Backyard Bar & BBQ

A group of us rented a house in Northstar over July 4 and decided to come here for dinner one night before heading into Tahoe. It was a pretty awful experience. First, it took about 30 minutes to get our drinks despite seeing them sitting at the bar warming up for about half that time. When we finally received them it was underwhelming. For $ 13 you expect a decent cocktail. They were watered down and super sweet with no discernible taste of alcohol. They were returned for beer. The food arrived shortly after the drinks. That’s how long it took to get them. The food was actually decent. Good sized portions and tasty enough for $ 15-​$ 20 meals. BBQ sauce wasn’t particularly good. Service was awful. Saw our waitress when we ordered drinks/​food and that was it. Someone else brought the food. Had to hunt her down for the check. Took forever to arrive. Ages, really. When we got the check the drinks that were returned were still on there and had to send the check back. So painful because it was almost worth paying $ 30 extra to not have to deal with their servers anymore. Although the food was ok, the service was SO AWFUL no one in their right mind would recommend this place. Spend your money elsewhere.
*Edit: The drinks were actually physically walked up to the bar and handed back to them. How I described it it sounds as if someone came by and asked how they were and took them back. Also, modified my review from 1 star to 2 stars because after speaking to the manager and complaining they took care of the bill. That’s the only thing that factored into the increased rating.

Hmmmm my verdict is mixed here. The rub on bbq is outstanding, meats cooked perfectly. But my daughter’s pull pork was half fat. Meat part was excellent. Sides are great with healthy options such as cucumber salad and slaw. Overall great food. So why would they shortcut desserts? «Banana cream pie» should be called «no banana, banana flavored cream pie «. Then there was cool whip or something similar on top. Weird. 15% gratuity added in but you order at counter then they bring out your food. Not sure what the gratuity is for. Literally, server came to me once after food was served, and that because I stayed for so long. Very expensive. You pay for the view more than the imitation flavored banana cream pie. Has much potential with a couple tweaks. Ritz would be wise to not shortcut on whipped cream in any of their eateries. I expect it at ihop, not ritz.

Great service great atmosphere by the food was not good for being at the ritz this is a big disappointment

Super slow service. Not up to Ritz Carlton standards by far. Beef brisket sandwich was very fatty — wouldn’t recommend this place. Better off at The Living Room or Manzanita. Did I mention the food delivery was extremely slow? It was. Completely unacceptable.

Great atmosphere and very friendly and attentive staff! We shared the rack of ribs and a bottle of wine and enjoyed playing cornhole while our dogs relaxed in the shade! Highly recommended for a fun and delicious afternoon!

All I can say is what a ripoff. The menu is so overpriced it’s not even funny. $ 20 for a cheeseburger… fine I’ll pay it. I go to pay and they tell me there’s a 15% «BBQ service charge» Uhhh… Seriously? Burger was mediocre, I will definitely not be returning. No wonder this place is already in financial trouble. The portions were good sized, but I think a more affordable menu would be much more successful. $ 7 bottled beers and $ 8 drafts, I feel like I’m at the airport!

I think this deserves about 2.5 stars overall. There is a limited number of choices for sides. We tried four sides between us and two main courses. The sides were not impressive at all. The slaw was strange and overly vinegary with a lack of other favors. The chips were well seasoned but soggy, not crisp as kettle chips should be (especially as a pricey side). The tomato cucumber salad lacked seasoning and flavor. It was watery. The melons in the three melon salad were also flavorless. For the price, the ingredients were not flavorful or fresh. The ribs seemed to have excessive fat, so much of it was inedible. The parts that were edible were good. The burger was over cooked, dry, and uninspired on a cheap potato bun. For much less than $ 20, I could get a comparable burger at a fast food restaurant. Also, there is a 15% service charge for service despite a lack of service as you order yourself at the counter. Another con is the plastic cutlery. Definitely not worth the price at all. Go to Manzanita instead. This is a nice concept that could be executed much better.

This is a nice BBQ /​wood burning pizza oven place on the deck of the Ritz. Great for sunny weather.
The ½ rack of ribs is pricey ($ 21 + 15% service charge) but it easily feeds two people:
The ribs are *very* tender from the 4 hours of smoking They have just the right amount of fat. Nice rub. If it had just a bit more smokey flavor, it would be awesome. House made kettle chips and tater salad are good. They run out of BBQ early (like before noon) on some days.
They add a 15% service charge to everything, which kind of makes sense: in addition to bringing the food out to you, they are constantly buzzing around, making sure everything is perfect.

On Saturday we felt like having some good food and a Friend looked up the BBQ close to Northstar and found this place. I wanted to see the Ritz in any case since my wife and I are invited to a wedding later in the summer. The long and short of it is that we drove up the the hotel and parked with Valet as there is no other option. That’s understandable since it is mid mountain and parking is premium. We get ourselves out to the restaurant, find a table, get in line, try to place the order. Guess what? NO BBQ chicken, NO Ribs, NO brisket! It was only 1:30pm! What gives? LOL. A BBQ place with no BBQ! OK no problem. Lets order some burgers and a pulled pork. Food good. Table side service good. OK let’s try the next day since we liked the atmosphere. Get there at 12PM. place our order for ½ slab ribs, 1 burger, 1 pizza. Burger and Pizza arrive… No Ribs! where are the ribs. Manager. «sorry the ribs take 4 hours to cook and they are not ready yet.» LOL. are you serious? You couldn’t have told me that at time of order so I don’t have to watch everyone else eat for 40 minutes? Now my party has all eaten except for my 4 year old and I. We order some french fries to hold him over. The ribs finally arrive. Neither my son nor my self are hungry any more. I call manager over. Takes two rounds of complaining before I get some attention. I tell her the situation. She asks me what she could do for me? I tell her I don’t want a thing from her. I just wanted to tell her that 3 meals at $ 75 should have come with the «Ritz» experience. It failed miserably. The setting is great. The overall experience is poor. The worse part is that they pull 15% resort fee on top as a mandatory gratuity. Then you get poor service and you have no recourse on the situation. Shame on Ritz. I will not be staying here for the wedding. Too bad. Looked like a nice place.

Bbq and Ritz Carlton were not things id think of in the same sentence as i asked one of the managers what she liked. Fiving me the rundown of the evolution of the resto and how owners bere were changing the culture a bit. On the deck near the pool outside, theyve built a permanent structure to house the smoking of meats and libations to match. It’s a smoker shack with a tall fume hood, next to a bar and some copious outside seating.
Considering it’s late december and 55 degrees F, i guess it made sense to get some BBQ. We got the brisket, pulled pork, kettle chops, and pork baked beans. There are 4 different bbq sauces to match up with your sandos. I loked the quality of the meats, not fatty or dry, like a lottery you often get with bbq in cali. The sauces are decent though the voodoo was my favorite. I just wished the meats were served hotter. Because it’s the Ritz you can be sure the service and hospitality is top notch even if pulled pork is what youre stuffing in your gullet. I compare them to The French Laundry in their level of service, here or any of their branches/​locales.
So again, it’s weird to say, but you can get a good bbq style meal at The Ritz!