The Caboose BBQ Company

I work in the area and there are not many places that deliver unfortunately. We have ordered from the restaurant several times in hopes that it was just a fluke that they don’t bring our order correctly and sometimes the food is not all that great, but this continues to happen. Tonight we ordered several items that usually come with a side of BBQ sauce. My co-​worker requested they also bring additional sauce and ketchup. When we got out food… no sauce at all, no ketchup at all. I called the restaurant back and spoke to a woman who didn’t seem happy that I was calling to ask them to bring this to us. I have worked in customer service for over 15 years and know how terrible people can be, so I was very nice to her and polite. She said, «oh, well I will try to see if someone can bring that for you». There was no apology at all… this is a BBQ restaurant that can’t remember to send BBQ sauce! I am just not impressed.
As far as the food goes, I have had better. I am in no way a food snob, but I do consider myself a fan of trying all kinds of restaurants. I think this restaurant needs to improve their BBQ as well as their sauces, bread, sides, and customer service. There may not be many places that deliver in this town, but there are better places. I was excited when this place first opened… but I have been continually disappointed so far…

To sum my experience up with one word, meh.
Both the Brakeman and Conductor sandwiches were very dry. The bread to meat ratio was way off. Asked for cheese on one of them, and it was left off. Asked for a side of bbq sauce, but instead had several containers of ketchup and some really hot sauce. The Signals were nothing special, more breading than pickle. The best part of the meal was the bbq beans. A better option for bbq in Portage is at Mike’s Meatery.

For the area, this is a good place to eat. I don’t know that it stands up regionally, but if you’re in Portage it might be worth a try.
A friend and I visited recently. The building has been a pizza place and a Mexican place recently, so the third iteration was probably worth a try. Honestly, we were drawn in by their ridiculous sign («We’ve got big butts and we cannot lie.» What?) and a recommendation from a family member who lives in the area.
I had the reuben. I can honestly say that their iteration of the reuben is one of the best I’ve had in a long time. A pile of pulled corned beef that had the right consistency, balanced by a good amount of kraut, melted cheese, and dressing. The sandwich was served with nice thick pieces of bread that could stand up to all of the moisture in the sandwich. The fries I had with it were perfectly average – a little limp and bland, but they served as a good medium to sample some of the house barbeque sauces. The sweet and tangy was definitely the best flavor-​wise. The hot and spicy one was also pretty good, although I felt it was a little mild. The peppery white barbeque sauce was a bit more controversial; it tastes like it has a mustard base with a lot of cracked black pepper added. It wasn’t the best complement to the fries but I hate to judge it too harshly because I felt that given the right meat the sauce could really shine. My friend dabbed a bit on his sandwich («The Hogger») and said it wasn’t as good as the other two – your mileage may vary. I got baked beans which were decent but had a really sweet, apple-​ey aftertaste.
They do lose points on a couple of major points though.
1. They were out of ribs when we got there at about 4pm. They have a Gordon Ramsay quote painted on the wall: «when you’re doing things right, running out is normal» (or something like that, I don’t remember the quote exactly). Well, that may very well be true near the end of the night, but if you’re running out of a popular menu item even before the dinner rush, that’s not doing it right – it’s failing to properly manage your inventory. I regard the quote used here not as a mark of great quality and demand, but as a preemptive excuse. It looks really bad.
2. Their menu is extremely difficult to navigate. They have given everything – literally almost everything on the menu – a cutesy train name. Chicken wings are fuses, a baked potato is the signal box, cole slaw is the track bed and beans are bullets. The novelty wears off very quickly because it’s difficult to look down and recognize a few familiar items; you have to read almost every single word. By the time you’ve made it through the server is there and you haven’t yet had time to make a decision. A better designed menu would definitely make things a bit smoother.
One final point I’ll make is that this place is extremely affordable. For a similar meal back home in Milwaukee I’d have easily paid twice as much. For the price, I would definitely recommend it.

Brisket was good but ribs were dry and tough. Fries were limp and greasy. Came for the smoked prime rib but they didn’t have any.

Good bbq place for the area. I really enjoy their homemade bbq sauces. Overall was pretty good. There house fries were very good. Service was good and portions were large.
Pizza is very good

Someone from Work said they got the best BBQ Around, (hate to say it Famous Dave’s is Better)
I took some friends from Appleton there it wasn’t busy we sat at the Bar Service was pretty good usually is when you sit at the Bar.
Brian had the Pulled Pork Sandwich and said it had no seasoning or much Taste He did like the Fry’s tho.
Sue had a Burger and didn’t like it or the Fry’s
I had the Ribs and Brisket and side of Beans and Fry’s,
The Ribs were Good I couldn’t see a Smoke ring in them or taste the smoke flavor or any seasoning,
The Brisket well I’m pretty sure they gave me pulled pork I have never seen shredded Brisket before and it tasted like Pork to me,
The Beans Were Good and the Fry’s were also Good.
When we try ed to pay the Bartender was using one of those Credit Card things you slide it while plugged into his smart phone and kept trying it as it would not work
Why do they not have a real Credit Card Machine that just seems Wrong.
Would I go again probably not unless I was in the area all ready,
it was around $ 40.00 so price wasn’t to outta line.

Great sandwiches. Worth the money and will be back! Finally a good choice for bbq in the area