Ribs On the Run

Saw this review was never posted, and just posted it even though this awful restaurant has been closed for a long time.
Ribs On The Run is pretty much the worst BBQ food I have ever had in my lifetime. The BBQ sauce on my pulled pork sandwich was so bad that I couldn’t even eat the whole sandwich, and was forced to toss it in their dirty trashcan. The service was terrible and the guy working the counter was very hard to understand and was very rude. This was my second time here, thinking that maybe the second time would be better, and boy was I wrong. And for the record, the first time I was there wasn’t no pleasure experience either. The prices, frozen French fries, and soda fountain are the only things going for this place. I’d never eat here again even if someone paid for my meal… it was that bad.

I am not fond of giving one star reviews however, its really really bad for business when you can lure people in with the smell of BBQ ribs and then feed them… that :(
How do you screw up mashed potatoes? That is not a joke…
William K. nailed it, this is cafeteria food! I can see that other people really agree about this place it is not good… I wish I would have read the reviews first but don’t judge me this was before my Unilocalin days :)

I had seen this place several times when driving on Alicia, I finally tried it for the first time for lunch.
It was truely the worst bbq I have ever had.
The owner seemed like he could care less if we ordered or just left.
The food was not fresh, it tasted like left overs from the night before with no flavor, very dry and no taste.
AVOID THIS PLACE.

The food here is what you would expect at a high school cafeteria. It sucks! Don’t be fooled by the old 4 and 5 star reviews. Those were mostly a few years ago before it was sold to an owner that has given up trying to cook REAL BBQ.
The Tri Tip sandwhich was more like Pot Roast and the BBQ sauce tasted like corn syrup & ketchup mixed together. This food was soul less. Pure empty unflavorful calories with no point to exist other than fill you with salt, fat and sugar.
This place used to be much better under the original owner. The place is starting to show it’s wear and tearf. It needs a major remodel, both inside and in the menu.

Wow pulled pork sanwich was terrible… the potato salad was cold mashed potatoes with mayo and celery… barf

We were looking for delivery… but not pizza. I found Ribs on the Run and we ordered without reading reviews. I have to say we were pleasantly surprised. The ribs were excellent and the half chicken was very good as well. We enjoyed it and if we lived in Aliso Viejo, we would order again.

Ugh, this place has gone completely downhill. Gross. Cornbread is so dry, it is inedible! Ribs are bland and dry, fries were soggy, chili was oily… I mean, what happened!!! I used to love this place. Anyways, horrible recent experience. Would not recommend and will not go back.

I wish I could give this place ZERO stars. Horrible Horrible Horrible. Wanted some BBQ and this place was fairly close. Walked in and the place was empty. Ordered a tri-​tip sandwich with a side of beans. I sat down and for the next 15 minutes I heard nothing but a chop or two and microwaves beeping. Uh Oh! The beans have to be from a can, I’m gonna guess VanDeCamp from the supermarket next door. I took 3 – 4 spoonfuls and was done. The tri-​tip was cut the wrong way. Should have been cut across the grain, but nope — cut with the grain. The sauce is bright red (like the other poster said — compared it to sweet and sour sauce). No flavor, gross. Must be from a can too. Portion as tiny, but that was fine with me, I didn’t want to eat any more of it. Maybe at one time this place was run by a BBQ guy, not any more. The Indian (dot not feather) guy running this place knows nothing about bbq. The only thing good about this place is it’s next to a Carl’s Jr. Went there to cleanse my palate.
Here is there food inspection log:

This is the worst barbeque I’ve ever had. The meat is grilled it seems, and then slathered with a bright red «BBQ» sauce that seems more like chinese sweet sour sauce than any real BBQ sauce.
I’ve eaten here multiple times I’m ashamed to admit. The only explanation for why I would have this mediocre food more than once is that they deliver. No more. The last two times the food which was promised to be delivered «in 30 – 40 minutes» took over two hours to deliver. The very last time, and I mean the last time EVER, they forgot the side dishes, and then weren’t answering their phone.
Basically, only go here if you want edible, but nasty BBQ, poor service, and a total lack of accountability for incorrect orders.

Not just yuck but major yuck!
The only thing we enjoyed about this place was the door to leave.
We wanted to order Macaroni & Cheese but they didn’t have any. Same excuse for the Hush Puppies.
We ordered the Sampler Meal (Ribs, Chicken, Shrimp, Wings, Tri-​Tip and Baby Back Ribs) with Cole Slaw, Beans and Cornbread. Ew, Ew, EW, EW and EW.
The meats in the sampler meal tasted like they had been marinated in a salt cube and then doused with a grocery store quality sickly sweet bbq sauce. I sampled all the meats and was able to finish 1 shrimp.
The Cole Slaw should be renamed to Watery Mayo With A Few Mushy Cabbage Bits.
Beans tasted like they used the leftover salt from the meat marinade to simmer in. Really, how do you totally screw up beans?!
Cornbread was so dry it was beyond saving no matter how much butter and honey you would be willing to douse it with.
This would be a great place to take someone you didn’t like very much!

I feel bad giving this place a 2 stars because the guy who delivered the food seemed awfully nice but honestly the food probably doesn’t even deserve the 2 stars.
But I knew something was wrong when they go by something like New Yorks best ribs??? NEWWWWW YORK??? RIBZZZZ??? That’s just like saying Texas best Sushi… it just don’t go!!!
I ordered the «Bronx» combo which came with a ¹⁄₃ or ½ slab of baby backs (can’t remember), cornbread, & for the sides I got the sweet potato fries & cole slaw.
First things first I give these guys 5 stars for delivery, quick & courteous and I know this isn’t a rating for a pizza joint but just by comparison the pizza delivery places in Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo are freakin weird!!! You can live 2 blocks away but because you’re across some imaginary boarder they’ll just pass you from one place to another (PIZZA HUUUUUT & DOMINOES!!!) this place delivered no questions asked & I was outside the 5 miles free radius & they didn’t charge me.
So, FIVE stars for delivery now they just need to work on the food!
I’ll start with the sweet potato fries, which were pretty decent but then again how do you mess up sweet potato fries? I’m sure there’s places out there that do mess them but I’ve never been. So 3 ½ stars on the sweet potato fries
Next is the cole slaw, –0– stars. «Wow»! Could I have some slaw with the 3 tons of runny mayo dressing that appeared to have «Poppy seeds» in them??? The worst cole slaw I’ve ever had. You can pretty much judge a place by their cole slaw if they serve it & this was by far the worst!
Cornbread ½ a star… hard yellow gritty bricks! I could have repaired a cobblestone street with them. So why ½ a star? Well if I ever need to repair my drive way I’ll just use the cornbread which will probably store real nicely in my freezer for decades!!!
Babyback ribs (sigh) 1 ½ stars… probably baked in an oven then heavily glazed in sauce. DISAPPOINTMENT!
I think California (OC that is) needs to give up on doing ribs. Leave it to the South or Kansas City, St Louis, North Carolina area or cities like LA.
Sorry guys you seem like a nice bunch but you need to visit Kansas City & sit with some pit masters for a month then try it again.

HORRIBLE.
Ribs had practically no meat on them, they were dry, and expensive!
The salad was iceberg lettuce w/​watery ranch.
Chicken was greasy — like it had been baked, not BBQed.
Delivery man forgot corn bread. This place SUX.

Do not go to this place expecting good barbeque. Only thing that is barbequed is the sauce they pour over the beef, chicken, or pork. If the meat is not smoked then it is not real barbeque. I think I could do better in my own kitchen.

The sweet potato fries here are very good. The pork ribs are tasty. I like the sauce that they use, sweet but tangy. Although this place seems better suited to take out, there are some tables and chairs. The chicken is good also. Will return.

Save your money. This place is nothing special. The ribs are not worth your consideration (worse than Chilis by far), the tri-​tip is tough and the sides we had were disgusting. The mashed potatoes tasted more like stuffing than potatoes, and I’m certain Velvetta was involved in preparing the macaroni and cheese. The only flavor in the meal came from heavily mopped on sauce, yuck. I could eat it, but I had to go get something else for my wife, thanks a lot for the free delivery.

There’s a post for a restaurant by the same name in Mission Viejo but I’m not sure if this is the same one.
This place is amazing. I was very surprised to find this place in south county. Tiny little hole in the wall restaurant. Very clean and unassuming. Massive menu with amazing selections, lunch combos, dinner combos, and huge family combos.
I’ve tried a few items on the menu and can say that I’m happy to have gone in during a 6 month long search for good BBQ in south Orange County.
The BBQ chicken is, sadly, better than the ribs. The babybacks are good though, but a bit too much sauce. Even after scraping the sauce off, it was too much. The meat on the ribs is also not very well marinated. Next to little penetration of the flavours into the fibers. Almost tastes like the ribs were dipped and cooked and served. No rub or prep time.
The chicken was very tender and very flavourful. Tastes as though the same sauce is used with the ribs, but for some reason, the flavour got into the chicken. I enjoyed my quarter cluck very much.
The pulled pork was tender and tasty as well. Good flavour. Good texture. Not too much sauce. You can add more if you like.
French fries were GOOOOOOOD. Super hot and very fresh. Good seasoning and went well with the chili.
Oooo the chili. No beans. Straight meat. Horribly unhealthy orange oil covers the ground beef but the seasonings used and the grade of beef are pleasant and so much better than most chilis I’ve tasted. I’m not a fan of chili but this place is an exception. (Probably because I don’t like beans.)
Salads are blah. It’s not their focus. Standard lettuce, carrots, and some other stuff with dressing.
Don’t expect friendly service. Just come here for food and a clean place to sit.
They deliver too.