Roscoe’s BBQ

Pro’s wait staff was excellent. The young women was very exceptional! Food was good but not special. Good value and the location was nice. Down side was ordering food and using a fork to eat the food caused the basket paper to turn to a mess. I moved this up from 3 to 4 stars because of the quality of people working there.

This is my favorite barbeque in Rochester. They have a north and south location. The south one is right next to a park, perfect for a picnic. My favorite is the pulled pork plate with jo jo potatoes, coleslaw and cornbread, though there are many other sides as well.

I went there to order take out. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with a side of potato salad & the hotdog kids meal. I had high expectations since I really enjoyed the Roscoe’s on 18^th Ave NW before it closed.
First off, I ordered the ‘hot dog kid’s meal’. If it was a meal. you’d think there would be a side. Nope. I was told there is no side by the cashier, you have to buy those separately. Sheesh, ok. So I ordered a side of the broccoli salad. Then I ordered a pulled pork sandwich for myself with a side of potato salad.
When I bit into the sandwich at home, it was like chewing on wood splinters. Very disappointed! I couldn’t finish eating it as most of the sandwich was of this consistency. Ouch! The potato salad, hotdog, and broccoli salad were fine.
Poor rating for a BBQ place should have tasty BBQ. Plus kids meals that are not meals. Maybe it was an inexperienced cashier, not sure. Not happy and won’t return to this location.

Pretty good bbq, not fresh outta smoker, but worth a stop.
Very good sauces and root beer.
Nice sized portions

I came back to Rochester after being away for 12 years. I always loved going to the 4^th St location when I lived here. I don’t know if my memories betray me, I have grown as a chef and a foodie, or if Roscoe’s have changed some of their recipes.
I ordered the 3 rib plate, with coleslaw and mashed sweet potatoes. The ribs were as I remember them, par boiled then baked. Not a big fan of this method but this is Minnesota and you can’t have everything. The sauce kind of taste like John Hardy’s, which I cannot stand. Maybe JH’s popularity forced Roscoe’s to change it up.
The sweet potatoes were OK, but they could have been so much better. Except for the brown sugar sprinkled on top they were completely bland.
The coleslaw was the main reason I was itching to eat here as soon as I could make time for it. I modeled my coleslaw recipe on theirs and have used it in several restaurants. What I liked about their coleslaw was there was a hint of pineapple juice in the mix. What I had tonight was swimming in pineapple juice. Their was very little else. Not even a hint of celery seed.
I’m not giving up on this place or my memories. Going to hit up the 4^th st location first chance I get.

I had a chili cheese dog and fries from here and they were both pretty good! The hot dog was huge and overflowing with good chili and cheese. The fries were good but itty bitty, which kind of made them awkward to eat. Fork or no fork? My husband had the stuffed baked potato and said that it was pretty good. We’re from Texas and have high standards for barbecue so «pretty good» means that he’ll be back for more, lol.
Nice atmosphere and super friendly employees.
I’m sure we’ll be back!

This shop is my wife and myself’s go-​to for take-​out. Their ribs are nationally famous competition prize-​winners, as is their sauce. You order at the counter and take it to your table if you want to eat there. The menu is more limited than their former sit-​down restaurant on the north side of town; they don’t have a fish fryer. My favorite side is the beans.
The sauce is indeed a sweet tomato sauce. Sauce styles vary across the country, and perhaps someone accustomed to vinegar or mustard sauce might not care for it.
We are blessed in Rochester with three excellent BBQ joints: Roscoe’s, John Hardy’s, and Bob’s Smokestack Ribs; plus a very good chain, Famous Dave’s. We’ll feed you so many ways, you’re sure to find a few you like!

Excellent food and customer service period.

This was by far the worst pulled pork bbq sandwich I’ve ever had.
First off, the sauce was so sickeningly sweet, my stomach started to church at first bite. I looked on the back of one of their bottles of bbq sauce and the first 4 ingredients are: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Honey, Brown Sugar and Corn Syrup (again?). Now I’m kind of a bbq fanatic and have looked at the back of literally hundreds of sauces over the years. Usually there’s only 1 sweetening ingredient, sometimes 2… but FOUR!?! I don’t want to get diabetes from a sandwich.
I really hate to complain, so I pondered for a while over my sandwich with one bite missing. My boyfriend convinced me to ask the guy behind the counter if I could trade it in for something else. The guy offered to give me the same sandwich again, without any sauce on it and a cup of sauce on the side. He was really nice about it, which was the best part of this experience.
I took my new, sauceless sandwich back to my table and took off the top bun to check out the meat. It was shredded to the point of looking like a lot of little strings and extremely dry looking. I sniffed at it and it was seriously just about the same smell that you get when you open a fresh bag of dog food. I tried a pinchful and the taste was pretty much what it smelled like. Actually, this was so disgusting, I wouldn’t feed it to my dog. I put the top bun back on and left the entire sandwich in tact next to the trash can.
I don’t understand how pulled pork can be made badly. It’s really so easy! You either slow smoke it for 4 hours give or take or you throw it in the crock pot on low for about 8. Either way, it comes out moist and delicious. I’m really trying to wrap my head around why this is so bad. Has it been frozen and reheated multiple times? Is the meat really that cheap?
I went here because my boyfriend raved about how good Roscoe’s was. He swears that they used to be much much better and apologized profusely. I don’t know how they’re going to stay in business if they continue selling low quality food like this.

As a Roscoe’s virgin, I was unsure what to expect, but I’d repeatedly heard Roscoe’s offered the best BBQ in town. Regardless, I didn’t expect much, as Minnesota is about as far from the epicenter of southern-​style BBQ as one can get.
Luckily, Roscoe’s north exceeded my meager hopes. My plate of shredded chicken was delicious, to say the least. The side of mashed potatoes was also fantastic and fatty, I’m sure (just as good mashed potatoes should be!). One word to the wise: avoid the collard greens, as they are mildly gross.
The location is perfect for catching a movie at the nearby cinema, but it’s not really near much else. Ambiance is pretty blah… but the food… it’s actually pretty great, aside from the collard greens. Just writing this review makes me want to go back for a second helping.