Trail Dust BBQ

The bbq is not bad but the prices are way too high. Also, when ordering to go, be sure to check out meat before leaving. I’ve ordered a full rack only to get home and find a couple «nubs» that they counted as a full rib. Also, depending on time of day, sometimes i’ve received what i know to be day-​old reheated ribs. Love the beef ribs though. Shame they only have them one day a week.

We really like Trail Dust and so does everyone else! Food is great, meat and sides and beer — YAY! They have the biggest baked potatoes this side of the Pecos ! We like all their sauces too. They smoke their meat and when it’s gone for the day, they close, so watch out, and come early. Their wait staff is great, especially Marissa, who is friendly and helpful. Restaurant is clean and well run. Take out is good too. Last time the three of us had one combo meat meal with 3 meats and a substitute baked potato, and an extra potato. So much food we had leftovers! Hope to see you there.

Awesome food great staff tons of beers on tap to chose from and quick service this is a must stop when checking out Morgan Hill!

My favorite BBQ place! Better than Phil’s in SD and better than Famous Dave’s for sure.

BBQ IS great, one of the best I’ve had in the Bay. Arrived around 2 PM on Sunday and there was no wait, drove past the restaurant again around dinner time at 6 PM and the line was out the door.
Got 2 3 meat meals to share and it was more than enough food. Pass up on the root beer, it’s tasty, but nothing spectacular. It was also $ 5, might as well get a real beer. They have lots of craft beers on tap, so that’s a big plus. This is what brings Traildust to 4 stars in my opinion.
Beans were not my favorite, I think there was a lot of pepper, and I like mine a bit sweeter. Potatoe salad was great. Ribs were amazing, pulled pork is good, but gets overwhelming too quickly if you don’t get it in a sandwich or something. Tri tip was decent, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Get their cobbler, it is so damn delicious. Service is very good and attentive.

One of the best BBQ joints in the bay area, hands down. They carry a ton of craft beers with some on tap. I recommend this place to all my friends.

When in Morgan Hill…
…get dusty.
The BBQ here is some of the best in the #YelpSouthBay hood. And when I say that, I’m talking about the entire hood from Santa Cruz to South San Francisco. It’s a big hood, I know. But I’m sticking to my claim that Trail Dust is among the best.
I always go with the Brisket Plate with Toast, Coleslaw, & BBQ Beans. There’s just something about that cool Coleslaw crunch that goes so well with BBQ’d meats. I also make sure the Spicy BBQ Sauce is within reach, cuz I’m prone to splash some of that all over the plate. It’s the kind of spicy that lights your mouth up but also allows you to enjoy other flavors too. You know what I’m talking about. Hopefully you know what I’m talking about.
They also have a legit tap selection featuring Craft Beers & even a tap dedicated to Craft Cider. IPAs, Sours, Stouts, Reds, Belgians, you name it, they got it. So be sure to wash that meal down with a glass of the cold stuff.

This has become my spot. Not only mine but the entire family as well as our family friends. Service is almost always awesome. The beer selection is hard to beat and I’m a beer geek, family vacations centered around beer.
Food is always very very good – they have absolutely improved their food. At one time it seemed they over smoked the meat too often. I haven’t had the problem in a very very long time.
Now that they have a full on beer bar with regulars time to get a fryer for snacks :)

This review is a little over do, but better late than never, right? Anyway, I came here with my family to meet with friends for lunch and was pretty impressed by their menu. Their restaurant is a little small for the volume of people it attracts but that a good thing. The décor was a little dark and cluttered but the food was delicious. I had their tri-​tip salad and it was SO good that I still think about it from time to time. My mom also let me try some of her chicken and it was juicy and had good flavor.
The portions are pretty big which is good because that’s what you pay for. Aside from the tight atmosphere, the food was an A+ and would love to go back when I find the time to sit and dine for lunch again.

I might have a slight bias towards this place because it was my first job ever in high school. But the tri-​tip sandwiches are some of the best I have ever had and the secret recipe for the in house BBQ sauce is to die for. (only the manager was allowed to make it). All in all its a relaxed lunch and casual dinner spot with many beers on hand and great smoked bbq.

Cant be happy enough every time i come in. Food is great. I had the brisket sandwich tonight and it was mouth watering great. . theres so many beers to choose from

Trail Dust is a great BBQ joint just south of San Jose in Morgan Hill. The aroma of the BBQ in the back just makes you wish you never ate breakfast that day…
They have daily specials and well known for the Beef Ribs on Wed nights. By far my favorite is the BBQ Chicken Sandwich, if know it’s a BBQ place, what about the beef? The Tri Tip is moist and the St Louis Ribs just fall off the bone. They got a three item combo which is the best deal in the house.
Craft Beer is what gets me in the door here. They got like 10+ taps going with beers on Tap you usually dont find and they never seem to disappoint. don’t hesitate to ask for a sample if you don’t know what you want. The manager is a great guy also, totally knows his beers.
Last but not least, my girl’s favorite thing is the desert. The bread pudding is one of the best! Just make sure you order it when you order your food, they do run out which is a good sign.

Drove here on a whim Monday night all the way from Sunnyvale after learning that they had a few bottles of beer I’ve had trouble finding. The food ordering set up is a bit different than their Aptos St and South Winchester restaurants in that you need to wait to be seated and order from a server.
Got the smoked tri tip meal to go. While waiting, I hung out at the bar and was happy to see that they still had some leftover beers from the Sainte Adairius/​Rare Barrel tap takeover from the weekend. Got the saison bernice from SARA and dubious knights dark tequila barrel aged sour from Rare Barrel. Both were quite delicious and tart. Draft menu is a bit longer than South Winchester’s but a bit shorter than Aptos St.
Bartenders and servers were super friendly and attentive. One of them told me a funny story about a woman who had just called to say that she ordered a large sandwich and wasn’t sure if she received a small or large size one, because she said she was still hungry after finishing it! LOL! To avoid any sort of confrontation, they told her she’d get a credit the next time she came in for a large sandwich!
When I got home the food was still warm and tasty. Consistent flavor with Aptos St and South Winchester.

Food is very delicious! No complaints!

Trail Dust, Trail Dust, Trail Dust its like music to my ears.
The aroma pulling into the parking lot hits my nose and makes my stomach growl, ggrrrrrr
I eat here about once a month, and recently had a party platter done for some out of town guests. All of them praised the delicious mouth watering BBQ.
–BBQ chicken: so tender and moist, add some hot bbq sauce and its pretty darn good.
–Hot links: Smoked like how they should be and HOT. The guy said they were local but I forgot the name of the brand.
–Trip Tip: Nice smoke ring good flavor.
–St Louis Ribs: falling off the bone, you cant go wrong.
–Pork butt sandwhich: Tender pork all on its own but DIP in the hogwash for perfection.
–Bread pudding was made to order and quite scrumptious.
–Craft beer selection is extensive never fails to deliver. Well they sometimes run out of certain kegs, but thats how it is. dont dwell on it, theres always something else… They always have something on Nitro, always worth a try and has never failed to disappoint.
Bottom line go here, its ggrrreeeeaattttttttt. I like the Décor.

I love Trail Dust!
The beer selection is my favorite part. It’s awesome! They always have good stuff and new stuff for me to try. I always try to find new things and they have not disappointed me yet. If you’re looking for a place with good food where you can enjoy a great beer selection, then this is it.
The staff is very friendly; always accommodating and genuine. The food has never let me down. This is my favorite Morgan Hill restaurant.

A loud restaurant with average food and weird service. I came with high hopes since I had heard good things but sadly it didn’t meet my expectations.
Came with my parents on a Thursday evening and was instantly greeted by children running around screaming and kicking soccer balls INSIDE the restaurant. Having worked in food service for several years, this is extremely inappropriate and should never be allowed. Not only is this potentially very dangerous for patrons walking in and out but also for the servers carrying plates, silverware, and drinks. Besides that, it’s not something you should see in any restaurant, family-​friendly or not. I was surprised that no one seemed to say anything about this, not the manager or any of the servers. The waitstaff were nice about it and simply walked around the kids and the soccer balls rolling across the floor. This was an immediate turn off as I felt pretty uncomfortable since kids kept bumping into me and the ball would occasionally roll over and hit the back of my legs as I was standing there. This went on for about 20 mins after we arrived until all the families left. On top of that, there’s no real waiting area so after writing our name down we awkwardly stood in the small space in front of the doorway as it was too cold for us to stand outside. They have two tiny decorative wooden chairs by the door but it would’ve been nice if they had actual chairs so people waiting can sit down…(doesn’t that make sense?) Wasn’t a very good start to the meal and definitely not a good first impression.
We ordered the 4 meat combo (not on the menu) of the Brisket special, Hot links, Ribs, and tri-​tip. We also ordered a ½ loaf of garlic bread, potato salad, and coleslaw as our sides. They offer a regular and spicy bbq sauce in squeeze bottles on the table. The food was ok. nothing was especially flavorful and I found that I had to basically drown everything in BBQ sauce for it to have flavor. I’m not sure if they spend a lot of time smoking their meats but the ribs and tri tip tasted pretty dry and bland. The brisket was probably my favorite as it was very tender and nicely fatty.
Our server was really nice and helpful. I would rate the restaurant higher for her service if the whole soccer ball thing wasn’t the first thing I saw when I walked in.
The only thing I’d consider returning for would be the large selection of craft beer but with El Toro Brewing Company down the street, it’s not likely.

Finding the place was easy.
not too sure on the parking situation though, especially with the construction going on the street.
Got the pulled pork sandwich with beans.
Pork was less seasoned and didn’t have juice and a bit dry and some bits too burnt and inedible. Their vinegar/​molasses sauce to pour on it was fabulous though and the pork needed it.
Beans felt like they were undercooked. I know I’m being picky, but I’m comparing this place to Sams BBQ and Smoking Pig, and the pulled pork sandwich from Daddy O’s — all of these 3 I believe to be better.
Bread pudding was great… just don’t pour too much of the sugar/​rum mixture over it otherwise its like biting into a sugar cube.
I went here because of KFOX listeners voted this place the best bbq. I don’t agree. However, I think I may know why it won — the amount of types of beer on tap and other liquors they have available.
The service was meh. slow, more so than I would expect for the rating shown on here. Or, it could have been just a bad day, understaffed and large tables. My experience, which I really hope was a fluke: no silverware, one of our orders came out wrong, server didn’t notice we were done, didn’t check on our desert, and we had to get someone else to get our check.
The feel of the place would be great if more of the bbq smell was available. the seating was comfortable though a little tight; which is okay since its a small place. However, please put some extra napkins as its a bbq place — get the cheap big kind as I dripped sauce as sauce should drip in a bbq place.

I used to work in Morgan Hill, and had heard a lot of hype about this place.
Best BBQ around they said, great selection of craft beers they told me…
Well after several years of listening numerous people tell me that this place was the end all be all, I decided to go and give it a try.
We had a large-​ish group, 5 that turned into 6 during the waiting process, and were told by the host/​bus boy/​man of many hats, that the wait would be about 30 – 45, but that the seating on the patio was first come first served.
So after about a half an hour, we decided to double check the wait time, which had not gone down at all.
We all walked right next door to the Italian place to grab a pre dinner beer, since the bar area at Trail Dust was also packed beyond comprehension.
2 beers later, we again walk back over and wait an additional 40 mins for our table to be ready.
After all of that we sit down to order from their great beer selection, and were told that the beer that half of the table wanted was out… bummer again.
Our server was pretty chill, recommended similar beers for those that didn’t have a contingency plan for their beer order, and got us our drinks pretty quickly.
I ordered the pulled pork sandy, and I have to say it was pretty dry. I ended up needing to utilize not only the portion of sauce they gave me, but also a significant amount from the table selection.
After a 2 hour wait, dry sandwich, and the beer I wanted not being available, I don’t see how this place has carried such a stellar reputation over the last few years.
I’m going to go back, most likely not on a Friday night, and absolutely not with a group of more than 3.

Three Item Combo is your best bet although we got charged $ 1 more than what was on the menu so maybe they should update their system or menu
Tri Tip — super tender and flavorful, best meat option
Pulled pork — the bark is where the money is, without that the meat itself was lacking
Ribs — fall off the bone goodness but underseasoned
Sides were fine, no highs or lows
Assortment of draft beers were great
Overall Thoughts
Would gladly come back for the tri tip