Red Hot & Blue

I’ve been a RHB fan for years but Just picked up a meal on the way to watch the game on Sunday afternoon. The food was horrible! The worst I have had in 15 years of going to their establishments across the country. Ribs were dry and so was pulled chicken. Must have been sitting all day. The bun for the sandwich was stale. Potato salad was dry and not the normal seasoning. This franchise must be trying to save money on mayonnaise. Even the iced tea tasted like it was made from syrup this time. They need shut this location down.

Closed! I drove by today and was so sad to see the place empty! Apparently both the Arlington and Falls Church locations went out of business this week. I loved this place! We ordered from here all the time. Now where will I get that fantastic fried catfish? This is so disappointing!

Sadly, this location is no longer in business (and Rosslyn too). Open locations too far away for us now.
Short menu version of full restaurant make their catering orders here. Slyly put in some tables to eat at inside and out. Food is served to your table, be sure to tip, but you get your own drinks.

A-​ok for a quick pulled pork sandwich or some wings. Skip the beef sandwich. It’s a chain. The female staff person was very nice and welcoming.

I got the brisket meal. The sandwich was good as the meat was tender. I am not a fan of the potato salad. It needs seasoning as it was bland. The seating area is on the small side. The feel of the place is along fast food. You order at the counter and get your own drinks. The delivered our food to the table and you don’t clear the table upon leaving.
Not on my top ten places for BBQ. For the price and overall experience, I would probably opt for Famous Dave’s first.

Been here many times over several years, both eat-​in and take-​out.
The «rib-​wich» is a belly-​busting bargain with generous portions of pulled/​chunk pork and just enough ribs to keep you busy, along with the two sides.
Ribs are not extra meaty or extra smoky but they are very tender with flesh that almost falls off the bone — unlike the tight and tough gnawbones served up a mile away at (In)Famous Dave’s.
RH&B is known for its potato salad — a not-​too-​mayoey mix of redskin spuds, onions, celery, celery seeds and hard-​boiled eggs. Always tastes fresh. Maybe add some yellow mustard and you’re all set.
The steakhouse salad is generous, though the brisket is disappointingly dry.
The stuffed baked potato is a very economical and filling meal (if you’re not on a low-​carb diet).
Corn bread is not offered as much as in years past (must be the price of ingredients).
Hush puppies are the real thing, with authentic chewy onion and cornmeal goodness! (Sometimes they’re overcooked and hard, though.)
I’ve never known the place to be overcrowded.
I’d give it 4 stars except that the staff are always very slow to bus the tables (which means you’re likely to dine within sight of an array of trash) and never adequately wipe them down.

I’m becoming increasingly more disappointed with the (limited) BBQ options in the DMV area. So far, I’ve only been to one place in the area that has really impressed me… and this wasn’t it. I’ve had great BBQ all over the country and one would expect that a huge (technically southern) state like VA would have plentiful and delicious BBQ options, but I’ve found that they are few and far between. I wasn’t even aware that this place was a chain until after the fact.
I tried the «Five Meat Treat» that comes with ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken, sausage and beef brisket with collard greens and potato salad as my sides. The ribs, pulled pork and sausage were the 3 that rose to the top in terms of general satisfaction. The pulled chicken and beef brisket were dry and less desirable. The collard greens were barely warm and the potato salad was a bit on the bland side. The corn bread that also came with the plate were the sides’ saving grace.
Overall, the service was okay and the food was pretty average. I’ve never heard of fast food BBQ before coming here and will likely shy away from similar establishments unless I can be proven otherwise.

I was very surprised by the 4 and 5 star ratings — guess I am just spoiled by our GREAT North Carolina Q — this place barely makes the grade. Ribs were way overcooked, brisket was so — so, pulled pork was about a «C». Sides — fried okra and cole slaw were really good.
The location is a quiet strip plaza, service was pretty good, place was clean as a whistle — that is the good. The bad — who serves BBQ without cold beer? Who serves BBQ without hush puppies (you can add that as a side)? I mean, really? I think I will skip this one next time!

I enjoy Red Hot & Blue elsewhere, but here the food was cold and there wasn’t any of that nice blues music, I’d call this one Red Cold & Silent. I won’t go back.

Let me start by saying if you like Rib’s this is the place for them; large, meaty ribs that literally fall off the bone. Red Hot & Blue’s specialize in pork barbeque served Memphis style, which means they put Cole slaw right on the sandwich. They smoke their meat for 12 hours over hickory wood; it’s not steamed or gilled, and served without sauce. The ribs come wet or dry, and while I usually like the dry.
I love their slogan, «The Best BBQ you’ll ever eat in a building that hasn’t already been condemned.» The food and atmosphere surely live up to this reputation. The loud wail of modern and not so modern blues set the scene as soon as you walk through the door, and you take in the obviously deliberate theming of this restaurant. It’s no quaint hidey shack, full of real memories and little histories, but rather a careful commercialization of someone’s idea of what the real blues looks like, in its native setting. No matter, because once you’re seated, the delectable smell of steaming meat, piquant with that indefinable bbq essence, pervades the atmosphere and subsumes the senses.
Only one time, have I ever considered the service to be even slightly above average; and that was the exception. We’ve never had totally unacceptable service; rather, indifferent, slow, or otherwise unremarkable is the norm, regardless of how busy the restaurant was at the time.
And the issue of whether it’s «real,» I’ll stay out of that one. It’s real enough for me. It’s «realer» than anything else we’ve found.
The menu, needless to say, is a veritable epitaph of the finest ways a porker can end. The ribs are meaty enough, and are offered in both the «dry» and the «wet» styles; or a combination. The meat slid right off the bone, a sure sign it’s cooked to perfection; the meat tender enough to eat without dangerous utensils.
Side dishes can’t make a meal; but they sure can break it. I am not a cole slaw eater, but my wife is; he was not impressed by it. The beans are seasoned with meat, but fall short of an attraction on their own when paired with so robust an entrée. They sit a bit too heavy on the gut, when attempting to make short a plate of ribs and brisket. I usually end up leaving most of the beans. The corn was forgettable on the occasion we ordered it as a side; it had been frozen for too long to do justice to the meat it was to accompany.
The prices are not exorbitant, but it cannot be considered a red hot bargain either, despite the inevitable take home leftovers.
Appetizers: Onion Ring Loaf, Sausage & Cheese Platter, RH & B Nachos-​Tortilla chips pilled with your choice of beef, pork, chicken, or chili, and topped with sour cream-​, BBQ Wings, Catfish Fingers, Fried Jalapeño, and Potato Skins.
Salads: House, Caesar, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Chicken Caesar, Smokehouse Salad, and Fried Chicken. Dressings: Ranch, Fat Free Ranch, Caesar, Bleu Cheese, Creamy Italian, Italian Honey Mustard, Parmesan Peppercorn, Raspberry Vinaigrette, and Oil & Vinegar
Soups: Chili and Brunswick stew
BBQ Sandwiches: BBQ Pulled Pig, BBQ Beef Brisket, and BBQ Pulled Chicken. Sandwiches are served «Memphis-​style», with Cole slaw and mild BBQ sauce on top and served on toasted bun with potato salad and pickle spear.
Other Sandwiches: Smoked Turkey Breast, Grilled Chicken Breast, Blues Burger, Mississippi Catfish, and Smoked Sausage. Served with potato Salad and pickle spear.
Ribs: Wet Ribs-​glazed with Mojo Mild BBQ Sauce– and Dry Ribs– Sprinkled with dry spices. Served with BBQ beans, Cole slaw, and roll
Trimmings: BBQ Beans, Cole Slaw, Loaded Baked Potato, Potato Salad, Fries, Baked Sweet Potato, Hush Puppies, Corn on the Cob, Mac & Cheese, and Corn Relish.
Desserts: Oreo Brownie Sundae, Pecan Pie, Banana Pudding, Peanut Butter Silk Pie, Vanilla Ice Cream, Blackberry Cobbler, and Key Lime Pie.
Beverages: Soft Drinks, Lemonade, Root Beer, Iced Tea, Coffee, Milk, and Juices

I was quite disappointed with this location. I ordered pulled pork and brisket to go along with sides. I have enjoyed their ribs at the Rosslyn restaurant so I don’t know what’s going on in Falls Church, but apparently they don’t actually smoke their meats here. Their sides are quite good and the sauce is fine but it is not barbecue if they are not smoking their pork butts and brisket.

great deal with groupon. got pounds and pounds of meat for cheap.
honestly, the place is average. it’s frozen and shipped bbq reheated and served. pictures of black folks everywhere on the wall to hide the lack of authenticity of their bbq, but hey, for 20 bucks i got ribs, sausage, pulled pork, chicken, and brisket, along with 4 sides. you can’t beat that.
the staff are friendly too!

Yum. I have eaten here several times but I just stopped in for a sandwich to go. $ 8. This included potato salad and slaw. I ate the potato salad on the go and warmed up the sandwich at home. It was wonderful and large enough to split for dinner.
Also you can get the BBQ sauce in the bottle. Worth the money, but try the different flavors there before you purchase one. I thought I was going to want the spicy one because I love spicy. I ended up with Sufferin Sweet because the flavor is so well rounded. Who knew?

Pulled Pork Sandwich with dripping Hoochie Coochie sauce… YUM! Boring sides…

It is with great regret that I must downgrade the Red Hot & Blue in Falls Church to two stars based on the downward spiral of quality that I’ve noticed over the years.
When I first started going to this location, they had a more expansive menu than they do now. It was never as robust as the non-«Express» locations like Arlington or Leesburg, but it had the best of those menus. They took off favorites like the chicken corn chowder (which was pretty darn good) and platters like the rib and wing combo. I can understand the desire to streamline, but since they still serve ribs and wings separately, why do they need to remove the combo platter?
My last visit though was a testament to corners being cut even more. We ordered a Smokehouse Salad and Ribwich Combo.
The salad was supposed to come with pulled chicken, brisket, cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes, and cheese; and in the past they usually garnished it with peperoncini peppers as well. What we received was practically meat on lettuce as there were nothing more than four pieces (not even whole slices) of red onion and two slices of unripe tomatoes (which is inexcusable given it is summer and tomatoes are in season, and besides in the past they used cherry tomatoes) in addition to the chicken, brisket, and lettuce. When I took it back to the counter, the girl at the register didn’t seem to understand what the problem was, but when I got the attention of the manager, he knew exactly what I was talking about and added the cucumbers, cheese and peperoncini that should have been on the salad. Additionally, they seem to have changed their supplier for blue cheese dressing; whereas before it was rich and full of blue cheese chunks, now it’s no better than cheap supermarket dressing.
After having our salad corrected, I sit down to see to my Ribwich Combo only to find they forgot the cole slaw on the pulled pork sandwich. Again, this used to be automatic as they served the sandwiches «Memphis style», but I had to go back and ask for it. Another sign of the quality slipping was while my sandwich and ribs were on a plate with metal fork and knife that my baked beans were served in a Styrofoam cup with a plastic spoon. In the past, they served them in blue plastic containers with metal spoons.
This Red, Hot & Blue location is either «cheaping out» by cutting corners using inferior produce and products, or the staff doesn’t care as much. Granted, everyone was extremely polite and eventually fixed the issues without question, however obviously the kitchen staff slapped our meal together and there was no quality control by the server or anyone else before letting it leave the kitchen.
Given the great service and good food I’ve had here in the past, it’s really sad to see their standards slipping.

I give this 5 stars because I love the hot sauce… mixed with the mild sauce… and I really enjoyed the mustard that came with my peppery sausage.
Becuase I had been wanting BBQ my mom asked her friends to recommend a place and she was directed here. I got the 5 meat platter with potato salad and green beans. My 5 meats were: pulled pork, pulled chicken, ribs, sausage and beef brisket. It came without any sauces so I put a mix of mild and hot. Perfect. Like I said, I liked the mustard that came with the platter and ate that with the sausage. If you don’t like spicy, the sausage will not be for you. The ribs were ok. I’m used to fall off the bone ribs with super tender meat that just wasn’t there.
The platter was large so I basically ate a little of each thing and was full… But when I go back to visit, definitely will get pulled pork, brisket and sausage. I’m glad I was able to try the different meats to decide which one I liked.

I give it four stars for the items I tried. I haven’t had the whole menu, as I’ve only been there once.
First impressions weren’t that great… we just drove 2 ½ hours (7 hours for our total trip) and we were told that this was a good family place close to our hotel to eat. I went in trying to change my son’s diaper (we hadn’t checked in yet) and they didn’t have a diaper changing station. The ladies bathroom was gross, and there were papertowels everywhere. Only men were working, so maybe they didn’t know… but hey, you could check? And since when didn’t a place have a changing table? Anyway… that didn’t affect my hopes for good food. Just annoyed me as a mama.
My mother in law got ribs and brisket, with french fries and coleslaw. The kid had chicken tenders and apple sauce, and I had a potato with chilli. All of these things (minus the tenders… was hoping for something home made, not frozen and cooked) were sooo yummy! my chilli had a great flavor with only a hint of bbq, and the potato was big and filling. The apple sauce appeared to be home made and was nice and chunky. The ribs fell off the bone, were a little dry, but super tender. We just added some BBQ sauce to fix that one. The brisket was smoky and delicious!
We’ll come back… but only if we’re in the area. Good! Check it out if you’re staying at the Towneplace Suites! :)

After holding onto a $ 25
coupon for the longest time, I decided it was finally time for redemption.
Even though the coupon said «Dine-​in only», they allowed take-​out as well, I guess since they are a «Red Hot & Blue Express» and not a regular sized restaurant. There was plenty of seating though.
We ordered the Memphis Pignic party platter which included ribs, sausages, and pulled pork along with 3 sides. They also included buns for the pulled pork, and rolls for the sausages and a variety of BBQ and HOT sauces.
RIBS
They seemed really fatty… which would make you think it’d be moist and tender, but surprisingly some of it was pretty dry. Anyway it wasn’t too bad.
PULLED PORK
It was nice and tender, but didn’t exactly look like pulled pork… more like chunks of pork. I guess I’m used to more finely shredded pork. I shredded the pork myself and mixed in the bbq sauce and it was perfect.
SAUSAGES
Good. They even threw in an extra half link =P
SIDES
We ordered the potato salad, cole slaw, and fries. Since it was at least an hour before we got home to eat, the fries weren’t crisp but I imagine they were at one point. The other stuff was good too.
I wish I would have bought a bunch more of the coupons, because it was an awesome deal. At regular price though, I’d probably be a little less impressed.

My Wife and I moved to Falls Church from Memphis, TN in 2001 and promptly set about to find good BBQ.
Red, Hot and Blue is as good as it gets outside of the Memphis city limits.
Particularly the pulled pork. It is hard to do pulled pork right. RHB does.
Pros: food, sauce, sweet tea
Cons: service

I would not return except maybe to buy some of the take-​home BBQ sauces they have (They are surprisingly low in calories for BBQ sauce!)
I just thought this was not worth the money you pay for the very average BBQ. I’ve had some BBQ that was absolutely mouth watering AMAZING and this doesn’t even come close. I do appreciate that the cole slaw is not swimming in mayo.
Also the staff working here is probably some of Virginia’s dumbest. The one guy barely moved his lips when he spoke and I couldn’t understand a word he was trying to say.
Very disappointing. Won’t be going back