John Hardy’s Bar-B Q

I apologize I might be a BBQ snob but living in Texas I have had a lot of great BBQ and some bad. Ordered the ribs and beef with beans. The ribs barely had a hint of smoke and where very dry, the beef was not what I was expecting it was slices of flavourless roast. The beans where fair tasted like caned variety. The sauces on the table tasted like pickle juice.
The staff was friendly but the product was weak.
Cheers

I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember. My dad loved his ribs. I love the Jo — Jo potatoes and the chicken. Our course the sauce is one of a kind. I’ve gone there just to buy it alone.

This used to be my BBQ place. I have gone to it for about 30 years off and on. It was the one place I had to go when I came back home to visit. Although remodeled now, it seems some things have changed, and not in a good way. The bread is a soggy hunk of butter and the jojos are no longer edible. I have gone there 2 more times just to see if it was a bad day, but unfortunately it remains meh… Very sorry to say, but I will look elsewhere now.

This place was awesome. Fast service. Fresh bread. Food was great. Pork was so good. Don’t pass this place.

Went here for lunch after Mayo appointments on the advice of a friend. We were extremely disappointed. I had the half slab of ribs and the wife had the 3 rib lunch. Some of my ribs were so far overdone they were crusty, dry and hard. If I had cooked they would have been thrown away. The menu shows them as half rack of ribs. Makes no mention they are spare ribs. The Jo Jo’s were limp with very few of them crisp.
I base all my reviews on would I stop again even if to give them another chance to be fair. What I had here was not something I would want again. I can’t say they were the worst I have had but it’s close. It was very disappointing considering we had been looking forward to these for two days. Would I go back? No…
There are apparently two John Hardy’s. This one was located on Broadway.

As MN retirees, we have been traveling to Gulf Shores, AL to escape a portion of MN winter.
I’m a big BBQ fan and so we often stop for meals at BBQ joints along the way in search of the elusive best BBQ. I try different items: ribs, pork plates, pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, cole slaw, house bread/​buns, local beers, etc. My current list of best BBQ:
Number 4 on my best BBQ list
The Brick Pit Mobile, AL
Smoked BBQ rib plate, cole slaw, BBQ beans, Texas toast, local beer
Number 3 on my best BBQ list
Moe’s Original Bar B Que. Orange Beach, AL
Half rack of ribs, BBQ beans, cole slaw, local beer
Number 2 on my best BBQ list
Central BBQ. Memphis, TN
Half rack of ribs, BBQ beans, slaw, bun, local beer
Number 1 on my best BBQ list
John Hardy’s. Rochester, MN
Pork plate w/​medium sauce, jojo potatoes, baked beans, the red beer of the day
’Nuf said.

We normally go to the north side John hardys but tonight we went to the south side What a mistake will never go there again Super small super noisy super over cooked and dried out ribs and pulled pork There do call Jo Jo potato chips were soggy and icky If you are thinking of great ribs go to the other location I know we will not make that mistake sgsin

The food was a joke. The sauce was so so. The service was good. Our waitress was very attentive but we were totally discussed with the food.
With out sauce it was tasteless. The sandwiches lacked meat but was long on bread. The garlic toast was more like heated garlic butter bread.
Not really sure how this place calls itself a Bar B Q joint. Not sure how it fooled olks long enough to open a second location.

Awesome greasy-​spoon bbq dive with homemade bbq sauce from mild to «Big Boy» sauce that will make you sweat! People drive from Mpls to eat at this place! I remember my dad eating here when I was just a little kid and now it’s one of my favorite bbq joints! Some of the best bbq around!

Dang, I hate to write anything negative about Hardy’s, but our last meal from the place was very disappointing. I live in Colorado but regularly stop in Rochester to visit family and friends. It has become a sort of ritual to get Hardy’s BBQ while here and usually it is really good. This time around every side order for 4 meals was left out of our to-​go bag. My sliced brisket portion was small, underdone and had no smoke ring or smokey flavor. Really more of a bland, fatty prime-​rib aspect then BBQ brisket. The sauces were one-​note and a big departure from the tangy deliciousness I expected from my previous visits to the joint. I called and complained and was told my information would be forwarded to «the office». I will update this review if and when they deliver on compensation for a really poorly-​executed order.

I’m a big fan of Bar-​B Q and I can differentiate between the different regions. The sauce at John Hardy’s is very similar to Sticky LIps up in Rochester, NY (
) and so are a lot of the meats and side dishes. It makes sense, because John Hardy was originally from Buffalo, NY (about 45minutes drive). Basically, its a North Carolina style sauce (dipping) with more vinegar and different levels of heat/​spice.
For meats, we tried the pork, ribs, and beef. We enjoyed the pork and ribs, but we didn’t like the beef. We are accustomed to brisket and the beef was more of a deli style roast beef. The ribs could be smoked a little longer to help break down the collagen, but tasty overall. The pulled pork was a tad dry, but worked really well with the sauce.
For sides, we ordered French Fries, Fried Okra, JoJo’s, and Mac Salad. Amazing okra, good fries, decent salad (too much mayo), and horrible JoJo’s. Our JoJo’s were cold and soggy. They may be great if served warm and crisp, but the one’s served to us were completely inedible. Also, they bring garlic bread to the table and they didn’t charge extra for a second portion (I used it to make a sandwich with my pork).
The ambiance is kinda odd. Inside it is dark and could get really noisy/​crowded. You seat yourself anywhere. None of the waiters told us this and we actually stood there till another patron told us to just sit where we liked. It feels like it should be an outside joint. However, they only have three tables outside and the seating is really close to the busy/​noisy street.
I really was excited to try this place and I hate giving it three stars. We typically really like restaurants similar to this. However, overall, we’ve been to better places and it was pretty much on the same level as Buddy’s Bar-​B-​Q or Famous Dave’s. We’ll be back when we crave Bar-​B Q or it is too cold to cook it ourselves, but it’s not a place that we’ll frequent often. We’d order the pulled pork or ribs anytime. We’d like to try their Hot Wing and quarter chicken. We’ll avoid the Beef and the JoJo’s.

John Hardy, originally from Buffalo, N.Y. my home town, was a master of the barbecue. I went there about 15 years ago and choked on a piece of rib, though they were moist and tasty.
I returned this week to try it again. Big mistake. Arrived at 11:30 am, ordered a rack of ribs, and they were put before me in less than 10 minutes. The ribs were so dry, and so overcooked, and the little bits of bone that were now appearing as I chewed, kept me thinking that I was going to choke again. I came to the conclusion that the ribs were from the day before, that they were microwaved and that they figured I was too stupid to know the difference. By 11:55 am it was «standing room only» and since I did not want to cause a scene, I paid the bill and headed out into the very frigid air.
Rest in Peace John Hardy. But your ribs and restaurant should have been buried as well.

I picked up a pork sandwich and chicken sandwich plate yesterday (1÷10÷15). The pork was so dry it was like jerkey. Half the bottom of the bun for the chicken sandwich was missing. Last but not least, I ended up with a stomach ache all day and I only ate half the food since it was so bad.

My go to place for BBQ in Rochester! Dive restaurant with a great location! I always get jojos and fried okra. All the meats are great!

I went back to hardy’s bbq wow is what I say now. pork is shredded I guess I just don’t care for chopped meat. the jojo’s are thicker and crispier and sauce has it’s vinegar toned downed to a great complement to the pork.

Ordered the pork and turkey plate, with JoJo fries. The fries were half raw, stuck together, no salt, no taste. Neither of the meats were good, both were dry. Both the mild and medium BBQ sauces left a weird aftertaste. In short, would never go back.

Never a failed visit when coming to eat here. Fast service, great smiles, and even better food

We had the opportunity to stop again after 20+ years. Being from a small, near by town this was an rare taste of smoked BBQ. Now here is what troubles me, is the BBQ not as good as it once was or after traveling through out the US over the years given me a better sampling of good BBQ? I remember it being one of the best meals in Roch, had to stop when in town. This time the pulled pork was dried out, bun looked great but was only so so. Coleslaw was as good as I remember. Beans were like pork and beans from the can. French fries were good. BBQ sauce was ok. Great service.

We were looking for a good place for dinner on our way through Rochester, and M remembered this place from years ago. It hadn’t changed much, and that was a good thing. Great BBQ, quick service, comfortable atmosphere.

John Hardy’s BBQ is a great dive BBQ joint! The ambience is perfect for a BBQ place, rough around the edges. The meat is smoked with apple and cherry woods, and is tender.
I ordered the three-​ounce, two meat choice plate for 8.99. You get a choice of potato with that and any one of a number of sides from fried okra to black-​eyed peas. The turkey and pork I chose were both flavorful and didn’t come smothered in BBQ sauce; you get to pick your own.
The Jo Jo’s are really thinly sliced deep fried potatoes, the black-​eyed peas were flavorful, fried okra was so-​so.
I would go back here in a heart beat!