ROADSIDE BBQ

Sometimes it is a gamble to eat and enjoy bbq that you have not prepared yourself. Today we will roll the dice literally at the brand new 'Graton Resort & Casino' in Rohnert Park California. Indian casinos are popping up faster than I can eat a side of ribs. This is the latest and largest casino to date. Gambling is not on my large list of vices but bbq is. "Roadside BBQ' is located in this fancy new gambling den. It is located in a food court in the casino. Food Court? Is this a red flag of our meal to come? We rolled the dice and would like to share our winnings with you.

What can you say about a food court? Going to the mall for a meal is foreign territory for me. Roadside BBQ has several other locations and this will be their latest. While you are pondering the menu you can watch the numerous servers prepare your meal. This was the second week of their grand opening and the meal assembly process looked clumsy and inefficient. We noticed several people returning with mistakes to their order. We slowly received our food with no hitches because of my astute attention behind the sneeze guard.

We found a table in this busy food court. Our plates looked a little tired from possibly sitting under the heat lamps.Chicken & pulled pork for Ms. Goofy and brisket & ribs for me. We both agreed that all our meats had really good smoke flavor. Ms. Goofy loved her moist and flavorful chicken. Her pulled pork had seen better days. The accompanied sauce came in a little plastic tub. It could of come out of a "K.C. Masterpiece" bottle. It was sweet and unmemorable. Ms. Goofy is a mac & cheese aficionado. After trying this glob of cheese glue pasta she almost began to cry with sadness. My ribs, cooked to perfection, smokey, and well seasoned were cold. I still cannot figure this one out because of their location under a heat lamp. The brisket was  very thinly sliced and okay. The beans had come straight out of a can. I did like the vinegary cole slaw. It was refreshing in this meal of mediocrity.

The verdict is: do not gamble on an empty stomach. Roadside BBQ located in a casino food court, is an okay place to have lunch. It has its problems that will possibly work out with time. This place is set up to serve a lot of people. The meats were decent but not award winning. This is not a destination restaurant but if I am donating to the casino I would not hesitate to grab a bite to eat.

Graton Resort & Casino