The Olive Garden of BBQ

     I know why the people behind Big Daddy’s BBQ (the Maestro group, formerly of Maestro’s Steak House and the Ocean Club) named it that. It’s because they see hundreds of baby Big Daddy franchises spinning off this papa. And, sadly, they’re probably right. This is BBQ for the unadventurous, for those who don’t appreciate the glorious idiosyncrasies of the genre. As Olive Garden is to Italian, and Red Lobster to seafood, Big Daddy’s is to BBQ.

     Located on the west side of the Pima Crossing Shopping  on Shea Blvd. at the 101, you’ll have to walk a ways after you’ve parked. The ambiance is kind of fun. There’s a big mural of the Budweiser wagon on a brick side-wall. Several garage doors open to the picnic-tabled patio, and there are more picnic tables with umbrellas inside, as well as stainless steel topped tables. Paper towels are on each table as well as a rib bucket. I get the feeling the bucket is strictly for show and an alarm would go off if anyone dared to dirty one. As you enter you’ll see the menu on the wall. No selection is over $20. Decide what you want and proceed to the counter to order. Then you pay and will be given one of those annoying vibrating, flashing light things that let you know it’s time to pick up your order. It will be ready surprisingly quickly. This is a VERY bad thing at a BBQ restaurant.

     Ken and I shared a 3 meat combo (the menu on line says $13.95, but I think we paid more) with 2 sides and a piece of cornbread. The most exciting thing on the list of sides was creamed corn, which we ordered, along with coleslaw. Our platter contained one beef rib, three pork ribs, and about 5 slices of brisket which had a small amount of BBQ sauce on top. There is more sauce available on the counter with the drink machine, but there’s no selection - it’s the only one. Neither spicy nor sweet - just blah. All the meats were quite dry, and somehow they all tasted the same. We were wishing for a pepper shaker when we tried the coleslaw. It was totally bland, as was the creamed corn, which had a bizarrely large amount of flavorless white sauce to canned corn kernels. Ken thought the best thing on the platter was the onion slice. I thought the corn bread won out - it was moist and slightly sweet.

     As we headed home, the farther away from Big Daddy’s we drove, the more dissatisfied with our meal we became. When we reached Scottsdale Rd., before I could ask him to do it, Ken took a right and headed toward Chocolate Star Bakery. We were in desperate need of a happy ending to truly ungratifying experience. The most positive thing I can say is that it’s a whole lot better than Dickeys, the nadir of BBQ restaurants.

Big Daddy’s BBQ  (don’t confuse this with the Big Daddy’s on Cave Creek Rd.)

8698 E. Shea Blvd.  Scottsdale   480-609-0100

bigdaddysbbqaz.com

Lunch and Dinner  7 days  11 - 10 (or later)