Last night, I had the chance to stop at a Cincinnati barbecue joint that had been on my list for a while.  Jim Dandy’s BBQ competes in KCBS competitions, and fairly recently opened a restaurant on Sharon Rd, just off I75 in northern Cincinnati.

The place looks good from the road, though they could use some brighter lights at night (I almost missed it in the dark).  The smell of wood smoke is GREAT when you get out of your car.  The reason for that is that they’ve got what looked like a nice Klose smoker (may be another make) up front billowing smoke.  It’s not what they’re cooking on, but it still smells really great!

I like their slogan, "Spiced & Smoked - Not - Boiled and Soaked!  Their menu has a lot on it, but it’s fairly well focused on real barbecue items (click on the picture to see the full size photo).

The place was clean, and, for a Wednesday night, was busy enough to see they do decent business.  (Sorry about some of these photos; they were taken with my phone, as I didn’t know I was going to be stopping for dinner.)

One more non-food item: the help.  When I walked in there were three young people, 2 guys and a young lady.  All of them were friendly, without attitudes and very helpful.  Definitely a huge plus!

Now on to the food!  I got a variety of things to try, and I’ll rate them all on a scale of 1-9, with 9 being the best and 1 meaning I would never want to eat it again:

I got a 2 meat platter, with brisket and pulled pork as the 2 meats, and mac & cheese and red beans & rice as sides.

The brisket was kept warm in broth, it looked like, and it was sliced very thin.  There was very little rub on the brisket, but a good smoke flavor.  The tenderness was pretty much right on, but it was just a little dry.  Overall, I’d give it a 7.  The pork was slightly smoky, too, and nice and moist.  I think it’s the best pulled pork I’ve had in this area at a restaurant.  I’d give it a 9.  The mac and cheese was recommended by the people working, and rightly so.  Excellent mac and cheese (though my wife didn’t like it, but she’s not a mac and cheese person).  I’d give this a 9, too.  The red beans & rice, however, had a bit too much tomato for me, but, more importantly, the rice was very overcooked.  I’d give the red beans a rice a 5.

I also got a rib platter, with sides of baked beans and cole slaw, very traditional barbecue.  The ribs looked very dark, and I think they’d been sitting for a while.  To their credit, though, Jim Dandy’s didn’t microwave them.  The ends were a bit dried out, but the meat was moist and tender where it was thicker.  I got St. Louis ribs, and there was still a lot of rib end left on; I’d prefer they just be called spare ribs, or be trimmed better.  I don’t expect to fight the cartilege when I get St. Louis ribs.  Overall, I’d give these a 6 (I’d give lower, but they tasted pretty decent).  The beans were very ordinary, maybe a 6, but the cole slaw was excellent, with celery seed and good texture.  I’d give it a 9.

The last thing I tried was an order of Saratoga chips.  These look like homemade chips with barbecue rub on them.  I have to say that these are WAY overpriced… but they were very good.  I’d get them as a side, but I don’t think I’d buy them outright again.  But they were definitely a 9! 

I asked for sides of both the sweet and the hot sauces.  The sweet was a very good all around barbecue sauce, and the hot looked to be the same sauce with some added peppers.  Both were very good… probably the best I’ve had at a restaurant in Ohio.

My overall impression was that the place was clean and friendly.  They have hired good people, and put out real barbecue.  From my experience in the area, this is one of 2 places I would take someone for barbecue.  I’d give them an 8 overall.  Just for the people that were working there, I’ll change that to an 8.5… You can’t underestimate the impact of a friendly, helpful staff!

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