Mr J’s Burger & Espresso Bar

Some great BBQ at a good price but the sides need work. French fries were very soggy and lacked flavor. Overall it’s really good locally owned place. Service is a little slow but it’s a Bbq joint and it should be.

I couldn’t even wait to get home to do this review. This place does just the right amount of smoke. We had the sampler the ribs were fall of the bone, meat loaf was a pleasant surprise with it being smoked, and the pulled pork was juicy and tasted amazing. The home cut fries were also perfect. The only negative thing I can say about this place is that it’s too far away from home. We will stop by when we are on the area.

Never go on a Tuesday! No ribs, meatloaf, or potato salad. Not going there ever again. On the positive side the fry sauce was good and the coleslaw was decent.

The kids had the ribs and the hubby had a Hawaiian burger with pulled pork. I ended up getting a mushroom jalapeño burger… And all I did was pick off their food. Their food was way better than mine. The ribs fell off the bone and the burgers we’re all finger lickin’ good!
They have awesome service and genuine great workers! Most popular plate is the smoked meatloaf sandwich. We didn’t find out until the cook mentioned it while we were eating. He gave a sampler for us to try out… Man was it good! You can taste the smoked applewood.
This is a great local joint!

The brisket here is something special. It is not recognizable to someone formed by the brisket traditions of Kansas City or Texas — it isn’t crispy on the edges, it isn’t dripping with glistening fat, it isn’t heavy on the smoke flavour. It is something finer and more elusive than that. In American barbecue culture, it comes closest to tasting like North Carolina vinegar barbecue pork. It is pulled and trimmed in the same way as that, shredded and devoid of big gobs of fat. Now, fat is a lovely thing, but I’ve got to respect the owner’s insistence that people are paying for the meat, not the fat. You also aren’t being charged for a bunch of moisture added at the last minute; the brisket is tossed on a hot griddle to moisten and loosen it before it hits your plate, but it’s weighed before that.
Now, I say that the closest American analogue is in North Carolina, but truth be told I don’t think that American barbecue is the place to look to understand what you’re getting from the brisket here. Yes, it’s cooked low and slow over a mix of hardwoods, and so you’d think it would be a very American thing, indeed. But there is something off about it, something gloriously, wonderfully off.
To my palate it tastes more like Vietnamese Bo Kho, which is brisket braised or stewed in a sauce whose primary component is carrot. I really must suggest you get the brisket here without the sauce on offer; it tastes wonderfully of molasses, but hides the real magic. The brisket, in all seriousness, tastes like it’s flavoured with chile peppers of a deep flavour (like the Manzano variety, for those familiar with that staple of area Latin American markets), and a very Vietnamese mix of spices: star anise, carrot, and fish sauce. It is so much like Bo Kho it’s uncanny.
Now, is that what it’s really flavoured with? I’ve got no clue. I asked too many questions of the owner as it is, enough to know that he knows what he’s doing and isn’t going to give up his secrets :) He uses a dry rub, he smokes for over 20 hours, he trims and shreds. You can glean a little more from how it’s treated prior to serving, and from the orange flecks all through it. But there is a distinct, earthy, carroty flavour. Is that really what’s going on? I think it probably is, either that or some orange variety of chile pepper which produces a similar taste.
The fish sauce flavour is more elusive. Is it just a side effect of the mix of woods, including maple, which can be strange and resinous? Is it a hint of vinegar or something in the dry rub? Maybe it’s Maggi or some other seasoning sauce, I don’t know.
The stack of wood next to the outdoor pit told me all I needed to know; this is real barbecue made lovingly, and it is well worth eating, and boasts lovely complexity. What the nature of that complexity is, I can’t say precisely, but I can say that it is wonderful and unexpected, and that there is surely nothing precisely like it anywhere else. And that is a very special thing, and a great gift to anyone passing through Lewis County. Very special food, indeed.

Beef brisket is excellent, the BBQ sauce here is worthy of its own dish. Don’t pass up on the onion rings or fries, battered rings and homecut skin-​on fries compliment brisket perfectly. If you’re around during autumn keep an eye out for whole smoked turkeys! Worth the side quest from I-​5 for sure

I have been going to this place for years and have never been disappointed. The food is good and you can tell that Tom and his staff go to great lengths to make sure that both the food is delicious and that the customer feels welcome and leaves full and happy. I will gladly continue to choose Mr. Js over the corporate chains each and every time.

Stopped here for lunch on our way home based on the Unilocal reviews. It’s about 10 minutes off of I-​5, but the BBQ pulled pork, brisket & smoked meatloaf were all excellent. My favorite was the pork as it was the most tender & juicy. The potato salad also had very good flavor, a little heavy on the mustard, which I liked. We didn’t get to try the onion rings as they were out. The fries & tater tots were good, but of your average variety. The dining room was empty with two drive-​up customers ahead of us, so there was a little bit of a wait for the food, but it wasn’t too bad, and service was friendly. They have a drive thru order window & also a small dine-​in area for up to maybe 16 – 18 people max. There is no bathroom though, only a Porta– potty outside that was not so clean and no handwashing option, so be warned!

Burgers, brisket, pulled pork, onion rings and smoked beans. eveeything was delicious! Female owner was wonderful, friendly and fun. We’ll be back whenever we go even slightly close to them. Food is full flavored with great portions. Yummy!

You can smell it when you drive by. We had to stop and so glad we did. Loved the pulled pork. My son just had to have a vanilla milkshake. It was really big so I had to share with him (wink wink). Onion rings were so good and love a good tartar sauce with it.

We took the family here on a weeknight. There was a rush of some sort before we got there and the family who owns it were a bit flustered. We ordered the meatloaf sandwich, malts, and kids baskets. The meatloaf was ok, and they forgot to mention they were out of beans. The malts were not so malty and were extremely small for over $ 3 each. I can appreciate a local family owned business working to make a restaurant go. The prices were over the top, we spent about $ 45 for only 4 of us. I have a lot of other options in that price range with better food. Sorry, it just didn’t work for us and we won’t go back.

I’m still dreaming of the onion rings…
I stopped here on my way back from Seattle and I probably never would have found this place if not for Unilocal.It’s so far away from the outlet malls that I almost thought my GPS had snapped and was taking me out to the boonies to be killed. But then we ended up back in civilization and I knew I was fine.
This place is small, but that’s a good thing. It’s literally a little burger stop. You can either drive up to the window or walk in to order. There’s 3 tables inside to sit down at, or there’s picnic tables outside to sit at. I ordered a Deluxe Burger with onion rings and a strawberry shake in place of soda. The girl behind the counter was so nice and super sweet, and very patient with a tired me placing an order.
The shake was thick and amazing, the burger was simple and flavorful, and the onion rings… oh man. I almost thought they were too done, but when I bit into them, I actually got to taste the breading and the onion at the same time! No big greasy ring of onion came slipping out! Heaven. I wish I lived closer to Centralia so I could go back anytime I wanted.

This little burger stop has been operating in Centralia for years. After frequently driving by this location and realizing there had been a change (awesome smelling bbq pits outside where there had been none before), I made a mental note to check it out. After thinking about it for a couple of months I finally made a point of heading out that way on a recent Sunday with a few of the kids. Upon arriving we discovered the neighborhood was experiencing a scheduled power outage. Luckily bbq pits don’t run on power and they were operating with a limited menu YAY! That day it was a choice of a cheese burger or pulled pork sandwich. We ordered some of both. The cheese burgers were average but good, after all they came out of the pit so the taste was good by default. The pulled pork sandwich was great. Obviously cooked low and slow the way it should be. Both were served on a great Kaiser roll which I really enjoyed. The bbq sauce, although a little sweet for my taste (I prefer a sauce with a little more bite) was still quite tasty.
The following Sunday a friend and I had just pulled our Kayaks out of the Skookumchuck river and our return route to town brought us past Mr J’s…YAY again! This time I was overjoyed to find brisket on the menu (which they only do on a random basis). Again I ordered the pulled pork in addition to trying the brisket. I was a little disappointed to see the absence of the Kaiser roll that was so good on my previous visit… but after one bite of the delicious melt in my mouth brisket sandwich I soon forgot all about it. Again, the pulled pork was excellent. The service here both times was friendly and efficient. I’m a big fan of having a little slaw to top off my pit bbq sandwich but that was missing here. I guess it’s probably just not the style for them. I’m looking forward to trying the smoked beans and the smoked meatloaf… they both sound great. Great prices, good food and friendly service. Keep up the good work Mr J’s!