Russell Street Bar-B-Que
325 Northeast Russell Street, Portland, OR
(503) 528-8224
Sun–Thurs 11 AM–9 PM; Fri& Sat 11 AM–10 PM
May 14th, 2011
I want BBQ. Sweet, Sour, Smokey, Spicy, Meaty, and just plain old wonderfully delicious BBQ. It was a nice day for it too because the sun has finally starting to set around 8:30 and its just cool enough to walking around in shorts. My roommate Dave needed little help being persuaded to join me so we made our way down to Russell Street Bar-B-Que with empty stomachs begging to be fed.
We parked and walked in and I recognized that other people seemed to be having the same hankering for slow cooked meat I was. The place was about ¾ full which I would think isn’t too bad for a Tuesday night. They sat us and we started looking over the menus. They don’t have too much variety in the sando department but how much more do you need other than one with Pulled Pork, Brisket, and possibly a chicken or turkey. I was more interested in what I was going to drink because when it comes to BBQ I want Brisket no questions asked while Pulled Pork is a close second. I saw Maker’s and Lemonade and had made up my mind. As they rang in our orders and made our drinks, Dave was pretty happy to see all the different types of sauce they offered on the table since some BBQ spots will only bring them out if you ask specifically for it. I then had a nice discovery of my own when they brought out my drink and it was poured as a Long Island Iced Tea would be, heavy and in a pint glass. I wanted to have a small drink not get a sloshed but I can’t really complain at $7.50, which is a great deal on that. Dave had some to help me out since I was driving later on.
The food arrived and I was little disappointed by it. I had ordered the Brisket Sando with a spicier sauce and a side of Potato Salad. Dave got the Pulled Pork with Coleslaw, Medium Sauce, and side of Meaty Beans. The sizes of these were pretty sad in my sense that I had about as much Potato salad as I did meat on my sando with the bun looking like it was from the local supermarket. I thought maybe it was just what I was thinking this when Dave chimed in and said almost the same thing. I dug in nonetheless hoping the taste would prove mightier than it looked. Again, it was a disappointment. The sauce was just poured over the meat where I was hoping it would have been heated up in the sauce coating the meat but it was just in odd places spread out around. Also the fact that the Brisket seemed more like it was chipped instead of large pieces put me off. Dave shared my issue with the sauce on his Pulled Pork but we each agreed that the Potato salad and Beans were pretty good.
We ate the rest but were still unsatisfied so we both ordered a slice of Pecan Pie. I’m always a great admirer of Pecan Pies so I like to try a bit where it’s available. It also helped with the booze. Next time I think I’ll have someone else drive.
Rating:
Bread:
The Buns were like hamburger buns you’d find at any local supermarket. It was soft, small, and all around bland. Nothing makes me more depressed than no love in my bread.
2/5
Filling:
The Brisket sando was simply just Brisket and sauce, as you’d tend to encounter with most BBQ sandos. Though the sauce was a bit weak and the amount of meat on it was lacking as well. Flavor wise I wanted more smoke and also it was chipped instead of great big hunks of Brisket, which is what I’m always more interested in. The Pulled Pork sando was just about the same as far as sauce and flavor but at least had coleslaw on it so the there was some added texture and goodies. I’d have to choose the Pulled Pork over the Brisket, which is unusual for me.
3/5
Price:
At $8.50 for the Pulled Pork & $9.00 for the Brisket I’d say its an alright deal because you get a side with each plate but the fact still remains that the sando leaves you with something to be desired.
3/5
Customer Service, Sides, Drink Selection:
They wait staffed seemed like they were a bit flakey but in the long run were on top of things just a little slow on the return. There is plenty of sides to choose from when you order anything off their menu and with a full bar how could you ever complain about not being able to find any kind of drink. I recommend the Maker’s & Lemonade if you want to get wrecked like a freshman in college and not have to pay much more than $15 for two of them.
4/5
Over all Rating: 12/20 points
Repeat Visit?
I will and look forward to having something other than a sando from them since they have so much more to offer.
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