The Boneyard

We hired Rich and his team to cater our October 2015 wedding, and they were a huge hit with our guests. We discovered them at one of the Off the Grid locations and immediately thought of them when we got engaged and began the search for a caterer. Vegetarians and meat-​eaters alike were happy with the food selection that The Boneyard was able to offer, and no one had to wait super long to get through the buffet line, which we were really happy about. We had portobello mushrooms, brisket, chicken, pulled pork, all of the wonderful sides for dinner, as well as nachos (a huge hit!), bruschetta, and caprese skewers for appetizers. The food was hot, well-​portioned, and tasted great. The Boneyard also saved us a lot of money on expensive dinnerware rentals by providing us with quality, eco-​friendly plates and flatware (and also saved us the hassle of having to rent dinnerware to begin with!). The crew that catered our event that day were friendly and professional, and helped make clean-​up a smooth process as we transitioned into the dancing portion of our evening. I will say that Rich is a little difficult to get a hold of at times, but reaching him at their brick-​and-​mortar location’s number seemed to be the best option; I spoke with his wife there a number of times as well and she is super helpful. They are both friendly and really seem to love what they do — and they do it well! Overall we had a good experience working with The Boneyard, and I can’t wait to visit them again.

The Boneyard has mix reviews regarding it’s Q and small portions. opted for a side
locale:OTG: san mateo-​Hillsdale (¹⁰⁄₂₄)
eats: potato salad (3)
–red potato cubes mushy
–spiced with white pepper
–crunchiness with celery and red onions
–bland except for the white pepper.
crumbs:
–few people in line at any truck after 1.

So I’m not even trying to use the exacting standards of Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina or Tennessee BBQ as a benchmark. I’m just referencing my past experience from other BBQ joints in San Francisco and in NYC. This truck is pretty weak. The easiest issue to solve would be to keep their meats warm (and covered to stay moist) until right before making the sliders. A competitor of theirs, The Rib Whip, does a far better job with tenderer meats, tastier sauces and bigger portions.
Brisket Slider: Cold, dry and a small portion. Didn’t have any distinctive taste beyond the coleslaw on top. It was tender, but not fall apart in your mouth tender. I’ve had a lot of brisket in my day and this was pretty darn forgettable.
Pulled Pork Slider: Cold and a small portion like the Brisket slider, but even drier! Kinda like pork jerky. I wonder how much time the meat spends out of the smoker and off of heat before being served.
Baby Back Ribs: At least they were served warm. A little too firm; kinda like the texture of spare ribs from non-​bougie Chinese takeout. The BBQ sauce was ok, nothing amazing.
Potato Salad: They claim that they’re picky about their potato salad, but they can’t be that picky! The potato chunks were a bit too hard, like they weren’t boiled enough. Also, the main flavoring was mayonnaise. Would have preferred less mayo and more fresh herbs.
Beans: Covered in a thick tomato sauce/​paste. That tomato flavor pretty much dominated the whole flavor profile, not really letting any of the spices shine. The beans had the right texture (which is notable given the other dishes), but its flavor was just very blah.

Summary: really disappointing. Skip it.
The $ 10 BBQ bowl is such a rip-​off, that nearly a week after eating it I’m still ticked off. Few things frost my cookies more than feeling ripped off.
I believe I counted *three* mouthfuls of brisket when I bought it. The meat was tasty, and that’s why I’ll give them two stars instead of one, but c’mon. The bowl was easily half beans. Brisket is one of the cheapest cuts of beef, and they’re really shooting themselves in the foot by not offering more.
The beans were more like chili than traditional BBQ beans. It would have been great if they mentioned that. The cole slaw was fine, but tasted like it came from Costco or Safeway. Again, it tasted fine, but I wasn’t exactly impressed.

Ordered the brisket nacho from the food truck. horrible. Stale chips. barely any brisket. the brisket that was there had absolutely NO flavor. not smokey or seasoned. probally cooked in an oven. Beans were good. sauces were decent. But because of the gum piercing stale chips and flavorless meat. 1 star. never going back!

I know people can be assholes when it comes to debates about BBQ.
I’m from Texas and I’ve had a lot of BBQ and I’ve learned that when you’re eating good BBQ, the difference between one good BBQ place and another good BBQ place really just comes down to personal preference. I really can’t handle when people try to talk like food critics about BBQ, because at the end of the day you’re wiping your hands with a fucking wet nap. Chill out. You have sauce in your nostrils and carcass in your eyebrows, you enjoyed it.
We visited Boneyard at Off the Grid Fort Mason and I ordered the Texas Philly and my boyfriend got the ribs. Sides of potato salad and kale salad.
All of it was incredible. Even the sides. DAMN GOOD BBQ. Definitely worth a try. Do it.

The Boneyard is a pretty solid BBQ truck and definitely one to look out for. You really can’t miss this truck because of its amazingly spectacular signage (photo credit to Porsche C. –
). It definitely stands out as one of the cooler looking truck designs. I got to try them out a few times at Off The Grid Fort Mason.
The Dog Pile –
All Beef Frank stuffed with Texas Beef Brisket topped with slaw and sauce.
This was their exclusive Off The Grid menu item last year and it’s still on their menu today. As you can see from the pic, this sucker was loaded with brisket! I basically ate off some of it with a fork in order to keep it all together. The brisket was good, both alone and with BBQ sauce. When eaten all-​together though with the brisket, slaw, and beef frank, it was a very harmonious bite packed with flavor! Now I can see why they still have this on their menu.
Secret Bacon Cheeseburger with Potato Salad –
This was also one of their exclusive Off The Grid menu items, but it didn’t last as long as The Dog Pile. It was a good cheeseburger. Plus the bacon in the beef patty was a good twist. I guess the demand wasn’t too high for it since it didn’t really have anything BBQ related in it.
I’m willing to visit The Boneyard again to definitely try their other menu items. The only taste of their BBQ I’ve had is their brisket from The Dog Pile, so I’d love to try a whole plate of with a sampling of all their BBQ. That would be hard to do at Off The Grid Fort Mason since I’d like to try a bunch of different things from different food vendors, but If I ever catch them at one of the smaller Off The Grid events, I’m definitely go to stop by and go all out!

So delicious!
This truck came to my company to serve lunch to our employees and it was amazing!
The owners were polite, knowledgeable, professional, and efficient. I had the chicken and it was super tender and delicious, as were the beans.
I also tasted my friend’s coleslaw and it was great! The food is amazing, and the staff is among the best you’ll meet. They also have a big rack of different kinds of sauces, so you can taste a couple if you like.
The negative star is only due to portion size … as portioned for a BBQ meal, I’d classify it as ‘gourmet’ — I’ll estimate ½ — ¾ cup BBQ, ½ cup side item (beans or slaw) and a Hawaiian style bun.
Many employees were tempted to line up for seconds as they felt unsatisfied, and for those employees the second meal was rarely consumed fully, resulting in waste.
I suspect that The Boneyard’s standard ‘single serving’ basket is targeted towards ‘Off The Grid’ or similarly oriented food truck customers, many of whom are planning to supplement their appetites as they taste from vendor to vendor.
Anyway, 4 stars! Great food, EXEMPLARY STAFF, wonderful presentation.
I’d recommend them.

I went to this truck at Off the Grid in Foster City this Wednesday. I ordered the Dog Pile, which was a special for the day (hot dog topped with brisket, coleslaw, etc). As expected, this was pretty messy to eat, but it was tasty and very filling. The brisket on top was a bit dry/​hard but overall, I really enjoyed the dog pile. I would definitely eat it again!

I really want to like BBQ food trucks/​restaurants in California, but none of them do anything but make me sad. This place would be a single star rating had the guy who took my order not been pleasant to talk to, as well as the availability of the non-​USA version of Coke.
I ordered ribs, and the two sliders, one pork and one brisket. All three of the meats were COMPLETELY lacking anything that resembled being cooked in a smoker. No smoke ring, no charcoal taste, no nothing. These could have, and probably were cooked in an oven, which ≠ BBQ. People who want barbecue want seasoned, smokey, well cooked meat. This was not good.
The ribs WERE falling off the bone, and the pork and brisket were both cooked well, but they just lacked any sort of taste. The sides also continued to be average. The potato salad was your standard mayo base, with a slight orange tint to it which was supposed to some sort of seasoning. The beans were just generic beans in a very average sauce. Again, pretty bad.
I really wanted to like this place, but I continue to be beyond disappointed with California’s barbecue options. I would not eat here again.

This is a service review — not a food quality review.
Went to The Boneyard during the Off the Grid food festival and were waiting in their long line for over 1:30 hours. We were happy to wait because a woman came out and told us that they had plenty of food so we stayed in line.
10 people from the front a guy tells us they won’t be serving us because it’s getting too late. I didn’t think it was right for him to tell us that now, when we had all waited so long AND he had a woman coming out telling us to stay in line.
I wish I could tell you if this food was worth it, but I have no idea — there are more than enough delicious restaurants run by respectful people in SF that I won’t be patronizing this place ever.

The Boneyard truck was part of a free event I attended. Though the portions were small, the food was absolutely delicious! I chose the Pulled Pork as my meat option and I expected it to be super dry and slathered with BBQ sauce. It was surprisingly juicy… and slathered with BBQ sauce. I would love this in the form of a sandwich or slider the next time I order from them.
For my sides, I got the Macaroni Salad and Kale Salad. Both were complementary to each other because of their different textures, but I liked the Pulled Pork WAY more than these sides. The Macaroni Salad tasted like the one I get from Costco… which is not bad for the record but did not feel like anything special. The Kale Salad was colorful and tasty. The kale had soaked up a lot of the dressing so it was soft with a little crunch. Overall perfectly balanced meal!

Loved the pulled pork sandwich with fried egg on top! The pulled pork was super tender and the barbecue sauce had a ton of flavor. I had cole slaw as my side option that was light and refreshing and went well with the sandwich. I also tried a pork rib that was absolutely delicious. It fell off the bone and had a spicy kick to it. Add your own barbecue sauce and hot sauce station is a nice plus.
Service was super friendly and the food is ready for pick up almost instantly after ordering.

Stopped by the Civic Center’s Off the Grid for lunch in the rain yesterday. I shared the BBQ Bowl with a friend (and we shared something else from another truck). Here’s my take:
Pulled pork: decent, but dry and barely any BBQ sauce on it
Coleslaw: nothing special. Wanted more tang to it.
Beans: best part. Flavorful.
We also ordered a kale salad side and either they ran out of the earlier stuff and this was freshly made, or they don’t know you have to let kale soak up the dressing, but the kale leaves were incredibly touch. Not softened up like most eaters/​sellers of kale salads know.

I went to a Unilocal Elite Event at the SoMa StrEat Food Park and their truck was participating by giving us free sample plates.
* Texas Beef Brisket Burnt Ends (smoked for over 18 hours) — 4 stars
pic:
I really liked the burnt ends! Crispy, smoky, full of flavor. The brisket itself was decently fatty, soft, but a little over-​drenched in tangy BBQ sauce. That’s where the burnt ends neutralized it well. I got a Kale Salad which wasn’t too memorable (not too fresh, pickle-​y in flavor).
Menu:
Normal menu:

3.5 STARS
Came by Boneyard at Off the Grid: Fort Mason last Friday. I wasn’t very familiar with this truck, but I met up Rodney H and this was his first stop! I’m always down to try new trucks, so when Rodney ordered one of their specials, I was down to try it!
Dog pile: all beef dog, piled high with brisket, slaw & bbq sauce ($ 10)
I took one BIG bite of this monster! The description says piled high and this dog definitely is fully loaded. An all beef dog sliced and loaded with tons of brisket and slaw. It would have been impossible to pick this up and eat it. So Rodney daintily ate some of the toppings with a fork before picking up this behemoth of a hot dog. Although this was fully loaded, I felt the brisket was kinda dry. The dog needed more bbq sauce to moisten the brisket and bun. I think the truck has BBQ sauces you can add to anything you order, so make sure to add some BBQ sauce. And for those that don’t wanna look like a mad hungry dog, grab a fork as well to help you out.
The next time I see this truck, I’ll probably sample another dish. Their nachos sounded delish, but I was trying to get a variety of trucks and stands in, so I resisted ordering them. Next time Boneyard, next time!

The Boneyard’s barbeque-​style street food is modeled after «SF Bay Area’s best backyard barbeques». Well, given that San Francisco weather is foggy and chilly for most of the year, who barbeques outdoors anyway? I think their slogan should be reworded.
Barbeque-​style food should be a mix of savory and sweet, moist, and flavorful meats, accompanied by a side of comfort foods such as mac and cheese, potato salads, coleslaw, or beans. Although The Boneyard has the right concept and food pairings, the flavor profile is far from outstanding. I’ve tried two items on separate Off the Grid occasions, the Cally Bowl and the Texas Philly, both of which were overpriced at $ 12.
The Cally Bowl had pulled pork (other option was beef brisket), baked beans, and coleslaw, topped with a fried egg, BBQ sauce and spicy bacon aioli. The pork was very dry and bland. The beans were decent, not too mushy. And the coleslaw wasn’t very memorable, very light though slightly tangy. And I think they forgot the BBQ sauce and spicy bacon aioli because I couldn’t find or taste either in my small-​portioned bowl.
The Texas Philly had smoked beef brisket, caramelized onions and bell peppers, and pepper jack cheese on a hoagie roll. The bread roll was dry, the beef brisket was dry, and the BBQ sauce, although sweet and tangy, wasn’t slathered on generously enough to compensate for the dry bread.
Service was quick and very friendly, but it’s unfortunate that I was left unsatisfied and disappointed with their food. The menu consists of around seven mains and four small sides to choose from, and none (except the baked beans side) are vegetarian. The truck has an LCD screen of a fireplace, which is quite fitting for cold evenings at some Off the Grid events.

Boneyard sounds like something related to Halloween, but I assure you that it is substantially more legit than candycorn and dry ice. It’s one of the fancier-​looking food trucks at off-​the-​grid, with cast-​iron décor (or at least that’s it appears to look like) and a fake LCD screen fire place (though it does come off as quite corny).
According to their concept, they strive to recreate backyard BBQ from around the Bay Area; however I found it to be rather standard BBQ with the typical food truck embellishments like fried eggs and sliders.
I had the BBQ bowl, which was smoked pulled pork with BBQ beans and cole slaw. It had a little bit of a kick to it with paprika and is tastier than your average meal, but it was not really worth the $ 10. The food was luke-​warm, though I could have given them the benefit of the doubt being that it was a chilly day (oh SF… where the weather is food-​truck appropriate 10% of the time). Portion sizes are quite bit smaller than all the gigantic burritos at Off the Grid, which is fine with me. In short, be aware that the BBQ bowl won’t suffice to satisfy your expectations for quality (for foodies) or quantity (for hungry people).
The whiskey maple pork pancakes sound enticing, but for 3 measly pancakes topped only with pork and looking much like naked tacos, their price can get you some gourmet pancakes at classy brunch places.
The menu is online, but note that they’ve raised prices by ~$ 2.
Unless you have intense cravings for BBQ, I would suggest passing. (Though the small food portions are perfect if you plan on splurging at the Crème Brulee Cart ;)

Off The Grid just started hosting a small weekly lunch event near my workplace in San Francisco so I thought I’d check out their inaugural run. I’m a sucker for sliders, so out of the four trucks that pulled up on the street, The Boneyard was my choice for today’s lunch.
I went with the two BBQ sliders combo and it wasn’t until I got back to my desk and opened up my little to-​go container that I saw what $ 12 had just bought me. Wow. As pointed out in other reviews here, the portion was very small and the food was extremely overpriced.
The brisket slider was decent, but nothing I’d return for. The pulled pork slider was excellent, but I downed it in about three bites. The side of BBQ beans was good, but not enough to round out this meal and fill me up.
The bottom line here is you’re paying a lot for a very small portion. Trucks like this are why I’m not completely sold on the awesomeness of food trucks. To end this on a positive note, at least they take credit cards.

Always looking out for good BBQ. Im excited to see when trucks focus solely on that as it’s a rarity. Got an order of pulled pork, and brisket with beans. Now the flavor was good but everything needed some salt. As meats go if you dont season they all kind of taste like what they were next to which were the beans. I took half the order home, seasoned and voila. I think the food can stand to be a bit hotter too. Two problems easily solved which I hope for next time. 3.5 stars