Chain restaurants are not always great: average quality of food and bland. So I did not expect much when I went to Brother Jimmy's BBQ Midtown, after seeing an horror movie (I was hungry for meat; mmh...can it be related???).
The restaurant had two floors: bar in the bottom (hence checking my ID) and the restaurant upstairs, quieter. Definitely, you do not go there for a romantic dinner: it is a bar like feel. Anyway, I prefer that they focus on the food, not the decor!!!
As I love meat, I went for the Jimmy's pig pick that is your selection of four choices between:
- Ribs: either Northern, Southern or Dry rub style,
- Pulled pork,
- Brisket,
- BBQ chicken or pulled chicken.
I went for:
- The Northern style ribs that are smoked and then grilled with Brother Jimmy's original BBQ sauce. It was delicious: the meat was tender and had a very nice smokiness.
- The dry rub ribs: smoked with Brother Jimmy's signature rub that tastes like a country sausage. It was just ok for me: it definitely tasted like sausage, but it was too dry. I added some BBQ sauce that was on the table. I should have gone with the Southern style!
- The BBQ chicken: nicely cooked and moist. Loved it.
- The brisket: it was smoked for up to 12 hours; I am happy I did not wait that long! It was very good. The meat was lean and nicely smoked.
They serve the plate with hush puppies (cornmeal deep fried meatball) and cole slaw. I like the slaw that was a good thing to eat from time to time between the meat, but did not like the hush puppies that were too dry.
The plate was huge and overall pretty good. It was a lot of food and there was no place for any dessert!
I was also able to try the cheeseburger: good and juicy. The meat had some taste!
And the Mac and Cheese (with the cheeseburger, you pick a side): not the best but pretty decent. It was not dry but a bit more cheese would have been great.
For those who like to drink, they also have some giant fishbowls full of alcohol! Could be a good way to forget that you will eat that big plate you ordered or that you will have to pay for dinner to apologize for the poor attitude you have when you are...drunk...
A the end of the dinner, I was stuffed! Brother Jimmy's BBQ is definitely a good place to go for BBQ.
Enjoy (I did)!
