AJ’s Ribs a GO GO

Call Ahead!
Arrived at 5pm on a Tuesday. The girl at the window says,“All we have left is 1 ½ pounds of spare ribs.”
Really? That’s all that is left from the entire menu? What are you doing for dinner people?
Ordered 1 pound of spare ribs. 4-​ribs. ¼ pound of heavy hot sauce. Lots of fat, medium amount of meat, average to below average. I would have had better luck at the deli in Carrs/​Safeway, for what it’s worth.

I’m originally from the south. Not «The South», but south of there.
Anyway, what I’m saying is, I grew up with great BBQ.
Then I moved away to foreign lands. Lands where people would invite you over for «a BBQ» and it would consist of… cooking hamburgers and hot dogs outside. What?! No smoke? No pig? No brisket? To spicy/​vinegary/​tomatoey sauces?! This is NOT «a BBQ» my friends, this is what we call «a cookout». Or «we’re grilling», at best.
BBQ is one of the only things I miss about the south, but I miss it a lot. There are times in a man’s life where nothing but slow-​smoked beast will do.
The other day I was having one of those times.
I have not been impressed by the BBQ in AK. Not at all. As far as I can tell AK-​style BBQ means «wet beefy jerky». For those of you with Asperger’s, what I’m getting at is: it’s dry. It’s so so dry. BBQ should be moist (sorry ladies), it really should. It should not scrape down your throat.
And it should be smokey.
And it should have sauce.
And the sauce shouldn’t be as sweet as Teryaki.
Now that the long, laborious exposition is over, let me just say: AJ’s is amazing.
Initially you’ll have sticker-​shock at the prices. There’s a lot of stuff around $ 20+.
The portions are HUGE though. HUGE. I’m all about big portions. I will frequently deduct stars if I leave a place hungry. The BBQ plates here are easily big enough for two meals.
I got: brisket, «country ribs» (wow, haven’t had those since I was a kid!), and two sides: potato salad and baked beans.
Easily the best BBQ I’ve had in Alaska.
Everything was perfect.
The BBQ sauce was just right in both flavor and quantity, the sides were excellent, and so were the meats.
If you’re skeptical of this humble food truck: DON’T BE.
PROTIP: the address confuses google maps. Heed the advice from AJ’s website:
86TH & Lake Otis Parkway (next to Heavenly Cup Espresso)

After the success of our last party we decided to call AJ again to cater our membership holiday meeting. We had a ton of food for a reasonable price and it was another huge hit.

Best BBQ chicken I’ve ever had! I’ve lived all over Texas and in North Carolina, and this is hands down better than anything either has ever offered! It is absolutely melt in your mouth. The spud busters are pretty good as well!
Friendly service, although you never know what they’ll have available as they don’t cook/​smoke too much food. Once they’re out for the day, they shut down! Best to call ahead!

Nice mouthwatering surprise from a little food cart on a gravel lot serving one vehicle at a time. I had a half rack of baby back ribs. Very tender, juicy, fall off the bone goodness even without the sauce. The sauce itself was sufficiently thick and had a nice smoky sweet flavor.
Their baby back ribs looked more like regular ribs though: the size, curvature of the ribs, the meat, etc. For the difference in price I’ll go for regular ribs next time.
Lastly, the location is 86^th and Lake Otis Parkway.
This is another gem in Anchorage.

Incredible, just amazing perfect place to go for BBQ AWESOMENESS! Got the 2 item combo meal with Beef Brisket and Ribs. I was not disappointed with the portion size at all. You get your money’s worth. The flavor and the meat just fell apart It was so tender. You have to check it out. You will not go away unhappy. :-)
Ps, AJ runs a carpet cleaning business on the side. Which is how I discovered him from my landlord, Cleaned my place and fed me too. LoL
Unilocal is not updated with the new location also.

This place… YUM! A friend brought me a combo platter of meats for my birthday, their ribs are KILLER, country ribs were my favorite, brisket was to DIE for!!! GO GOGO GO!