Red Hot & Blue

We went to Red Hot &Blue on a Saturday at 1PM. Prime lunch time. We were one of three tables in the entire restaurant. Should hve taken it as a sign. Food was bland and cold. Our service was not awful, but not worth going back for. We will now refer to «Red Hot & Blue» as «Red, Lukewarm, and Ew».

There’s a reason the parking lot is always empty. Upon arrival, I noticed the place was staffed by mostly kids in their early 20’s at most, not a good sign. The place was empty, yet took almost 15 minutes just to get a drink order. I ordered the Delta Double, St. Louis-​style ribs and beef brisket. Awful. I requested the ribs dry, so I could add my own sauce. Both meats came tough, dry, and flavorless; as if they had been reheated 2 – 3 times over. So bad, in fact, the ribs had almost no meat left, and were mostly bones covered with a huge thick layer of rub. As for the brisket, lets just say I’ve had jerky that was more tender. Stick with Slows or Lockharts.

This has to be one of the worst BBQ places around, if not the worst. I’ve only been twice, but the brisket was overcooked both times, to the point of being dry, as were the ribs. The service was bad, and the management is no better.
For quality BBQ go to Lockharts in Royal Oak, or Little Zs in St Clair Shores, or catch up with the food truck Detroit BBQ Company (follow them on Facebook, they’re at Kuhnhenn Brewery on Friday’s). This place is awful.

Got seated in bar area and sat for quite awhile before I was acknowledged by the server. Had the half slab of wet ribs which were very small and over done tasted like jerky. Had to walk up to the bar to refill my beverage. I will stick with famous Dave’s.

My first experience here. It was a nice relaxed lunch with good blues music. I had the pulled pork sandwich; not the best I’ve ever had but pretty good. There are 4 bbq flavors at every table; I enjoyed the spicy one. My date had the chicken salad, it was very good and the serving size is enough for 3.

No. Just no. The loaded baked potato was a joke. In the event that an employee of this location should read this, please allow me to educate…
Baked potatoes left in a warming drawer for 8 hours become slimy chewy little balls of starch.
Those black spots on the potato are bad spots. You can not cook the rotten out of food.
Food is better hot.
BBQ is not supposed to be dry and stringy.
No amount of cheese will hide the fact it sat under a warming light for 20 minutes.

We went to Red Hot and Blue for a work function, and I decided to try their Nachos this time instead of the salad. My overall opinion of the nachos is meh… The flour tortillas aren’t nearly as good as corn tortillas. The salsa was weak, and the chicken tasted almost like a mix between tune and pork. The cheese looked, felt, and tasted like fake rubber cheese. In fact, the more I dug in, the more everything tasted rubbery and cold. There was plenty of Jalapeño peppers though. I would avoid the nachos… The service was great as always. I just wish the food and selection was better.

I went here for dinner recently with my wife on a busy Saturday night. We were seated right away and received good service from ‘Cassandra’. The ribs we ordered were fall off the bone tender with the right amount of dry rub and sauce on them. We both enjoyed the ribs and there were no leftovers to take home. I prefer the silverskin to be removed, however, and RH&B ribs come with it still attached. The sides, bbq beans and cole slaw, were just average and nothing to write home about. I’ve been to this restaurant quite a few times now and never leave disappointed. For Michigan, it’s pretty good bbq, and I’ll be back coming back.

This place has gotten some tough reviews recently. So, I was a bit concerned when I placed my order. I have to admit, I loved everything I ordered. I got the delta double… which is your choice of two meats and two sides. I got the pulled pork and pulled chicken. The pulled pork was good but the pulled chicken was excellent. I was surprised; it was tender and flavorful. My two sides were good too… sweet potato fries and the potato salad. True what others say… the potato salad is the best I’ve had at a restaurant.
I’d come back for sure.

My girlfriend and I came here only because we were given a $ 60 gift card. Right off the bat we noticed how there were 3 cars in the parking lot. It was 12:30 on a Saturday.
Since we had a lot to spend we both ordered the double meat dish, with me ordering ribs and brisket and my girlfriend ordering brisket and smoked turkey. While we were waiting we tried the sauces which were pretty solid and we picked out what we were going to use.
Our plates came out and that’s where the disaster started. It literally looked like something straight from a high school cafeteria. There was BBQ sauce already smothered on our brisket which was disappointing since we wanted to pick. It clearly was not quality meat and the ribs were ¼ inch thick. The turkey was inedible, there was a hair in my girlfriends potatoes and every thing tasted like it was just heated up.
On top of that the service was awful. It may have been the worst restaurant we have ever been too. On our way out I gave the remaining $ 20 on the gift card to a family because we will not be going back and neither should you!

We came into town from California and the prices here kick azz because California is so expensive. I got a rib, sausage and full side plate for under 10 dollars, and it was ok. Don’t think they are use to seeing well off minorities or minorities in general, everyone just stared lol. They were also celebrating the restaurants birthday and had a huge cake and was giving slices to all of the customers but conveniently skipped our table full of minorities. I think the prices wowed me more than anything, it’s just ok.

It is with a profound sense of regret that I update my review to what used to be my favorite barbecue joint in the area. In the last two times I’ve been there, the quality of food seems to have declined. The brisket is no longer edible — just a mass of grey, flavorless meat. We had to send it back the first time, and the second time, I was by myself and ordered it again just to see if the time before was an anomaly.
It was the same mess, and my disappointment was such that it just wasn’t even worth raising a fuss anymore.
Gone are the smoke rings and crust. It’s just sliced low-​grade cooked-​to-​death roast beef. Pulled pork doesn’t seem as flavorful anymore either.
The servers still try hard, I’ll grant. But with lack of any physical updates to the facilities in the building (seats are still rather uncomfortable), and the decreasing offerings in the menu (it seems that each time I go back, something else is either crossed out or obscured by a blank piece of paper), I have doubts that RHB is going to last much longer.
The infusion of business on Van Dyke may not be enough to keep RHB in business, especially if the quality of food continues to decline further into the mediocre territory.
So, sadly, I must say that I didn’t send back the brisket because I don’t think I’ll be returning to RHB anymore.

Yes, RH&B is a chain and I make it a rule not to review chains, but I’ve broken that rule a few times for small chains that are exceptionally good. And yes, despite some of the negative reviews, the RH&B I remember was this good!
I must admit that I haven’t had the opportunity to visit this area for quite a few years but this was one of my «gotta haves» back when I visited the GM Tech Center frequently before the big depression that’s sucked the life out of this area and made this part of Van Dyke an industrial ghost town. Reading the reviews, it seems that RH&B is also suffering financially and likewise the quality of the food, service and facilities which is sad to hear. Hopefully this location doesn’t disappear like the Novi location did — one of my favorite places to eat when I stayed in that area, again before the downturn.
So, what about the food that rates if 4 stars? I was always a sucker for RH&B’s ribs with the Memphis dry rub and their potato salad! You wouldn’t think a chain could have ribs this perfect! And the dry rub — I’ve never had a dry rub this good anywhere, even in Memphis, and I’m *very* familiar with Memphis barbecue! I’ve tried forever to replicate their dry rub and haven’t perfected it yet. Now to their potato salad — it’s the best, and actually a very simple recipe. Google «copycat red hot blue potato salad» and you’ll find it — the celery seeds is the secret ingredient.
I can’t really speak for the rest of the menu as I get the ribs every time I’m there, which wasn’t that often as I was only in the area on business and don’t have a RH&B anywhere close to where I live. I actually first had RH&B’s ribs in the 80’s in Jackson, Mississippi and it wasn’t until 10 or 15 years later that I got a chance to sample them again in this location (and boy was I surprised to find a RH&B in Michigan of all places!)
Some folks have compared this place to Dave’s Famous but in my opinion, RH&B is much much better. (though I’ve only been in a Dave’s Famous once so maybe I haven’t given them a fair shake) So, 4 stars for me for their ribs, dry rub and potato salad even if they may not deserve this rating today due to their apparent decline, and hopefully they’ll pull through this downturn and both RH&B and its neighbors rise back to their former greatness.

Well, this restaurant doesn’t do too well in my book unfortunately. Sad, because I live less than two miles from here and enjoy barbecue quite a bit.
Given, this place is a chain, and consistency is always the key with chains. However, places like Bad Brad’s or Rudy’s (in Austin, TX) do it right. This place just kinda falls short.
I’ve given the place a couple chances with a couple different dishes. A three meat plate went from kinda dry and just alright to somewhat good with the hot barbecue sauce (which is pretty decently hot) but the barbecue sauce saved it, not enhanced it.
The sides were okay. I tried macaroni and cheese and vegetables (I know, vegetables aren’t generally a ‘traditional’ side). The vegetables were not seasoned at all (in my opinion) and the macaroni and cheese was forgettable.
I’ve also tried the stew they had. I feel like they tried to make the base out of a mixture and tomato sauce and bbq sauce and it just kinda… doesn’t go that well together. It’s just not… good enough.
Anyway, the service is pretty good there, so there’s that I suppose. Also, again, it’s not awful. The biscuits are very good, and my friends did like the ribs (which ribs aren’t my cup of tea, more of a briscuit guy here).

Well, I’m back at Red Hot and Blue… not my choice… my daughter wanted to come here because she LOVES the potato salad. Just for reference… the potato salad IS good. However, I think Chef Ramsey needs to check out the kitchen here. It’s frustrating because I used to love this place, but it has definately deteriorated. Just so you know what I mean, I took a picture of my entrée. It looked delicious and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into the sausage. I frowned as I realized that I could not bite through the grilled onions. Then, I realized that the cook did not PEEL the onion. I scraped off the onions to the side. I told the waiter and he agreed that it was disgusting. He took the onions away… I assumed he was informing the manager. Well, no manager came to our table to apologize. I think I’m done with this place. Check out my photo of the sausage sandwich. After looking closer I realized that you could tell from the photo that the onions were not peeled. How much work would that have been for the cook? Disappointing.

So… I’m a bit of a sucker for this place. It’s located in one of the worst restaurant hubs in the area. I don’t think I’ve had particularly good service in a restaurant located between 15 Mile and 16 Mile on VanDyke in some time. RHB was an exception. The service is never outstanding, but it’s, well, serviceable.
I’m going to skip through the rest becuse you come here for the ribs and that’s it. I don’t think the sides are bad, but they’re nothing to write home about. The dry rubbed St. Louis cut ribs are some of my favorite… and not because they’re the best ribs, but because I like the rub. It’s good. It’s a bit of sweet and a bit of tangy bite to it. And, despite the term dry rub, the meat is not. The ribs tend to be cooked well every time I’ve eaten there and fall off the bone. The sweet BBQ at the table is always a nice fall back as well. And a full slab of ribs can be split to have different combinations of rub or BBQ sauces applied (sweet, wet or dry).
The sides are nice… but seem pretty mass produced and taste like it. This is a chain, and like all chains, it’s been made to meet standards, which often leads to simplification of menu items while complicating the menus. I will admit to enjoying the Sweet Potato Fries… it’s a guilty pleasure that like pizza is good even when it’s just ok. They do a bit better than ok with this sweet and savory treat. But, beyond that… you get the typical cacophony of random sides you expect at a chain.
Though it’s not a TGIF menu, it certainly has a number of items that are not BBQ items… which is what I expect. This is a good get if you’re in the Sterling Heights area. Get a slab of Dry and enjoy yourself.

The potato salad here is good, as is the Earl Campbell sausage, both five star in my book. The ribs are generally decent. The beans are nice enough but I’d still get double potato salad as my side selection. The rest of the fare? Meh.
I hate that they have no regular tables in here, only booths or half booths. The dining area these are in is full sun on a steaming hot Michigan day to boot. The only saving grace is the mini pitchers of iced tea. If I were close I’d come here occasionally for takeout, but I do not live nearby so this is a rare spur of the moment stop.
The old St Louis outposts of this chain were so much better than here. I miss the one I used to swing by in Novi too. If you come here though, try just that sausage and the potato salad before you dismiss the joint entirely.

I’ve been here only a couple times. It reminds me exactly of Famous Dave’s.
Exactly. Like, if they took the name off everything, I wouldn’t know which one I was at.
I do like the pitchers of drinks they give you. It’s like a beer pitcher with a straw. Nice. Don’t know if they do beer that way though… *lost in thought*
Ok, so anyway, it’s standard bbq stuff.
I really like the potato salad, alot, but the brisket is always a little dry to me. The cole slaw has no taste, and for some reason you get a tiny cup of it with just about everything. I tried putting it on my sandwich. Nice crunch, but doesn’t do anything for flavor.
I don’t know, it is what it is. If you’re in the area and are dying for bbq, then I guess go here. It’s just never stuck out to me as a Must-​GO place. The prices are good compared to most of the other (and better) bbq places out there.
/​Reasonable!

The peanut butter pie was the best part of the meal. You gotta get that pie…
oh I better back up to the rest of lunch.
We got a brisket sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich. They both come with slaw either on the sandwich or on the side. A side of fries or a substitute. I got greens… the greens are dressed with a vinegar hot sauce… not bad, but unusual. Speaking of sauce they have like four to choose from. I sectioned my sandwich into quadrants and tried them all.
My pulled pork was pretty good, but the brisket was extra good and tender.
We would have gotten the three meat treat (or as I call it, the triple trough) but that is more of dinner selection.
The drinks come in mini pitchers… cute. They have a punch card for a free sandwich. Service was prompt and friendly.
Mmmm that peanut butter pie.

I practically forgot about my old standby
Red Hot & Blue
Especially since the start up days of Slows, Lazy Bones, Bad Brads & more recently Lockharts
went to RH&B today with a BOGO which knocked $ 9.53 off of the bill [ nice]
Love the ½ pitchers that they serve the Sweet Tea in.
I ordered the
Delta Double
Our St. Louis-​style ribs and your choice of one other
hickory-​smoked meat: pulled pork, ¼ chicken, beef brisket,
pulled chicken or sausage. $ 14.99 with the Brisket
and their Amazing baked beans & Cole slaw
My gal ordered
RH&B Chopped Salad
Savory smoked pulled chicken with chopped mixed greens,
cucumbers, shredded carrots, tomatoes, roasted corn, beets,
black-​eyed peas, hard-​boiled eggs, mushrooms, bacon, red
onions and cheddar & jack cheeses tossed with buttermilk
ranch dressing.
The Server «Jackie» was sweet & very Efficient