(09/26/06)

The Joint

Clyde's Roadhouse is located on Route 1 among a stretch of chain restaurants. The architecture of the building itself is something from an old Western; inside, the place is dark, with some old time cowboy decor. There are four TVs strategically placed in the corners of the dining room, with another four TVs in a bar area enclosed in glass.

The Menu

The menu is far-reaching, with a vast array of sandwiches, appetizers, steaks, burgers and Mexican dishes. Barbecue offerings include St Louis ribs, babyback ribs, beef ribs, pulled pork and chicken. You can get these individually or as a 2-meat combo ($13.95) or a 2-rib combo ($16.95) with cole slaw and a choice of starch. I went with a friend for a weekday lunch to share two combos spanning four meats.

The Meats

All of the items arrived drowning in a nondescript dark brown barbecue sauce. Beef ribs were large, with tender meat but not much of a crust. Pork ribs were plump and tender, with a pretty good flavor, but they had no smoke ring or smoky flavor. Ditto the babybacks, which had more meat because the bones were longer. None of the ribs had a smoke ring. The pulled pork wasn't smoky, and had the same close-to-store-bought sauce that the ribs had, but it wasn't bad. The long strings of meat was slightly crispy and chewy (in a good way).

The Sauces

There wasn't any sauce on the table, but there was hardly a dry spot on any of the meats to which I could have added any. A nice feature, though, is the "box of hot", a milk crate style case of 10 different hot sauces that you can bring to the table.

The Sides

Sides were just OK. Thinly sliced onion strings were crispy; mashed potatoes and cole slaw were average. There was no cornbread.

The Bottom Line

You're more likely to see Tony Danza in a sitcom playing a character not named Tony than you are to see a smoker in here. The food is slightly better than a chain, but it's not real barbecue. I might come back for the burger, but probably not much else.

Other Opinion

Yelp reviews of Clyde's Roadhouse

Urbanspoon reviews of Clyde's Roadhouse