Welcome to the Louisville Restaurants Forum, a civil place for the intelligent discussion of the local restaurant scene and just about any other topic related to food and drink in and around Louisville.
User avatar
User

Mark R.

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

4369

Joined

Mon Apr 09, 2007 12:02 pm

Location

Anchorage, KY

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Mark R. » Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:21 pm

Robin Garr wrote:
Carla G wrote:I'm kind of with Steve on this but for different reasons. Standing in any line waiting for food with toddler in tow and an infant in arms is a real drag.

Yeah, I get that. I'm not taking sides, just saying that it's a common format - mostly for chains, but as pointed out, Feast BBQ does it, so do Ville Taqueria, Con Huevos, Royals Hot Chicken, JoElla's, the did Taco Punk, and tons of chains like Qdoba, Moe's, Subway, every espresso bar in the world ...

Another one on that list should be Zeggz, other than their first store the other two are both like that.
Written using Dragon NaturallySpeaking

"Life is short. Drink the good wine first"
User avatar
User

Jeffrey D.

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

381

Joined

Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:49 am

Location

Prospect

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Jeffrey D. » Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:44 pm

The picture neal.johnson posted reminded me: There were NO backs on any of the chairs when I was there. They all looked just like the ones in Neal's picture, but with no backs. My 86 year-old mother could only sit where she could lean against the wall for a little back support. But that, unfortunately, put her in the main dining section where the music blares so loudly that she couldn't make conversation.

Not very comfortable. Maybe designed to turn tables faster?
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
User avatar
User

Mary Anne

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

426

Joined

Thu Mar 01, 2007 11:31 am

Location

Louisville: Highlands

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Mary Anne » Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:33 pm

I went there today for lunch. Decor is definitely Cracker Barrel-y with all the junk on the walls and the wooden floors. The stools are not designed for comfort, and judging from the two people I saw tip them over, they can be easily overturned. Food came out quickly, they come out yelling your ticket number and it's up to you to raise your hand and flag them down. I got the Redneck Taco, pulled pork on a hoecake with slaw on top. Slaw was pretty good, creamy, not too sweet, the pulled pork was juicy, quite tasty and smoky, the underlying hoe cake really went well with the pork and slaw. I got two sides, mac and cheese and baked beans. Baked beans were good, a little tomato heavy flavor-wise. Mac and cheese was well done. My lunch pal had the spare ribs and found them flavorful, they come either wet or dry and she got wet. The sauce was sweet with a little heat. We each had a fountain drink and the total was around $34. A little more than I usually spend on lunch.
User avatar
User

Mark R.

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

4369

Joined

Mon Apr 09, 2007 12:02 pm

Location

Anchorage, KY

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Mark R. » Wed Nov 23, 2016 12:50 pm

We went by last night to try them out. Overall I'd say the quality of the food was good, not spectacular but it's quite overpriced for this market. I had the brisket which was very flavorful and not dry, it was a little overdone however and actually fell apart. He did meet my criteria not needing sauce to be good, I never used any on it. The baked beans were very good with large chunks of brisket in them, I didn't particularly like the slaw, it was vinegar-based and not to my liking.

My wife had the pulled pork, it also was quite good. Good but again nothing spectacular. She did think however that most of their sauces were too sweet. She had a hoe cake which she liked but given the price of side items ($2.29) it was quite overpriced considering she only got one. Also like others have said, stools are very uncomfortable.

While overall I would say it was quite good it's not a place we will be going back to regularly.
Written using Dragon NaturallySpeaking

"Life is short. Drink the good wine first"
User avatar
User

Steve P

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

4848

Joined

Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:18 pm

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Steve P » Wed Nov 23, 2016 1:30 pm

Mary Anne wrote:I went there today for lunch. Decor is definitely Cracker Barrel-y with all the junk on the walls and the wooden floors. The stools are not designed for comfort, and judging from the two people I saw tip them over, they can be easily overturned.


I was in the area yesterday and felt my blood sugar crashing after having skipped lunch in favor of a dentist appointment...So I decided to give it a try. My Cliff-note-review...

The Good - The employees were VERY friendly, polite and attentive. Sixteen taps - All local.

The Bad - As Mary Anne said - The stools were NOT designed for comfort - MOF I can not remember sitting on stools as UNcomfortable as these were...Ever. The music/sound track was loud and twangy (Waylon, Willie and The Boys). One TV - So in other words DON'T let it even cross your mind that this is a place to belly up for a few beers and some Cue while watching the game...This place put the "beat it" in the phrase "Eat it and Beat it". The decor (if that's what you want to call it) is beyond Cracker Barrel - it's approaching downright goofy.

The Average - The ribs were falling off the bone overly-done and lacked any distinctive flavor profile other than smoke - If that's the way you like your ribs, you'll love these. The Brisket - once we got beyond the fact that a ratio of 50% fat and 50% meat does NOT constitute "Lean" (as ordered)....easily corrected once brought to their attention...was satisfactory but unspectacular. The pork (I had just a small sample) was pretty good - not worth driving across town for - but pretty good non-the-less.

I'm in this area a lot, so I won't rule out a return trip - but I can't say that I will be RACING to get there. I'll give 'em a year - 18 months tops.
Stevie P...The Daddio of the Patio
no avatar
User

Andrew Mellman

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

1694

Joined

Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:33 am

Location

Louisville

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Andrew Mellman » Wed Nov 23, 2016 8:30 pm

Steve P wrote:- The ribs were falling off the bone overly-done and lacked any distinctive flavor profile other than smoke - If that's the way you like your ribs, you'll love these. .


Just out of curiosity, what type of ribs did you get?

I had the dry-rub St. Louis. Ours were bite-tender (but NOT fall-off-the-bone) and the rub worked. While obviously smoked, they did not have "smoke" as the prime flavor.

I'm wondering if one of us had an unusually good/bad experience, or if by ordering two totally different styles we had different products?
Andrew Mellman
User avatar
User

Steve P

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

4848

Joined

Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:18 pm

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Steve P » Sat Nov 26, 2016 3:18 am

I had the "Baby Backs"....They hadn't even bothered to peel the membrane off the back of the ribs - pics on request.

Andrew Mellman wrote:
Steve P wrote:- The ribs were falling off the bone overly-done and lacked any distinctive flavor profile other than smoke - If that's the way you like your ribs, you'll love these. .


Just out of curiosity, what type of ribs did you get?

I had the dry-rub St. Louis. Ours were bite-tender (but NOT fall-off-the-bone) and the rub worked. While obviously smoked, they did not have "smoke" as the prime flavor.

I'm wondering if one of us had an unusually good/bad experience, or if by ordering two totally different styles we had different products?
Stevie P...The Daddio of the Patio
no avatar
User

Andrew Mellman

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

1694

Joined

Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:33 am

Location

Louisville

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Andrew Mellman » Sat Nov 26, 2016 9:42 am

Steve P wrote:pics on request.




That's OK . . . no pics required!

We would not put Martin's even close to the same level as several in Memphis or in various parts of Texas, but unfortunately in Louisville we would put Martin's food at or near the top of the BBQ hierarchy. I agree with most about the music, ordering, and (especially) the chairs, but we tend to go for BBQ to eat rather than dine & stay, so we can get over the negatives!
Andrew Mellman
no avatar
User

CrisBanaszynski

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

48

Joined

Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:39 pm

Location

119 Saint Matthews Avenue

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by CrisBanaszynski » Thu Dec 29, 2016 12:33 pm

We are working on getting more chairs with backs. We have 10 right now but the ones we really want are hard to get. As far as any lingering service issues go, we have now been open for over a month and are dialed in on service. Those of you that mentioned the idea of waiting in line, if you sit at the bar with 16 local craft beers, bourbon and other delicious options, it is full service and is usually not very busy. We are going to have more seating outside when the weather warms up and there will be another bar outside.
Never trust a skinny chef...or a fat vegan
no avatar
User

Andrew Mellman

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

1694

Joined

Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:33 am

Location

Louisville

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Andrew Mellman » Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:04 pm

Thanks, Cris. We will be back!
Andrew Mellman
no avatar
User

James Natsis

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

1055

Joined

Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:34 pm

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by James Natsis » Fri Dec 30, 2016 11:57 am

Andrew Mellman wrote:
Steve P wrote:pics on request.




That's OK . . . no pics required!

We would not put Martin's even close to the same level as several in Memphis or in various parts of Texas, but unfortunately in Louisville we would put Martin's food at or near the top of the BBQ hierarchy. I agree with most about the music, ordering, and (especially) the chairs, but we tend to go for BBQ to eat rather than dine & stay, so we can get over the negatives!


I'm curious about the BBQ hierarchy here in Louisville. I just reverted back to eating meat after a 12-yr hiatus so I haven't tried too many places. But Food and Dining Magazine lists 27 seperate BBQ digs in the area. I imagine that at least a few have attained a quality comparable to anywhere else. I had tofu and pulled pork on 2 different occasions at Feast BBQ and found them both to be very good. On the other hand, I tried some stuff at two other places that were below par.
James J. Natsis
User avatar
User

Mark R.

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

4369

Joined

Mon Apr 09, 2007 12:02 pm

Location

Anchorage, KY

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Mark R. » Fri Dec 30, 2016 12:11 pm

James Natsis wrote:I'm curious about the BBQ hierarchy here in Louisville. I just reverted back to eating meat after a 12-yr hiatus so I haven't tried too many places. But Food and Dining Magazine lists 27 seperate BBQ digs in the area. I imagine that at least a few have attained a quality comparable to anywhere else. I had tofu and pulled pork on 2 different occasions at Feast BBQ and found them both to be very good. On the other hand, I tried some stuff at two other places that were below par.

I think that barbecue, even more so than other food types has to be ranked by an individual. Different people look for different things in their barbecue, some people like it very smoky, some people like a good bark on it, some people like ribs falling off the bone, others want to cling to the bones, etc. For instance, my wife and I don't like Feast, although that may be how we were treated by the one in New Albany one time. I don't know which ones you didn't like nor why but those may be a couple of the ones we really like because of faith that is based completely on personal opinion and what you are looking for.

Your best bet is to just try some different places and see what ones you like. Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot is liked by many, as is Mamas. I should also mention that there are quite a few good food trucks around town that have excellent barbecue. There are also several barbecue chains around town such as Martin's, Mark's Feed Store and City Barbecue, chains have some good and bad points, again it's just based on personal opinion.

While I normally don't like articles by Thrillist, here's one they did earlier this year this got a pretty good description of what a few of the local barbecue places: https://www.thrillist.com/eat/louisville/the-best-bbq-spots-in-louisville.
Written using Dragon NaturallySpeaking

"Life is short. Drink the good wine first"
no avatar
User

Ellen P

{ RANK }

Foodie

Posts

531

Joined

Mon Jun 02, 2008 10:44 pm

Re: Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - Westport Rd

by Ellen P » Fri Dec 30, 2016 3:12 pm

CrisBanaszynski wrote:We are working on getting more chairs with backs. We have 10 right now but the ones we really want are hard to get. As far as any lingering service issues go, we have now been open for over a month and are dialed in on service. Those of you that mentioned the idea of waiting in line, if you sit at the bar with 16 local craft beers, bourbon and other delicious options, it is full service and is usually not very busy. We are going to have more seating outside when the weather warms up and there will be another bar outside.


Thanks for this info. We live nearby but weren't interested in carryout this time of year - at least bbq. Having the bar option is just where we prefer to be!
Previous

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 27 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign