Took the kids to Spring Creek Barbeque in Richardson for dinner tonight. I got one of those ValPak mailings and it had a BOGO rib dinner for Spring Creek so I thought it was worth the investment for a taste test. I was still kind of wishy-washy because I didn't know how much one rib dinner cost and didn't want to make the drive to find out it was a lot more than I expected. Then I started thinking that even if the one dinner was like $15, I was getting 2 for $15 because of the coupon.Anyway, we got there and it was kind of weird to see how they prepped it. Apparently the rib dinner is a hot item (I'm sure because of the coupon), and as such, we had to wait for our ribs to be "cooked" because of the demand and just how they "cook" them.
It seems that the ribs are pre-cooked, pre-smoked, or pre-whatever. They bring an ice chest, as just a carrying-type container because the ribs are hot and not on ice, from the back kitchen to a grill at the start of the order line. It's kind of cafeteria style where you order at one end and pick up your entree, sides, desserts, drinks while sliding your tray down towards the cashier. Think Luby's but with only barbecue.
Anyway, they pull the ribs out of the ice chest and put them on the grill. They slather something on it, a light baste for added flavoring and to prevent drying out during reheating...maybe. About 5-10 minutes later, they move the ribs to the chopping block and you get six decent sized ribs.
Now, because I'm a conscious shopper and a tightwad, I would not regularly pay about $11 for 6 ribs. $11 for 12 ribs is better but I still don't like spending that much on a set amount of ribs when I can get all-u-can-eat ribs at some place like North Main BBQ in Euless for $12 or Risky's BBQ in downtown Fort Worth for $9.95 + tax. I chalk it up to experience and because the kids were craving (one at least) ribs. Also because I'm in Dallas, North Main is in Euless and open only Fri-Sun and Risky's is in Fort Worth.
The ribs were pretty good. They weren't spectacular but the sauce was good and the meat on the ribs was a respectable amount. The ribs weren't cold but they weren't really hot either. I can't say for sure how hot they started as the kids ate them first while I ate a sliced beef sandwich. They may have cooled while I was eating my entree but I didn't see the kids wait to pick them up with their fingers nor hear them say something about them being too heated to handle.
On the topic of the sliced beef sandwich...I'd have to say that the meat was a tad dry. Dipping the meat or edge of sandwich into the sauce helped with the dryness but I would have expected a little more from a place with "BBQ" in its name.
Also, the economy must be affecting their business practices. I researched online before going and found that the bread rolls were excellent and they used to have a plethora of them being offered by someone walking the restaurant continuously. They did have a girl walking with a basket of rolls from table to table asking if patrons wanted hot bread but it was only after she had just freshly baked them. Once she was done, she headed back to the "baking" area and put some more rolls into the large ovens. By the looks of it, she probably cooked two dozen at a time. Being mindful that I was there around 7pm, a reasonable time for many people to have dinner, many of the patrons had to wait for bread after the initial offering of one roll during the order line.
The kids thought the ribs were pretty good and the bread was extremely good. They couldn't wait for the bread girl to come around the 2nd and 3rd time.
All in all, being a Spring Creek BBQ virgin, I'd have to say the food wasn't too bad. It wasn't awe-inspiring but with the help of the coupon, it was definitely worth the trip for a first-time tasting. Like I mentioned about a few other BBQ places in the general vicinity of my living abode, I wouldn't make the extra drive (about 7-10 minutes down the road depending on traffic and such) on a regular basis when Baker's Ribs or Peggy Sue's is just around the corner for about the same price. However, I would return to use the BOGO rib dinner coupon that lately seems to come regularly (I think they are celebrating something but not sure) in the ValPak.
Sent on the Super Jay Network from Super Jay's BlackBerry®
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