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Let me say that I really, really want to see this place and others like it succeed.
Alstead and its surrounding towns need more locally owned bars and restaurants. Hell, more businesses in general..
That said, if your going to make it out there you have to give the people something worth coming back for.
It can't be just so so or people won't make the effort.
The restaurant is in a small plaza right on Rt 123 (great motorcycle road by the way). It sits between a laundry mat and a Gun shop and across the street from a Kawasaki dealer (I think its farm equipment, tractors, 4-wheelers and stuff)
Easy enough to see it from the road..
They did a nice job on the inside. It's small (maybe 8 tables?) but cozy/comfortable. Done like you would expect a BBQ place to look like. Barn board, tin signs, etc.. and very clean.
It was Saturday around 6pm. There where two families seated and having dinner when we got there.
The wait staff is quick and friendly.. Very attentive, Our waitress made sure to explain how everything was prepped and prepared from sauces and smoke and on the rest.. Excellent service.
The chef came out at one point to check on things as well.
The food.
Excellent BBQ chicken. They use thigh meat only and smoke it with pecan wood. I'm always skeptical about ordering chicken anywhere because I hate dry food in general. This was delicious.
The BBQ pork and brisket where okay good. Not great but good.
They prepare all there meat sauce free so you can taste the smoky flavor and add more or less with there home made sauces (more on sauces later). I actually like it better that way then dripping with BBQ sauce and hiding any other flavor.
The Ribs...Sadly I have to say I didn't like the ribs. My combo place came with a small serving of St Louis baby back style ribs that I was told just came out. They where dry to the bone and not a lot of flavor.
Sides
Cool Cucumber Salad. Very tasty. A little zippy. My wife and I both liked it.
Cole slaw. A bit runny. Not very crisp but eatable.
Mac N Cheese. Excellent. You can tell its home made. Made with ziti rather than the traditional elbow macaroni, cheesy but not goopy.
Dessert
Pecan cheese cake. Another home run.It was really good with a cup of coffee.
They also serve breakfast. Brisket and eggs sound like a winner.
Sadly, they don't serve alcohol or at least I didn't see any. I know it won't matter to some but I do love a beer with BBQ.
Please try and support this place if you can. It's only been open since November and just getting off the ground. From what I saw it's going in the right direction and will only get better.
Anyway, that's my take on it..
OH, I forgot about the sauces. They have 3
1- Beer base, light and tangy
2- Red Chilies, not to hot but spicy
3- Traditional brown sauce, like Sweet Baby Ray's or Jack Daniels BBQ sauces
I thought the beer base yellow sauce was nice and light and favored the chicken well.
The Red sauce was also good and I liked it on the heavier meat.
I'm not a fan of traditional sauces all that much so it isn't fair for me to say I didn't like it. I'm sure if you enjoy the others I mentioned you would like this one.
I give them a lot of credit for making the extra effort involved to make "HOME MADE" food. Its getting harder and harder to come by.
Thanks for the review.. I plan on getting up there ( and yes the area is great for riding ) On another note I a sad to announce that a Taste of Texas in Bennington will not be reopening this season as the owner is moving back to Texas
Let me say that I really, really want to see this place and others like it succeed.
Alstead and its surrounding towns need more locally owned bars and restaurants. Hell, more businesses in general..
That said, if your going to make it out there you have to give the people something worth coming back for.
It can't be just so so or people won't make the effort.
The restaurant is in a small plaza right on Rt 123 (great motorcycle road by the way). It sits between a laundry mat and a Gun shop and across the street from a Kawasaki dealer (I think its farm equipment, tractors, 4-wheelers and stuff)
Easy enough to see it from the road..
They did a nice job on the inside. It's small (maybe 8 tables?) but cozy/comfortable. Done like you would expect a BBQ place to look like. Barn board, tin signs, etc.. and very clean.
It was Saturday around 6pm. There where two families seated and having dinner when we got there.
The wait staff is quick and friendly.. Very attentive, Our waitress made sure to explain how everything was prepped and prepared from sauces and smoke and on the rest.. Excellent service.
The chef came out at one point to check on things as well.
The food.
Excellent BBQ chicken. They use thigh meat only and smoke it with pecan wood. I'm always skeptical about ordering chicken anywhere because I hate dry food in general. This was delicious.
The BBQ pork and brisket where okay good. Not great but good.
They prepare all there meat sauce free so you can taste the smoky flavor and add more or less with there home made sauces (more on sauces later). I actually like it better that way then dripping with BBQ sauce and hiding any other flavor.
The Ribs...Sadly I have to say I didn't like the ribs. My combo place came with a small serving of St Louis baby back style ribs that I was told just came out. They where dry to the bone and not a lot of flavor.
Sides
Cool Cucumber Salad. Very tasty. A little zippy. My wife and I both liked it.
Cole slaw. A bit runny. Not very crisp but eatable.
Mac N Cheese. Excellent. You can tell its home made. Made with ziti rather than the traditional elbow macaroni, cheesy but not goopy.
Dessert
Pecan cheese cake. Another home run.It was really good with a cup of coffee.
They also serve breakfast. Brisket and eggs sound like a winner.
Sadly, they don't serve alcohol or at least I didn't see any. I know it won't matter to some but I do love a beer with BBQ.
Please try and support this place if you can. It's only been open since November and just getting off the ground. From what I saw it's going in the right direction and will only get better.
Anyway, that's my take on it..
OH, I forgot about the sauces. They have 3
1- Beer base, light and tangy
2- Red Chilies, not to hot but spicy
3- Traditional brown sauce, like Sweet Baby Ray's or Jack Daniels BBQ sauces
I thought the beer base yellow sauce was nice and light and favored the chicken well.
The Red sauce was also good and I liked it on the heavier meat.
I'm not a fan of traditional sauces all that much so it isn't fair for me to say I didn't like it. I'm sure if you enjoy the others I mentioned you would like this one.
I give them a lot of credit for making the extra effort involved to make "HOME MADE" food. Its getting harder and harder to come by.
I tried them last weekend, I did not like it. I had coleslaw, mac & cheese and brisket. Mac & cheese was the only good thing. Jim Eddies is the way to go.
Let me say that I really, really want to see this place and others like it succeed.
Alstead and its surrounding towns need more locally owned bars and restaurants. Hell, more businesses in general..
That said, if your going to make it out there you have to give the people something worth coming back for.
It can't be just so so or people won't make the effort.
The restaurant is in a small plaza right on Rt 123 (great motorcycle road by the way). It sits between a laundry mat and a Gun shop and across the street from a Kawasaki dealer (I think its farm equipment, tractors, 4-wheelers and stuff)
Easy enough to see it from the road..
They did a nice job on the inside. It's small (maybe 8 tables?) but cozy/comfortable. Done like you would expect a BBQ place to look like. Barn board, tin signs, etc.. and very clean.
It was Saturday around 6pm. There where two families seated and having dinner when we got there.
The wait staff is quick and friendly.. Very attentive, Our waitress made sure to explain how everything was prepped and prepared from sauces and smoke and on the rest.. Excellent service.
The chef came out at one point to check on things as well.
The food.
Excellent BBQ chicken. They use thigh meat only and smoke it with pecan wood. I'm always skeptical about ordering chicken anywhere because I hate dry food in general. This was delicious.
The BBQ pork and brisket where okay good. Not great but good.
They prepare all there meat sauce free so you can taste the smoky flavor and add more or less with there home made sauces (more on sauces later). I actually like it better that way then dripping with BBQ sauce and hiding any other flavor.
The Ribs...Sadly I have to say I didn't like the ribs. My combo place came with a small serving of St Louis baby back style ribs that I was told just came out. They where dry to the bone and not a lot of flavor.
Sides
Cool Cucumber Salad. Very tasty. A little zippy. My wife and I both liked it.
Cole slaw. A bit runny. Not very crisp but eatable.
Mac N Cheese. Excellent. You can tell its home made. Made with ziti rather than the traditional elbow macaroni, cheesy but not goopy.
Dessert
Pecan cheese cake. Another home run.It was really good with a cup of coffee.
They also serve breakfast. Brisket and eggs sound like a winner.
Sadly, they don't serve alcohol or at least I didn't see any. I know it won't matter to some but I do love a beer with BBQ.
Please try and support this place if you can. It's only been open since November and just getting off the ground. From what I saw it's going in the right direction and will only get better.
Anyway, that's my take on it..
OH, I forgot about the sauces. They have 3
1- Beer base, light and tangy
2- Red Chilies, not to hot but spicy
3- Traditional brown sauce, like Sweet Baby Ray's or Jack Daniels BBQ sauces
I thought the beer base yellow sauce was nice and light and favored the chicken well.
The Red sauce was also good and I liked it on the heavier meat.
I'm not a fan of traditional sauces all that much so it isn't fair for me to say I didn't like it. I'm sure if you enjoy the others I mentioned you would like this one.
I give them a lot of credit for making the extra effort involved to make "HOME MADE" food. Its getting harder and harder to come by.
Thanks for the writeup. I know the owners, they have been doing this for twenty or thirty years. Lived in Texas for awhile so they picked up some things there. I've not been to their place in Alstead yet, only had their food served out of the trailer at a festival.
I did two quick ones hitting both Gabis and Hickory Stixs ( both in Londonderry.
At Stix I got a 1/3 ribs and their sausage. The ribs were meaty and tender and I really wanted to like them, but the gas aftertaste and lack of rub flavor just didn't cut it with me. Their sausage chunks came mildly sauced and had a good over flavor.
I got a pulled ( chunked ) pork sandwich at Gabis . Lot's of potential there, biggest turn off was there was way too much fat in the sandwich, but the pork that was there was moist and smokey. I was offered and accepted a sample of their sausage and although I liked it I must warn ya it had a heavy garlic undertone.
Got out last Sunday for a leisurely ride West, visited The Cathedral of Pines, pulled into Keene for some adult beverages then onto Alstead for an early supper.
Ribs is what Kirbys does best and if I go again ribs it most likely will be. The chicken and the pulled pork were indistinguishable in taste and texture, the brisket was ok, but ( and it is probably due to reheating and standing) all the meats apart from the ribs had that steamy quality..perhaps hitting them up on a busier day might produce better result. Cornbread was good the potato salad was ok.kind of German style with dill and bacon.
Value.. Once again I point to Goodys as the standard and by that standard Kirbys falls flat. Twenty bucks for a combo platter isn't a bad price but you get little in why of quantity for that twenty and that isn't even including a drink. Under twenty at Goodys will get me three meats two good sized sides a slab of cornbread and a 16 oz soda and it will feed two with neither one walking away hungry. Had it not been for a good sized breakfast I would have left Kirbys with a grumbling unfilled stomach
Kirbys combo platter
Goodys a comparison picture
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