Parks Old Style Bar-B-Q

Parks is a great local bbq place in the city, they have sauces for every taste bud. My personal favorite is mild, on rib tips promise you try them once you’ll be back for more. Really good people who work there an frequent regulars such as myself, this place is awesome and worth checking out at least once!

I have just read about a dozen reviews for Parks Old Style Bar-​B-​Q, and many of them were written apparently by curmudgeons. Happily, my experiences with Parks have generally been MUCH better ! I have been going there on a semi-​regular basis for a couple of years and am a happy customer — have even told other people about the place who also have become happy customers ! [I also buy a lot of groupons]
The food is excellent [I usually get «sweet sauce» on the side, and potato salad and baked beans for sides], — the wait time is not very long [I usually try to call in my order, but at times they are too busy to take telephone orders, and even then it is usually only about ½ hour wait], — and the folks there are very nice [anyone can have the occasional «off» day, even customers who write cranky reviews ]. Best ribs in the city. I will continue going there and continue enjoying the great food and the cool ambiance !

Come on. You can give anything less than five stars to Parks barbecue? Sure the ambience is horrible and the bulletproof glass somewhat concerning, but the ribs are the best barbecue I’ve ever had. Forget Southern barbecue… Parks has a secret recipe that I have been trying to figure out for years. I get the small land and white bread spicy. Some hard-​core good ribs.

Went in there last night. I have wanted to try this place for a very long time. I heard great things about Parks. The staff was super nice and the service was great but I didn’t like the rib tips at all. Maybe it’s a matter of taste because I know a lot of people who really like this place. I got a mixture of the mild and sweet sauce. They tasted very vinegary. The rib tips were very tough. I wouldn’t go back. It wasn’t my style. But it does seem like a lot of people like it. I guess try it for yourself and see for yourself.

I was really looking forward to some open pit style ribs instead of smoked. The ribs were fine but the sauce was to me what killed the love. I ordered my ribs with the mild. It’s mostly vinegar and paprika watery type sauce. It totally overpowered the ribs with that cloying vinagaryness. Guess I’ll have to keep looking.

Never again. The ribs were tough and the sauce was abhorrent. Sides were microwaved and couldn’t have been made with less love. Brutal.

Fast Service Nice and HOT food but food was sub-​par. I got the ½ Bbq chicken with 2 sides. The price came out to around $ 11.00 which I thought was a bit steep. For my sides I chose mac-​cheez and greens. The sides were not fresh, the employee pulled them out of a fridge and microwaved them. The Bbq chicken had a sweet’n spicy sauce on it of which was pleasant. The chicken was quite dry though. All in all, I will give parks 1 more try and when I do i’ll try some other things

The ribs and sauce… that is why you come here. The sauce is great and you get some bread with your order so you can sop up every last bit of it. If you haven’t been here now is the time to make the trip.

Really *great* food and lovely staff. Juicy ribs. I think the (51 year old recipe) mild sauce brings out the flavor of the rib meat, but if you get a little cup of hot sauce on the side it is nice to dunk a few times.
On our first (of many to come) visit Doug was generous with his recommendations and very friendly and welcoming… the beans and potato salad were really good, I liked the cole slaw and greens, too.
We visited the nearby Ford Plant for a tour and stopped in here to eat. Everyone in the place on Sunday afternoon felt like regulars and in a great mood. Upbeat music, 12 kinds of pop from a vending machine, thick stacks of napkins… who needs more on a sunny afternoon? *^.^*

We went there Sept 7 ’15 (day before Labor Say) with a Groupon and we got a slab of ribs and ½ chicken with 4 sides. The chicken was real good, but the ribs were the toughest I have ever had, ever, in my last 50 years. Weren’t cooked enough — very, very tough — weren’t pink though. So after trying to eat them and getting more disappointed, I tightly wrapped them in aluminum foil with a little water (to steam) and put them in my oven at 425 for 2:15 hours. Then they were like they should have been, fall off the bone tender and the flavor was good. I was all excited about going there, ’cause I love ribs, but I can’t go again. Sorry to have to write this, something went very wrong.

Go for the sweet sauce. With the half BBQ chicken and leave your suburb attitude at home

I bought a groupon for a slab of ribs, ½ a chicken and four sides. I tried placing my order yesterday (as the groupon was expiring on ²⁄₂₃), no one was answering and the machine wasn’t on either. Upon further investigation, I found out the location was closed for the day. I called Groupon, and spoke with a customer service rep, who also checked their information, which also stated it was closed. I asked Groupon if the owner of the business chooses the expiration date of the groupon, to which the answer is yes.
What kind of a businessman chooses an expiration date on a day he knowingly has his business closed?! Groupon wasn’t happy about that either, and they are supposed to be calling this business sometime today. In the meantime, I called the location, which is open today, and spoke with Tracey the manager. I explained my situation, and she stated she needed to speak with Mr. Parks.
Tracey promptly called me back stating Mr. Parks said that he wouldn’t honor the groupon, but whatever the amount I paid for the groupon, I could put toward this same meal at full price. This is outrageous and disgusting. I told Tracey he could honor the groupon today if he chose to, she agreed he should. I told her I am calling Groupon with a follow up of our convo, and letting them know they should rethink their relationship with this business. She told me she was going to have Mr. Parks call me, and so far, I haven’t heard from him.
Again, what reputable business (man) sets a groupon expiration date knowing customers who bought it cannot redeem it on its expiration date?! This is disgusting thievery. and seeing that just four hours ago, and another negative review about this business, as well as a few more within the past two months, means bad news for Mr. Parks. Your business may have been around since 1964, but it won’t last to 2016 if you keep getting bad Unilocal reviews. WSU and hipsters love this site, so stop stealing and ticking off customers younger than 50!

First of all Rob P. I want to thank you for your immediately response.
Of the three P (s) of business People, Product and Process. Your product is excellent its The people and the process needs an update. Your staff needs to be trained on the customer care. I want to feel welcomed and review process improving for serving the customer much quicker.
Once again thank you for your customer concerns.

Absolutely love Parks!!! My family has been coming here for years! love my rib tips!!!
Since I was a little kid my folks have been buying us Parks BBQ. Now we are bringing the next generation in to enjoy!
Nothing like the hot BBQ sauce and fries

First time customer food was horrible a waste of money stick to my barbecue place
Bought a Groupon for this place never again

I have been coming to parks every since my grandma and mother u to go there when we lived on the eastside now I come all the way from southfield Mi to get some ribs.

So I found Parks from
and I ordered the whole slab with ½ chicken and for sides. When I originally called over the phone, the woman was uninviting and rude. However, I know that some people don’t know any better so I decided to stay positive and continue the order. They young. lady told me that my food would be ready in 25 minutes. It was my hubby and I anniversary and he loves bbq, so I was very excited to taste the food.
Upon my arrival, I had to wait 25 minutes just to tell the young lady my name for the.pickup. You can tell that she was totally overwhelmed. The phones were ringing off the chain and she was telling customers over the phone that it would be an hour wait for food when she finally to me, she told me that she did not have any chicken left and that the chef would not do substitutes. I told her not to worry about the chicken and to just give me the rest of my food, she rudely said that my food wasn’t ready, even though it was a little over an hour after I had placed the order. She stated that I would have to wait an additional hour if I wanted to place a new. order even though it wasn’t new. I left that restaurant upset and extremely disappointed.
I decided give them another chance the next day (SUNDAY) and pray for the best. The gentlemen who took my order was more pleasant and the order more expeditiously. But when I received my food, I was very disappointed. The ribs had a good smoked flavor but the sauce came straight out of a bottle. My sides were cold. The baked beans were okay. They are not sweet nor smokey n were microwaved. The greens were inedible. The Mac n cheese was disgusting and ok salty. They tasted straight out of a box but worst. The potato salad was very tasty. That is the best tasting side.
Overall, I would not recommend this restaurant. There are much better places to eat in this wonderful city. If your restaurant can’t handle being open on the weekend and provide timely, fresh, and tasty good that it’s always in stock; then maybe it shouldn’t be opened. I hope you take heed to this review grouponers, cause this place ain’t worth it.
Btw, this place is located in the hood «hood» so be careful and don’t go at night. Also, Mac n cheese is not included as a side on the groupon. You also only receive two large sides and two small sides with that groupon so choose wisely.

Experience is unique. Being served through protective glass is always interesting. Very busy. Food is good not great, pricey.

This is one of my fave ribs joints in the D and a legendary Dtown staple because no other rib sauce is like it. Vinegar, cayenne and paprika based. Not to everyones taste. I love it. Stay away from the hot if you can’t take heat — its hellie hot — get mild. Hot is good but sometimes overwhelms the taste. I stick to just ribs. Not into much else here. Solid fries.
The only complaint is I didnt always care for their cut of spare ribs. They now hve baby backs too so thats cool. Call ahead, can get busy. Rough hood. Be safe.

The beautiful smell of cooked pork emanates from this restaurant and makes a little quadrant of the North End smell heavenly. This smell had been taunting me for months. I Stopped in for the first time on a Sunday and I was behind one pair who were waiting for their orders.
I Ordered the rib tips (meat and bread only, $ 8) based on a friend’s recommendation. Paired it with a large container of greens ($ 2.25) to bring my total past ten dollars and pay with a credit card. I was also super happy to see the faygo vending machine in the restaurant, and even happier to drink that nectar of the gods that is faygo black cherry soda, for $ 1.25. worth it. The rib tips came in a small clamshell takeout container, and then wrapped in tons of saran wrap to contain the huge amount of sauce they were steeping in (thank god, that stuff not only leaked all up in the plastic wrap, but stains like crazy!). The greens also came wrapped in saran wrap and in a lidded styrofoam container.
This place is truly a detroit original. I have never had ribs like this. I’ll try to describe what the ribs were like without sauce– which is tough because the sauce is integral to what the ribs should be. The meat is not the most tender, and was a little chewy. This was not a bad thing, and the ribs were cooked correctly. There was a smoky undertone and something else, dark and different. I have no idea what kind of wood they use, this could have been that contributing flavor.
The hot sauce, however, was not what I expected. I thought maybe it would be a sweet and slightly spicy sauce. Wrong. It was a combination of some kind of cayenne/​vinegar hot sauce, some great spices and a slow burn. I couldn’t eat all the ribs on my first try — they were too hot. This flavor combined with the smokiness of the meat is an excellent unique combination, A veritable volcano of heat and taste. I am going to try the mild sauce next time, although I am ashamed of my intolerance to the heat. I would work on building up a tolerance to this hot sauce, because it is that good.
The greens were standard preparation — cooked in vinegar water, tasty, not bitter, with a little bit of pork (jowl maybe?) added. They heated this up in its styrofoam container for me. If you have an aversion to leeched styrofoam in your food, ask for them not to do that. The greens were good, how I would expect them to be.
I was tempted by the chicken and ribs combo I saw after I ordered, and their great specials which occur on weekdays. Next time I will come back for the rib slabs, chicken and other treats. I was glad to be partaking of such a classic spot less than a mile from my house.
When I passed by the day before I stopped, I saw a girl (potentially cute), walking in circles in the snow in the empty lot across the street, clutching a piece of paper. What were you doing, Mystery Girl? Can I buy you some BBQ?