Mad Oven BBQ

Why am I telling you this secret!
The potential for a long line shouldnt dissuade you and your compadres from this amazing lunch spot. I strolled in well before the lunch hot and talked shop with these guys. They know their stuff.
Hot sauce, various meat offerings, and well-​paired sides await! I had a brisket with medium sauce and the creamy slaw side. Oh. My. Amazing.
The meat Sammy — the brisket was tender and tasty. Melt in my mouth kinda tasty. The medium sauce was chosen by me since it had more flavor. And I like more flavor.
The creamy slaw side — if you’re into crunchy, dry slaw, steer clear! This ain’t no salad. Creamy and peppery, this side was devoured by me.
Go forth, and enjoy!

If the bbq aroma doesn’t suck you in, I don’t know what will. The guys are awesome! Go see them!

Pork sammy, medium sauce with slaw. Everything I want in a bbq pork sammich. They don’t shirk on the sauce. Will definitely be back but I’ll get the spicier sauce. My only criticism, No corn bread. I’d like corn bread, and some honey butter. Thats the only reason why you didn’t get that fifth star.

I had a chopped brisket and it was not bad. Got with medium spicy sauce and still had a bit of kick and liked it. I will go back and try a different one.

Surprisingly good. The brisket was quick and sauced to the extreme. Fast friendly service. 4 stars because it didn’t blow my mind but it was definitely serviceable for a quick lunch.

BBQ was good. But when I can get lunch with a sandwich, side, soda and tip on Seattle for 10 bucks I’m happy. The baked beans are yummy too.

Pork sandwich: lots of sauce, not so much pork. Disappointing. Slaw was good.

BBQ was ok, I have had much better and worse. But the pasta salad was very, very bland. It tasted like pasta and cheese, nothing else. Give a little Italian dressing or something.

This food is very very good. I enjoy it every time. They are quick, efficient and friendly. Go there today.

Best BBQ in WA for sure. I’m giving it a 4-​star because of its limited hours, limited seating, and extremely limited menu (you can only order a sandwich). The food flavor and quality is definitely 5-​star though. I had a brisket sandwich topped with a hot link and medium sauce. So delicious! I thought the owners were from the South, but turns out they are locals. I wish I knew about this place sooner, but even if I did, I don’t know when I could make it down there since they’re only open 4 hours a day Mon-​Fri.

Not bad! I work nearby and was looking for a quick bite to take back to the office. My first stop was Homegrown, but there was a line out the door and ain’t nobody got time for that. Checked out Mad Oven and the place was empty. Got the pork sandwich and side of beans and it hit the spot. Their «hot» sauce wasn’t very spicy but I wasn’t expecting much. The sandwich was good sized, the pork was tender and juicy, and the sauce had a nice smokey, not too sweet taste. Good stuff. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different.

Had the brisket sandwich. My friends had the pork with potato salad and the beef with the hot link. The «hot link» was half a hot dog and was inedible according to my friend.
To me it was mostly bread with a half a cup of over sauced brisket in the middle. The sauce wasn’t great and their «Mad Hot» sauce wasn’t all that spicy. The meat tasted okay but nothing to write home about.
The folks there were fast and seemed friendly. The location is small and a little dingy.
I won’t be coming back for a while.

This is the best BBQ! The owner is friendly and the prices are great! Try the pasta salad, it’s fantastic!!!

I will definitely be going back.
I went down today and decided to give this place a try. I walk past it often but never when it is open (11AM — 2PM) so had never tried it. I ordered the Beef Brisket BBQ Sandwich and ColeSlaw.
CONS — it has very limited hours, coleslaw wasn’t terribly tangy
PROS– great service, do not expect to eat the brisket sandwhich with your hands. I think that there was almost a pound of meat on it and so was very glad for the knife and fork when I got it back to my desk. I ordered hot and it was a pleasant creeper heat and not overwhelming so I could still taste the beef. I loved it and will definitely be going back. From what I see people recommend the potato salad so I will need to give that a try next time.

Okay — the rating on this place is very, very situational. I mean, it’s close (office cogs, I’m talking to you, well, I am you), it’s open, it’s not crowded (surprised? Don’t be), it’s not too expensive of a shrubbery.
It’s not that good. That’s really the problem. Think, generic (Kroger etc) status buns, generic store-​bought bbq sauce, and… meat. Personally, I felt the coleslaw lacked flavor, more vinegar than creamy variety, and again, not very good, just bland cabbage strangely elevated to slaw.
Lunch: $ 6 chicken sandwich (half filling, half-​not), $ 2 side of coleslaw (opted for some other side), plus $ 1 tip for decent service (they gave me food!) = $ 9 for a subpar lunch.
Think about it. So many awesome lunch options downtown /​Pioneer Square. If you’re craving bbq at lunch, this will suffice. Barely.
Thanks for listening!

Small selection but good food!

Seattleites are spoiled with possibly the best Asian food in the US but seem to have no clue as to what decent BBQ entails. This place doesn’t deserve 3.5 stars. I’ve eaten there a few times over the years and it’s not so good, although the staff is always nice. If you want respectable ‘cue in the downtown area, go a couple blocks south to Hole In The Wall BBQ — probably the best in Seattle.
Mad Oven smells pretty good as you walk by it but the food is a let-​down. Today was my first time there in probably 2 or 3 years and it’ll probably be that much time before I go again. This time I had a combo plate of beef brisket, a link and potato salad. It was all subpar and the link was just awful. I had to shovel potato salad and brisket into the same bites to make it semi-​appealing to the taste. The brisket was dry and crusty on the outside and had more of a boiled beef vibe on the inside. I didn’t sense any signs of standard barbecueing.
Hole In The Wall BBQ smokes their own meats and makes a worthwhile Texas style sauce. Mad Oven does not. Go to Hole In The Wall.

Hey — it’s loose meat BBQ sandwiches and fixins open for lunch in downtown. It’s office worker food, so let’s be clear that anyone reviewing this or reading this with more in mind might be disappointed.
With that said, if you find yourself in the vicinity of Mad Oven BBQ between 11:30 and 3:00pm or so, take a sniff. Even from a block away the smell draws you in, like a cartoon hobo lifted an inch off the ground, hovering by nose-​power to the wonderful scent.
My suggestion is Pork, mad hot, with hot beans. If you want it hotter, get it with a hot link butterflied out on top of the sandwich. Tip even if you don’t stay to eat, these folks are great and are always extremely friendly.

Mega Nom Nom.
Brisket sandwich with med. spicy sauce and side of tater salad. Big portion, delicious brisket and sauce, helpful staff, fast service, good pricepoint.
Love that it’s a tiny hole in the wall — so happy I’m working downtown where great little treasures like this abound.

Excitement? Over what? Hmmm, maybe it was because I’ve missed grubbing on a good o’ messy bbq burger!
#1 Combo chicken ‘n pasta please, & lemonade.
Refreshing for me since I’ve not had a combo like this in quite some time. BBQ? Burger? Just your run-​of-​the-​mill pasta? Yup. That’s it. I really digged it, although the bbq and/​or chicken might’ve been a bit lackluster to me.
Speaker above my table. Cute, cool hole onna hill corner. Neat condiment hanger. I forgot to mention it feels kinda homey, too.