Jojo’s BBQ

Disappointing, bland BBQ.
BBQ served from the back of a truck? Sounds like one of those rare finds, a place with great food and an experience kept secret from the mainstream. We heard many great things about this place and were really looking forward to trying the ribs. We arrived about about 12:30 and all the ribs were gone. We were told they would be ready by 2 PM.
I settled for the pulled pork sandwich and the BBQ-​TINE. We also ordered the Sliced Brisket, Griddle Mac N’ Cheese, and Jalapeño Fries.
Our first few bites were a bit a of a disappointment, they were lacking the flavours you associate with barbecued food, and the meats and fries served were not served fresh. The BBQ-​TINE may have been great otherwise.
The Jalapeño Fries had some form of shredded jalapeños which didn’t quite have the kick you’d expect from jalapeños, and did not add much to the flavour. The fries were cold, dry rather than crisp. There were a few fries at the end that had a slightly different texture that were warm and crispy, but by then our enthusiasm for JoJo’s had died out.
We are curious of how our experience might have been different if we had tried the ribs…

The Holysmoke grill is better than JoJo’s. After waiting in a lineup of 100+ people, the bbq was severely lacking. I liked the corn fritters though, the pulled pork was ok and beef brisket ok, but not outstanding, and theres much better locally. Nothing compared to texas.

The beef brisket is the standout meat here, with great smokiness and a very tender texture. The corn fritters are also nice and fresh. My major reservation is the length of time it takes to serve what is mostly pre-​cooked food. Whenever there is a food truck jamboree, I pick another truck because of the slow throughput. :-(

after I read the review and decided to try it was excellent. remind me of memphis bbq.
Waiting time for these foodtrucks are about 25 minutes and the lines are too long to consider. anyway I’m not here everyday and must try food.
ordered pulled pork subs, and chili fries.
it cost me around $ 13. I think is a bit pricey but worth it.
not sure if there is one in Vancouver ! anyone

The food trucks are finally allowed to come onto the University of Calgary Campus and now AHS at Foothills is doing a trial run. Last week when the food trucks were outside McCaig it was a line-​up calamity, people were waiting over an hour to get food from one of the three trucks on site.
Today the food trucks were back with a vengeance, with extra staff, an extra truck and no lines due to the weather.
I decided to hit up Jojo’s BBQ truck as I love myself a good pulled pork.
I ordered the sloppy Jojo and it was ready super quick! I was alerted to my order by a holler of «Juuuuuulllliiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa». I have a good name for hollering, it made me smile.
The meat was really good, but there wasn’t enough sauce to really call it sloppy and I didn’t realize there was a pickle underneath the bun, so by the time I did get to eat it my bun was soggy. That was unfortunately the sloppy part.
I really wanted to try their corn fritters, but they were out along with the coleslaw.
Next time I will ask for extra sauce and remember to flash my CJSW Friends card, which I forgot to do!
Review #20 of Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge

Just eat there this past Wednesday at the hospital. All the food trucks there had LONG lines, and the food was very good, though they did run out of buns for thie brisket. They said they would be better prepared for next time as they ran out of the pork brisket and other stuff as well. I did get the beef brisket and the garlic fries, which were both very good. It was a long wait — at least 45 minutes — but it was mostly worth it. The meat was very good, and the Jack Daniels sauce fit well. The garlic fries were very filling. Would definitely try again!

Today they were at the Foothill Hospital. Waited 40 minutes to order and 8 minutes to get my food. I ordered the BBQ Brisket, BBQ-​tine and Garlic Fries.
BBQ Brisket bun was very soggy. The brisket is okay. I would have liked it if they toasted the bun 1^st so it didn’t get soggy quick and more BBQ sauce for the brisket.
BBQ-​Tine was too salty and I didn’t get the taste of BBQ at all. It was basically a poutine with meat on it. Where’s the BBQ?
Garlic Fries-​I thought the fries are sprinkled with garlic herbs by the sounds of it.
However, to my surprise they are marinated in garlic juices. I would have liked it with fresh herbs and salt.
I spent 20 $. I don’t think it was worth the line up and the money.

There are times in a lucky man’s life when he feels complete. The times when everything just seems perfect and nothing is needed. Some feel it when they marry. Some feel it when they get their dream job. I feel it when I’m drunk or when I run across BBQ meat. As a real Albertan, I always smile and salivate at the thought of meat. Jojo’s was across the street so I did a Wizard of Oz skip to it.
I decided on the Sloppy Jojo’s, a mixture of pulled pork and beef brisket on a bun. It was great. Tender, delicious, juicy and fresh. The only thing that needs to be changed would be to grill the bun first to keep the meat from making it a little soggy. It wasn’t big, but the good news is that they also had griddle mac n’ cheese on the menu. Wow. That was some good stuff. Rustic, fresh and made with real cheese.
Meat lovers: This is a great place to try if you want a satisfying lunch.

We’ve been eyeing Jojo’s for a while and finally had time over lunch to go.
The GF and I had scanned the menu before hand so knew what we wanted. The pulled pork sandwich, garlic fries, mac&cheese and a pickle to share between the both of us.
They were parked in an industrial area on the south side so a bit of a P.I.T.A. to get there from downtown but neither of us had a busy afternoon so what the hell, mini road trip.
Got there and not surprisingly the wasn’t a line. Walked up and the guy taking the orders was an exceptionally friendly hipster type. Friendly but not the most organized. Oh well, I’m here for good food not the «how quickly can we crank people through» experience of a mcdonalds. Place the order and someone (I assume Jojo) starts to work on assembling things. Took about 5 minutes but worth the wait.
We found a park like (I say park like since it was beside a mini-​storage complex and auto wrecking yard so not really serine… but there was grass, trees and shade) and got down to eatin’. The fries were quite good but would have preferred a bit more crispy (maybe thats difficult with how they garlic’ize them. The mac&cheese was very tasty and did have an excellent smokey flavor. The pickles, not sure if they are homemade or not, were crisp and juicy (have the stain on my shirt to prove it). And most importantly the bbq’d pulled pork was moist and bursting with flavor and the bun did a great job of soaking up the juices and still holding together. Only point of improvement on the pulled pork is I like a lot of bark and this was lacking. The tough chewy pieces are the best.
So, with all that going for them why would I give only 3 stars. They should have been a solid 4 but for one thing. I was badly over charged. Doing the math in my head for what we ordered should have come to 22 bucks. When I checked my ATM receipt it was $ 30. Now shame on me for not being more on the ball when I was pressing OK and entering my PIN (what can I say, I start to go all homer simpson when I know I’m about to eat bbq) but still disappointing. As near as I can figure out there was a bit of confusion when I asked for the sandwich to be cut into two and separately wrapped and when he was keying the order into the till double charged for the sandwich. I really wish I could give them 4 stars since based on food and most of the service it was earned. I’ll still be going back but will pay closer attention when it comes to paying.

Being a remnant from the 70’s, I am quick to notice a 1970s motorhome parked in the middle of downtown Calgary. Espcially one that dons the word BBQ on it.
Forging traffic with my Angelina Jolie moves I make it to the truck and to the front of the line. Waiting time for these foodtrucks are usually 20 minutes and people will walk away simply because the lines are too long so imagine my joy at ordering two pulled pork subs, and having a choice of garlic and jalapeño fries.
$ 20 bucks later, which i think is very reasonable… I was able to bite down on my 3 inches wide pulled pork sandwich which was soo amazing! The pickled onions were incredible and the sauce still resonates in my mind!
I have eaten at foodie trucks at other larger cities so I am soo happy to see Calgary follow on the same path.
You have a choice of different sets of ribs and there is even a two person combo that comes with coleslaw and enough pulled pork to satisfy any alberta boys tummy.
So heres to Jojo’s hope I stumble upon you again.
to find where they are daily

A caravan of food trucks lined up in front of 8^th Avenue Place (for I’m guessing one of the last times this season), making my food truck decision on this day a little difficult.
However, long being a fan of BBQ, my radar immediately drew me over to JoJo’s.
Queued up to place my order, I was distracted by a guy going truck to truck topping up the generators with gas.
First he was out behind JoJo’s, then moved to Los Compadres next.
It was then that I thought… «hmmmm… JoJo’s generater was running the whole time… I didn’t hear him shut it down to fill it… » … then cringed at the thought of the whole operation going sky high.
But with that catastrophy averted, I could refocus on lunch… so let’s discuss.
Now what Unilocal review about BBQ would be complete without me making a proclamation about previously «eating lots of real BBQ in the south,» and «knowing what REAL BBQ is…» blah blah blah ???
Naw, I’m not going to go there.
Instead, one-​up-​manship-​time: I have a smoker at home and make my own.
Well, actually hardly ever, to be honest. Nursing wood along to keep it at the right temp for 12 hours is kind of a pain in the a$$. And that’s a lot of beer and bourbon to go through, too.
But I do appreciate the time and care that can go into the process. It’s much easier to have someone else cook for you!!!
So on this lunch day I opted for JoJo’s brisket and a side of slaw.
The sandwich was decent: I found the meat to be tender, moist, and flavorful. It stood on it’s own, and wasn’t slathered in a bucket of sauce. My only complaint was it was a little on the small size for my appetite.
The slaw was a little tame for my liking… I’d normally oft for something with a bit more bite. Next time I’ll try alternate sides.
I have to admit — despite the «food truck hype» this past summer, my expectations of food that comes from a truck is lower. And my policy is to NOT stand in a long line for food like it’s a Soviet-​era grocery store.
But JoJo’s brisket was admittedly solid. So I’m down for trying more. I’ll repeat next time they park in front of my building (as long as the lineup isn’t too long).

Finally got to try the Jojo’s food truck and thank god I did!
Their beef brisket sandwich was tender, flavoured just right, and just plain delicious. But what wins the award is the jalapeño fries. *GASP* How come no one ever thought of this before??? The fries were perfectly cut, perfectly crispy and had that perfect little kick to it that the jalapenos provided. In fact, I dont think I can go back to regular fries again after tasting these little tastebombs. Yes, I might have just made this word up.
One of my food truck favourites! Woohoo!
¹³⁄₃₀

When I stepped on the scale Saturday morning, I immediately resolved that it was time to hit the salad troughs and avoid anything that had a drop of flavour in it.
I was quite glad to have 2 extra hours of training time when I decided to check my twitter just to see whats up. Whats up? yyc food trucks were down south, just near my neighborhood!
Soo…I left my half-​packed gym back and rushed over to deerfoot meadows and found JoJo’s BBQ parked with a line up, despite the intimidating autumn cold.
I’ve been hearing so much about these bloody food trucks from everyone I know thats tried them that I was BEYOND elated into dropping $ 20 into food I didn’t need to consume in order to live.
I ordered their Sloppy Joe special and their garlic fries. The sloppy joe meat was soft and fatty-​licious but had a tinge of spice in it, couple this with some cheddar cheese and every bite became a square dance in my mouth! The garlic fries had real garlic in it and after I finished the bag, I spent another half hour sniffing the bag because it smelled so good.
After this I went and sparred martial arts and had my fatty over-​carbed-​comatose state continuously smashed into the ground.
One of the worst decisions I made these past few days, lol
¹³⁄₃₀

My dad heard that there would be some food trucks at CBC this morning, so we decided to bike down to check it out. So what if it was only 10:45 am? Jojo’s was ready, and we were hungry!
We ordered 8 ribs and 6 corn fritters. The total came to $ 19, a bit expensive for food from a truck, but dad was paying :) The ribs were fantastic, but the corn fritters were definitely the highlight for me. If a timbit and a solid gold cob of corn could give birth to a child, it would be Jojo’s corn fritter. Sweet and savory, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Now I have to twitter stalk Jojo’s to try the rest of the menu!

Oh my! I’ve always been a fan of Southern BBQ, but had never really had it in Calgary.
Jojo, apparently was the former chef at Palomino, and decided to go her own way — the product being this delicious food truck. I have to say, food trucks are a great idea, really, and I wish there were more of them.
Jojo has a small menu, but what she does make, she makes well.
I had the brisket sandwich, and the griddle mac’ n’ cheese as a side. The brisket was SO amazing, and tender, although my only complaint is, it seemed to not come with any condiments, or anything aside from the meat and the bun, unless I didn’t notice. Ah well, the brisket stood for itself. The mac’n’cheese was buttery and heavy and all things good. These two items didn’t look like big portion, but I was full for hours.
My gf tried the pulled pork, which was as good as my brisket, and had the garlic fries on the side. The garlic fries come with real garlic, and made a subtle difference to your everyday side dish type fries.
We had a conversation with a curious man who visits this truck on a bi-​weekly basis and he told us to try the poutine, which he claimes is the best we’re going to get. He also told us that everything is good at this food truck. i guess I’ll have to visit again to find out. he also told us to visit King of Subs, and gave us some friendly advice that ‘one does not need to work to live and enjoy food’ — whatever that means.
The only thing was I found that is was a bit on the pricey side for the portion size. But hey, quality over quantity.

Must say I was pleasantly surprised with Jojo’s BBQ. Ordered the beef brisket and the jalapeño fries. The beef was moist with just the right amount of smoke. fries decent.
This could put some of the BBQ places we have visited in the Southern U.S. to shame.
Please be aware this a food truck in a parking lot.

Once upon a time I had every reason to be driving along Edmonton Trail. It was my way home. But these days, I don’t often get up to that neck of the hoods. So when kickin’ reviews started to show up for a food truck in the parking lot of Barbecues Galore, I decided a lunch time adventure was in order.
Jojo’s has been open a grand total of 23 days (as of today). It’s this camper/​van/​food truck in the middle of the lot. As any good food truck does, it specializes in just a few key items. The menu is broken down into 5 parts: sandwiches, not sandwiches, sides, fresh cut fries, drinks.
Today’s lunch came from the sandwiches and sides categories. A pulled pork sandwich and a side of coleslaw came to a total of $ 10.50. I had $ 10 on me for sure, but wasn’t anticipating the tax. Thankfully another 50 cents appeared after a quick rummage through my purse. Although the lady at the counter (I wonder if her name is Jojo?) offered to take the 50 cents out of the tips that day. «We can’t have you going away hungry,» she said.
You’re order won’t be ready right away, they make it on the spot. Also, prepare to take it with you back to the office, or a nearby park (like Winston Heights or Munroe). There’s only one picnic table at the far end of the parking lot.
The pulled pork sandwich was as tender as any pulled pork sandwich could be-​filling too. The coleslaw was a-​ok, the $ 3 price tag on it for the side seems a bit much, but it’s on par with what you’ll find for the same sized salads at a grocery store (which I also thing are a bit much and thus don’t buy).
I’m thinking my next visit will need to be for a Sloppy Jojo and some of those jalapeño fries that Jon H and Stephanie C were talking about.

Food truck!
I went for lunch June 17^th, had the pulled pork sandwich, and jalapeño fries ($ 11 plus tax)
Lots of meat, pickle on the side, and fries were decent.
My fingers now smell like smoky bbq. If you like this place, you will really like Holy Smoke bbq.

A friend and I were looking for a spot to eat lunch at when I saw JoJo’s Truck parked in Barbeque’s Galore Parking lot. We had the brisket and it was a great with sliced chunks of tasty meat. It had just the right amount of sauce on it for me. The jalapeño fries were freshly made with fresh chopped peppers with the seeds removed to reduce the heat and to give just the right amount of flavor to the fries. Next time I will ask for more fresh chopped jalapeño to be added to them, as they were so darn good. The coleslaw is nice and spicy with just the amount of vinegar in it. You can tell that she spent some time in Memphis studying how they did things and she does a great job of bringing those flavors here to Calgary

AWE SOME!
after spending weeks creeping Jojo’s facebook waiting for news of the trucks opening, I finally found my way to the Barbacue’s Galore parking lot.
So worth the drive. Went with a group and got to try the brisket, the mac and cheese and jalapeño fries. It was delicious… Jojo had some problems with the propane but she managed to fix it.
friends with me had the sloppy Jo and said it was delicious.
Go now because the lines will be long once word gets out!