Crooked River BBQ + Beer

I’d come back again for the hot dogs. They are loaded up with toppings and messy to eat but delicious. The brisket sliders were dry and the BBQ sauces are underwhelming. I feel like one of the five sauces should be in your face spicy and it’s only mild. The hush puppies with jalapeño are hard and bland. If you are looking for a good hot dog though come here! They are all beef too.

Strange to say for a BBQ place but their hotdogs are really quite good. The Blimp, The Hall of Fame, and The Brutus. I’d come back for those. The Frog looks good as well. Sadly, the brisket was dry, flavorless, and not appealing at all. Not to mention all 5 of their BBQ sauces are pretty abrasive and lack any distinct flavor other than vinegar. I’ll be passing on that, and other BBQ here, in the future. The hush puppies are small rocks.
Tl;dr only come for the hotdogs and beer.

Stopped in for lunch. The January special is a $ 15 slab of ribs. Unfortunately they were out and the new batch wasn’t ready I Got the taco lunch special and wife had the pulled pork sandwich special In summary, it wasn’t bad but not good. Very little if any smoke flavor. I believe it’s the same owners as before but the brisket was much better before. I still want to try the ribs before I write them off but with this visit it doesn’t look good.
Service was good and the place was clean.

I admit that on my first visit here I complained to their corporate HQ because of appalling attitude of their employees. I’ve been back twice since and the offending employees weren’t here. As a matter of fact, the shift lead here today was a breath of fresh air. Friendly and informative and gave us coupons that seriously helped their normally high prices. the food quality was middle of the road. the sides are all a total waste of time… not fresh and not flavorful (especially the mac and cheese… ick). And the other concerning factor here is the point that my hubby and I have never seen a single other person in the building all 3 times we’ve been here. it’s always just us… at lunchtime. I hate to say this… but I don’t see this location surviving.

Some of the worst BBQ I have had.
Brisket is flavorless, overcooked, and no smoke flavor at all. Pulled pork was slightly better but still not enjoyable. Their mustard sauce isn’t bad. I would avoid the rest. Sweet potato casserole was nothing but nuts and brown sugar.
Only redeeming point was the corn bread.

Stopped in for some BBQ and to try this location out for the first time after not being overly impressed with the Mayfield location. There were 15 or so patrons in restaurant when I arrived and a couple of people waiting for carryout. There was a lot of rushing around in the kitchen area and it was immediately clear they were in the weeds. There was mention of being out of mashed potatoes and that it would be an hour or 2 before they would be ready. Several people came up to the counter asking about the status of their order — one had indicated they had been waiting for 25 minutes already. I ordered naked beef brisket, 5 chicken wings and a side of hush puppies for a carryout order. The scrambling continued and several people had to come up with another plan for their sides due to not having any mashed potatoes after they already had ordered them.
The most concerning thing I noticed several times was the tub of mac & cheese sitting on the floor, only partially covered with plastic wrap. I imagine the Lake County Health Department wouldn’t look highly upon this.
25 minutes later — I finally received my food along with an apology from who I assume was a manager for the amount of time that it took. I wouldn’t expect this place to last too long… save yourself the time and head a little farther either East or West to one of the other BBQ restaurants in Mentor.
On the plus side, the brisket and the wings were actually really good!