“The
way you cut your meat reflects the way you live.”
---Confucius
RIBS
USA
2711
West Olive Avenue
Burbank,
CA 91505
818-841-8872
818-841-6769
FAX
11:00
AM to 9:00 PM Monday – Thursday, Sunday
11:00
AM to 10:00 PM Friday – Saturday
Dining here could give you a new slant on life. Which way depends on which side of the table
you are sitting on. It looks as though
the dine-in area of Ribs USA was originally an open air, covered patio and the
concrete floor slants for drainage. When
you walk in you are facing the take out counter at the end of the kitchen. The dine-in area is through a door to the
right. There is a mixture of tables and
site-built, plywood booths. When we slid
into our booth the server cautioned us, I think only half in jest, to watch for
splinters. A few neon beer advertising
signs are the only concession to any kind of barbeque joint style. The dining room has a self-service drink
dispenser and a non-self-service bar that serves beer and wine. They used to have a self-service peanut bin,
but that is gone. In fact, the first
thing we noticed when we entered was that there were no peanut shells on the
floor. There are fewer places doing the
peanut appetizer thing these days, we suspect because one slip and fall suit
could ruin your standing with your insurance company.
Our server, Donna, came promptly and cheerfully took our
order. If you don’t order beer or wine the
response to your drink order to present you with a plastic cup. The menu is both sides of a page laminated in
plastic. One side has the burgers,
sandwiches, salads and fries and the other the barbeque. It exhibits a certain amount of humor. One of the rib specials, a pound of rib tips
with sides, is called “Glad It’s Knight & the Tips”. They have no dessert items on the menu. Combos are selected using the “Chinese
Restaurant Method”, using Column A and Column B. To get our selection we chose
a Column A combo of Baby Back Ribs, and Tri-Tip with BBQ Baked Beans, Macaroni
and Cheese and Garlic Bread. The Column
B combo was BBQ Chicken and Pulled Pork with sides of Cole Slaw, Collard Greens
and a Corn Muffin. I also ordered an a la
carte Hot Link and Potato Salad. The
Garlic Bread and Corn Muffins arrived first.
The rest of the food arrived in quickly and in surprisingly large
quantities. This is another one of those
places where you have to be specific about ordering the sauce on the side if
you really want to taste the meat before it is sauced. Otherwise, the meat arrives covered with a
quite pleasant, sweet, tangy sauce that obscures the true flavor of the
meat. Don’t get me wrong, this sauce is
good applied sparingly.
Garlic Bread
We’ll start here since this arrived first. There is nothing spectacular about this
version of garlic bread. A sandwich
roll was sliced lengthwise, the two halves were spread with garlic butter and
it was put under a broiler or a salamander.
This was then cut crosswise into several pieces and put on a plate. Let’s just say that presentation is very
basic here. Simple as it was it tasted
good, and more importantly to Sharon, not burned.
Corn Muffins
Two warm muffins were presented on a plate with a couple
of sealed butter pats. I think they
actually make these here, but I suspect they are from a mix. They are sweet and reasonably moist, but
quite crumbly and don’t stand up to the butter.
When warm, Sharon found them to have a slightly fishy aftertaste. Cold they were acceptable…just.
Macaroni and Cheese
This was unacceptable.
The pasta was mushy and the cheese sauce was mealy and bland. I suspect that this may have been a bottom of
the batch situation similar to that at the Swingn’ Door last week. It was definitely over cooked or over
baked.
BBQ Beans
They were the conventional baked beans in a sweet tomato
based sauce that reminded Sharon of the Campbell’s baked beans of her childhood
and every picnic you’ve ever been to. Okay,
but we’ve definitely had better and more innovative versions.
Collard Greens
I don’t know how they do these greens, but these were
just plain nasty. Preparations like this
are what turns people off of greens.
They were undercooked and the seasoning was indifferent. Perhaps made by someone who has no idea what authentic
greens are supposed to taste like.
Cole Slaw
This was a competent, conventional, creamy dressing
cabbage and carrot slaw. It was not too
wet and quite acceptable. It is not
exceptional, but probably goes well on a pulled pork sandwich and is worth
taking any leftover home.
Potato Salad
Another potato salad that is basic, simple, competently done,
but doesn’t attempt any new culinary heights.
It is also worth taking any leftover home.
BBQ Chicken
This portion was half of a quite plump chicken with noticeable
grill marks on the skin. It was done
right, moist and tender, with a subtly smoke flavor. The flavor is so subtle that you can’t really
tell what kind of wood or wood chips they used. I had the feeling that it was done in a
restaurant style smoking cabinet with a pan of wood chips in the bottom. Nothing here tastes like it was done in a
real, wood fired, smoker. This is not a negative
for this chicken. One of their entrée selections
is a Half BBQ Chicken with two sides and garlic bread or corn muffin. I can see coming here just for that entrée with
Cole Slaw, Potato Salad and Garlic Bread.
Baby Back Ribs
We have often said that Baby Back Ribs should not
disappoint. Unfortunately, these
do. They are reasonably meaty, and while
not falling-off-the-bone tender are tender to the tooth. The flavor is lacking, with only the barest
hint of smoke and way too bland to stand up to the sauce. They may have been par-boiled before going
into the smoker. This isn’t what you expect
from a place that has Ribs in their name.
Tri-Tip
I say that it’s hard to mess up a good piece of tri-tip
and this is one of those that proves the point.
It’s a good piece of meat, reasonably juicy and the slices are thick
enough but suspiciously have grill marks on the side. The feeling you get is that it’s grilled
tri-tip with barbecue sauce on it. It’s
tasty, certainly edible, but just doesn’t seem to be barbecue.
Pulled Pork
I’ve had Memphis pulled pork, Georgia pulled pork, and
Texas pulled pork so I have certain expectations of pulled pork. If I had been told that I was getting
Carnitas and not Pulled Pork I would have thought this was pretty good but
lacking even the traditional citrus, herbs and spices expected of authentic carnitas. Enough said.
Hot Link
This is an average commercial hot link that was sliced
lengthwise and grilled, then covered with sauce. It has a decent blend of spices with a slight
after bite, and while not a tonsil scorcher, you will feel it on the
tongue. This particular link was a tad
over grilled and was a bit dry.
I’ve been told that when this place first opened it was “Robbie’s
Rib Cage”. Those who have been around in
Burbank long enough to remember it say that it was better as Robbie’s then it
has been since Ribs USA took over. There seems to have been some changes in
management under Ribs USA. We have been
here a few times in the last several years and the quality of the que has had
its ups and downs. Last night was one of
the downs. The staff here is cheerful
and quick. We just think that the que
should be exceptional with a name like Ribs USA. It’s edible but just average. Unless we are with someone who insists on
going there we will probably not be back.
We give it a five.
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