Rack & Roll BBQ Shack

I am giving Rack & Roll five stars for being awesome for families. Sure, in my former life as a single foodie in San Francisco, I probably would have turned up my nose at this place. But now, as a mom of two kids under 3 in Redwood City, this place totally rocks.
Here’s why:
The staff is really friendly and accommodating to families and kids. They cheerfully bring high chairs and crayons/​coloring pages, they aren’t phased by me nursing at the table, they don’t mind when our kids draw all over the chalk board in the back, and they don’t offer the kids the cookie that goes with the kids meal automatically (they tell the parent about it privately so the parent can decide). They are happy to substitute regular milk for chocolate milk, and just generally seem not annoyed by families, which is great.
The food is totally decent. Is Memphis Minnie’s in the Lower Haight better? Probably. But, this is a BBQ place in Redwood City in a strip mall, people, so let’s not be so picky. They have a nice selection of microbrews on tap, they have a rotating selection of craft soda in their soda machine, and they have a large menu with many options. I personally like the pulled pork, mac’n’cheese, baked beans, and onion rings. The salads are big but it’s just your choice of BBQ meat on top which to me is weird. The burger is pretty good. I wish they had a few more healthy options, like a better entrée salad and maybe a few healthier sides for kids, but overall, this place is clean, friendly, welcoming, and great for kids. Sometimes they even play kids’ movies or cartoons on the big screen which is great for eeking out a few extra minutes at the table with restless children. Finally, they have clean restroom facilities which is a must when you have little kids.
Until we have more brewery-​type places in Redwood City where you can get a good beer and a burger, Rack & Roll will have a special place in this mom’s heart.

Went in for lunch and like the ambiance. staff was very nice food was very good. I had the kitchen sink cheeseburger. the mac n cheese coulda been done with cheddar cheese. we will be back.
Wayne

Delicious bbq, fresh salads, nice atmosphere snd friendly service. Why say more, just enjoy.

BBQ has improved all around, just needed time I guess or they listened to reviews, made adjustments. Glad they are close by now !!

I wanted BBQ and decided to give this place a try. My husband had St Louis ribs and said they were bland and dry. I had the chicken which was also dry. The mac n cheese is horrible. The fries are good and although the cornbread is dry, it’s good heated up. We won’t likely be back.

I like this place! It’s not the best bbq but their cheeseburgers and sides rock! They clearly use quality ingredients. We eat here about once a week actually!

My co-​workers and I eat out 4 nights a week. We are a group of 8. We have two rules. 1) We only eat at locally owned restaurants. 2) When we agree as a group that a restaurant is bad, we no longer go.
BBQ Rack & Roll has been open for over a year now. The food got so bad after the first 3 months, that we utilized rule #2 and stopped going. The BBQ sauces are pre-​packaged and they taste like it. The «jerk seasoned» chicken is bland, dry and tastes boiled. The tri-​tip is cut against the grain of the meat, so it dries out quickly and loses its flavor. All of the appetizers are from a pre-​packaged frozen bulk bag.
We continued eating at the great Sushi Plus restaurant and the very good Yat Sing Chinese restaurant next door to BBQ Rack & Roll. The Rack & Roll is almost empty, every single night. It would appear that word has gotten out about how bad the food is.
Last week, one of the Rack & Roll servers saw us eating next door at Yat Sing restaurant and asked us why we no longer go to Rack & Roll. We were honest and told her our complaints about the food quality, the horrible store bought BBQ sauces and the fact that most of the non-​meat items seemed to be pre-​packaged and not homemade.
The server stated we should give Rack & Roll another try because they had changed their menu, hired new kitchen staff and hired a manager to oversee everything.
We gave it a try this week. It was just as bad as before although, now they have crossed off all the items they don’t have from each menu (lazy and tacky). The «jerk seasoned» chicken was even more dry and bland than I remember. The BBQ sauces are all still store bought and the appetizers and sides are still pre-​packaged bulk products. Within two bites of the jerk seasoned sandwich, my co-​worker got a mouth full of cellophane that had apparently been mixed into his chicken sandwich.
A group vote was taken and Rack & Roll is now permanently removed from our local dining spots. I wouldn’t recommend Rack & Roll to anyone… unless I wanted to punish them.

I ordered the baby back with rice and beans with some Mac and cheese.
The baby back was dry, tasteless, and it was a struggle having the meat fall off the bone.
The Mac and cheese had no taste and had a weird texture.
The rice and beans was tasteless and dull.
The food here is outdated, boring, and the portion size could be a little bit bigger.
This place wasn’t ideal to eat, I could’ve gotten to mcdonalds to try better food.
I could’ve cooked better and tastier food at home.
Super disappointed.
The lady offered us a sample of Jerk chicken with sauce. It was dull, tasteless. The Jerk chicken was dry.

The beef tri-​tip sandwich with side of collard greens and skin on fries washed down with an ice cold cup of Batch Craft Diet Cola or Batch Craft Black Cherry Soda is just delicious. I went here for my weekly therapy lunch with my psychologist, Dr. Feinstein today. The waitress, Olivia, knew exactly what we always order, and didn’t even ask what we wanted. Don’t leave Redwood City or San Mateo County without eating here at least once.

This place is average for CA. And since most BBQ places in CA are well below average across the country, this place isn’t very good.
For me the service was fine. But the staff did talk loudly about their personal lives, when their shifts ended, etc… By the time I left I knew a couple of their shift times, that one waitress wasn’t feeling well and that another failed to appear in court. TMI for lunchtime.
The food was mediocre. However shout out to the bun on my pulled pork sandwich. It was the best part of the meal. The meat was fine, but the sauce is all prepackaged and it shows, literally, they have the packages out in the open. The sides were small and tasted prepackaged.
Extra star because they did give reasonable service. They were polite and prompt. However there is a lot that needs improvement beyond service.

Our evening started off well — my friend and I both wanted bbq for dinner and Unilocal brought us to Rack & Roll BBQ.
The moment we get inside, we are told they’re OUT of baby back ribs, now to me that means they’re out of ribs all together — because I am not a connoisseur of meat and when you say ribs I think that’s all ribs — because you didn’t say, but don’t worry we have ribs just not baby back ribs… strike 1 — seeing as we both wanted ribs.
We went with the pulled pork & chicken on one plate and pulled pork and brisket on another.
We received our meals, and both are cold — the pulled pork specifically was cool to the touch and if you know anything about pork — serving it cold is weird and the fat has this really weird texture to it. The mac and cheese is for sure packaged or some sort and the chili was also from a can and topped with cheese, that didn’t melt!
Then things get really good, the waitress came up to us and says «I don’t care if you smoke pot but my co workers will call the cops on you» my friend and I look at each other because what we do on our free time is of NO CONCERN of hers — and to tell us this after we had already been there for a good 40 minutes it felt like she was threatening us because we weren’t happy with the food, and it was a threat.
So, mind you we the food was not that great, the service was weird to say the least, and the fact that they ran out of «ribs» was just all adding up to it being a not so good dinner. I pay our $ 70 tab, and as we are getting ready to leave we see them carrying out a tray of ribs — now this just comes back to the whole not having ribs thing, because it wasn’t clear that they had the «other» ribs just not the baby back ribs.
Will we be back, obviously not!

This is just for the alcoholic beverage dept, why in God’s name are they stocking up on canned malt liquor?
They used to have Heineken and Rolling Rock.
Now it’s Schlitz and Colt 45.
What is this, a frigging ghetto?

I am surprised to see so many bad reviews.
I have been here quite a few times since they’ve opened and it has been pretty consistent. I usually get the rib double play or their burgers. Their dessert is also to die for!
One of the girls who works here is always so sweet to my children and is always so helpful. I will definitely keep coming back and bringing other people too.
Thank you Rack & Roll!

Surprised to find this little gem hiding in Woodside Plaza! Came here for lunch and had the sliced brisket sandwich with the mac and cheese and fries. The sandwich was perfection! The brisket was cooked well (moist) and the portion was huge. The bun they used was toasted and buttery. A winning combo! The mac and cheese and fries were good but not mind-​blowing. But, I won’t complain about a sandwich and 2 sides for $ 11!
From my coworkers meals, I can guess certain dishes are hit or miss. They were not fans of the cornbread (dry & tough) or the collard greens. The BBQ chicken also bordered on being dry as well.
Additionally, service was friendly but a little slow. The guy working at the cash register told us to just grab a seat and he would take our order at the table BUT he was also still taking orders at the register. I know he’s trying to be accommodating but for efficiency’s sake he should probably choose to either take orders at the register OR at the tables.

My partner and I were standing next door while waiting for the line at sushi plus (long line but worth it) and one of the waiters asks us (and a mother and son) to please move over because we were «standing on their side» we moved a few steps and she said «sorry but I have to ask you to move unless you want to order something.» They contined to look at us after we moved (we were hardly on their «side» it was akward and left a bad impression on the guest infront of us who stated «geez.that’s the last time I’m going there» three stars for perceived food quality and service.
Food quality.
I understand she had a bad day and Sushi plus gets the most business in this strip but rudeness makes an impact! Looking forward to actually trying the food!

The BBQ, when cooked properly, is pretty damn good. Too bad they don’t make their own sauce cause they could be 5* with just a little work.
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4* caveat. If they had their own home made house sauce instead of generic cheap BBQ sauce, this would score 4* for me. Kinda expensive though… a half rack of back ribs with 2 sides comes out to $ 20 out the door.
The actual ribs here? The baby backs were cooked almost perfectly. Almost completely fall off the bone… very little fat, it’s all been slow cook rendered away. I gotta give them that. I haven’t had the spare ribs yet, but the way the back ribs were cooked… job well done!
The collared greens were decent… needed a little vinegar, but overall were pleasant. The mac’n’cheese, didn’t really do anything for me. Next time I come here, I’ll be getting two sides of those collared greens.
Pronto’s has a full rack of back ribs and a quart size choice of 1 side for $ 25 out the door… those are wood fired ribs, with wood fired smokiness which is delicious, but they’re not cooked as well as Rack & Roll BBQ Shack. So I have a confusing choice to make when I’m in the mood for ribs!

We really wanted to like this place. It’s hard to find good BBQ in the area so it’s with a heavy heart I have to say it was genuinely disappointing. I got some deconstructed chili burger in a bowl that I can’t remember the name of because it was so unforgettable. I asked for the egg on top which made it only slightly better. In reality it was a mess of cold French fries layered with canned chili and some hamburger helper.
My wife got the rib sampler of two types of equally disappointing ribs. The Mac and cheese was ok, we didn’t bother with the cole slaw and only one bite of the cornbread got eaten.
The service was just ok. Young girl trying to wait on ten tables by herself. It would really make more sense to have people pay at the register off the menu and have the food delivered to the tables or some sort of numbered pick up system. But they have some weird pseudo table service that just comes of crappy and half assed.
If you haven’t been here, you’re not missing anything.

Honestly I was hoping for better quality BBQ, I got the st. louie baby back rib mix with corn bread a side salad and fried pickles.
Ribs– I’d recommend the baby back as they have less fat but neither satisfied quite like id imagined.
Corn bread– pretty amazing, moist and sweet
Fried pickles– first time trying them, I liked them! Would have preferred smaller spears but other than that the breading and flavor were both delicious.
I gave this place 5 stars for their customer service! Amazing!
EDITED TO 4STAR DUE TO THE FACT THE RIBS WERE EVEN BETTER COLD!

Got the 3 sliders and sweet potato fries the other day here and I was surprised on how tender and tasty all three sandwiches were.
I had one BBQ chicken, one brisket and one pulled pork. The sliders we small but I still couldn’t finish it, however it did make for an awesome take home snack for later!
The venue and décor of this place is also very cute and I absolutely love the huge screen playing the road runner cartoon! Such a classic and perfect for a western themed restaurant!
I encourage anyone to try this place out and to bring along the family/​friends it’s friendly spot.
I’ll return! :)

Heard bout them from one my Son’s after school program mentor. I thought, «WTH?! There’s a BBQ place in Redwood City!?»! We went for lunch and I was excited! Great baby back ribs! Love the Honey Bourbon BBQ sauce. Lotsa fun w Elvis vinegary hot sauces on the tables and a life size Elvis playin the gueetar by the wall projected flat screen playin a movie.
On your way to the Loo, kids have expressed themselves on the chalk boarded walls in the halls! The remnants of children are always soul illuminating! I found myself imagining the lil people and or teens/​parents chalkin up the boards together!
Shirley temples and more natural fountain sodas for the kids.
Good beers on tap and Crappy ones in cans is what the menus says.
The mac’ cheese topped w chicken was a hit w my wife. Cole slaw was nice and cold, beans were hot’n smooth textured. Enjoyed dippin the corn bread into the beans!
The folks that ate there were so joyful and friendly! Found myself noddin heads towards strangers and exchangin smiles and good afternoons! Folks were happy to be there!
Sumthin Redwood City could really tie it all together in with the advent of development and upcoming companies and rising rents would be to at least get us an awesome BBQ place!
My mind began stimulating my trigeminal nerve with the thought of some hot juicy brisket.
But alas, I got cold fatty meat. I ate it for the sake of that poor animal that was slaughtered for our gustatory greed.
And cuz we prepaid for’t!
I don’t like wastin food or people that do!
I member it took my family a couple or few days to make a brisket. Marinatin then slow cookin. Was insane! And not cuz they were my parents.
Anyhow, we will always be back! Love the Rack’n Roll Lobster Shack and now we have a new location to love!
Long live the family business!