Zeke’s Rock and Roll BBQ

What a great place! A group of us went last night to check this off the list of places to try. It was some of the best BBQ I have ever had. A friend of the group is a vegetarian and also found to have many options to pick from. The sandwiches are delicious. I pride myself in being a big eater and I had enough to take home and enjoy today. Even their fries are out of this world. The prices are very reasonable and the staff was VERY attentive. We didn’t stay for the show but there seemed to be people rolling in for it when we were leaving. I will for sure be back! Their menu has too many good selections to pick from. I want to try many more of them.
Glad this place is closer than driving to an over priced, bland, BBQ place located in Detroit (I will not name them in this post because Zeke’s deserves the attention!
Please do your taste buds a favor and enjoy their flavor!

Had probably the worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant dealing with a manager ever. (My waitress was wonderful and apologetic through the whole thing). Noticed that 4 «jumbo wings» were $ 9.99 normally but on the website they state that on sunday nights, there is a deal that lets you get the jumbo wing appetizer for 6.99.
Here are the «jumbo» wings that I was delivered:
Here is a link to the promo on their website to last until the end of the internet just in case they change it:
Fork for size, 3 regular «wing» sized drumstick and wing segments for 6.99. Also… three. I ask my waitress who is also confused as to why I got three, and the manager comes out. At this point, he demands I show him where in the menu it says 4 (it does). I also show him the website (which doesn’t specify an amount). He gets agitated upon being shown this, storms off, and says a number of things I’d rather not repeat.
My waitress returns letting me know I’ll be provided a 4^th wing. During the interim, the whole side of the restaurant near the kitchen can hear this guy berating her about how the specials are posted on the signs and she should know them (you guessed it, this wasn’t there at all).
So in short, I got some average sized ‘jumbo wings’ for 6.99, got to have the manager/​owner demand I show him where his overpriced wings are located in his own menu, got treated like I was the asshole, then got to hear him berate my waitress like it was her fault from the start.
The wings for the record were not bad. They were not amazing, but for 6.99 for 3 oz of meat, I could have gotten alaskan king crab legs significantly cheaper. Thats how overpriced they are.
For the record, I didn’t stiff the waitress, she was great:
Also, I passed on eating the ‘extra’ wing the menu said I should get. God knows how that was prepared.
I will never go here again, and I advise you don’t patronize any restaurant who would treat their waitstaff this way. I’m not really that bothered that the food was overpriced or that he was a jerk to me. What really makes me upset though is that these people work really hard, often for very little money on off nights like a sunday when we went. Ferndale is filled with quality places, don’t patronize one where the owner disrespects both the waitstaff and the customers and serves grossly overpriced mediocre food.

I returned for dinner maybe a month after my first visit. I got nearly the same thing, pulled pork, beans, and coleslaw this time. I sat at the bar and it was really dead in there. The bartender was friendly but almost overly so, lingering around which was kind of awkward.
My food wasn’t nearly as good this time which sucked. The pulled pork was okay but there were no burnt end in it, so it lacked flavor though it was moist. The beans were totally different too. They were spicier (which is fine) but really had no meat in it. The previous time the beans had pulled pork in it. The coleslaw was horrible, literally it was just plain cabbage with no dressing. The cornbread was overdone so the top was really crunchy. I guess they aren’t very consistent which is a bummer.

Came here with my vegetarian friend– yep, you read that right.
AMBIANCE– the place reminded me of a sports bar… actually, a lot like a B-​dubs, just less tvs. Bar area to the right and tables to the left. Went during the day, and it was still a little dim in there.
SERVICE– our server was tip top. knowledgeable about the menu, friendly and engaging. And even though the place was pretty busy, she was very attentive– never an empty drink; always bringing a refill before it ran out.
MENU– I was pretty surprised at how large the menu was. While they have standard selection of pulled pork, brisket, and entrees/​combos, they also had a slew of sandwiches combos that you don’t typically see at a bbq joint. From a portabello sandwich to a «all meats in one» kind of sandwich, to a 1 lb burger, something for the classic bbq goer, to the more adventurous type. They also had some interesting appetizer options– poutine and «egg rolls” — they had 4 kinds, bbq rib, Reuben, veggie and jalapeño. One thing that I thought was a miss was there lack of sweet tea. A bbq joint without sweet tea– WACK.
FOOD– my friend and I started out with the egg rolls. I ordered the Reuben and bbq rib one, and my friend got two veggie ones. If you’ve ever had «Asian Corned beef» in Detroit, it was pretty much like that. Nice crunch to the rolls, and a nice filling. They were a little small, but getting enough food would not prove to be difficult. For our entrees, I tried the horseman sandwich which had hot links, burnt ends, pulled pork and hot links with a sriracha slaw served open faced with sauce (yeah, all of that was in one sandwich). The flavor combo of the meats and slaw worked really well together, and I was lucky to finish about a ¹⁄₃ of it. My friend got the portabello sandwich with queso and fries and seemed to enjoy that pretty well.
They had 5 different kinds of sauces– Zeke’s house sauce (tomato base), pineapple habanero (sweet, not spicy), an apple smokey one (could’ve been a dessert sauce, but was tasty), bbq mustard (yup, that’s mustard), and a carolina vinegar one. No one sauce blew me away, but the apple smokey one was probably the best.
OVERALL– pretty good. The meats by themselves were ok, but I dug the creativity in the menu. A bit pricey, but you’re sure to get your fill. Check it out.
CELEBRITY RATING– Jason Bateman

Food, beer and live music is all I have to say. This is one of the nicest barbecue places I’ve ever been too. I had a blast with my sister and her boyfriend coming here. Food was out of this world and just so yummy. I’m a huge barbecue person and this place has made my top 4 list. I’m happy I had chance to try this place. I got the two meats and two vegetables which is a great choice. The ribs and short ribs were mind blowing. I was drooling as eating them. Lol The vegetables were really good too. I had fun hanging out with my sister and her boyfriend while eating and just enjoying great food. I think we sat here for about two hours just talking and they weren’t even mad we stayed so long. Our waitress was very nice and very friendly. She helped my sister pick out some good beers to drink. I will be coming back here again soon.

How I loathed having to go to this side of town… anyway, walked in at appx 1230pm. Only a few people seated.
Ordered up ½ sammich (Pulled pork) and a soup (Tomato Jalapeño bisque) lunch for $ 7.99.
Waitress was nice, quick and prompt. Checked on us several times.
Food was excellent, good flavor on the meat and the cole slaw. The soup was ‘delish. I put the apple habenero sauce on my sandwich, it was not spicy at all. It was good, but don’t let the «habenero» fool ya. It was more sweet then heat.
$ 20.00 and change for the lunch and 2 drafts of Atwater Vanilla Java Porter.
I was pleased. Good to go. Compared to some other places, this place has awesome BBQ. Will be coming back, for sure.

I don’t get down to über hip Ferndale much, outside of Danny’s Irish pub, so even though many of the restaurants aren’t new, they are new to me.
We debating hitting Blue Nile, but my date isn’t a hotter spice fan, so we kept walking. We ended up at Imperial, which is packed and not wanting to wait 45 minutes we move on. We notice Zeke’s is somewhat empty and the menu outside looks good, so we are sold. The staff are very friendly, big plus. It felt as if someone crossed a bar like Gusoline Alley with a Famous Dave’s. It is cool but somewhat corporate cool, like toys in a Bennigan’s, they have the rock and roll flyers and posters but very specific ones like Black Flag. OK, sort of fun to read while in the restroom.
We order a shared plate, with a little of everything for 33 dollars. The bad — I thought the cornbread was a bit dry but just preference. The veggie mash was almost inedible — way too much pepper — way too much pepper. The ribs — very dry, nice flavor but dry and fall off the bone aren’t such a good combination.
The good — The burnt ends are awesome by themselves or with their apple bbq sauce. The pulled port was surprisingly not dry and had a nice flavor. In fact, the meats overall had a nice flavor. The sausage is our favorite. It’s a bit spicy but awesome flavor — I would come back for this.
The rest of the food items beans, mac and cheese, brisket and chicken wings are fine. Nothing mind blowing but once again there is a nice flavor regardless of textures or temperatures.
Not a bad place overall

Good food, but slow and inattentive service. One night my boyfriend and I went here after I got out of work. He went ahead to get us a place at the bar, told them he was waiting for someone and that we’d be ordering food.
When I arrived I sat for a good 10 – 15 minutes before being asked if I wanted a drink. As I recall, they were pretty busy so usually this wouldn’t bother me much but there was a bartender who I saw standing there drinking what looked like whiskey or rum and doing absolutely nothing to help the other bartenders. Like idk how common it is for bartenders to drink on the job but damn man, don’t do it right in front of customers.
Once they do notice me and ask for my drink order and give us menus it’s another long wait until they take our order.
…At which point they tell us the kitchen is closed and wouldnt open for another 20 min. There would be a different menu when it opened, with like pizzas and crap barfood and stuff but they did not actually have this menu on hand. It would have been real nice if they could have told my boyfriend this when he told them he’d be ordering food, but not for a little while. They also could have told us this when they gave us our menus. Basically any moment before this one would’ve been a good time to mention it.
They did give us a free round of drinks, so there is that. That was enough to mollify me tbh but I had another crap experience there tonight so I’m pretty done with this place. We left that night and got food elsewhere. If it wasn’t for the fact that they have some good German beers I’d probably never go back.

Sitting across from this place at Public House, we were intrigued, canceled our order and walked over. So glad we did, nice start atmosphere for a nice and easy Sunday Funday; Bloody Mary was yummy. The selections (Eggs Benedict and Corn Bread Biscuit & Zekewurst Gravy) that we got were definitely a good start to come back again.
Must try the Blakes Apple BBQ, it needs to be a staple in my refrigerator.

I am so glad I got to come here last night with other Unilocalers! I’ve heard of Zeke’s but never seemed to have had the chance to go until now. The place was easy to find right off 9 mile, and I parked close enough that I didn’t have to walk to far.
After scouring the menu, I decided to keep it «light» and go with a sandwich item instead of a dinner entrée. It was a smaller portion and didn’t come with as many sides. The brisket itself was good, but was a bit on the dry side. Their BBQ sauces were good, but quite the interesting mix. They had a sauce that was yellow mustard based, and it had some kick to it. I went with the house BBQ sauce, and it was pretty darn good. I did get to choose a side since I chose not to have fries. I went with the veggie potato mash, and believe it or not, i actually liked it! It’s red skin potato based with veggies mixed in. I really liked it.
The meat didn’t come sauced already, so I had to put it on myself. I personally prefer my brisket chopped, but I don’t think they have that option here. Some of the other Unilocalers went with other dishes, and the serving sizes here huge! The menu has quite a few options, so there seems to be a little something for everyone. Prices and serving sizes were good, and you didn’t have to get a huge plate of food to have a good time.
I will say, our server was amazing, and did a wonderful job of waiting on our group of 7. Everything was on point and I would return in the future. There seems to be plenty of seating here, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

Thanks to Craig for organizing a great event! I had never been to Zekes, but it was bookmarked for quite awhile.
They have a really nice selection of sandwiches, burgers, bbq dishes, salads, soups, and appetizers.
I ended up ordering the zekewurst, which was very good. Nicely smoked and not overly fatty. The quantity was very reasonable.
The entrée came with two sides and cornbread. I ordered the coleslaw and Mac and cheese. Coleslaw was excellent. Sweet and vinegary… a nice contrast to the smoked meat. The Mac and cheese was very good. I wish it had been a little creamier… But the spice was very nice (not too hot). The cornbread could use some work. Nothing particularly fantastic.
They offer a variety of sauces. I loved the mustard sauce!
The service was amazing! Anthony, our waiter was one of the nicest waiters I’ve ever met. He was funny, knowledgeable and attentive!
They have a ton of beer, wine and cocktail options! Prices are very reasonable. I would highly recommend!

SUPER disappointed in this place! i’ve had this place bookmarked here on Unilocal for a while, with the intention on trying it.
we came here on a saturday afternoon for lunch, and the place wasn’t packed at all. first problem: upon entering the hostess and one of the waiters stared at our party of five, while the hostess shook her head, wanting us not to come in. i found this very rude even if she was joking, have some professionalism.
we were seated right away, and it took our waiter about 15 minutes to get to our table, but now i understand why. him and about one other person were the only ones who were really working, while 6 other workers just talked and joked the entire time. we all ordered appetizers including reuben egg rolls, chips and salsa, and spinach dip. the spinach dip was very good and had lots of garlic flavor just like i like. the salsa was also tasty and unique, it was house made and it came with corn inside of it. the chips were very salty! i had to dust off each chip as i was eating. the reuben egg rolls were just okay, fresh but nothing special to me.
on to the second problem: our food orders took about an hour and thirty minutes to arrive, and when they arrived each order was lukewarm! i don’t mind waiting for food if it’s going to come out piping hot, but this food was no where near that! our waiter apologized for the delay multiple times but by the looks of this place it was definitely not his fault, I’m not even sure if they had a steady crew in the kitchen working. i ordered the smoked reuben and it was yummy, but it was not hot at all so this really took away from the food. everyone else ordered rip tips, the jucy lucy burger, and the pulled pork sandwich. everyone said their food was equally as good, but everyone was upset about the wait. my cousin even ordered a carryout and that came up right away! what the hell?
the thing that really ticked me off was my cousin went to grab her carryout that they sat on the counter, and when she grabbed it a very RUDE food runner came and asked who’s food she just grabbed! as if we are just stealing random people’s food! i definitely won’t try this place again for a while, they need to work out the kinks.

Overall I enjoyed the place. We ordered the six pack which comes with chicken, pulled pork, burnt ends, brisket, sausage, four pieces of corn bread and three sides. For the sides we selected the mac and cheese, brussel sprouts and cole slaw. We also started with a cup of cheddar cauliflower soup.
I think the best of all the meats we tried was their pulled pork. The chicken and brisket were not as juicy as i was expecting. I love that they put a super fine chop on the brussel sprouts and more or less braise them in butter and brown sugar.
The staff was nice and attentive, though I did wait for water a few times with not very many people in the restaurant (we were there late night).
Despite some of the minor problems it was still a positive experience.

Me and my boyfriend came to Zekes earlier this week to try some of their BBQ option and I’m so glad we did!
We started off with the cheese curds– they were delicious as usual. Red flags went up in my head though because the last time we had cheese curds was at Vinsetta Garage and everything from the batter to the flavor ect was EXACTLY the same. Are cheese curds something a restaurant could order frozen from a catalog and cook to order? They were delicious nonetheless.
We both had the 3 meat platters with 2 sides– I had ribs, beef brisket, and burnt ends and my sides were baked beans and Mac n cheese (corn bread is included too). The burnt ends were life changing. I’ve never in my life had such flavorful amazing burnt ends– next time I’m just ordering that, it was that good! Brisket was delicious too but the ribs weren’t that great. They were so heavily smoked that it turned to rib jerk and I didn’t touch them after one bite. The mac n cheese was good but too spicy for my lame palette but everyone at home loved the leftovers of it and the baked beans were delicious. They had huge chunks of meat running through it which was delicious. Corn bread had great potential but was a little dry.
I would recommend trying this place out for sure everything was great! Just don’t come on a game day– the place is small and its LOUDDDDDD!!!

Came here for lunch. Overall good price for quality of food with a bunch of options.
Things I recommend: salmon bbq was hands down the best meat on the table. Pulled pork was also pretty decent.
Don’t try: The rotisserie chicken. It was sold to us as moist but was actually very dry. Wouldn’t get again.
For sides… fries were good. Jalapeño Mac and cheese was essentially just plain Mac and cheese… but decent. Everything else was just okay.
Drinks…Bloody Mary was kind of weak but only 5 bucks. They do have happy hour 2 – 5 on weekdays!
Overall not the best bbq I’ve ever had… but good for the price and a nice ambiance!

What is it about BBQ that makes my heart beat faster? Is it the anticipation of the soft meat pulling away from the bone? Is it the mystery of never knowing what sauces I will end up splattering all over my ribs? Is it WRITTEN IN THE STARS THAT WE ARE DESTINED TO FRATERNIZE??? I’D LIKE TO THINK SO! Sorry… I got a little out of hand. Before I get too excited, let’s get down to business.
PROS:
+They serve Bloody Marys
+Their sriacha slaw taste like Kimchi. Being Asian, this is a good thing for me.
+Their BBQ Putine fries are bomb. Do yourself a favor and get it (You owe yourself 3 miles on the treadmill if you do!)
+Brisket is bomb!
+Cherry Sauce is BOMB! It’s not on the table though, you have to ask for it!
+Cinnamon Butter on Cornbread is to die for!
+Staff is nice.
+Full Bar
CONS:
–Bloody Marys not that good.
–Tables are wobbly.
–4 seater tables are too small for 4 people, especially with food on it.
–Meat on ribs does not fall off the bone. This is a deal breaker for me. I do not like to work too much for my food, I’m not a caveman.
–4 horsemen sub not all that.
Honestly everything I’ve had here I’ve had better somewhere else. Famous daves does brisket better, and Iron Horse does bloody marys and Ribs MUCH MUCH better. But if you’re in the area and dying for some meat in your mouth, feel free to give this place a try. You probably won’t forget it.

This is a great option for some alternative dining in downtown Ferndale. We had been by here many times and finally thought we’d give it a try. Glad we did! It won’t be our last time either. Personally, after reading the Unilocal reviews and looking at their menu, I was craving some smoked sausage and the Zekewurst spoke to me. I had to have it. Let me just say this — it is freakin awesome! Awesome. I got it coney style, topped with Zeke’s chili. Get this, the chili had big chunks of tender brisket in it! Man, was that a good sandwich! Messy for sure but I didn’t care one bit. I’d go back just for that. But there are so many other things on the menu, including vegetarian options. In a BBQ place? Yesss! Love that.
My wife ordered the egg rolls and chose the jalapeño one and the veggie one. I tried to talk her into getting all 4 which is only $ 10 and includes a Reuben one and a bbq rib one. She declined. Good thing cause that’s a lot of food as it turns out.
I was hoping for a better beer selection so that’s why I can’t give it 5 stars. Where are the local craft beers? And please, miller lite and bud light on tap? That’s absurd. Light beers don’t belong in a BBQ joint.
Not sure where the Rock N Roll part of their name comes from other than the hipster clientele, waitstaff and several album covers on the wall. But don’t let that fool you. It’s a very good place and worth checking out!

What a nice surprise!!! Another good BBQ place.
Get the poutine with pulled pork!!! Yummmmm. Pepper gravy, cheese curds, fries have great seasoning. Loved them.
We ordered tray sampler. It was about $ 30 for a huge spread. I think we will be back. Not too soon. I don’t want to get tired of it.

I decided to try this place last week and overall, I was pleased with the experience. I ordered the smoked Cuban Sammy and my buddy tried the brisket and pulled pork combo. My sandwich was fine and they let me get the mac and cheese instead of fries for $ 1 more. I also got an order of cornbread for 75 cents. The mac and cheese was also solid, but nothing special. The cornbread was a bit of a let down. The portion I got was made up of two pieces that were equal t the size of order my friend received, but they were overcooked corner pieces and dry as hell.
As for the atmosphere, I give it it 4 stars. You always get fantastic people watching in The Fab Ferndale. Case in point, I saw a guy with straight red hair with black polka. He looked like he had a giant lady bug resting on his head. The people aside, I have to admit the restaurant gives off a bit of a plastic vibe, as in it feels a bit contrived. My nitpicking aside, it fills a void in the food scene in Ferndale, and I will be sure to go back to see if it finds groove (a la Public House).

Delicious! They’ve only been open for a couple of months, but they know their BBQ.
Two of us split a «6-​pack» platter for $ 30 — comes with 6 types of meat and 3 sides.
Healthy portions, and fast service at the bar, even when they were packed. Would definitely return.