Rub Bbq

So bummed to see that RUB is gone. Got drawn in by the cool bike.
Righteous Urban BBQ had the best Burnt Ends I have ever eaten. PERIOD!
I came here to the Rio a couple years ago for work and had to stay for several days. Day 1 RUB, server pointed out the Burnt ends. Game on Guinness and a plate full of BE’s. I crashed out after that meal. Line at seafood buffet way too long. Go to RUB and have another delicious meal of BE’s and onion strings and more craft beer. Night #3 went back for some more, of those orgasmic ends.
RIP RUB!

FYI… This place is no longer at The RIO

El stinko grande. There isn’t a single thing I would recommend about this place. The «BBQ» is lousy, the service is pathetic, and it just isn’t worth the effort. The sides are passable, but not at the price. A McDonald’s McRib sandwich is better BBQ that what this place puts out. Go anywhere else but here.

oh my dear lordie this was one of the two the absolute worst meals I’ve had in Las Vegas. Absolutely nothing was good, nothing at all.
I’m not going to go into detail as to what myself and the hubbie had, because it’s all bad. The meat, the sides, the beer, all of it.
Don’t go here, ever.

My goodness. I try to see the good in every place I try to go eat, and yet this place just couldn’t get it right. I went on 4^th of July (hello, prime BBQ day!) and I ordered the Brisket combo with a couple of sides. My BF got a 3 meat combo, with Burnt Ends, Brisket, and Pulled Pork. I couldn’t manage to choke down any of it –every piece of meat in front of us was either dry as a bone or burnt to a char… and the burnt ends (I won’t ding them for those being charred, it says it in the title)…were practically PURE FAT! AND NO FLAVOR! And, BBQ Sauce didn’t help; they didn’t have any sauces I liked (and none of them helped enhance the flavor of the food)
I tried to poke into the sides (greens, Mac/​cheese) and was equally dissatisfied. This is probably the ONLY time I’ve ever sent EVERYTHING back (except my Sweet Tea, which was good) and actually exited the restaurant. It was disappointing too, because it always smells SO good around there… but the food… well, I wouldn’t even eat it for free.
On the other hand, our server was very gracious, and because he noted our displeasure with the entire meal, he did bring us some peach cobbler to snack on while we waited for our small check (for the sweet tea). Would not consider returning.

I have ate BBQ all over this country, KC, Memphis, Texas, Carolina, and everywhere inbetween, and I must admit the BBQ at Rub is really good.
It’s not the greatest BBQ I’ve ever had but they do a good job. I have had the Brisket, Burnt Ends, Pulled Pork, and Turkey over a few visits and I will be going back again.
The Brisket is good, the turkey is great, and the burnt ends are amazing (bear in mind Burnt Ends aren’t for everyone, but I love them).
The sides are good I have always gotten the Mac and Cheese and the Corn Bread. A friend of mine swears bye their beans but I’m not a BBQ beans fan. Their Cornbread is amazing and the portions are pretty good, they can get a little skimpy on the meat portions but I get the 2 or 3 meat meal and usually get 2 meals out of it, and I am by no means a light eater.
It’s not the best BBQ place in the country but it is quite possible the best BBQ place in vegas, in my eyes it’s the reigning champ until someone else steps up and takes over

this place isnt super bad… u just gotta know what to order!!!
all the sides are pretty decent, but what i like here the most is the beef brisket bbq salad… its really good and fresh…
i order it for lunch all the time when i used to have a store at the rio.
also the turkey club blt sandwich is good too… of course, these arnt things you would normally order from a bbq restaurant, so thats probably why this place has got some bad ratings.
dont forget to order sweet tea :)
maybe they just make things special good for me because they used to see me every day :)

I’ve been wanting to go to RUB in NYC and haven’t made it yet so we thought we’d try the Vegas version while staying at the Rio.
I had the nachos w/​pulled pork for my «entrée» and they were good but certainly not the best pulled pork that I’ve had. Extremely salty, I felt like I needed a gallon of water when I got done.
I’d still like to try the one in NYC to see if it’s any different and will probably get the burnt ends just because they sound interesting.
RUB at the Rio is a worthwhile stop if you are already at the Rio but I wouldn’t make a special trip to go there.

Ate here a million years ago. It was pretty gross. No clue if it even exists anymore. Moving on…

Ribs are one of my favorite things to eat. I remeber seeing some ad the last time were stayed at RIO saying it was some famous cook or something. To me the baby back ribs were sort of dry. For being a rib joint I thought they would totally be better. Service wasn’t bad but wasn’t good. I liked how they had TVs all over the place so you can watch the game. Woud I go there again, yes, but someone else would have to suggest it.
The OCC Chpper outside was pretty cool though.

Next to Last place on my list of BBQ places in Las Vegas & some pretty mixed reviews BUT …
I immediately liked the place the chopper w/​smoker sidecar by Orange County Choppers/​American Chopper & I liked the modern design with flat screens easily viewable from every seat and large comfy booths along the wall.
There were a few large groups already eating and the BBQ looked great BUT…
I decided to try a couple sandwiches this time & skip the bbq-​the table right next to me ordered a 3 meat sampler with brisket, ribs & pulled pork & it looked fantastic.
I ordered the B.L.G.F.T. or Bacon Lettuce Green Fried Tomato and a side of mac & cheese, the wife ordered a pastrami with mayo coleslaw.
I tried all 3 of their trademark sauces and I thought they were all good, each had it’s own distinct variation.
We both ordered sweet tea which was pretty damn good but a little warm.
The place was only ½ full so service was pretty fast & the waitress was very informative.
The only complaint is it is way overpriced.$ 14 sandwiches… BUT…
Monday-​Friday 5 – 9 they have all-​you-​can-​eat BBQ for $ 30. I will have to go back & give it a go.

So my friend really wanted a bbq place on our way out of LV. And she’s heard of this place and though it would have been good. No it was bad. The ribs i got were dry. The ends were really bad and we’d though that if we get closer to the center it would be juicier. nope so we asked is this normal for them. The server said no the manager said yes. What really pissed me off was when he said «you don’t know what dry rub ribs are like» «you don’t know what smoke ribs is supposed to be like»
Ok granted i don’t work at a bbq and yeah i don’t live out in memphis. But dam it don’t assume s*** about me. When you cook at a low temp for a long period of time it’s to keep it juice and give it some smoke flavor. Not dried out jerky! They would have gotten a 2 maybe 3 stars from me. But mister manager you drove it over the top with your insulting comments.

Not great, but not bad BBQ. I’m sure if the ribs and chicken were more freshly prepared, they would have tasted a lot better. There was no one in the restaurant but us at 3pm, so I imagine that the food they served us had been sitting under heat lamps since the lunch rush (if there was a rush). Another thing I didnt like was that the ribs werent cooked in any BBQ sauce. You have to pour it on at the table. I like my BBQ meats to marinate in the sauce for a while. Anyway, the greens and mashed potatoes were very good and they have draft beer. Go Blue Moon!

Righteous Urban BBQ (RUB). With a name like that you could question the quality of their BBQ abilities but thats where most of their problems begin. Overall everything was good, me and my cousin ordered the «Baron» sampler and there was tons of food to go around.
What I liked: the pulled pork, beef brisket, Hot sausage link, and pastrami (!?!).
These were only OK: Roasted chicken, Smoked Ham (not a ham person), and the I think was Pork Loin?
And the Bad: The ribs (!!!) Like other reviews of mine, Why are the ribs pre-​cut? they served us up 3 jerky bones not fall off the bone tender.
The sides were good (greens, mac n cheese, cornbread, and mashed potatoes). The food could be served warmer (hot).
We ordered more than we could handle and took the rest home.

I’m gonna knock this up to 4 stars because the quality of the barbeque was good. Also, for lunch, if you order a sandwich, you have a side option of collard greens available.
They weren’t half bad either.
The brisket sandwich could have been five star but it’s basically really good barbeque stuffed between two dry pieces of bread with 5 pickles. What about tomatos and lettuce and onions? Or something to give the sandwich that little *Uummpfttt* to go with the excellent Kansas City style barbeque?
Still: I enjoyed my final meal in vegas here. For lunch, it’s nice and quiet over here away from the loudness of a typical day in a Vegas Casino. Service was excellent. The atmosphere is Texas style polished wood floor rustic-​ness.

It;s at the Rio Casino on the top floor. Went there by myself for lunch on one of my co-​workers recommendation.
1. ordered a combo of brisket and burnt ends with sides of corn bread and greens.
2. the brisket was bone dry, looked like it was a couple of days old by the texture and color.
3. burnt ends were decent, it’s mainly fat so it was’nt dry
4. was not impressed with the sauces, a mild one and a spicy one.
5. the corn bread was cold and the greens was decent. I prefer to have my corn bread warm so that the butter would melt. actually i have never gotten cold corn bread at a restaurant before until i went to rub.
6. my overall experience with rub was terrible. I did have a nice chat with the waitress, i could have sent the brisket back but i dont like the idea of sending food back to the kitchen, you’ll know what they’ll do, its no myth.

When you say «Pulled Chicken», I expect a tender, shredded meat like «pulled pork». Little surprised when my sandwich had chunks of chicken. The meat was a bit dry, but the sauce was good.
Still looking for the best bbq.

I was a little hesitant knowing this place is raving famous from New York. That’s like saying the best sushi is from Oklahoma.
Well, I wanted to try something new, and I got something new. Have you ever had freezing cold ribs before? Neither have I, until I came to RUB in Las Vegas. It gets worse… they actually are PROUD of serving cold ribs! Stated on the menu like a FAQ, RUB claims that BBQ is never meant to be served hot. What THE!!! This is my theory behind the mess. Maybe BBQ isn’t meant to be served hot hot hot. But, you know how Las Vegas just pumps up their air conditioning to full blast. This is the death of this place. It turns to ice in 5 minutes! Serve it hot and then it will cool down to YOUR PICKY ARROGANT TEMPERATURE.
Now I know what New York style ribs are… coooold. Ribs not served hot… PHshshH… maybe outdoors in a summer picnic.

I ate here twice… «The most talked-​about barbecue restaurant in New York City opens at Rio All-​Suite Hotel & Casino this December, bringing the flavors of chef Paul Kirk, aka the „Kansas City Baron of Barbecue,“ to legions of BBQ aficionados in Las Vegas.»
Disclaimer, I took the one day BBQ class with Paul Kirk so I may be slightly biased.
I had the Brisket Sandwich and Fries (Saturday ³⁄₈ for lunch). Sat at the bar. The server/​bartender was friendly and attentive. Perfectly cooked brisket, you must sauce it yourself (I used the spicy sauce) with fries. The roll was amazing, toasted to perfection. Had 2 Sierra Nevada Pale Ales (on tap.)
Had a quick snack there on 3÷11÷08 (around 8pm) — Smoke Fried Chicken Wings served with Celery sticks. Sauced them with the spicy sauce. My only complaint was that they asked if I wanted blue cheese or ranch dressing. I said blue cheese. They brought ranch. I said «blue cheese!» They brought ranch again. I gave up and ate them without any dressing.

Fair but not great BBQ place.
This is based on 2 take-​outs from Rub about 2 weeks apart. The first was a 3 meat sampler and a pulled pork sandwich. The 3 meats were burnt ends, brisket and St. Louis ribs. Sides were the greens, fries and potato salad.
When I got home I noticed that there was absolutely no sauce whatsoever. NONE. Nothing on the side, nothing on the meats, nothing on the sandwich. Pulled pork with no BBQ sauce?
Anyway, the pulled pork was fairly good about the same quality as Memphis. The brisket was okay but not outstanding. I thought the St. Louis ribs were fairly good but not memorable.
Potato salad was a good yellow mustardy variety but the fries were poor. They looked well seasoned but the only thing that came through was the sugar. Greens didn’t have much flavor, almost watery.
I really liked the burnt ends. They were very large pieces about 2 inches square with plenty of char and fat flavor. My girlfriend did not like the piece she sampled. She spit it out actually because it had a very large chunk of fat. However, I loved the flavor enough to forgive them for forgetting the sauce. They were so good I gave them another chance.
Round II
The second time, I got another pulled pork sandwich and the 3 meat sampler. However, this time I was told that you can’t select St. Louis style for the 3 meat even though I got it the last time. I went for the brisket, sausage and burnt ends.
The sides ordered this time were the cucumbers, potato salad and potato salad. Yes, I do like their potato salad so it is a deliberate repeat.
The sausage was a bit odd. It was grayish inside from a lot of sage and dry. It was poor especially compared to Salt Lick.
Brisket was dry this time. Previously it was acceptable quality but not this time.
My burnt ends were also worse than the first visit. Instead of big pieces that perfectly balanced char with fat, the pieces were sometimes no thicker than a half inch. I liked a few pieces but some of them were just plain bad with the wrong ratio of char to fat flavor.
I made sure to emphasize that we wanted a lot of extra sauce. They told me over the phone that they had 3 kinds and that I was going to get plenty of each. When I picked it up I made sure to ask about the sauce and they confirmed that we had lots. Alas, no happy ending.
When I got home, I noticed that they used some decently large containers for the sauce. They were not labeled but that was no problem.
It’s easy to tell sweet from hot and vinegary, etc. Except that each of the 6 containers were the same sauce. Yes, the same one in each of those 6 different containers. Good vinegary sauce but NO variety.
Pros:
1. Sometimes burnt ends are excellent if you like char and fat flavor
2. Potato salad is good
3. Waitresses wear short skirts
Cons:
1. Inconsistent quality
2. Below average sausage
3. Take-​out orders are not suggested. Be there so you can complain until they get it right.
I might repeat simply because of the first experience with their burnt ends. Hopefully the second trip was an off day.