.   Here is my experience in real time.. more or less:

7:00pm:  Finally got through, phone has been busy for 10 minutes.  The nice lady on the phone seems real busy and a little hard of hearing.  Placed my order.  The wait begins.

7:13pm  Obviously still waiting.

7:30pm  Waiting… if this were Domino’s back in the day it would be freeeeeeeeeeee!

7:48pm It’s me, Lou Dobbs and no food.  Should I call and see what the deal is?  What’s the over/under? An hour?

7:58pm According to DJ’s my order is on its way!

7:59 pm It’s here!  No credit card receipt, odd but what the heck.

8:22pm  The verdict: While not the best BBQ I’ve ever had, it certainly beats the late lamented Pig n’ Out BBQ on Henry Street (purveyors of “charred remains, not food” is what I’ve said in the past).  Chicken was cooked well and tasty, ribs were good (not of the caliber of RUB or Virgil’s). As for the sides – the collard greens were not prepared in the traditional greasy sugary sense but were enjoyable just the same.  Garlic parsley new potatoes were OK but seemed under cooked and over garlicky.

All together, Dallas Jones BBQ gets a thumbs up for good, fresh food for delivery in the Heights.  And boy, do we need more of that!

Dallas Jones BBQ

87 Atlantic Avenue

718 855 8821

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  • anon

    we ordered from dallas jones over the weekend. was really really good. a welcome addition to the ‘hood!

  • http://www.pievscake.com Evan

    We’ve ordered from Dallas Jones twice so far. It’s been delicious both times, I’ll give some extra special props for their buffalo wings, pulled chicken sandwich, and cornbread (not to mention the awesome lemonade). A little bit more expensive than Jake’s (the other local bbq joint) but the lunch specials are a great value.

    Evan

  • Melissa

    I ordered burgers and wings and was disappointed. The service was good and fast (less than 30 minutes) but the wings were dry and tasteless and the burgers reminded me of high school cafeteria mystery meat. After reading the positive comments above, will give it another try to be fair.

  • ABC

    my heart belongs to jake’s. why go elsewhere? their pulled pork is the only decent thing we get here in brooklyn heights

  • AEB

    But Homer, did you hate yourself in the morning?

    PS, what and where is Jake’s?

  • skunky

    jakes is down on Columbia St near like Sackett

  • AEB

    So not in BH.

    Thanks, skunky.

  • ABC

    jakesbbq.com — look for their special deals.

    I guess they’re not IN bh, but if you call them they’ll be here in 20 minutes.

    I recommend the pulled pork platter with corn bread, mac and cheese and collard greens (not greasy). Also cut corn if it’s fresh. Enough for two adults.

  • Nick L

    Let’s see Homer… The place just recently opened, which probably means that they are still trying to work out some glitches in their system. You ordered at 7:00 pm on a Friday, which is the busiest time of the week for most take out places, and you live on Cranberry St. which is on the complete other side of the neighborhood. I mean come on now the pizza place 2 blocks from my house takes at least 45 minutes to deliver on a Friday night for Christ’s sake. Then you present us with your detailed timeline of sarcastic comments followed by your lukewarm review of the food (when did you become a food critic?) All in all it doesn’t seem very fair to me. I guess you feel they should at least feel gratefull for your limp thumbs up, right.

  • E G

    Your heart? To Jake’s? Really??

    I suppose Nick L has a point, however snidely rendered. An hour on a Friday night is pretty good. I’ll try it. See for myself, though the comment re: the burgers is discouraging as I judge most places by the quality of their burgers.

  • AEB

    Thanks, ABC….

  • Bongo

    Am I really alone in thinking that Pig ‘n Out was pretty good? Expensive, yes, but pretty good. Better than Jakes. Jakes’ sides are better than Pig’s were.

  • Teddy

    The 1st time I went to Pig ‘n Out, the baby back ribs were good, not the best I ever had but not bad. The next couple of times I went there they were charred. I never went back and wasn’t surprised when I heard they closed. I know there was also a court case involving the owner.

    As for Jake’s, the ribs are usually ok (also not the best I ever had), but the mashed potatoes & other veggies on several occasions were under-cooked. The corn bread was hard a few times as well. I never tried the pulled pork so I might order them one of these days. Anyway, I’m thinking of ordering from Dallas Jones right now. I’ll see if the ribs are at least as good as Jake’s.

    Inconsistency with the quality/preparation of food seems to be a serious issue with a large number of restaurants in the area. It could have something to do with the high turnover of personnel in the kitchens of many of these restaurants.

  • Andrew Porter

    I loved the brisket at Pig’N’Out, and their sweet potato fries were excellent. I always ate in the place or waited for food there; I’ve never ordered take-out in my life (yeah, I know, I’m culturally deprived).

  • http://cobblehillblog.com EJ

    My Dallas Jones story:

    2 weeks ago I was walking my dog, noticed a menu on someone’s stoop and decided that a smoked chicken would be a nice dinner. I called, ordered one for takeout, and showed up at the restaurant a few min later. after 15 minutes of waiting inside, I was informed that the smoker was broken and they’d give me a rotisserie chicken instead. No thanks I said, I can get that at the Key Food.

    On Saturday, I felt like some BBQ for the Bama game and once again placed an order. I asked if the smoker was up and running yet — still no smoked chicken, but was promised that the pork and ribs were smoked. I ordered a combo plate with mashed potatoes and “southern style” baked beans.

    Jalepeno cornbread was a brick. Mashed potatoes were homemade but unremarkable. Southern style apparently translates to excessive slices of pork fat – as there were more pieces of pork fat/skin than beans in the baked beans. Flavor was good – ratio was way off.
    Pulled pork had not been smoked — just smothered in their poorly-doctored up ketchup that they pretended was NC-style BBQ sauce. The highlight was definitely the ribs. While I thought that I ordered spare ribs, we received baby backs. The flavor was good, it was spared a dousing of the sauce, and they tasted like they were smoked.

    I’m glad that I live across the street from Pete’s for a quick BBQ fix. The pulled pork and ribs at Waterfront are miles ahead of DJ’s. I’ll give DJs a month or two to further work out their kinks before writing them off — but for proper BBQ, I’ll continue to mail-order ribs from Dreamland in Tuscaloosa.

  • Sam

    I’ve ordered twice and been pleased both times–fast, pretty good prices, and realtively “real” barbecue. Pork was tasty if over-sauced. Huge roster of sides. I like the stuffing, which had lots of mushrooms in it. Mashed potatoes were good, too.

    I’ve only ordered from Jakes once and thought it was terrible. However, that was 5+ years ago so maybe things have changed.

  • Beavis

    I can report a positive experience with Dallas Jones.

    They were out of brisket, so I ordered the combo pulled pork and ribs. The pork was nicely smoked, with the right ratio of sauce. The ribs were meaty and falling off the bone. Both were flavorful.

    The collards are excellent. Sweet potatoes in maple glaze delish, the corn bread good, soft and tasty, and the creamed spinach was quite good (though I usually like a bit more garlic).

    The peach lemonade was just so-so.

    I give DJs a 4 out of 5. Very glad to have them in the nabe, especially considering the poor deliver/takeout options we have here.

  • http://www.myspace.com/billyreno Billy Reno

    I liked PignOut, so if this place is better, I’m happier than a pig in slop, because it’s just around the corner!

  • Teddy

    I’m a little late but here goes:

    I ordered their combo platter DJ3 (half-rack ribs & quarter rotisserie chicken, I don’t like smoked chicken) on Sunday. I was told it would take 30 mins. to deliver. After a few minutes I called back and told the lady on the phone that we would pick it up since we live about 3 minutes away by foot. So we picked it up about 15 minutes later. So almost a half hour from ordering on the phone to the moment that we began to eat. This was Sunday at 6:15 PM.

    The ribs were good, not the best , but good enough & definitely better than Pig n’ Out. The chicken was very good. The corn bread was better than Jake’s. The corn on the cob was good, but the mashed potatoes were so-so (I’ll pick a different side next time). Overall, I can definitely say I had a good first impression. Then again, my first impression of Pig n’ Out was also favorable. Time will tell.

  • Homer Fink

    Ok… ordered again tonight and the food was terrible. Hate to say it, but they’re now officially on our “must to avoid” list.