Royal Rib House

I grew up in the neighborhood and remember this place as a child. It’s been here a long time. I decided to try it out and got the short ribs and my boyfriend got the pork ribs; they were good but not great. They were sold out of the mac-​n– cheese so we got the macaroni salad which was a mistake… very runny. The coconut cake, on a customer’s recommendation, was good butttt the peach cobbler which is one of the reasons I went was the WORST ever! It was dark, which was the first warning sign, and then it was pure sugar. A crust that was unlike any I’d ever had and again, tasted like sugar. I was disappointed overall and don’t see myself going back there again.

Show me a place in New York City that makes better short ribs and I’ll tell you that you’re lying… Ya see… I’ve tried Amy Ruths in Harlem… I’ve tried Morgans Rib house… I’ve tried many different soul food place in the 5 boroughs and none… absolutely none of them can look up in the fierce eyes of the royal rib house. Their ribs are amazingly seasoned and tender. Their sauce is out of this world. Their sides are delicious and the peach cobbler… just don’t leave there without it. Soooooo… They open 3 days a week and they have customers coming from all over… Why? because they are consistent and good… They are never slipping… I love this place :)

Love this place eat from there once a week or every other week I hate. Collared greens but they made me love them they taste sooooooooooo good the bbq chicken is number one Mac and cheese is ok the blueberry corn bread is the ish

2 stars only for customer service. These men were actually really awesome and clearly you can see how hard they were working. Running a business isn’t always easy.
The line was out the door Friday at 3pm. I waited about 45 minutes just to stand at the gate and order my food. My husband couldn’t get his order because they had ran out of beef ribs and to wait on chicken or regular BBQ ribs, was an additional 45 minute wait. The guy did apologize for that and he seemed very polite.
There doesn’t seem to be any structure here on ordering. You just order and they tell whoever is in the back, on what meat selection you want. It was very clear to me, that these were only local residents that ordered here, because somehow everyone knew one another by name. So this place must get it raves, by locals supporting family owned businesses.
The food was not that great! I was craving mac n cheese so badly and by the pictures/​reviews, I thought this would be amazing. I give the Mac n cheese 2 stars because it was not flavorful at all and it was super mushy. To think I was going to order a large, I’m glad I didn’t! The potato salad was really good, I enjoyed it, ³⁄₅ stars. The collard greens were not the best I’ve had but they weren’t bad so I’d rate the greens on a ³⁄₅ scale. The yams were very sweet and delicious just how I like them. I think that’s the only ⁵⁄₅ I’d give them. The fried chicken was just off on texture and rough. Not what I was expecting.
Good tasting soul food has Been very hard to find these days and I think I’m giving up. My search is over, these places are overrated and the food just isn’t what it’s supposed to be. I decided to heat my kitchen up for Labor Day weekend and make the best soul food anyone’s ever had. My husband is from the south so I know what real down south meals should taste like. Great people, just not so great food.

I love the food here. Just a shame that they are only open three days a week.
I’ve had the ribs — which literally fall off the bone and the pulled pork, which was delicious. The cabbage is perfectly cooked and the Mac and cheese is good. I love the blueberry cornbread as an added bonus and if you don’t get the peach cobbler, you’ll be missing out!

Just had my first visit to RRH last week after recently moving into the area. My roommate warned me that it was always packed, but when I went there were very few people placing orders. That quickly changed after about 10 minutes… the line was almost out the door. I ordered the rib dinner with mac and cheese and potato salad, and had to wait about 20 minutes for my food to be ready. The ribs were tasty and the bbq sauce they use was so delicious. It’s tangy and unlike any other sauce I’ve tasted before, but it’s really good. The mac and cheese wasn’t my favorite, but I did enjoy it. I prefer mine with sharp cheddar. The potato salad was good also. I will definitely go back to try more things off their menu.

Your collard greens have to many hard to digest stems, you seem to be taking your customers for granted, cornbread lousy, cabbage still hard, to digest

NYC has proven to be the worst place ever for any traditional soul food or BBQ. But I am always down to give a new place a try. When I found out there was a rib shack in the area, I got very excited.
It was extremely hot inside, and I had to in line for 35 mins just to order when there were only 2 people ahead of me! Then another 20 mins to get the food. I tried to relax and ensure myself that this food would be worth the wait. Mainly because it has that «hole in the wall» atmosphere… which where I am from… usually means the best food. The food was not worth the wait at all…

I’ll give them 3 stars because they aren’t open 7 days and they run out of food quickly so get there early and they don’t deliver which sucks but everything they serve is excellent!

I was pleasantly surprised by this local soul food institution.
Took me awhile to try it. I had been eyeballing this spot for the last year since moving into the area. I would go back and forth between the idea of a local rib shack that people claim is a bedsty icon and some of the comments about oily food and the place going downhill after the founder passed. It is not open that much so I let it pass. Well a cabbie encouraged me to try it and I have been on a ribs kick and so I finally made it.
The vibe of the place feels like and event as people are lined up and I suppose wait most of the week for it to open. Friendly folks man the take out window while another handful can be see cooking in the back. The kitchen is causally pretty open and kicks out a lot of heat. The front is like the waiting area at a barbershop with a few chairs. Most people are ordering big meals to take home to there families.
So the food a North Carolina style bbq. I had a rib dinner with cabbage abs string beans. It was a large portion of reasonably priced pile of rich but distinct tastes in a styrofoam box. Came with a piece of blueberry cornbread which was a nice dessert treat.
The sides were both flavorful and cooked to well done. The string beans had a noticeable meat flavoring. The cabbage was cleaner.
The ribs surprised me. They were both moist and dry. Served covered in the house sauce. No smoke to be found. I am not sure if these are even cooked with wood. I suspect they get fried at the end to brown them and add some crunch. I didn’t feel like the meat or the technique was the star here but I enjoyed them like I like American Chinese food. People do recommend the chicken more often, which I will have to try. There were plenty of ribs going out the door.
The sauce was remarkable though. A sweet vinegar sauce that is very balanced and not too sweet. The vinegar notes cut the fried feeling. They sell bottles of it and apparently it is distributed in some stores in Brooklyn. I might buy a bottle.
Soul food goes bad in my opinion when it becomes too sweet and fried. Like the trash Chinese food take out that infests this area. It doesn’t have to be junk food if done with care. This spot has some care in there, plus community spirit and lots of nice touches.
So I’m gonna go back. I think this spot is worth a occasional stop. If you are a soul foodie of a bqq head you might make it a destination but mostly I think this place holds a perfect position as a neighborhood star. I hope as this area gentrifies that people continue to appreciate its charms.

Excellent staff, very friendly and down to earth, delicious food, very tender ribs, wonderful mac and cheese and the collard greens were perfect. The ribs came with a tabasco like bbq sauce that we are not used to in the south, but the ribs themselves were so perfect it didn’t matter. Dinner comes with blueberry cornbread and it is enough food to last you 3 meals. I will be coming back here a lot because I live 2 blocks away. Keep in mind the lines on weekends are insane, but I went on a Friday at 6pm and I was 1 of 3 customers in there.

illmatic! Soul food at its finest and at a super reasonable price. Mac and cheese and fish dinner was soooooo great! Definitely a great place to eat.

Pleasantly surprised, went here and decided to give the rib house another shot and glad i did. Ordered the bbq chicken dinner with mild sauce, mac abd cheese and rice and peas. Also a small side of string beans. Everything was cooked to perfection and was still hot after getting it home. Comes with a slice of cornbread also. A nice soul food spot that is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Worth a shot, glad I gave them another chancet!

The food here is great, and they give you a lot of it. This place has a long history in the neighborhood, and they are very well known. I live a couple of blocks away, so I find myself here every couple of months or so. Be prepared to wait a long time, especially if you haven’t ordered in advance. Even when you do order in advance, there’s a chance you’ll still have to wait much longer than expected, this has happened to me a few times.
99% of the time, I order the Beef Short Ribs (I don’t eat pork). They are amazing. I don’t know what they put in the sauce, but it is liquid crack. I also like to order the chicken wings, which are good although sometimes they don’t have them available. The sides are good as well. Mac and cheese, collard greens, yams… the usual soul food stuff. If you’re looking for something sweet, they make some of the best peach cobbler that I’ve had. I’ve also tried the baked chicken and fried fish, which were also pretty good, but nothing to back-​flip about. Oh… and the blueberry corn bread is amazing as well.
If you don’t have patience, you’re not going to like this place. As I mentioned earlier, the line can get ridiculously long. My other issue is sometimes the cooks are inconsistent. For instance, one day I’ll go in and the food will be heavenly… and the next time it will just be… alright. This is the type of thing that will usually turn me away from a place, but I have to say most of the time they are on point. They are also only open Thursday-​Saturday, which kinda sucks.
If you are a fan of soul food and want a taste of BedStuy’s history, stop playing and go to Royal Rib House ASAP.

This place has been around for YEARS!!! It is truly the soul of Bedstuy. Don’t come here expecting a five star restaurant. This is true SOUL FOOD, where as my aunt would say, you could taste the love. As a native Brooklynite, who recently moved back, I’m glad to see that this place is still around. Respect the hustle.

Love their food. Manager is very friendly along with most of the staff… They made a large donation to an event at my son’s school… Love their food and sauce is to die for…

The food is Gr8, I mean all the dishes, collard greens, Mac & chesse, yams, the ribs are to die for. Just one thing long lines but worth it.

My co-​worker suggested we eat here for lunch. I was kinda in a McDonald’s mood but what the hell, let’s try something new. The place was so tiny, you could actually drive right past it. When we got to the window our food wasn’t ready. WTF, we called in at 11 am and it was 12:15 pm when we got there. Slightly upset, we sat down and waited. Something told me to ask them if they accept credit cards and of course they didn’t. Luckily we didn’t have to look far for an ATM (it’s literally right across the street at the pizza shop). We got money at the ATM, came back and still had to wait! By 12:35 pm we were walking out the door.
Pros:
The BBQ sauce was pretty good (and I’m not even a big fan of BBQ anything)
The collard greens are delicious!
The candy yams were good as well. Not too sweet
Cons:
— Long lines
— Long wait (I called in my order an hour and a half in advance and still had to wait!)
— Not sure what was in the macaroni and cheese but I’m convinced it wasn’t cheese. — - Plus the BBQ sauce spilled into the mac and cheese section and the combination taste horrible.
— The potato salad should be called potato soup. I’ve never seen potato salad soo runny.
— I was under the impression that the cornbread was actually going to be CORNBREAD. Wrong! It’s actually a blueberry muffin cornbread thingy. Soo disappointed.

Tiny so tiny that if you don’t pay attention you’ll miss it– unless, of course, there is a long ass line and you don’t know, you’ll ask yourself «What are all those people standing there for?» Answer: Uh Royal Rib House DUH! Place is family owned and run and has been around for years!
My faves:
the ribs– smothered in heavenly addictive sauce and the meat falls right off the bone
collard greens
Mac and cheese is okay, could be worse and the corn bread a bit dry so be sure to smother some butter on it and you’re good to go!
OMG I want the ribs!

Very good ribs and chicken I really liked the Peach Cobbler. The Mac N’ Cheese was good not great. I was lucky the night I went because there was no line. I am definitely going to buy a bottle of their BBQ sauce. The draw back is they are only open from Thursday to Saturday or Sunday and the long lines.