Red’s BBQ

The ribs were cooked in a crock pot and had no smoke taste, this is not BBQ.

Hello friends
ACT 1:
Welp yet another outting with Grumbles. Today we made way to Red’s BBQ Express (food truck).
I ordered a pork plate — $ 9.50
Minced meat
Baked Beans
Cole Slaw
2 sandwich buns
(see photos)
ACT II:
Different flavors of sause. In this case I chose MILD.
While standing in line a older lady asked if I ever had BBQ from this place. Answer: NO, this is my 1^st time. She replied, «I’m from the Midwest and i’m tired of finding these places that cooks meat and claim its BBQ». she walks off
ACT III:
The meat tasted vinegery. (i’m NOT a FAN of that kind) but I dont hate it. I’m also not a FAN of chopped BBQ. The beans didn’t stand out as their own. The slaw followed up in the not so special catagory. The bread… well, it ran #3 in the «not so special» race.
FINAL ACT:
I’ll try it again and get the other options, i don’t like to lable a place off 1x going no matter if the 1^st time is Bad or Good.
Credits:
Mike S as Himself
Grumbles as itself

Since it was not a far walk from my office, I decided to go for the combo plate of ribs and pork ($ 10.50). Sides are baked beans and slaw. The portions are very large, and the combo plate comes with 2 sandwich buns. They offer multiple sauces which are quite tasty. And the service there is very friendly!
The slaw was decent, and the beans were OK (nothing to write home about). Neither the pork nor the ribs had any sort of smokey flavor. The pork was pulled and was passable — tender, but kinda lacking in flavor. The ribs were quite possibly some of the worst ribs I’ve eaten. There was no sort of seasoning, and there was quite a lot of fat on the rib.

Interesting range of reviews on here. For my part, I thought the ‘cue here was very good… probably the best I’ve tried in Charlotte.
After wandering around Uptown looking for another food truck and not finding it, I headed over to Red’s. First, the service was SUPER friendly. I’m assuming it was the owner standing next to the walk-​up window who asked the girl serving the food to give me all the sauces when I wasn’t sure which to pick, and who offered me a free glass of lemonade while I waited. Very nice! Yes, the lemonade was sweet, but it was also quite thirst-​quenching on this particular steamy day in Charlotte.
The ‘cue tasted of subtle smoke and was nicely pulled. I got mine topped with the vinegar sauce (since that’s my fave) and I also added some of the hot one, too (I like spicy!). In general, I liked all the sauces except the mustard-​based one, but mustard sauce just isn’t my thing.
My lunch platter came with a heaping helping of pork, way more than I could ever finish for lunch, along with 2 sandwich buns, coleslaw and baked beans. The beans were okay – nothing special. I really liked the coleslaw, though, it was finely shredded and very tangy, making for a nice accompaniment to the pork.
Service was also super quick. In fact, the owner offering me a drink while I waited was almost funny, since the food was finished by the time they poured me my drink.
Was it the best barbecue I’ve ever had anywhere? Maybe not? Was it tasty and satisfying for lunch? Fo’ sho!
For the friendly staff, speedy service and flavorful food, I’d definitely return!

We had Red’s cater lunch at work.
Lunch came with everything BBQ — pork, chicken, ribs, and beef,. with sides of slaw, potato salad, baked beens, brownie and banana pudding, lemonade and tea to drink.
The meat was decent except for the abundance of bones in the pork. The chicken and ribs fell off the bone.
The slaw was excessive on the vinegar flavor and everything else looked like it was out of a can. The sauces for the ‘cue” were decent but none of them stood out.
The meal was quite average. I’ve had better bbq from food trucks from Ft. Mill BBQ and Mac’s.

Here’s the deal… I really adore food trucks and Red’s sports a super suped up food truck chock full of barbecued goods. Chicken, ribs and, of course, pulled pork. I stopped by Red’s for a quick lunch Uptown and here’s how it went down…
The order taker were so kind and welcoming to anyone who meanders up to their spot. I ordered a barbecue sandwich and upon recommendation from the order taker I got half sweet and half mild sauce on the sammie and a lemonade. Minutes later and $ 6.20 something less in my pocket I grabbed a bench and dug in.
The theme of Red’s must be sweet all over — sweet staff, sweet barbecue and sweet lemonade. While the effort is there, the meal just didn’t thrill me overall. The pork was nice and tender but the sauce was so sweet it almost gave me a toothache. Next time I’ll go with the vinegar base or the hot version. And the lemonade — diabetics please be aware. I like straight up sweet yet tart lemonade, but I could hardly drink this concoction. Water next time.
I definitely suggest giving Red’s a try, just be aware that sweetness oozes out of just about everything!

I stopped at Red’s BBQ wagon next to BOA for lunch. I was looking forward to it, but was very, very disappointed. I may not know much, but I know BBQ. What Red’s serves is not BBQ it is just cooked meat. I ordered the combo plate, at $ 10.50 it’s a bargain price, which has a choice of 2 meats, pork, ribs or chicken, baked beans and coleslaw. I chose pork & ribs. The slaw was diced and pretty standard. The beans looked like they had just been scooped out of a can.
The good, the portions were enormous! The ribs were baby backs and I got 4 bones. The amount of pork was ridiculous! They had put two buns in my box, for making sandwiches, and there was more than enough pork for that and then some. Both the ribs & the pork were tender and juicy.
The bad, neither meat had ever seen the inside of a smoker. They were cooked low and slow because of the tenderness, but it had to be in an oven not anywhere near wood or charcoal. The result was meat that was bland tasting with nary a hint of smoke flavor. There is a big difference in the way that ribs that are smoked and ribs that are baked in an oven look like. These ribs had no bark, that dark brown or black tasty crust that forms when meat is smoked. These ribs were a dull gray color. The ribs had no flavor what so ever, no rub, nothing. These were close to some of the worst ribs I have ever had. The pork was pulled and/​or chopped, but not too fine. It looked like it had some sauce mixed with it after it had been pulled. It had a real sweet taste to it, which wasn’t quite horrible, but it didn’t help either. Other than that it was also bland tasting. I got the Texas sauce (spicy vinegar mustard based) to put on it and that sauce was pretty good.
There are many definitions of what BBQ is. I could quote the USDA definition of BBQ or many of the other definitions given by the many BBQ experts out there, but to me BBQ involves smoke and getting that smoke flavor into the meat! At that Red’s fails miserably. I can’t call Red’s BBQ, but I can’t call it truly bad either, because I did eat most of the pork, but it was no where near being call good in my book.

Now this is what I call a first class joint.
Fulfills your quick BBQ fix. Choose what type of sandwich you want, which type of sauce and I promise, PROMISE that your dreams will come true.
I expect to go to this place about 2 – 3 a week. Yeah, it’s that LBD.
LBD scale– 9.5. That’s pretty damn legitimate big dog.

For a native Californian, I am in loooooove with BBQ, especially the vinegar based sauces of North Carolina. Found these guys sandwiched near an «alley» next to the huge BofA building when I was doing conference advance work earlier this month. Some of the friendliest service I’ve had in my life came out of this food truck! The people behind the counter were very informative, quick and super nice!
FOOD
Daily menu right here: www​.reds​bar​beque​.com/​d​a​i​l​y.htm
Got the combo plate for $ 10.50 + the sweet tea. This came with two meats (I opted out of the chicken), baked beans and slaw. The ribs were fall off the bone amazing and didn’t need any sauce at all. Their pork was solid, but a little on the sweet side for me and perhaps a little too chopped. However, there was easily over a pound of pork, and they gave you two buns to eat it with. Sweet tea wasn’t too sweet, but definitely helped on a sunny day in Charlotte. The slaw was very basic and not too acidic and the baked beans were okay. It’s a ton of food and probably should have been shared by two people!
Will definitely have to try their chicken and brunswick stew if I’m ever back in town.
SAUCES
Red’s sell their sauces too (up to a gallon!) They have four sauces, of which my favorite was the Habanero (balanced out the sweetness of the pork), and the Texas hot (vinegar!) They also have a sweet sauce and a mustard sauce, but those were less my style. The lady behind the counter was nice enough to let me try all four since this was my first time at Red’s.
LOCATIONS
Wednesday — Tryon St /​Charlotte, NC (Beside Bank of America Building)
Thursday — Big Lots Parking Lot /​Lancaster, SC
Friday — Tryon St /​Charlotte, NC (Beside Bank of America Building)
Saturday — 5721 Carmel Rd /​Charlotte, NC — Blanchard’s
Deliveries available for small groups
4.5 stars