Bubba’s Ribs & Q – Tifton, GA
husband | February 5, 2009
For Christmas, Punkerdoo was given a copy of BBQ Joints. On the cover in the top left is Bubba himself standing in front of his establishment. Since we were headed to Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII and would be going through Tifton, we thought it would be great to stop in to what looked like a great, old school, southern BBQ shack.
Wrong.
The shack looks the same as on the cover. I think even the circa 1973 Datsun pickup was still parked under the tree. There was even a sepia cast to the sunshine. But Bubba is gone; taking with him any vestige of Q goodness with him.
It started out well enough. They had menus with several types of BBQ shack food on it. The Q came in two varieties, chipped and chopped. Not being a huge fan of chopped pork, we both opted for a lunch involving chipped pork. Punkerdoo went for the chipped pork sandwich with chips and I got the pork plate with slaw and potato salad.
Apparently chipped pork looks like Manwich. Tasting like Manwich would have been an admirable trait for this pork. It was not good: no smoke, no texture, even the soup it was constrained by had no flavor. Bewildered, I looked at the two un-labeled sauces on the table. One was brownish and one was greenish. I tried the brown concoction. Nothing changed. I put some on my Texas toast. Nothing. I put some on my fork, nothing. Ok, I’ll try the green sauce. It yielded a small bit of heat but tasted more like salsa verde than BBQ. Not good. The potato salad was yellow, bright yellow as in the color of French’s Mustard. The texture was more like cold buffet style hollandaise with a healthy quart or two of mayonnaise. It was extremely unlike any potato salad to come before it, a new subclass of side dish disasters. Again, not good. The slaw was ok, but at this point peppery sawdust with a hint of lime would have been a great success.
Bubba, wherever you went, I am sure you are bummed.
This sucks! The last two places we have been to were really bad. Doesn’t anyone make decent Q any more? I am sure you are out there and we will find you. And eat you.
1629 Tift Ave N
Tifton, GA 31794
(229) 386-2888
Well I do not know where these people ate but
Caterdoo | August 24, 2009Well I do not know where these people ate but surely does not sound like the Bubba’s I eat at every week. First off the people that own it are friendly and caring. The cleanliness is a hundred percent better than when “Bubba” had it. As for the chip meat is is great and very tasty. So not sure what you people are used to. The potato salad is one of the best in town it is made the true southern way without all that northern influence in it. The coleslaw is creamy and sweet just the way momma made it, and God meant it to be. As for the sauces most people would ask if they did not know what it was but since you didn’t there are three mild, hot and the yellow is wild. All followed to “bubba’s” recipes. So if you didn’t like it “bubba” would not have done much for you. The desserts are out of this world and nothing beats having a great person to share it with. I don’t know what makes you two people think you are some kind of BBQ experts but you need to go back to tastebud school. Keep up the great work and I will be seeing you soon for that sweet ice tea and great BBQ.
Hey thanks for adding your comments. Its certainly possible
husband | August 25, 2009Hey thanks for adding your comments. Its certainly possible that Bubba’s was having an off day, but I stand by review of being served one of the worst commercial pork plates ever. I am glad you like their food and continue to eat there. Enjoy!
Me and my wife and son ate there back in
Larry Chilebrain | August 29, 2009Me and my wife and son ate there back in July 09. I must say the smoke flavor was true pit smoke like oak or hickory, kind of reminded me of the old Terri’s Hickory before it burned down.
I had the big turkey sandwich on garlic toast all the way with onion rings and coleslaw, my boy had the half chicken, fries and tater salad, as for the wife, she went for the slab of ribs, fried green tomatoes and a sweet tea, the refills were nonstop, never had to wait for a top off of cocola.
The turkey was carved thick with a nice pinkish smoke ring to it as well as the ribs with the chicken half, tastey indeed!
We all thought the food was great, not too smokey, and the portions were very filling, and all for about thirty bucks including tips. So that, along with with a friendly host and hostess, and an attentive wait staff, was a good deal for a good meal.
Hi hope this finds you both well. My name is
Jeannie | August 31, 2009Hi hope this finds you both well. My name is Jeannie and I am the owner of Bubba’s Ribs & Q and I am sorry you found our food untasty to you. I worked for this restaurant for 4 years before we bought this business and it is hard to own your own business. I am sure you don’t know what I am talking about. I looked at all your comments on all the other BBQ places and it seems that for the most part none of them are up to your cooking. Maybe you should open a BBQ place and make it right. I wish you had said something to me when you were in my restaurant as I believe I am the one that waited on you. I am a small town business trying to overcome a lot and make this business work not only for me and my family but my employees. They do not have other jobs to fall back on and it would be a shame for this place to close. It is hard enough for the small business man to make it in this economy without your opinions. My momma alwasy told me if you do not have something nice to say don’t say anything at all. I don’t know how you thought there was no smoke as my boston butts are cooked over an open flame for 8 to 10 hours and the ribs for 6 to 8 hours. I am not a gas smoker or a charcoal smoker I am an open flame oak cooking pit. My potato salad is said to be the best in Tifton by my customers who eat with me often. I value thier opinion more than yours as they are the ones paying my bills. Thank you though for stopping and trying us out I am sorry you did not like us and I forgive you for all the mean things in your comment God Bless and good luck finding that perfect BBQ for you but I am sure you won’t
My husband and I are avid BBQ eaters and made
Heather | November 22, 2009My husband and I are avid BBQ eaters and made Bubba’s one of the stops on a trip from Daytona Beach, FL to Louisville, KY and must say that hands down Bubba’s is the best we’ve found on our quest for good Q. I’m sorry you must have gone on a day when none of the regular staff was present. We had a great time and were fat and happy before we hit the door. And the potato salad… Truly the best in the South, the way it should be made.