Sometimes, all a hungry college student wants is some man-meat.
Also known as down-home barbecue, man-meat is any sort of grilled, fried or smoked meat covered in sauce and served in a no-nonsense manner. Many college students love man-meat because it is filling. Its sole purpose is to be warm, meaty and speedy. Grand Junction’s Rib City Grill succeeds at providing man-meat to the masses as quickly as possible. However, their breakneck service means their food quality suffers.
Rib City is a modest, homestyle restaurant that serves a variety of classic barbecue dishes. It provides traditional barbecue fare such as pulled-pork sandwiches and baby back ribs. The restaurant also offers four homemade barbecue sauces to please any barbecue junkie. Sauces can also be purchased at the register to use for grilling at home as well.
Although prices may be slightly expensive for college students, Rib City offers solid service and impressive student deals. On Wednesday, Rib City offers 25 cent draft beers as well as $1 microbrews. If there’s a delay to be seated, servers are quick to bring beverages to waiting customers. The waitstaff will make sure that you will never see the bottom of your glass.
After being seated, Rib City provides customers with a rapid eating experience. After ordering, heaping piles of meat, beans, and potatoes will be dished out of the kitchen at breakneck speeds. Some meals will take under ten minutes to be served.
It’s nice to see food on the table in less than 15 minutes, but barbecue tends to taste better when it’s grilled slowly to preserve moisture and flavor, rather than scorched in order to be cooked as quickly as possible. The barbecue is dry and uninspiring, and the restaurant’s rush to serve customers is at fault. Many customers would rather wait an extra five minutes for barbecue that is flavorful and very carefully crafted.
As long as there is an on-demand supply of beer and sauce-saturated meat on the table, many customers will be pleased with what Rib City has to offer. However, many barbecue connoisseurs will want man-meat of a higher quality. Rib City has the potential to be a serviceable barbecue restaurant, but the lack of attention to food quality will prevent the restaurant from being anything but average.
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dlmeyer@Mavs.coloradomesa.edu