Russell Street Bar.B.Que

Recommends

cornflakegirl80

Joined 4 years ago

omg. Best BBQ in town....HANDS DOWN! Do yourself a favor and eat here!!!!

Recommends

mifoofnick

Joined 3 years ago

Best BBQ in Portland - Still!. I've tried all of the barbecue places in Portland, and still think Russell St. Is the best. There is often a wait for a table, but once seated, the service is always friendly and prompt.

The beef ribs are incredible, with a little char, and plenty of beefy flavor. The baby backs are quite good too, really meaty with little bones. The brisket is moist and flavorful, even though I don't love it chopped. The hot BBQ sauce had plenty of zing, but is nicely balanced, and not as thin and vinegary as many of our other local places.

The sides may be the best thing about this place. The greens are the very best, and I'm shocked they contain no meat. The beans come with meat, or without. I can definitely vouch for the meaty beans. The mac and cheese is creamy and delicious. The fries are crispy, just how I like them. The yams are too sweet for a side to me, though.

I'm always tempted by their enticing dessert menu, but never have enough room left for dessert after eating at Russell St BBQ.

Doesn't Recommend

pixie29

Joined 5 years ago

What is all the hype???. So Russell Street BBQ isn't horrible by any means but not sure what all the hype is about. This place is packed at lunch and sometimes at night but it is only OK. My only guess is that people who frequent this spot have never had good bbq or they go their for convenience.

Doesn't Recommend

ross mike

Joined 3 years ago

Southern cooking is in trouble here. Very disappointed by the food. Cornbread dry, cole slaw heavy, macaroni and cheese dry, and the greens were an unusual soupy watery, not fresh made greens. My kids usually like corn bread and cole slaw. But did not touch it here. Hush puppies were dry, not a little creamy inside and crispy outside. They charge soo much for not very good food. They're making a killing with crappy food.

We got full rack of baby back for $31.00 and a plate of beek ribs for $16.00 with 2 other side(very small) dishes for $2.50 each and hush puppies for $5.00 a basket. Total with tip $51.00 plus tip. And left with nearly a heart burn. For a $59.00 total. Did not feel to good after that one. Never again.

Recommends

LucyElizabeth

Joined 4 years ago

Fun atmosphere, wonderful service. Every staff member we encountered was super-friendly, the atmosphere was fun and clean and the food was fantastic. We are going back for more!!!!

Recommends

stella64

Joined 4 years ago

Great BBQ!. I have been a patron of Russell Street BBQ for the last 5 years due to the consistency of their food. It is my tried and true place to always bring friends and family that are visiting from out-of-town. Typically, I do not post reviews good or bad, but when a friend from Vancouver said they went on Portland City Search to look at bbq reviews and said there were a couple poor reviews for the restaurant imagine my surprise. I can only figure that they are some people who are never pleased or they are competitors of Russell Street BBQ placing postings. So here I am telling you if you want great food that is reasonably priced go to Russell Street BBQ. Get there early though or you will wait since us locals already know how good it is.

Recommends

justsomelady

Joined 4 years ago

Great Food. Sometimes I find myself thinking nonstop about this place. The urge to go back can ba all-consuming sometimes. The ONLY bad things I've ever experienced here are the difficulty finding parking and the wait that is required for seating (only because they're so busy). When I go, I must have their Stumptown Iced Coffee with Cinnamon. It's better than words can describe!

Doesn't Recommend

amymusic

Joined 4 years ago

not worth the price. food is not real BBQ...anyone who knows the BBQ can tell this is not real...vegis are like from cans...meat is like from the electric smoker, doesn't have the evidence of slow cooked with real wood from the pit... these folks should of stayed in italian restaurant business, didn't realize the art of smoking it takes....it's a con! almost anyone can do better on their own backyard with some charcoal....it's like european chef trying to copy soul food.... not going to work.

Recommends

footlong

Joined 4 years ago

Good. Great food, love the place and atmosphere. If you like like bbq pork, get the bbq pork sandwich! Great mac and cheese too!

Doesn't Recommend

lsb123

Joined 6 years ago

Very Underwhelmed. I have heard many times this was a great BBQ restaurant. The service was above average, but not much more. Though the prices were reasonable, we were overall severely underwhelmed with the food .

The pulled pork though tender had very little smoke flavor and no smoke rings. The sauce used on it was very one dimensional and even the spicy sauce had very little kick. The side dishes which included their "signature mac n cheese was grainy and very bland. The meaty beans were even worse, tasting like canned beans with some meat scraps added.

All in all very disappointing as there are many far better BBQ resturants in the greater Portland area