The Famous Rib Shack

Extremely dissapointed. Walked in about 7pm, every table but one was covered in dirty platters and napkins. I ordered the rib tips and was pushed multiple times by the lady who seemed to be in charge to get something more expensive. Stuck with my order and was charged $ 30! (The board said $ 11 for half order and $ 16 for full order of rib tips. I feel I was conned out of money and did not even like the food! Would not recommend to anyone and will most definitely not be coming back.

First time my family and I have ever been here. We got there around 4. The lady Lottie I assume from others reviews? She was great. At the time her help had not arrived so she was doing everything herself and by the time we got there, two other customers were waiting and then a few showed up after us. Don’t get me wrong, she handled it like a pro! Everyone was friendly and chatting with each other. No one and I mean no one was bothered with the wait. I believe we waited about an hour? None of the patrons were in a rush. She informed everyone to bear with her as she gets the orders ready. No one minded at all. Not even us. And now I know why. The food was great! Yes it was worth waiting for. I ordered a hot link and my husband ordered pork ribs and chicken with collard greens and Mac and cheese with corn muffin for him and our son. We got full off of all of that between just us 3. Ribs were on point, links not deathly hot and something about the flavor of the greens I can’t put my finger on but very tasty. I am very picky when it comes to the atmosphere of any place I go to eat and this place was welcoming and all the patrons were in good spirits. I am most amazed at how she was able to hold down the fort at such a busy hour all by herself. I’ll definitely be going back and I’ll keep in mind to go when I have a more than a little spare time lol

I used to visit the Famous Rib Shack at least once a month, but since it changed hands a year or so ago, the place has gone really down hill. The service is terrible, I meet the owner once and she had a terrible attitude and couldn’t be bothered about anything except jacking up the prices and lowering the service and quality.
It’s a shame as the place used to be very good, but now I’d be hard pressed to even give it one star, it’s a total disappointment and to be avoided.

Amazing! I absolutely love this place and the owner is a sweetheart to boot!!! Always love coming here !!

Lottie is zzzzbest and the BBQ is awesome. The service is that of any old mom and pop rib joint. The ribs are terrific as are all of the fixins!

I went here with my entire family right after a little league game where an employee was passing out coupons for a free dessert with purchase; the person behind the counter said «we don’t have those anymore, were out of them, what would you like to order» I was appalled that
I had to practically beg to get some other crappy replacement dessert, after that coupon was exactly what they were using to get people in the door, THAT VERY DAY, so simply put, they are cheats. But we were here, so, we ordered ribs for all of us, and they were easily the worst ribs we have ever had, at any place ever in our entire lives, we joke about it all the time, and we enjoy bbq and ribs and have been to many bay area restaurants for ribs and BBQ and this is the worst, period.

We ordered rib tips and it was so very very not good sad to say I felt like the meat was cook twice n the textured of the meat was bad, it’s dry salty lets just say it’s old food I don’t recommend this place to anyone in the world not even if they give out free food, o yeah side dish is over price. I also forgot to say that table are dirty they don’t clean it

The Rib Shack has been shackled. Their ribs were acceptable but it looks like they’ve closed down. We went there today and there was a padlock on the door.
I’ll miss their ribs. Wish they had had better potato salad, though. Why do people try to doll-​up potato salad with odd ingredients? We tried it once and didn’t like it. The only way to screw up potato salad is by adding some off-​the wall ingredients. They probably wound up throwing away gallons of their salad when they should have been making lots of profit off of it. They might even still be in business. Oh well.

Delicious falls off the bone BBQ!
The hours are different on Unilocal but it’s ok cause the food speaks for itself. Good quality meat and Great cooks take time for cooking. Good service too! Owner is Nice!

New ownership is terrible. They been owning this place for maybe a year now. We been here in 3 separate occasions and they are NEVER READY! They always tell us to come back within 2 — 3 hours after we just arrived there. What’s the point? If I’m hungry now and decide to come to a restaurant why should I stay hungry for hours just to come back & eat there?
Our 3^rd time was the last straw. Unilocal said they open at 11AM. We got there near 4PM and they weren’t ready! Restaurant was closed but the workers said to come back in about an hour as they are making food! At 4PM?
They want to run this place down. I’m not coming back anymore.

This place is a JOKE !!! Called in an order for pickup and was told they is too busy to take my order… WTF ??? Too busy to make mo money?
Called back an hour later at 3:30pm, placed my order and was told to pickup in two hours. I go there to pickup my order at 5:30pm and was told by the Owner that she never committed to making my order… WTF ??? Never committed to making my order… so I ask her if she will commit to an order now that I’m here… She said it will take a few hours because there are two people ahead of me and they is hella busy. WTF… there was nobody in the damn place!!! …then the real shocker was the menu with Post– It notes as price stickers… on Unilocal they advertise the backyard bbq at $ 59.95…the Owner told me it’s now $ 112.95…WTF… I laughed and walked out and will never buy anything from this over-​priced wanna be restaurant!!!

This is my first review and I plan on writing many more. As a former Unilocal employee I couldn’t right Unilocal reviews but now I would like to be a contributor to the community. I review on both service and quality
My reveiw is 3-​star due to service and food.
1) Service — Service was subpar. I wasn’t really greeted when I came in to the restaurant. I wasn’t sure if I was in the right line «please order here» since neither one of the people behind the counter were addressing my presence
2) Menu — I noticed the menu needed a overhaul since many of the items were scratched out or not available.
3) Price — Price was steep for bbq dinner and many of the half orders were unavailable. So if you do go make sure its well before closing time as everything was already gone. I think that a dinner for brisket, link, chicken for 32.99 is a bit steep for 1 person.
4) Wait — It was long due to the fact that I was waiting both before I ordered and after. There was only 1 family in the restaurant and 1 couple waiting.
5) Thankfully the food was pretty good! For 18 dollars I got a chicken sandwich and a side of mac and cheese. The mac was really good but my container was super small.
Conclusion: I wouldn’t go out my way to get there but if I were in the area and craving bbq I would go again.

2.5 STARS
Sometimes I just don’t trust Unilocal reviews. Having to weed through [obvious] fake 5 star reviews is annoying. Then, you have to consider those 1 – 2 star reviews. Maybe the restaurant was having an off day because the chef called out sick or the server was having a bad day because his gf left him… for a woman.
So what did we do pre-​yelp? We took recommendations from friends and family.
The Famous Rib Shack was recommended by a co-​worker. I’ve driven by hundreds of times and it always seemed dead. He told me that there were new owner (s) and the food has vastly improved.
Admittedly, I was hesitant when I pulled up their reviews. Actually, I was quite terrified. There were a ton of 5 star reviews but there was also sh*tload of 1 star reviews.
Ok, so we were either going to love it or hate it.
We pulled up to the tiny parking lot and was welcomed with a Food Network Banner. Seemed promising except I couldn’t find anything online about this. Stan L. told me they were on an 2008 episode of Triple D. I tried to keep an open mind because let’s be real now, Guy Fieri’s taste in food is as bad as his taste in hair.
The Famous Rib Shack is super divey. It was dark, and depressing inside so thankfully we had Tater Tot with us which gave us a reason to sit outside at one of their picnic tables.
The owner was really sweet and if I was just rating The Famous Rib Shack on service, I would give a solid 4 stars but a couple of caveats:
(1) Don’t rely on the hours of operation listed on Unilocal.The owner may close up shop at her own discretion so call before going. The day I called, she said, she may be closing shop at «around 8 pm».
(2) It’s way overpriced for a San Bruno dive. Prices are equivalent and/​or more than hipster BBQ places in SF.
(3) Upsell. I was told a half order of ribs weren’t enough for two of us, so I wanted to also order a half order of rib tips for $ 11.95. I was told that a half order wasn’t available but the $ 18.95 size was. Huh?! We ended up with way toooo much food. I told my co-​worker about this and he said, she usually tries to upsell.
(4) Long wait. We were the only ones there and it took 30 minutes for our order.
(5) Overcharge. Wrong order was written down so I was initially overcharged $ 30. Make sure to remember what you ordered (pay after you eat). Owner was very apologetic though.
So this is what we ordered for two people and as I said, we had sooo much leftovers:
*Pork Ribs (half order — $ 23.99):
*Rib Tips ($ 18.99):
*Hot Link ($ 5.50 each)
*Mash Potatoes ($ 3.95)
*Collard Greens ($ 3.95)
I don’t mind paying for good BBQ since it’s damn near impossible to find good BBQ in the bay area but the high prices don’t match the quality nor the quantity. To be honest, I’m baffled by the 5 star reviews. Best ribs in the bay area? Now, that’s a bold statement.
So half an order of ribs consists of 4 ribs (not stated on the menu). $ 6 for one pork rib is ridiculous especially when the meat wasn’t fall-​off-​the-​bone tender and tepid. As a comparison basis, I’ve gotten a full meal of 3 pork ribs, mac & cheese, and baked beans from a SF hipster BBQ pop-​up called Hal Jr.‘s Bar BQ for $ 12:
.
I love rib tips because I like chewing on all the juicy, fatty meat and cartilage. Sadly, more than 80% of our order was inedible. Instead of cooking it low and slow, seems like the tips were cooked at a high temperature. The meat was hard and dry like jerky. Had me wondering maybe they were just trying to get rid of these which was why I was told a half order wasn’t available even when it was stated on the menu.
Hard to mess up a hot link so that was fine except $ 5.50 was too expensive for a one short, stubby sausage.
I requested the sauces on the side since I like to be able to taste the meat on its own. Both sauces were tomato based; one mild and one spicy. The sauces tasted commercialized and I could taste the high fructose syrup.
The best thing I had were the tender collard greens which were nicely stewed with some bits of ham hock.
Skip the pasty mash potatoes which was from a box. How do I know? My mom makes the same mash potatoes from a box every year for Thanksgiving. *le sigh*
The owner did ask how everything was. I did fib and say, «good» even though it wasn’t because she was so nice and it’s not like you can just re-​fire up BBQ in 15 minutes.
The food was 2 stars but the owner was so nice that I can’t help but give an extra .5 stars and round up. Good luck to her…
P. S. — I saw a binder of Unilocal reviews sitting on one of the tables. Looks like the owner does read her Unilocal reviews so I hope she takes the negative reviews as constructive criticism.

I hadn’t been here in years, but I went back to pick up dinner for me and my husband and I met the new owner. She has actually owned it for two years. I used to come here a lot but under the last owner, I had a bad experience with the food. Lottie, the new owner, is super sweet and the other young guy there helping out was also very nice. I brought my food back to my house and was surprised by how much food there was. It was a lot!!! I ordered the special. The Rib tips and I have to say… It was moist and juicy and amazing!!! I will definitely go back.

I highly recommend!
Sooooo goooood. I had the pork ribs with mac&cheese, macaroni salad, and corn bread. They were pull-​off-​the-​bone, finger-​licking delicious. Not to mention the service there is wonderful. The two women who helped me were so sweet. It felt like I was invited to a family barbecue. They were so inviting and helpful with my dinner choice. Definitely did not disappoint.

I had not been to this place in many years and was surprised to find it under new management and looking barer on the inside. However, I was on a mission to bring back bbq to a hungry work crew in San Francisco for a Memorial Day weekend treat. The Backyard BBQ meal for 3 – 5 people was the perfect combination of meaty ribs, tender chicken, and savory little cuts of sausage. Everyone loved the delicious, party-​in-​your mouth beans and the palate cooling coleslaw and sauce-​sopping cornbread.
Thank you Rib Shack for a memorable meal! Don’t you worry. We will be back!

I just love driving all the way out here only to find out that they didn’t feel like opening up. (This is the second time this has happened.)
I pulled into the parking lot with another potential customer. He got out first, and I already knew what he was gonna say. He said, «They’re closed. They got a padlock on the door.»
This rib shack is pretty good, but no below average rib spot can really exist in my opinion, right? I mean they’ve all gotta be at least somewhat pretty good, right? Anyway, if a business is average and fails basic requirements – in this case I am talking about the decency to be open during the hours they set – then they don’t deserve my money.
I understand something may have happened; maybe an employee got sick, etc. Well they were supposed to be open since 11am. It’s 5pm now. That gave them 6 hours to post some sort of sign. No sign. Negative stars for not even having a sign outside of the door to apologize or explain to customers. I love family businesses, and I try to support them as much as possible – except when they’re lazy and unprofessional.
Instead of taking my business, they took my time and gas. This is my last check in at this spot. Never coming back here again.

I ordered several trays of heaven from Lottie and she hand delivered it to my work for a company lunch.
We had pork ribs, chicken and links with potato salad, beans and coleslaw sides. My coworkers devoured everything and raved about it. It was fresh, moist and tender with the beans being one of the best they’ve ever had — and one of them actually comes from the south.
Lottie helped me with the ordering — she had great suggestions and knew exactly what I would need to keep people satisfied. She also did all she could to stay within my budget and didn’t try to up sell me anything. I really appreciated that she took her time to do that.
It was great to work with her and she truly has a loving personality. Very warm. Like your best friends mom who’s kitchen always smells delicious and you never want to leave because you’re too busy eating.
I can’t wait to try her other dishes — she has more than just bbq! Yum. And ive always been a HUGE fan of their jumbo wings, FYI order that in advance.
Thank you Lottie!

BEST RIBS IN THE BAY AREA!!! (Yes I’m that much of a fan)
This place is super unsuspecting, so you wouldn’t know it if you were driving around and passing it every day on El Camino. We knew about it only from some of our peers that used to come by.
First off, things do go quick. They may not have a lot of stuff that’s on the menu because they sell out. If you really want something particular, call in first and see if they have it still. If not, just get something else that you haven’t tried before, you never know, you might be surprised.
Second thing, this is Southern Louisiana style ribs. The owner is a gorgeous lady from Louisiana that has been running the place for like the last 20 years. And before that time it was her uncle that had started the join back in the 60’s or something. These are the original recipes that her Uncle gave her and it has not changed. If you are looking for dry rub Texan ribs. Nope not the right place.
Third thing, looks can be deceiving. Lots of people will say, it doesn’t look clean or there’s not formal sitting, or «Where are napkins?!» Who cares!!! Its a RIB SHACK! In fact, its even in their name. Think about, use your hands, its ribs! Get in it!
Ok parking on El Camino is always hard. They do have a tiny (2 cars I think) carpark, so chances are, you won’t fit in here. Roadside parking might be your best bet.
When you order, use a little patience, its not always easy being the owner, server and cook of your own restaurant. Chillax, check your Facebook, chat with your friends, think about life… or something. Because when the food does come… oh boy it will be good.
Alright the food!!!
There was 4 of us and this was our order:
— 1 full order of Pork ribs — Flippin’ amazing, falls right off the bone
— 1 full order of Rib tips (these are pork) — Same as the ribs, so good.
— 1 order of Hot Links — Ok these are no joke, they are spicy
— Chili Beans — These are spicy
— 4 cornbread — OMG GET THESE! So good, they come with a drizzle of honey for each one. So goooooooooooooooooood.
— 4 corn on the cob — Ok this wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I loved them. They are almost boiled in butter, so delicious, so juicy.
Would I come back here? You bet! And I would tell the world in between about how good this place is.

We came here around this time last year. Small little place. They must do a lot of take out. We got there when they first opened and they didn’t have anything ready. That was a bit annoying. I didn’t realized I had to call first to see if they have any items ready. Didn’t make sense. Why turn on the open sign then?
I’m a bit spoiled with my hubby’s smoked ribs, but always willing to give places like this a try. I don’t think it was anything special. I feel like I paid too much for what I got. Guess you can say I wasn’t impressed. So yeah… I’ve had better.