Dreamland Bar-B-que

Yes… five stars for ‘The Original’ ALWAYS 5 for the original! Alright… fall of the bone; no they ain’t! They ain’t baby-​backs for cryin’ out loud… sheesh!Full of flavor they are. Listen folks… this place ain’t for the faint at heart. There is no atmosphere, hell there ain’t even real plates or flatware! Styrofoam and sporks! Just go. Roll up your sleeves, get the ¼ rack & ½ sausage and wash it down with a Miller light. Just go!

being in the south, bbq is the center of all social events. if you’re gonna go to a dreamland joint, you have to go to the original location here in ttown. its a literal shack, but the vibe and atmosphere of the run-​down shack adds to the experience. you really feel like you’re family when you walk into the place. theres only one entrée on the menu: ribs. they fall off the bone seamlessly and are like eating a slice of heaven. this place is the real deal for some bbq. come experience the taste of the south!

Not worth the $ 40 we spent. Everything including the service was just sub par and I walked out upset about the money I just spent and I was still hungry, wishing we had gone somewhere else instead. Everything seemed overpriced for what poor quality it was. I got the big daddy bbq sandwich and the second the waiter set it on the table I just thought «seriously?» The sandwich was barely put together, the bun was stale and gross looking, the Mac and cheese looked and tasted like it was made a few days ago. I’ve never left a review before but our experience was so poor I felt like I had to leave one.

Huge disappointment.
After bragging about the «fall off the bone» ribs I remember from my glory days at U of A, we pulled off the interstate bypassing the chains and fast food choices with great expectations… expectations quickly dashed as we tried our best to gnaw some of the dried and tough pork off the half slab we were unlucky enought to order.
Easily the toughest, worst ribs I have had in years…
Perhaps those memories of great ribs 40 years ago were clouded by post-​game beers.
Don’t waste your time unless you’re just coming for the beer and the sake of old times… save your money for better food elsewhere.
Very sad to have to post this
jm
class of 77′

Yipes! Worst ribs ever… Dry, flavorless, tasting like they were smoked days ago and reheated. I begged my Bama grad wife and brother in law (Tuscaloosa natives) to come here. I was so excited. Crushing. One extra star for the banana pudding. You broke my heart Dreamland.

So yummy and the service was fast and friendly, but I must admit the drive to the restaurant off of the highway was weird. I thought we were going into a neighborhood. If you start to feel the same way, do NOT turn around. Keep going! It is totally worth it.

As a Texan, I am particular about my bbq. I have several place in Birmingham and haven’t found any Q that has impressed, but I found this place on Unilocal.It has a good atmosphere… hole-in-the-wall…the type of place good barbecue should be served in, so I like that. I was surprised that they only sold two meats: ribs and sausage, but I thought about it why not specialized in couple that are exceptional than sell several meats and be average. The ribs were some of the best seasoned ribs I have had. I mean they tasted delicious. Someone really knew what they were doing. The only thing me and buddies thought was the meat didn’t fall off the bone… could have been slightly more tender, but not tough enough that I wouldn’t order them again. I had potato salad which was mustard base and pretty good. I don’t eat baked beans but my friends wouldn’t stop raving about them, so they were a hit. One of my friends got the banana pudding to go and said it was a great late night trip. We enjoyed ourselves and the next time I am in town I will be back.

I’m not a BBQ regular by any means but I really enjoyed my time at this place. Customer service was friendly and quick to serve. Ribs were tasty with a wet sauce and potato salad was a great side. Dip your white bread in BBQ sauce while you’re waiting!

Everyone keeps bragging about Dreamland but I wasn’t impressed. Granted it was good but I just wasn’t impressed. I’d go back it i was in the mood.

We asked for a menu, and the waiter looked at us weird. He said, «We just got ribs and sausage.» There you go. Tasty meal at a no frills spot.

Traveling thru Alabama and decided to give a recognized bbq joint a try. Ordered a half rack of ribs potato salad and banana pudding. Half rack was easily split between two people. The ribs were fantastic and the atmosphere was just as I had hoped it would be. The staff was very friendly and willing to give suggestions. This place only offers ribs and sausage as far as I could tell but I give two thumbs up for mastering their menu. I would highly recommend giving it a try.

I have eaten ribs my entire life and know my way around around a bone or two. From Memphis to Tuscaloosa I have eaten at more than 30 bbq joints and this one, Dreamland, is at the top of the list. The ribs fall off the bone and the sauce is absolutely top class. The cole slaw is good, especially if you like a more vinegary slaw, and the baked beans are delectable. Never tried the banana pudding but hear it is to die for. This is not the BEST bbq I have ever eaten, but as I said before it is at the top of the list! Give it a try!
Expect to spend $ 30 (full slab, plate of bread, and three big sides).

I’m not a big fan of ribs but I always let Unilocal decide whats for dinner when I’m out of town. Dreamland had great reviews so I had to check it out. The ribs fell off the bones. My brother definitely enjoyed his full rack + half of my half rack! I — well, I enjoyed the banana pudding #sweettooth
The baked beans were very good as well.

Best place in Alabama for ribs! Dont come here expecting to eat salad. The sauce they give you compliments the ribs amazingly. Wish they wouldve gave me better side options, however the ribs were good enough. Its a small mom and pop joint that is not expensive. Cheap beer too! I highly recommend this place if your a rib/​meat enthusiast lol ENJOY!

So I’m from Texas and know BBQ pretty well. This place is a legitimate BBQ stand out. They are most well known for their beef ribs, which I thought were quite good. Sauce is lightly spicy with a lot of black pepper — quite good. For me the real hero was their sausage… Best sausage I’ve ever had anywhere. I could eat my weight in that sausage. And the potato salad, beans and banana pudding were also the best ever… Seriously amazing. We’ll go out of our way to come here again next time we’re going through Alabama.
This original location was a bit out of the way and we were honestly second-​guessing our decision since we had our 5 kids with us and it was starting to look a little dicey. But my concerns were allayed when we got there and found a pleasant establishment with a welcoming and delightful staff. Great service, great food, tiny but clean bathrooms.

If you like ribs, these are probably some of the best you’ll ever get. I think it’s my all time favorite rib place.

Yummy. Very friendly staff. I don’t usually care for pork but my husband does and I have to admit I loved the ribs. baked beans was delish, and the banana pudding was soooo good.

The BBQ sauce was the centerpiece of this meal. It was hard having to portion this amongst the half slab of ribs.
I’m not sure about the ribs. They were very fatty and juicy. It falls off the bone without much resistance. Although the ribs aren’t so great by themselves but they were made in mind to do one thing – to hold sauce better than any rib I’ve had.
The cole slaw was good but they got our order wrong. We ordered a pint but they gave us a little cup. We didn’t find out about it until we got home.

We all know that you’re not coming to Dreamland just for the food, you’re coming for the experience.
This being said, it’s hard to round my 4.5 stars down to 4.
The place is super cool. Filled with fun signage, history, and great people, it’s your quintessential southern bbq dive. To point, they were replaying an old Bama game on the tv and there was a group of a half dozen watching it as if it was a live championship game. Weird? Sure, but you gotta admire the devotion.
Four of us decided to get ribs, sausage, beans, potato salad, cole slaw, and then some banana pudding for the road. In other words, basically everything on the menu.
As you’d expect, the sides are great. The beans were balanced and the mustard potato salad hit the spot. The sausage was smoked really well and also flavorful. The ribs were tender, and decent sized.
The high point, by leaps and bounds, is the sauce. I don’t know what is in this, but holy crap, it’s amazing. The best part is that you get a nice stack of white bread with your food, so as you eat you can wipe up the meat drippings and sauce with the bread. Sure it sounds weird, but it’s a lot weirder if you don’t do it.
Overall, Dreamland is a place that you’ve got to visit if you’re a BBQ fan. The atmosphere is fun, and the sauce is addictive.

*sigh*
I REALLY want to give this place more than a 3 star rating. I’ve been eager to come here for years, so my expectations were pretty high. I’ve seen it on tv 1000x, so it has to be good, right?
Well, let’s just say that it was a let down.
Good things:
the bbq sauce was unbelievably good. I’m honestly not sure that I’ve ever had bbq sauce as good. I’ll have to buy some online and have it shipped. I don’t know that I can eat any other bbq sauce ever again.
The ribs had a great rub/​seasoning on them. If I didn’t even have sauce, I would have loved the dry rub. Very good. Shows they know what they’re doing.
The ribs were cooked perfectly. Had a good char, had a good smokey flavor. The meat didn’t just fall right off the bone. Very well done.
The atmosphere of the place is really neat. It’s small. There are license plates everywhere. Autographs from famous people. It’s a small building with not much seating. Kind of a weird place. But it’s really neat. And different. And unique.
Great service. The servers were very friendly.
Not so good things:
The food was average. The quality of the ribs was shocking. They were very fatty and small and really didn’t have a lot of meat. Rendezvous in Memphis has much better ribs. If you take Rendezvous and put Dreamland’s BBQ sauce on them… Now that might be something.
The sides were nothing special. Tasted almost store bought. Baked beans tasted like they came out of a can. Potato salad out of a container.
The banana pudding, which I had heard amazing things about, was not that good either. I’ve had better banana pudding from just about everywhere else.
If just one of the items had blown my doors off, or had just been really good, I would have no problem giving this place 4 stars or more. But it didn’t. So I have to go with the 3 star rating.
I’m really glad to have visited. And I will probably be back one day. I just wish it had been better.