Highway 61 Southern Barbeque

Staff was very friendly and accomadating. I would go back for sure.

Really enjoyed the food here! Went a few times and was never disappointed. Went by today and discovered it closed and was so sad… Hope they start up gain.

Overall fairly good. But compared to Stockyards, Barque or Paul and Sandy’s I couldn’t justify a four star rating. I’ve had the meat platter and a brisket dinner special, while both were good, nothing stood out. If I’m in the area and craving BBQ would definitely go back.

I gotta compare this place to Barque and Lou Dawg’s, and frankly, it’s just okay.
The pulled pork is served fairly naked, so we asked for extra sauce on the side to wet the meat. The baby back ribs were a bit tough, although there were plenty (I’d say 6 bones) and well sauced. Onion rings were delicious-​crisp and huge. Ceasar salad is passable. Sweet potato mash is more like a purée, but tasty nonetheless.
I think next time I’ll try some of the other meats and the other sides. Looking forward to the macaroni and cheese.

Tried this out with a Groupon, but unfortunately we waited until the day before the voucher expired to use it and apparently so did everybody else. Because of the timing, they were out of many of the items we wanted to try (including the beef ribs and sweet potato mash). For the food that we ended up trying:
— Highway 61 Lager: delicious
— Gumbo: wasn’t a traditional gumbo, it was more of a gumbo flavoured soup. Flavour was excellent though, price was a little steep (8 bucks for a bowl of soup?)
— Brisket: Very generous portion, tasty bbq sauce, the meat itself was a little bit dry
— Slaw: excellent
— Beans: decent although very sweet, not sure if made in-​house or from a can (they tasted almost exactly like Bush’s)
— Onion rings: pretty good, and somewhat unexpected. Unlike most homemade onion rings, these ones don’t have the typical thin fish-​n-​chips type of batter. Instead, these have some sort of breading/​batter hybrid that leaves the rings extremely crispy and similar in consistency to cheetos
Overall I wasn’t blown away, but given that they were out of some of the key items I wanted to try I’ll give them another shot when I’m back in the area.

We heard about this place through a Groupon offer, so we decided to try it since I love southern barbeque! Therefore, it was with great anticipation that we went to this 2-​story restaurant. The atmosphere was typical roadhouse with a lot of music-​related posters displayed on the walls.
For appetizers, we ordered the Crispy Shrimp and Gator as well as an order of onion rings. The Shrimp and Gator was very tasty with delicious sauces, but the portion seemed small for the price. The onion rings had a pool of grease in the basket, which was disgusting. My teenage son wouldn’t even finish it.
For the main course, we ordered Mississippi ribs, pulled pork and smoked chicken. Everything was nicely smoked, which is an absolute must for me. However, the ribs and pulled pork were rather dry, which made me think that they were sitting under a heat lamp rather than being grilled fresh. Needless to say, this was very disappointing. I’m glad we had the Groupon discount, since I would have hated paying full price.
Lastly, the service was extremely mediocre! Our waitress never even asked if we wanted refills on our water or if everything was OK. Again, very appointing. Oh well … there are lots of other places that I’m sure would be glad to have our money.

I had a groupon to this place and decided to try it out last week. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the staff was very friendly For an app we had the onion rings because they looked super delicious. I was wrong. They were coated in so much batter and every bite I had was like a huge tbsp of grease in my mouth. I felt sick after eating just 2. For my meal I ordered the southern fried chicken with garlic mash. The mash was amazing, very creamy and full of flavour. The chicken was DRY and not delicious at all. I sadly wouldst ate at POPEYES over the chicken they served here. My bf had the pulled pork plate and that was much tastier! Next time I will try the ribs.

Awesome atmosphere. Live music nights are really great, bango, cello, piano, guitar fill the upper floor.
I am not typically a giant BBQ fan (I’m a vegetarian) BUT, they have some delicious veggie items on the menu. Try the Herbivore Sandwich (my favourite).

Fall off the bone ribs and excellent tender brisket as well as great pulled pork. Baked beans are tangy and not too sweet; cole slaw is good too. The jalapeño muffins were tasty but if they wanted to be really «down home» they could have served hoe cakes or old fashioned sourthern corn bread (the kind without wheat flour). That is a minor quibble however.
We ate on the sidewalk so I can’t comment on the décor or ambience. Service was efficient and pleasant.

I’ve been meaning to try Highway 61 for a long time, but never had a chance. Finally, after a somewhat underwhelming experience at Barque Smokehouse, I decided to give ribs another go and Highway 61 was my first choice.
After reading many positive reviews on the pulled pork, I ordered Mississippi-​style baby back ribs and pulled pork combo, served with tasters of coleslaw, baked beans, cornbread and 61 sauce. The pulled pork was described as «tender hand-​pulled pork shoulder barbequed low and slow for 14 hours.» Unfortunately, there was nothing tender about the pulled pork. The meat was dry, tough, and under-​seasoned. After two bites, I left the rest of it untouched.
The ribs themselves were decent. In addition to the baby back ribs, I also ordered half a rack of House Signature pork side ribs. These were actually more tender than the baby back ribs. However, I’m not a big fan of the 61 sauce.
I also ordered a basket of homemade onion rings to share, and it was served with chipotle ranch dip. The onion rings were humongous and extremely greasy (but in a good way). The exterior was very crunchy and I couldn’t stop eating it even though I could feel my arteries clogging up with every bite.
All in all, I thought the food here was decent, but not quite worth the journey to midtown. One thing that infuriated me was that they charged us when we asked for extra sauce without warning, and I didn’t even enjoy the 61 sauce at all. Had I known, I definitely would not have gotten more sauce!

You can call it a comeback.
Apparently, I hit 61 on an off night on my first visit because my meal this week was solid (as a rock).
With a little hesitation, I ordered the brisket and half baby back rib platter, served with a cornbread muffin, a bit of slaw and a bit of beans. I was immediately impressed when our server asked if I wanted the rib sauce on the side ’cause I’m a dry rub guy and that really worked for me.
So, the ribs were near-​perfect: they did not fall off the bone (nor should they people, they should require the slightest pull) and the dry rub was very tasty. Just enough salt and packed with paprika, chili and oregano, I think.
The brisket was great once again. It was a great cut with the right amount of fat and it nearly melted in my mouth (I’m salivating as I type) and it was served with a dijon (and something) sauce on the side that perfectly complimented an already killer piece of cow.
So, I happily stand corrected and I will be back.

Took my friend here for his birthday. Not a big place eventhough it’s a 2 storey restaurant, at most I think they have about 15 tables. I like that on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays they have a live band. However, it’s only on the second floor, you’re out of luck if you’re seated on the first floor.
The food was ok. I tried their Dakota beef ribs, smoked beef brisket, smoked chicken, onion rings and poutine. By far the best items were the Dakota beef ribs and beef brisket. The ribs had a crisp exterior and were nice and tender once you bite into them. The smoked beef brisket was excellent. It had what barbecue experts call the smoke ring, a pink ring around the outer layers of the brisket. The smoked chicken, onion rings and poutine were not up to par. I found myself dipping the chicken in sauce, it had very little flavour. The onion rings were too greasy for my liking and the poutine didn’t have enough gravy and cheese curds. My friends also complained about the food not being warm enough.
The service was excellent, the waitress we had found out I accidently knocked over my beer and she came back with a replacement. She was friendly with everyone. Too bad most of the food wasn’t as outstanding.

This Southern BBQ Joint on Bayview avenue feels Southern Sporty Cozy. Southern BBQ Menu. Sports on TV the likes of Sports Bars. Cozy floor space, small enough you can throw a Pork Rib across the entire length of the room.
The Staff gave us a perfect spot along the 2^nd-​story window where if you use your resources well enough, you can manage to arrange the furniture to create a long table for 12 which is probably the maximum group size allowance.
They have what I would say, Guy Fieri approved O-​rings ($ 6.49). Yes, I get me some Food edumacation on Foodnetwork too. Guy Fieri didn’t officially approved them but these Onion Rings passes the Crunch Test and it’s not even Panko Crusted. Passes the Rip-​apart Test where the Onion doesn’t all slide out if you pull it apart. Lastly, these O-​rings had decent seasoning flavour on them. Not exactly the inexpensive Harvey’s O-​rings but they are worth ordering.
The Major’s Burger ($ 7.99) definitely taste like it was made in-​house where I believe I looks quite darkish seasoned Ground Beef probably from a good doze of Worcestershire or Soya Sauce. I still much preferred the additional Smoked Bacon ($ 0.99) on it instead. A-​OK

Thank you Shari for planning a UYE to Highway 61~
In spite of living in the area, it was actually my first time (ever!) walking into this joint on Thursday.
A two storied restaurant, space is limited. Unless you have a group of 12 or more, H61 won’t take a reservation … fair enough. Service here is excellent. The ladies who work here are quite pleasant and efficient.
The onion rings were ordered as an appetizer and the entire Unilocal crew shared two orders of it. They were freakin’ delicious! If you come here, you have to try them! We also ordered the Cajun style shrimp… it was ‘meh.’ I won’t die if I don’t have them ever again.
Most of us at the table ordered their Major Burger. It was good, but definitely not something to write home about. The BBQ sauce on the burger was too thick and there was too much of it on the patty. For $ 7 a pop, it’s quite reasonable considering the amount of meat you’re getting. I also had the pleasure of having their Jalapeño Cornbread. Yum!
Definitely check it out … but I’m okay if I don’t go back.

Visited Highway 61 with a Groupon in hand last Wednesday. Had read terrible things about it on Chowhound (which is a pretty good source and never steers me wrong), and of course I had read about it on Unilocal as well.
We ordered the following (as per recommendations on various forums on Chowhound):
Onion Rings — The greasiest onion rings I have ever tasted in my life. Not much flavour. Just a lot of grease.
Sweet Potato Fries — Average, but the aioli/​mayo sauce they had for the fries tasted a little off. I resorted to ketchup…
Pulled Pork — I didn’t find the pulled pork was anything special. Not juicy at all, in fact I found it really dry without the sauce. It came with a side of baked beans, which was nothing spectacular, and their awesome coleslaw.
Beef Ribs — The best thing on the menu of the entire night. Very smokey and mesquite flavour… I wish we had passed on the Pulled Pork and ordered a full rack of beef ribs instead. This is something that is definitely worth coming back for.
My partner ordered a beer and I ordered the Cocktail of the Day which was quite delish, though the name of it escapes me at the moment. All in all I think that the server was great, very attentive, always smiling, and pleasant. I would definitely go back, but only because of the server and the mouth-​watering beef ribs!

I’m a little tardy with this review. I visited Hwy 61 a few weeks back on one of my «girls night out» dinners. There were 6 ladies in total and we were really hungry!
We arrived around 6:00 pm so it wasn’t too busy. We were seated upstairs where they have live music.
Some of the girls started with the beer samplers. 3 half pint glasses on a wooden board of your choice of beers. From what I heard the beer was great. We warned our waiter in advance that we were hungry and that we would probably shock him with our food order lol. Here’s a run down of what was ordered:
2 baskets of rings (best I’ve ever had!)
1 basket of sweet potato fries
1 order of brisket poutine
2 orders of coleslaw
1 order of baked beans
2 orders of cornbread
The Howler platter with beef brisket and a side order of beef ribs. (a carnivores dream!)
I’m getting the meat sweats just thinking about this night!
Ok so as I mentioned above amazing onion rings! They were crisp on the outside and the onion was perfectly cooked inside. It still had some texture to it — it wasn’t mushy like most rings. The sweet potato fries were amazing! As was the coleslaw and baked beans. I didn’t really try the poutine but from the moans down the table I’m assuming it was good. The cornbread was so-​so. Others seemed to like it but I was thrown off by the little muffin cups it came in. I like traditional cornbread from a cast iron pan.
Now lets talk about the meat. Ahhhh meat. The beef ribs were great. Fall off the bone yummy goodness. By far my favourite thing on the platter. Pork ribs were good. I wasn’t too keen on the BBQ sauce as I prefer it a little sweeter but still good. Pulled pork, brisket and half chicken all good. There was a sauce served with the platter that was out of this world! I’m not sure what it was but it was a very thin watery like sauce that tasted like heaven. It was perfect on everything!
All in all it was a great meal. No we didn’t quite finish everything but we really tried. The bill was reasonable — I think about $ 30 pp. We didn’t have dessert as we were all so full we were in pain lol. Actually thinking back now I was so uncomfortable all night I didn’t sleep well. Oh well. That’s the price you pay for good BBQ!

Some of the most legendary Monday nights in my recent memory have started at Highway 61. The reason: probably unbeatable Monday night specials.
For $ 10 you can pick up a pitcher of a pretty decent Canadian microbrew. The weekly rotation varies from well known breweries such as Creemore to some uncommon brews from Muskoka!
There is also a sometimes changing food special to go with the drink, and from trying these platters, I have to admit that Highway 61 makes a pretty good homemade BBQ sauce! From these, I would definitely recommend the marinated BBQ wings, and the chicken or brisket sliders.
On some Monday nights, there is live music on the second floor, and they usually pick pretty good musicians as well (blues guitar etc.) so the atmosphere is perfect for some after work drinks and chow!
The service is friendly and pretty attentive too!
Solid 4* for Mondays!

Carnivores, start your salivating!
Generally speaking, I’m not interested in a purely carnivorous dining experience. And I don’t usually like places with barn wood and novelty posters from yester-​year. But this place really exceeded my expectations by quite a wide margin.
The food was way better than I expected. The variety of ribs was interesting and the care that they used in preparing them was really quite impressive and delicious. Like Kat, I recommend the beef ribs. But the other thing that really bowled me over was just how friendly the staff were. They were just this side of too nice, but in a good way. Between the food, the friendly staff and the reasonable prices, it was a great place that I can heartily recommend.
I’m holding back one start b/​c the pork ribs were nothing to right home about. I like my own better. Get the beef ribs.

I had planned a smallish surprise b-​day party for my mom, and the perfect locaiton, in my opinion, was Highway 61. I was so glad my choice proved to be loved by all!
Highway 61 was so accommodating to our party of 15, and my request to bring in a cake. They did separate bills for all of us (yes — you read that correctly!!!), made sure we had everything we needed and kept coming back to see how we were doing.
I liked that when I booked the reservation they took my e-​mail address and confirmed the booking via e-​mail. They also remembered my name and approached me directly a few times to make sure everything was taken care of.
There was a lot of moaning and wow amongst our large table. Everyone loved every mouth full! I loved that my aunt and a couple other people got one of the platters, it was meat paradise!!!
I had the white quarter chicken. It was so moist and juicy. Perfectly seasoned. I had my chicken with a side of beans (mother effen good) and slaw. Our table had pretty much a bit of everything — meat poutine, pulled pork, ribs (Flinstone size!!), soup, beautiful avocado and strawberry salad, etc, etc.
The pricing is just spot on. For 15 of us, app’s, mains, some beers, pop and coffees — the bill was less than $ 400!
Big thanks to the staff who made us all feel at home and when my mom went to go buy one of the Highway 61 t-​shirts, they were so excited that they ended up giving it to her at no cost!
Again, Highway 61 has won my family over and we will be back!

Decemburger Bonus Round!
Highway 61 offers Southern comfort cookin’, with all the finesse and none of the frills. They do it roadhouse style, and they do it well. Tonight for New Year’s Eve, six of us dined on down south favourites like fall-​off-​the-​bone ribs, pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and the grand finale to my Decemburger, the Smoked Burger.
The Smoked Burger is a different approach to the all-​beef patty. Chopped beef is smoked till it’s cooked through and then coated with house-​made barbeque sauce before ending up (1) on a caramelized bun,* (2) on a plate, and (3) in my belly. I had mine topped with aged cheddar, which was a good choice (being smoked, the patty is naturally a bit dry). This is a burger everybody should try at least once.
As an added bonus, I may also have discovered Toronto’s finest onion rings. Highly recommended by Sonya «I need to start Unilocaling» F., they were well worth the risk of betting on a non-yelper’s advice. The rings came out a bit thicker than I’d have expected, but they were cooked perfectly and breaded in a delightfully crispy batter. The middle of the onions retained a bit of crunch, but without any raw flavour; the onions were sweated perfectly and not at all slimy. I think they use sweet onions here (vidalias, e.g.), which makes all the difference.
On tap, Highway 61 serves only Ontario craft brews (bonus star rightfully awarded), including the Hockley Valley Stout that I tried — a touch on the thin side, but nice and chocolatey, as promised by our more-​than-​competent server. Don’t expect a Guinness-​style creamy head on this one (it’s not nitrogen-​driven), but expect the same sort of flavour plus the chocolate.
I also ordered the Mac n Cheese, and announced before trying it that «it’s difficult to make a good Mac n Cheese in a restaurant,» and I stand by that position after the face. This one wasn’t that great, but it wasn’t far off of what I had at Harlem for twice the price.
Our entire group left stuffed and thoroughly satisfied, and the price was noticeably less than what one might pay for a similar experience elsewhere. Most important today, though: the burger was bang-​on.
* The bun appears to have been toasted on a flat grill with a bit of weight on top, leading to a consistently browned underbelly. Love.