Reid's BBQ

One of the best barbecue places in the North East. The taste of meats is exquisite. They're rubs, sauces, combined with the smoke flavor; leaves your mouth wanting more. The prices are phenomenal. Definitely worth going to. This place is guaranteed not to disappoint ?

Pulled pork and slaw are very good! Pro tip: get your pulled pork plain and bring your own Franks hot sauce.

Outstanding BBQ! Brisket, Pulled Pork and (especially) the Burnt Ends are terrific! Great sides as well. Collard Greens are the best. Potato Salad and Cole Slaw also excellent. Nice people. Friendly service. Worth the trip!

Stars based on prior experience, but have been a once-in-a-while customer (used to live in Derby, but no longer do) since Smoke and Bones/House of Bones opened back in early 2010s. The BBQ was always good, but I found my favorite meal was the fried clam strips. For a BBQ restaurant, the clam strips were better than any seafood restaurant in the area for me! Unfortunately, my first trip to the newly-named Reid's BBQ still had the clam strips on the menu, but they are nowhere near as good as they used to be. The previous clam strips were light, crispy, and delicious! However, the new clam strips were no better than what I could buy in a box from the grocery store and cook myself at home. Not sure if I came on a day where the good clam strips were all out and I got the backup, or if the recipe/product has changed, but the price certainly didn't, and the offering was not what it once was. Because I no longer live locally, I would plan my visits to get clam strips to go, but I will no longer be making these planned trips. I'll happily stop by once again to try the BBQ offerings, but as a seafood stop, I will have to pass and try another place.

This was my first experience at Reid's and I have to say that I was not disappointed.

I ordered the Gut Buster (to go since we are still under partial shut down). The portion size was good enough for 2 meals, and that is saying something for me (I LOVE to eat). It came with 2 ribs, some, pulled pork, a single sausage link, and a healthy serving of smoked brisket.

The pulled pork was pretty standard. Juicy, tender and simply flavored, it definitely needed the BBQ sauce to bring out the flavor more. The sausage link was juicy, and also tender, with a nice snap when you bit into it. I didn't enjoy the ribs as much as I thought I would; they were tender, but not the fall-off-the bone tender I would have expected. Now the Brisket was by far my favorite! Extremely moist and tender, even without BBQ sauce it had great flavor through out. When I added BBQ sauce, it only heightened the flavor intensity of the meat. Definitely go for the Brisket if you are only looking to try one meat.

As for the BBQ sauce, I actually enjoyed the Honey BBQ a little more than the original. I feel like the honey in the Honey BBQ sauce balanced the tang of the original a little better, and compliment the flavors of the meats better.

Now the Gut Buster is supposed to come with 2 sides, and I thought by substituting the sides with cornbread, it would break even, but they still charged the $1 price, with no other sides. I mean, you are already paying $26 for the platter, so I would have expected that if I weren't taking any additional sides, they could have thrown the cornbread in on good faith. I did knock off a star for this. If it hadn't been for that notion, I would have 100% given Reid's a 5 star review.

Overall, definitely a great BBQ place, worth a visit if you are having a craving for some fantastic flavor!