Wexler’s Back

I don’t give 5 stars. Ever. Start with the Smoked Octopus Salami. Really, really good. For your entrée go with the Wexler’s Plate of Pork. That was literally one of the best dishes I’ve had in San Francisco.
Staff are great. It’s quiet, cozy and funky.

Ok if this were in Texas I’d be more picky, but being BBQ-​starved in SF, I always have a hankering for Wexler’s BACK… Less sophisticated but way more satisfying than the trendy twists on BBQ inside Wexler’s. I AM picky about BBQ sauce and I approve of their Texas style sweet, thick BBQ sauce. Mmmm… sigh, my BBQ craving just got worse.

I got the quarter rack ribs platter. Ribs were not bad, slightly moist. Fries and greens were good. Not enough food or quality for $ 11. To keep me coming back the ribs have to be better and the price a little lower.

ordered take out for lunch with some coworkers. I had pulled pork. I have to say that they are pretty good… but it’s not anything that I would crave or think about getting again… one thing I really did like was their sandwich buns. thick texas toast with pulled pork. pretty good if you are feeling like BBQ~ has lots of sauces and you can ask for more sauce to go. friendly staff too.
as for the portions. i thought it was perfect… but i guess all the other Unilocalers think portions are smaller? just FYI though… there were five of us (guys and me) that got the platters. and none of us thought it was small… but we did finish most of it. in fact, i liked the fact that it was just the right portion… i hate overeating for the sake of overeating…

I ordered the ¼ rack of St. Louis ribs platter. There are a choice of two sides, most of which are the usual carby stuff but they accomodated me with a double side of braised greens. The greens were vinegar-​y which I think is the expected style. The ribs were tender without excessive charring though they are BBQ. The BBQ sauce struck a nice balance of sweet, tangy and mildy spicy. Eleven bucks for a bunch of tasty meat and hearty greens seems reasonable to me. I don’t like paying for a bunch of starch that usually fills out a lunch meal. This will become part of my regular FiDi lunchtime rotation.

I love the food at Wexler’s so naturally I was really happy to find out they had a food truck. Was disappointed in trying their sandwiches. Last week I tried the beef brisket sandwich. The brisket was tender and tasty but so much fat and really oily. Good thing they provide wet napkins as well as dry ones. The bread was falling apart. For $ 9 can they at least give you decent bread. It was like Wonder Bread without the wonder. It was a small sandwich which does not give you bang for your buck. Left me hungry.
I wanted to give it a chance, even with the the earlier reviews that were not very satisfied customers I tried the pulled pork sandwich. I wanted to order fries on the side but was informed that I had to order the platter that would give me a choice of two sides for an additional $ 4, so I just stuck to the sandwich. Geez, could they not have been courteous enough to give the customer what he/​she wants like just fries which I was willing to pay for. Its bad enough that this small sandwich was overpriced. The pork was really good, I could imagine eating it on a plate with mashed potatoes and beans but again on this sandwich with the bread that was falling apart and soggy because of the oil it was unappetizing and hard to eat. Good thing it wasn’t smothered in BBQ sauce since the bread mushy already. Now I am left hungry and will probably walk over to Lee’s Deli to get me a $ 4 sandwich.

Mediocre BBQ; mediocre sides.
The sauces were’nt very good, especially the Carolina. Not authentic; basically tasted like Crystal Hot Sauce.
Cole slaw was alright, but tasted bluecheesy? Not sure if that’s what it was, but if so, would have been nice to know beforehand.
Anyway, this time I ordered the grilled cheese and smoked tomato soup, which looked pretty, and for $ 5 seemed like a good deal. But the sandwhich wasn’t ooey-​gooey and delicious, so it seemed like a waste of calories. And the soup was so salty/​smokey that after a few bites I couldn’t continue.
The saving grace was the hot hush puppy I stole off of my co-worker’s plate. And even that wasn’t as good as my dad’s.

I’m sitting here and I completely forgot that I just ate because I’m so goddamned hungry. I’m not even sure what I just ate. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and the part of it that was actually meat was really good. However, most of it was pure fat. I would say there was about 1 ounce of actual meat.
How the fukc is this grown ass man supposed to get full off of that tiny ass morsel of pork?
The sides were mediocre too. The cole slaw was tasty but the baked beans weren’t even cooked all the way.
$ 11 for a mediocre BBQ is not my idea of lunch. I wouldn’t pay more than $ 5 for the plate I received and then I would still have to order 3 to even think about getting full.
This place sucks. I really want to give it one star but the people working there were really friendly and polite. That is the saving grace for this place.
Worst BBQ in the city and that’s saying something.

I had a pulled pork sandwich for lunch today. The meat is juicy and quite flavorful, and drizzled with a good amount of red BBQ sauce. I like it since it’s not smothered in BBQ sauce. You can add more BBQ sauce yourself (Carolina or Texas).
The only downside is it’s quite small for $ 9, so it’s not super filling for me.

I really wanted to like this place, despite some of the unfavorable Unilocal reviews. Alas, I have to agree with most of those reviews.
I ordered the brisket platter with the fries and coleslaw on the side.
The Good: The fries were quite tasty, the best part of the meal in fact. While others have complained of cold food, mine was all reasonably warm, though certainly not hot (I’m only about a 5 minute walk from here). The portion size is reasonable and will definitely fill you up. Also, on the side of the sandwich they provide onion, jalapenos and pickles, which is nice.
The Bad: The brisket was not that great, very mediocre. I could totally picture getting this sandwich at the county fair; pretty dry and not very much flavor. You really have to add BBQ sauce to it to moisten it up and get some flavor out of it, which you shouldn’t have to do with good BBQ. The coleslaw was also just okay, it had some kind of vinegar/​mayo combo that was not bad but not great.
I can’t speak to the other dishes, but I definitely wouldn’t come back for the coleslaw or the brisket, and while the fries are better than average, they’re not amazing enough to bring me back.
Also, adding tax to a cash only food truck is pretty dumb, can they really not just eat the tax on a $ 10 lunch? It would probably be a better idea for them to just charge $ 11 and not add tax, it would probably bother people less.
In short, their BBQ is nothing special. Not bad, but not worth revisiting.

Great truck. This would be three stars if in the restaurant though. First I need to ask why the BBQ was cold?
The sandwich was great and I’ll be back at least once a week for the foreseeable future.

Good to be back.
Wexler’s is reversing the trend of food trucks opening restaurants. Space is scaled down. Stars have only gone up.
Never impressed with the original:
Both times thought it was good but overpriced.
Apparently some things in life perhaps are better out of a truck. Things such as delicious white meat quarter chicken doused in BBQ sauce, superb baked beans and reasonable $ 9 price.
Can’t wait for the five star food cart.

(~)
— bbq brisket banh mi
(-)
— expensive
Wandered in in the afternoon around 2pm. It was deserted because it was close to closing time but our server was very nice and waited patiently for us to finish eating.
Got the bbq Brisket Banh Mi which, for 14 dollars wasn’t as amazing as id hoped it would be.
May give this place another shot if I’m in the area.

The first time I attempted to try the truck, it wasn’t there! My co-​worker and I walked to Wexler’s and asked the hostess what was up. She apologized and said the truck was having mechanical issues and would be up and running the next day. Of course, I checked, and it wasn’t there the next day. Weeks later, I was going to work and right alongside me on Embarcadero was the truck. It was a sign for me to try the truck.
At lunch time that day, the truck was there! I went mid-​week around 11:45 and the wait wasn’t bad at all. I noticed folks were coming in waves. I ordered the brisket platter:
— Brisket: Tender meat sandwiched between thick soft bread. The meat could have been more flavorful for me but the sauces rounded it out.
— Cole Slaw: It had a soft crunch and was more vinegary than mayo-​based but I enjoyed it.
— Hush Puppies: Surprisingly the best thing I had. The hush puppies are super fluffy inside with a nice crunchy exterior.
— Sauce: I didn’t get a chance to try the hot mustard but I really enjoyed the other 2 bbq sauces, especially the oh carolina.
Wexler’s Back somewhat veers away from food truck etiquette since tax is added on top of the prices. However, I would return to try their other meats and to get more hush puppies. Also, don’t forget to grab some wet naps when gathering your utensils and sauce!

WHOA! i’m eating the ½ rack of bbq ribs right now. it’s a huge plate (for me at least) and i was sure i wasn’t going to eat the whole thing but you know what? i don’t even have to tell you do i. DAMN! those are some RIBS! you don’t even need a knife, the meat just falls right off the bone. and i love the sauce. they don’t smother the ribs all crazy style. the sauce is sensibly cooked on in the the right proportion. and it’s nice and smokey and leaves a really good flavor in your mouth. some other guy at the food truck ordered the brisket sandwich and it looked amazing. it came with french fries and they were all crispy and golden brown. i almost knocked him over and took it from him.
i will definitely be eating here again.

I’m looking forward to increasing the number of stars on this review. Unfortunately, not today.
Pulled pork was not pulled. Probably because it wasn’t cooked long enough to become tender enough to be pulled. Flavor was okay.
Tried the mustard and carolina sauces which we’re both great.
Fries were good but cold, in fact, all of the food was room temp and this wasn’t due to the one block walk back to the office.
Greens were the star. Flavorful, tender, delicious.

Situation: Lunch with a co-​worker.
We ordered:
— Ribs Platter (¼ rack) with sides of Hush Puppies and Seasoned Fries — $ 9+tax
— Pulled Pork Platter with sides of Cole Slaw and Potato Salad — $ 10+tax
Pros
— The BBQ sauce, it definitely made the food taste better
— It’s in a nice alleyway with plenty of space to wait in line and to wait for food
— Hush Puppies were good
— The Ribs were good, but not great
— Pulled Pork Sandwich is good with BBQ sauce
— Good portion size
Cons
— They charge tax
— They are cash only
— The line moves really slowly
— Cole Slaw
— Potato Salad
— The Seasoned Fries were decent
— They were out of Greens and Mexican Coke
Overall
Some of the food is good and some of it isn’t. The quality is definitely not as good as the food from the restaurant.
It may warrant another trip, since it’s probably the only place in the FiDi where you can get ribs and sides for $ 10. But, I would rather eat in the restaurant.

I just hit up Wexler’s truck after a couple of co-​workers tried it out. I was served the most meager and unsatisfying pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever had. I literally got back to my desk and opened up the box and took the top piece of Wonder bread off and just started laughing… my co-​workers chimed in with comments like «oooh, sorry about that» and «wow, that looks awful.»
The pork looked like 4 pieces of decaying whale meat, each at a different stage of atrophy. Two skinny white onion rings and a pickle slice were thrown haphazardly in the corner of the box. The flavor of the meat was not enough to save this sandwich. The baked beans were also not memorable.
Shame on me for thinking that Wexler’s could produce something really good when I’ve been disappointed both times that I’ve been to the restaurant. Pass…

I love BBQ, all BBQ whether its chicken, ribs, or pork. Wexler’s Back has become one of my favorites places in the city to get some good BBQ. They keep it simple and prices aren’t too bad either. It’s only $ 9 for half a rack of ribs and $ 17 for a whole rack when normally restaurants charge at least $ 20 for a whole rack.
I ordered the half rack of ribs with a side of braised greens. WOW, the ribs were so tender and flavorful. They were so tender I was able to pull the bone right out of the meat with no problem. The bone was completely clean too. The meat was very juicy and not dry at all. Good meaty flavor and when combined with their bbq sauce, it was delicious. The BBQ sauce was awesome had a nice smokey flavor but it was sweet, tangy, and wasn’t that spicy. The red Carolina style sauce was good too but it had much more of a kick to it. So for those who aren’t fans of spicy foods, be aware. The braised greens were excellent as well. Money well spent. Total, after tax was around $ 14-​$ 15 for the half rack of ribs and a side of braised greens.
Only negative thing is that they shouldn’t have that one lady taking orders and calling/​handing out orders at the same time. It makes the line move a little slow. There’s two windows but they only use one. I think it would help if they had a order window and a pickup window.
Overall, I really enjoyed the food here and recommend it to anyone looking for some good BBQ at a great price. Will definitely be coming back to Wexler’s Back.

Today was the debut of a brand new BBQ truck from Wexler’s restaurant. The truck parks in the back of the restaurant, on Commercial street.
The truck had way more customers than the restaurant, so by 12:30 they had run out of bread and the brisket. Half hour latter they were out of hush puppies and many other things.
I ordered the ribs platter (quarter rack with 2 sides) for $ 9.
The fries were perfect, and the ribs tasted good. In my opinion, Slow Hand BBQ makes better ribs.
Don’t worry if u missed the debut. The truck will be parked on the same spot weekdays for lunch.
The truck’s shelf holds condiments, napkins and utensils.
There are 3 special sauces: «Slammin Joes» Texas style sweet and tangy BBQ, hot mustard sauce, and «Oh Carolina» vinegar style sauce.
The menu includes: BBQ chicken, beef brisket, St. Louis pork ribs and pulled pork — available as a sandwich ($ 6-​$ 8), just the meat ($ 6-​$ 18) or a platter (meat with 2 sides for $ 9-​$ 10).
Side dishes ($ 4): cole slaw, potato salad, BBQ baked beans, hush puppies, braised greens, and seasoned fries.
And drinks (Mexican Coke, Dr. Pepper, diet, lemonade, iced tea) are $ 2.
CASH only.
Note: Unlike most other food trucks, the cashier will add tax to prices listed above.
Hours: M-​F 11am-​2pm