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Yesterday I made a request for info on some barbecue restaurants in the Birmingham, Alabama area. One recommendation was for the Tin Roof BBQ Restaurant on Southlake Parkway. So after driving nearly 300 miles from Madisonville KY we checked into our hotel and rested a couple of hours then headed off to dinner at Tin Roof BBQ.  Cecil and I were really looking forward to eating some serious bbq and we were both really stoked. When we finally found the place it was in a strip mall……. hhhmmmm  well, we decided to give it a try anyway because it was afterall recommended to us.

We walked in and looked around and the walls were covered with all kinds of memorabilia and it had the look of typcial bbq joint with plain tables and chairs and booths….nothing fancy…  that made me feel better. Our server brought us a menu and got our drinks…..she was very pleasant and Iasked her if she was the boss.  She kind of laughed and said yes.  I told here we were with www.BBQ-Festivals.com and we were there on a recommendation and I gave her one of my cards.  She said ok and we proceeded to place our orders. The menu had a great selection and we both chose a platter with Ribs, pulled pork, brisket and two sides.  I had potato salad and baked beans, Cecil had fried corn on the cob (yum) and turnip greens (yuck)

We got our plates very quickly and the serving portionss were really good size. The three ribs really didn’t look that good and when I picked one up expecting it slide off the bone it just stuck straight out stiff. So we samples some of the sauces which were very good and we set off on our much anticipated authentic Alabama barbecue feast. The pork and the brisket were really good. I added a little of the mustard/vinegar based sauce and that tasted great.  The meat was a little tough but not bad. Then I decided to try one of the ribs. Well…… to be honest they were not that good. They were tough and chewy and my jaws started to get sore from chewing so hard. Finally I had to wash it down with some water. The back side of rib where the meat was really thin was fairly good but over all the ribs left a lot to be desired.  It seemed as if they had not cooked nearly long enough. The sides I had were potato salad and baked beans.  The baked beans didn’t taste to original and the potato salad had way too much mustard. In fact it tasted a lot like Wal-Mart.  I asked our server who by then confessed that she wasnt the owner and that the two owners were not there, if that was homemade potato salad and she kind of skirted around the answer saying she thought everything was made from scratch. It might have been….. I don’t know…… I just wasn’t impressed.  Then again it takes a lot of really really good cooking to impress this Kentucky boy.  I asked her what kind of wood they used in the smokers and she said she didn’t know………  I wish I could have gotten a peek at the smokers but that didn’t happen. Each of our meals came to approximately 19.00 dollars

I have to admit that my overall experience with Tin Roof BBQ was a let down.  On a scale of 1 to 10 I give them a 5.5.  The brisket and pork was very good if a little chewy. The atmosphere once you got over the strip mall location was fun. After that though…………. well I will leave that to your judgement.  In the end it seemed as if at one time they might have had a great lineup of ribs but for some reason have lost the touch. Of course I may have just hit a bad day………….it is Thursday afterall………….. 

Would I try them again? Of course I would…..  everyone deserves a second chance.  Maybe next time I am down Birming ham way I will stop in and give it another try.

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