Restaurant Review – The Garage BBQ

We arrived at The Garage BBQ before the dinner hour, about 4:20 on a Friday afternoon. A pleasant young person met us as we came in the door and brought us to a seat. We asked to be put into a corner table with chairs with backs instead of a bench seat. 

Pre-ordering

They must have been short-staffed because we got the manager, Josh, as our server. He was excellent, and his knowledge of his bar was incredible. 

Appetizers

The table ordered an Onion Ring Tower. It included eight tempura-style onion rings and White BBQ and rémoulade dipping sauces. I like the tempura style and thought they were quite good. My wife thought they were a bit greasy. I noticed some of the rings had separation, and there was an inconsistent fry between the various rings. They were good, but not great. I thought the rémoulade was a bit bland, but I suppose I favor the hotter, more Cajun-flavored versions.

Food

I like sausages and had ordered the Spicy Sausage. It comes with cornbread, bacon mac’n’ cheese, and pickles. It was a loose-packed Andouille-style sausage which I liked. The cornbread was okay, and the honey-butter for the cornbread was delicious. The bacon mac’n’ cheese was “bacon surprise*” and not particularly good. 

My wife likes ribs, so she ordered the St. Louis Style Ribs. I’ll say, I was wondering how a place that serves their ribs “naked,” with barbeque sauces at the table, can do a proper St. Louis Style. I know that St. Louis Style refers to the cut rather than the cooking method, but still, my idea of St. Louis Style ribs are dry-rubbed, mopped, and slathered. These were dry-rubbed and dry on the outside. Whoever trimmed the ribs did a horrible job of removing the cartilage. The tips were hard, dry, and overcooked. Meanwhile, the ribs were terrible. Seemingly, someone just tossed them onto a very hot smoker, so insides didn’t cook off the grease, and the outside dried out. No meat falling away from the bone on these. Even I couldn’t eat them the next day at home, and I eat almost anything. Her coleslaw was delicious, savory, with a nice texture.

Ratings

Ambiance: 3 (The seating was hard, the room noisy, not very good for conversations.

Food: 2 (To us, the ribs were uneatable.) 

Service: 5 (Server [Josh] was friendly, attentive, and helpful.)

Price: 3 (A bit over $40 for appetizer and meal for two, not including drinks)

Value: 3 (The server saved the experience; otherwise, the experience would have been a disaster.)

Conclusion

Although the drinks were great, I can’t see us returning. 

Location

The Garage BBQ is at 3 East Grand Avenue, the Northwest corner of East Grand Avenue and Pine Point Road in Scarborough.

Endnotes

* “Bacon Surprise” – It is a surprise when you find a bit of bacon.