Rib City Grill

Five out of six piggies on Dec, 2008.
This review is of the Beaverton location.

Overall impression...
Yumbo!

Meats...
Baby back ribs are their specialty, and it's not difficult to taste why. They are quite meaty, pleasantly smoky, juicy, and delicious. There is just enough fat on them to carry that wonderful, riblicious flavor. They come slathered in sweet sauce, but you can get them naked. The smoked beef is actually thinly sliced roast beef, not brisket. It is tender, juicy, and as tasty as roast beef can possibly be, but where's the smoke? I could detect no hint of smoke flavor. The smoked pork is thinly sliced pork butt. It's slightly smoky, tender, and succulent. The chicken has nice, crusty skin. it's tender, juicy, and delicious. Great job! Also available: burgers, sirloin, turkey, fish, shrimp, spare ribs, and meat salads.

Sides...
The cole slaw is a nicely balanced, usual blend in a creamy mayonnaise base. It contains caraway seeds, which I normally shun, but in this case, it's a hint rather than a blast of caraway, and nicely accents the other ingredients. The beans are flavored like baked beans, not BBQ beans, so they're on the sweet side, and not spicy. Mix some sauce in the beans for fun. The french fries are crispy and not oversalted. Almost everything is served with a buttery garlic bread that is much more butter than garlic. Other sides include corn cobette, applesauce, tomatoes, baked potato, and garden salad.

Sauces...
Rib City Grill has three sauces, which come in bottles on the side. The sweet sauce is fortunately not overwhelmingly sweet, however it's bland. The tangy sauce, a little lighter in color, is basically the sweet sauce with a hint of vinegar, spice, and (how interesting!) mustard. The hot sauce is the sweet sauce plus cayenne pepper and Tobasco sauce. It's fine if you really like Tobasco sauce. Both the tangy and hot sauces scream for a little more vinegar to balance the molasses and pepper.

Portions...
Good portions, not too much and not too little.

Service...
Courteous and professional. Please tip generously.

Cost...
About normal for high quality BBQ in the Portland area. Sandwiches are under $7 or $8, two and three meat combos, which come with two sides and garlic bread, are $14 and $16.

Atmosphere...
Rib City Grill is well-lit, with a glass front and side. There are comfortable bench seats and normal tables. The color scheme is a pleasant dark red, gray, and ochre. Only the largest wall is host to many large, high quality photographs, some of which are scenes of local landmarks. Rib City Grill's decor gives meaning to the phrase, "Less is more."

Pros...
Yummy BBQ in a comfortable atmosphere. Selection of sauces.

Cons...
The sauces need a little improvement.

Rib City Grill
114415 SE Mill Plain Blvd
Vancouver, WA 98684
(360)882-8005

3655 S.W. Hall Boulevard
Beaverton, Oregon 97005
(503) 643-7427