Tony G’s Barbeque

Sorry to say that this place is terrible. I pass this restaurant on my way home every night so I thought, despite the poor to mediocre reviews, that I would give it a try. As always, the place was completely empty when I stopped in at 6:30 on a week night.
I ordered a rack of ribs and beans to take home to my son. When I got home we found that the meat was so rubbery it was impossible to eat. Clearly this rack had been sitting around for a few days…
The beans tasted terrible. Really, I could have opened a can of beans at home and they would have been better.
Won’t be back. Really disappointed.

I’m sorry but these people writing reviews comparing other popular Boston area barbecue places just don’t understand what Memphis, Kansas City, and other Midwestern styles of barbecue is like. Having had Kansas City and St. Louis barbecue from some of the best barbecue joints in the country, I love this spot. It’s homestyle, delicious barbecue. There’s an element of heart and a home-​cooked feel, much unlike many of the «hip» BBQ joints around town.

Went here for lunch since it’s close to my apartment. Ordered ¹⁄₃ rack dry rub ribs and ½ pint burnt ends. Came with two slices of corn/​cheese bread and two types of bbq dipping sauce. The ribs had a nice bark to them and were also tender/​fall off the bone underneath the bark. Was surprised how large the ¹⁄₃ rack was. Nice. Burnt tips were good too – tender and sauced with a slightly sweet bbq sauce. Corn bread tasted really good also — tasted like it was made with cheese. I’m not a hardcore bbq snob, but I do appreciate tasty, good food. I will be coming back for more.

You need to find another chef. Your food is terribly cooked, bland and cold. After eating at your restaurant — by BF and I gave you three months to survive. You have a good location, the area needs a bbq joint — get a chef and make it work. Change your menu. What you are serving is not REAL BBQ… it’s just REAL BAD FOOD.

We recently moved to the area; within walking distance of Tony G’s. I gotta say, I was looking forward to having a BBQ joint near my house. Then I looked up the Unilocal reviews. It looked bleak but my wife and I wanted to try it anyway; at least once. For my pulled chicken platter, the meat was good; a little more fatty inedible pieces than I would prefer, but it was ok. The beans were so awful and bland. Worse than the heinz beans in the blue can. The cole slaw was like a mashed sloppy failure. and it had no taste. My wife had a hamburger, but the meat looked odd. It was unsatisfactory and stringy.
The staff however were very nice and attentive. You can tell that they *want* to do a good job; it’s just too bad that the food isn’t there.
In conclusion, this place is not very great. There is a reason the place was empty on a friday night.

This is an unfortunate place at the moment.
A buddy and i visited on a weeknight in August — giving them some time to open and get things going.
The Ribs — seasoned untraditionally — lots of rosemary and thyme. These meaty spares were completely under cooked — raw to be exact with blood still in the meat. Totally unacceptable and my buddy and i did not continue eating them for fear of becoming sick — i eat raw meat regularly but not pork or chicken — in fact, i even eat pork chops medium rare but not ribs that are flowing with blood.
Burnt ends were at least smoky and cleanly cut squares of meat doused in sauce. rather dry and not something i would return for.
Brisket — dry and flavorless. certainly smoked and certainly a smoke ring — just couldn’t taste the smoke.
Pulled pork — also lacking rub. no bark, no flavor, no smoke. juicy but a fail.
overall the meal was so bad i can’t for see returning except for the fact that they installed a giant smoker that i hope they learn to use and start pumping out delicious smoked meat. right now, not so much.

I was craving barbecue and despite the mixed reviews, decided to give it a try for the sake of supporting local business. I ordered the food to be delivered. I ordered the pulled chicken sandwich, mac & cheese (my guilty pleasure) and a piece of cornbread. It arrived quickly with the food still hot. Pulled chicken sandwich was good. The watery mac & cheese was the biggest disappointment. I wish them all the best but hope they try to improve their recipe.

Dear Tony G’s,
You have the opportunity of a lifetime to nail down a stellar spot in the BBQ scene in this area. Blue Ribbon is great but only if want to travel to them. Redbones is a monopoly and their BBQ is mediocre at best. Please, go do some research and see what American BBQ can be. You’re style is naturally and Asian or Korean interpretation. But, it is not working as you can see here. Don’t continue blindly and expect people to come around to see how good your BBQ, because it isn’t. You could have lines out your door if you do this right! You have no competition! You have a great spot and great potential clientele in this area; don’t blow it! If you want some help, contact me.
I had a basic smaller rack and it was «interesting» but I’m not looking to go back. The service was nice enough; I think they upped their game due to some of these reviews? But the basic approach to ribs is not what you expect generally. I ended up using it for making a rice dish at home («dirty rice») by using bits of the burnt hard meat to sauté’ with scallions etc. before adding the rice. It was great that way as kind of seasoning.
As mentioned, the so called experts can mess up BBQ easily too, Jeremy K and others said it all.

Came here one evening to grab some BBQ with a friend and ran into similar issues than the ones mentioned in Matt C’s. review.
Tony G’s BBQ is located in the former spot which used to be held by Gustazo before it moved to Waltham earlier this year. The place is small and the décor pretty basic. There’s nothing that screams BBQ in there except for their menu.
I went with some burnt ends and some cornbread and placed the order to go. My buddy got some ribs and they rang us up separately, asking for both of our names even though we were the only ones there.
We waited a few minutes and our food was eventually ready and packed up in some styrofoam containers. The guy called out our names which I found ridiculous considering that we were — again — the only ones there but we happily moved on and went home.
My burnt ends were the dryest burnt ends I’ve ever had. There was a hint of BBQ in the finish but they just weren’t very good, and especially not for $ 15 (for a pint). I ate maybe a third of it at most and moved onto the corn bread which was pretty good. Nothing crazy.
This modest establishment could be so much better, which is a shame. There’s little competition in the Belmont/​Watertown/​Waltham area and they could make a killing but their food isn’t good enough. I did try one of my friends ribs and they were okay but again nothing great.
I would be hard pressed to try it again at some point but maybe I’ll give them another shot at some point in hopes that they were their kinks out with both their food and customer service.

Not too bad, which for local bbq means 4-​stars. I’ve only had takeout/​delivery so far. The burnt ends platter was nicely seasoned and the cuts of meat had a good fat/​lean mix for good flavor, it mated well with the spicy bbq dip. BBQ chicken was very good, moist and not overcooked. Pulled pork was a little heavy with sweet bbq sauce. Ribs were just okay, a bit too dry. For sides: coleslaw was a little too heavy on the cabbage/​sauce ratio, corn bread had a nice buttery flavor, candied could use more butter/​sugar, collard greens were good.
A solid start for a new Boston area bbq joint. There are so few (none) that are really any good to begin with compared to real southern bbq. Hope that they tweak their recipes as they get settled in to the neighborhood.

Stopped in here today. Food was very good! I had chili, pulled pork, and baby back ribs. The pulled pork was AMAZING! The texture was very unique, I highly recommend it. The ribs, were good, and the chili was spicy, just how I like it. Yes, the space is small, but so are most bbq joints.
FYI-​The server Rita was very accommodating, and new her job well. I will definitely be back again!

The dinner I had was really good. The sides were not bad either. Now all they need is sweet potato pie!

Very disappointing. Cold, bland sides. Stale cornbread. Dry, unappetizing sausages. The pulled pork and collard greens were decent. With excellent competitors like Blue Ribbon and Redbones in the area, this place doesn’t stand a chance without making some serious improvements.

Ate here for the first time today! Not sure about the negative comments because the staff was friendly and attentive. The cook even came to ask how everything was and you usually don’t get that at small places like this. Got the pork empanadas and the beef brisket with corn bread, mac and cheese, and beans. It was all very tasty.

Tried their food tonight. We ordered to go. Turn around time was very fast! Was nervous based on reading the first two reviews but after eating it I would say I would come back. I tried the pulled chicken and got plenty of meat in my sandwich. The bbq sauce had a good taste to it too. My boyfriend got the beef brisket and he enjoyed it. A nice sized portion of meat very good in taste. The only complaint was either go bigger on the side portion or add something like corn bread to make the price equal what you get. Good start, hopefully it lasts!

Food is not actually BBQ! It’s all oven cooked.
Not like Blue Ribbon where you can see the smoker or Red Bones where you can smell it blocks away!
Stick to the good ones who are keeping it real!

I ate here twice. The first was on opening night and it was very clear the staff were stressed and still trying to find their groove. It’s a tiny place with maybe 4 tables inside and a few out back. The place was packed with everyone trying it out on opening day. Its a very small place, so seating was limited. The wait was a little longer than it should have been. However, once served, my jerked chicken was quite good but the macaroni was a bit overcooked. Opening night was pretty much a serve-​your-​self establishment.
The second visit was MUCH better. Things calmed down, and without the crazy crowd around my family and I ate a very enjoyable and relaxing dinner. It was very clear they are reading the reviews on here, as most of the other reviewers complaints were addressed in some way. The staff seems mainly Thai. They had someone new on the register this week that understood English much better than the previous cashier so there wasn’t any confusion getting my order across. The wait time was only 10 minutes, and the food came out hot and delicious. There was a dedicated waiter this time who came by to make sure everything was OK. I ordered the spicy potatoes and pulled pork sandwich and they were both very tasty. I didn’t finish the potatoes as it was a healthy serving, but am looking forward to chomping on them for lunch tomorrow.
All in all, it was a slow start, but they seem to be listening and adjusting accordingly. On both visits the meat was delicious, which is where it counts most. Definitely worth a try.

It pains me to write this as I want local businesses to succeed but my office and I had maybe the worst lunch of our lives from this place. We were waiting and waiting for this place to open so when it finally did we said heck yes, lets bring in from Tony G’s!
First and foremost the staff are not friendly and their English is really lacking. I had to say what we wanted close to 10 times and still we didn’t get what we ordered; heck I even pointed to the menu items and there was still confusion. The staff honestly seemed annoyed people were coming in and honestly their facial expressions showed it. Why do you seat people and then have them get back up to order? Broken system alert!
Staff aside, the food could be the worst thing I have ever eaten. The meat honestly has the texture of something I’d feed by dog and then I probably wouldn’t even feed it to him — jokes aside its nasty, balls of white fat passed to be burnt ends. The burnt end sandwich consisted of 10 – 12 balls of white fat on a roll with no lettuce, onion, bbq or anything for that matter. C’mon! The mac & cheese was a soupy nightmare on elm street which was essentially 1 color with no taste, texture or anything for that matter. I might as well have ate paste. Another member of my party had the chicken quesadilla which was equally embarrassing as it was something so small that a newborn infant would need seconds — he said the taste wasn’t terrible but was 99% the chicken wasn’t chicken. The «salsa» was 98% onions too. Everyone else at my office either threw theirs out or nibbled to be polite as I bought.
I was pumped for this place to open but sadly not I cannot wait until it closes and something good opens up unless the current owners can go find real BBQ somewhere and model their place after theirs. Its also really funny when there are store bought cakes in the fridge that also houses your drinks that customers can see, I don’t need to see a price tag on a Shaws brand cake which you’re more than likely reselling.
Sorry Tony G’s I truly feel bad writing this but go try real BBQ and get back to us.

After waiting for months for this restaurant to get off the ground, my grandmother and I finally got a chance to try it out. We loved the Cuban place that was here before. Unfortunately, we feel quite the opposite about Tony G’s. This may have been the worst dining experience I’ve ever had.
It seems very little was done to change the atmosphere inside. The little that was done would have been better off left alone. We opted to sit out back in the outdoor space. It has some craptastic wood benches that are super awkward to sit upon. The back rest is almost at a 45 degree angle. A drunk carpenter wouldn’t have built these things. The Cuban place which moved to Waltham restaurant was a very high end experience at a great price and I highly recommend driving there if you like your food cooked to order. I realize these are two totally different businesses, but I just want to express that if you ate at the Cuban restaurant, you should have much much lower expectations for Tony G’s.
We ordered a beef rib with corn and cole slaw and brisket with potato salad and macaroni and cheese. Both meals came with the same sides, mac and cheese and potato salad served in the most elegant of styrofoam boxes. The Macaroni had been blatantly reheated far past it’s prime as the noodles had disintegrated into a cheesy blob. Take note, that reheated means brought just above what hopefully was refrigerator temperature otherwise I’m sure I’ll be in for some food poisoning tonight as every aspect of the meal had been reheated except the potato salad. The potato salad was this mush between mashed and potato salad and was totally bland. The meats were overdone and had definitely seen a pan or microwave for the second time. The char on the rib had to be dug threw with a plastic knife just to get to the meat.
The BBQ sauce was terrible. The spicy version felt like it maybe just had chili pepper in large amounts added to fake a spicy taste. It wasn’t spicy do to use of real fresh ingredients.
We also had to pay for bottled water. I’m not sure what experience this restaurant is going for. The waitress? sat us at a table, but it felt like we needed to order on our own even though she eventually came back. She certainly had little experience or training. There was no opportunity to complain about the food, because no one in the establishment spoke English reasonably well. This would be totally ok with me if their was some semblance of organization, pride, and a quality product. All of these elements are lacking.
We hardly ate our meals. After a few bites of each part of the entrees we hit the road for some ice cream.

** We went on opening night so hopefully, this business will improve and grow from here.
This restaurant is in a small space, the former Gustazo Cuban restaurant corner space. There are 5 tables for 2 people, 1 table for 4 people, and 5 chairs with counter facing a wall. There is a small outdoor area, however, a sign said for employees only. There is a bathroom, large drink case, and then the kitchen/​register area. There is no cohesive theme/​décor. Prices seem reasonable.
Our server was not welcoming or confident. She was hard to understand and she told us that they sold Diet Snapple even though they did not. My son ordered a quesadilla and he said it was good. We ordered pulled pork sandwiches. The bun was nothing special, there was cold cole slaw on top of the meat and the pulled pork wasn’t really pulled. There were chunks of meat. The biggest problem with this sandwich was the hunks of fat that we kept having to pull off of the meat. The spicy BBQ sauce was good. Our chosen side of cornbread was very dry and the bottom was burned.
A person came in while we were there and was searching the menu boards for bulk food items. When he asked someone at the register for what he was looking for, the clueless woman there could not help him. My husband finally directed him to the paper menus that have bulk meat items on the back.
You bus your own table so the restaurant did not get any feedback like our left over fat pile or burned cornbread. Our waitress never asked us how the food was. No one bothered to ask for feedback so I guess they might read it here.
This restaurant has big potential. I got the impression that they would rather be a takeout place. If that isn’t true, they need to work on educating staff and improving customer service. And, get all of the fat out of your pulled pork!
We are pulling for you!