Rack & Roll BBQ Shack

Well,… Seeing how the manager really tried hard to be amusing with his response… It seemed to bite him on the ass. Place already closed down.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke!

Stopped by for lunch during the week with a friend a couple of months ago and had a very disappointing experience. We were seated by the host and brought water, ten minutes went by and the waiter came by to get our drinks ordered. After ordering drinks we waited ten minutes and the drinks hadn’t arrived, twenty minutes after that the waiter walked by and didn’t come by to check on us or bring our drinks much less take our entrée or main course order. All the while we could see him sitting in the back area chatting away with the cooks and other servers, keep in mind the restaurant was not busy and there was plenty of staff to keep up with the only two tables that were filled that day. After forty-​five minutes of waiting and no one coming by to bring us our drinks or taking our order we walked out. On the way to a different restaurant I decided to call them and speak to the manager. I was placed on hold while they grabbed a «manager» whose name I can’t remember and I explained the situation to him and told him I understood sometimes things happen but I just wanted management to be aware of what had just happened. The manager never apologized or asked us to come back and give them the chance to rectify the lack of service. Instead, he simply said that the waiter was inexperienced and he would talk to him. I guess they don’t keep an eye on their newbies which is a shame to say the least. Overall I am baffled that no apology was offered nor an invitation to retry their service and «delete» the bad experience we had.
This probably was about the twentieth time I had been there with relatively good service and decent food. I understand a mistake but what I cannot understand is the complete disregard on a legitimate complaint that had no emotional or ill charge to it. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be back nor will I recommend Rack & Roll BBQ Shack to anyone unless their management contacts me to rectify this incident. I still trust that they’ll care enough to find out what their employees are up to when the owners are gone. I will update my review if I hear back.

This restaurant is closed.
I walked by this afternoon. Chairs and tables are gone or stacked, trash on the floor, doors closed.
I really feel bad for the business owners, because this location is doomed. The ‘popolos’ construction across the hallway is also permanently on hold.
The mall should be ashamed, because this is a main entrance from the parking lot.
Come to think of it, NONE of the entrances of Valley Fair are ‘grand’ at all. They are all dark, dingy, drab entrances. How about renovating the entrances instead of the 1% row t the back where nobody shops?

Me and My Husband were going to go to our local favorite Barbeque place and that is Sam’s Barbeque on S. Bascom Avenue. The day and time we chose was VERY inconvenient because the place was packed outside the door. Me being Pregnant, and needing to eat as soon as possible. I Unilocaled a few spots and this restaurant is what popped up and was closest.
So the location wasn’t so bad as I thought it was going to be. Personally, I am not a fan of the whole «Santana Row/​Valley Fair» Scene like most people are, and I rarely will EVER drop by this area but I gave it a shot. I HATE the parking lot, it takes nearly 2 hours to find parking, but this time that wasn’t the case! What I liked about the location itself was that, it has its own outdoor with a sign and not even 10 feet away is a valet! I never have used it but this day, it was a must, it only costed us $ 6.00, $ 10.00 if you’re just going to shop in the mall and get the parking service. It was fast and convenient!
The first thought was: «Why is this place so empty?», and «Why is there only 2 people staffed?» (one being at the Bar and One as the Server being that there like 4 parties, and got fairly busy as it went along. We seated ourselves with NO greeting. The waiter passed by us like 4 times and the time he did acknowledge us he gave us a packed bag with food to go and said «here you go» and we said «what is this for?» and he said «oh, didn’t you order food to go?» we said «no, in fact we haven’t received menus, nor anyone to take our drink orders» so he apologized then walked off and he took 5 minutes extra to come hand us these dirty and PLAIN menus that had awful food selections to the point where I wanted to walk out and find a REAL BBQ joint. But I wanted to give this place a real shot.
I also wasn’t impressed by the tableware nor the cutlery. It was PLASTIC. I understand its a BBQ place but the Décor and the Cutlery of the restaurant were just two different things. I loved the glasses, me and my husband are BIG Mason Jar fans and the ice was perfect. I finally got my food… but one problem. They forgot one of my sides and that took an extra 10 – 15 more minutes and guess what? My food was cold. I didn’t complain, I have worked the restaurant business and know I could’ve gotten a new one but I didn’t want to wait any longer. The food was ehh. but the Baby Back Ribs were SO DRY! no moisture to them, no sauce. I was very disappointed. Also the MAC and CHEESE was the worst thing I have ever tasted. It was completely bland, with no «cheese» flavor and tasted like these noodles had been massacred in a pot of mayonnaise.
The only thing that impressed me was the Mason Jars and The Fries. But other wise, the service could be better as far as checking up on the table and staffing MORE waiters/​waitresses. Get new cutlery and tableware, please stock up on all condiments on each table (some were missing from our table), and perhaps get a NEW Cook because he is ruining the start off to this business that I think could be successful if the food were better, and the place was ran more professionally and efficiently in a timely manner.
Being a Celebrity Makeup Artist, I don’t think I and My Team will be coming here like I wanted to but I wish this business the best, and hope it shapes up.

It’s the restaurant equivalent of having an awful cold on a beautiful day.
The restaurant itself is nice looking. It has a great outdoor patio and the service is ok.
But the food is just not good at all. You’re sitting outside the weather is perfect, all you want to do is enjoy yourself, but you can’t because your food is not cutting it.
First of all they give you two BBQ sauces, mild and chipotle. They taste the exact same (bad) but the chipotle is ever so slightly spicier.
I got the bird and cow (quarter chicken and brisket, corn bread, and two sides).
The chicken was pretty dry and lacked flavor. The brisket was really dry and ¾ fat.
Mac & Cheese: worst part of the meal by far. Tastes like it was coated in melted plastic.
Beans: best part or the meal. They weren’t anything special, but they were good at least.
Corn bread: meh
Actually I lied. The best part of the meal was the pickle they served on the side. Mmm, pickles.
Just like when you’re stuck inside sneezing your face off, looking outside at the beautiful sunny day… all you want is to be able to enjoy yourself. But… you can’t.

Having spent 5 years in North Carolina and recently moving to California, I am always on the hunt for good BBQ. Sadly, this was not it.
It started off pretty good. The place is really nice. I had their chowder side first and it was really tasty. Unfortunately, that is as good as it got. I had a platter of pork ribs and brisket, with a side of collards.
The brisket was just OK. Some wrote, it was the best they ever had. Obviously he has not had good brisket.
The ribs were obviously made in an oven or a higher heat BBQ. When you have really good ribs, they are fall off the bone. These were tightly secured to the bone and although tasty, were a fight.
The collards were uncooked and not edible, but the server did the right thing and took it off my bill.
The beverage server was excellent. The food server, not so much. She put my food on the table and then I never saw her again until she brought the bill. I thought it strange because it was me and one other couple in the whole place. Imagine if they were busy.
I expected to pay a little more because it is located in a giant mall, which I did. The cost vs worth it ratio was not worth it.
There are many other excellent BBQ places in the area. They say most restaurants fail in the first year. Unfortunately, I think this will be one of them. Sorry, I really wanted this place to be good. Hopefully, they will get better as time goes by as they have only been open a few weeks.

We went to this place expecting to eat a lobster roll but instead, we were left with BBQ. So here’s a review of that.
The waiter mentioned it was the same ownership group — my general feel is that they should’ve stuck with lobster rolls.
First, I don’t envision that this restaurant will remain open much longer. They literally had one person serving as the waiter and bartender. On a Sunday evening, that was sufficient, with a max of about five parties in the restaurant at any one time. I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if the restaurant was busy.
The wine tasted a bit old (although perhaps that’s our fault for ordering wine at a BBQ joint). The child’s grilled cheese was pretty standard, and the mac & cheese was the same they serve at Old Port (albeit slightly greasy).
I ordered brisket and chicken with sides of coleslaw and mac and cheese. Instead, it came with sides of seafood chowder and baked beans. I guess the waiter just completely misfired on the order (he attempted to do it without paper). He gladly brought out the coleslaw and mac and cheese. My wife also ordered chicken.
The chicken was perfectly moist, although there was nothing outstanding about it. The brisket was lukewarm at best, slightly dry, and flavorless. I drowned it in the BBQ sauce available at the table. The seafood chowder was quite watery and the baked beans tasted like standard baked beans. For me, the coleslaw was the best dish of the evening (it was different from Old Port’s coleslaw).
Despite the waiter being the only customer-​facing staff, he tried very hard and was friendly. The interior décor was nice with the place being relatively new.

A 3 at best. Dead on a Friday-​during Happy Hour. Had the brisket sandwich… just OK. A bit dry in my view. Bar was short a large number of beers on the menu… the delivery guy didn’t show up today… O My! No meaningful selection of dark beers, but decent choice if you are into wheat, lagers and IPAs. I may be back, but for convenience only.

I had a little craving for some barbecue and it just so happened that I saw this place tucked away in the corner of the mall so after taking a look at the menu I decided I would give it a try. When I walked in I noticed it looked a little empty and there wasn’t many staff members there either. I got seated and ordered a sprite for my drink, took one sip and it was flat and disgusting that was strike one. I ordered the brisket sandwich which came with fries and coleslaw but when you check-​in there via Unilocal you get a free side so I also got the mac n cheese. It didn’t take long to get my meal, when I received it I was excited and my mouth was watering because it looked so good but unfortunately looks can be deceiving. The fries were very good and crispy, they were my favorite part of the meal. The mac n cheese wasn’t too flavorful, the coleslaw was about average and the brisket was a bit on the dry side and it didn’t have much flavor so I thought drowning it with barbecue sauce would do the trick… WRONG!!! That was the most disgusting sauce I have ever tasted in my life, I didn’t want to waste it so I kinda picked at it but I was very disappointed and I will not be coming back.

What a nice meal!
Wife: Pulled Pork sandwich, cornbread, fries
Kidlet: chicken nuggets and fries
Me: Smoke Sausage sandwich.
All was outstanding, the wife loved the cornbread, my fav was the sausage sandwich, but everything was great.
The young lady who sat us was polite and friendly, and the server more of the same. The server was attentive without being overbearing.
Right on «Rack and Roll». Overall, a spot-​on experience. Thanks!

Eh it was just ok. My boyfriend drug me in this place nearly kicking and screaming. We are an odd pair, I’m the white girl born in South Carolina that is not a fan of BBQ and he’s the Chinese guy that loves it.
Anyway, he ordered a sampler which included ribs, brisket and pulled pork. With a side of corn bread and corn chowder. He was not thrilled with anything except for the ribs which he said were «pretty good». I got the smoked sausage sammich with a side of collard greens. The sausage was actually kind of gross, and the collar greens were super bitter. We probably won’t be back… not to mention the service was pretty bad for no one to be in the place on the afternoon we went in. Took us nearly 25 minutes for someone to bring us out check. Maybe they are just working out the kinks still.

I’m not quite sure why this place seems empty most of the time. The BBQ is good, and the portions are nice. Price is a tiny bit on the high side, but I’m ok with paying a little more for good BBQ. This is not (by far) the best Q I’ve ever had, but it was good. Smoke flavor on the ribs and brisket was good, with a nice smoke ring. My only complaint was with respect to the pulled pork. It had almost no smoke flavor, and was a wee bit dry. Sauces were missing a little something, too. On a rating scale, I’d put them well above Dickey’s (which shouldn’t even be allowed to call themselves a BBQ restaurant), just slightly above Smokin’ Pig, and below Big Ed’s Buzzrd BBQ. I’d actually give them 3.5 stars, but no way to do that on Unilocal

Got pretty hungry carrying around the wife’s credit card results and although we had the new food court in mind, we stumbled upon this newish place near the MAC counter. It was surprisingly empty for a Saturday dinner rush, but we chanced it.
Got seated on the patio with some fire lamps, which was nice on this semi chilly June evening. A jazz band was playing inside. It was great music, although I wish they turned it down a tad. For the venue, it was not necessary to be playing so loud.
Anyway, we ordered up some ribs and chicken and brisket. All very good eats. And the chicken was surprisingly very moist still. Wasn’t expecting it.
Waitresses were super friendly and attentive. Bar area and restaurant was very clean. The only thing missing from a perfect atmosphere was more patrons. I wonder why?
Anyway, try this place out. I liked it. I thinks its better than Famous Dave’s. Oh and they close with the mall at 9. Weird.

This space has been a little cursed. The pan Asian place didnt last too long nor did the Old Port Lobster Grill. Now the second locale of a BBQ joint. Now i enjoyed both previous restaurants as i did this one. Will it last? I hope so. got the squeal plate with ribs, brisket, pulled pork, mac&cheese, and beans. First off the meats and everything else were served hot. My pet peeve with many of the bbq places is they server lukewarm. It just doesnt taste good that way. Meats are moist and not dry like most. Sauces are not too cloying and the spicy had good kick. Noe i think the only draw back is that the pulled pork and brisket needed salt which immediately made them better. The ribs are great the way they are. Servers are attentive and they took care of us. Will definitely be back to try other things. Just hope they buck the curse!

Love this place! I love the outdoor seating. Although I ordered a salad, you can choose the type of mets you want with it, in which I got brisket. Mmmmmmhh, friendly staff and clean restaurant. Can’t wait to come back to sit inside with their large tv’s and bar area to hang out with some friends!

Unfortunately… This is not the place to go… if you want barbecue! The ribs were dry… the Mac & cheese was gummy. the chicken had a nice smoky flavor,.but the worst was the BARBECUE SAUCE! The waitress was very nice and apologetic… but sadly I will not be returning.

This place is great. If you like bbq, then this is the place to go. Its awsome. I had the pulled pork and it was delicious. The time I went before, I had the tri tip. Freaking awsome food. Went with my mom and she had the ribs. I tryed them and they wrre very good as well. The beans are the best. Poor them on your corn bread for a tasty delisious treat. O and try the mud pie for dessert. You will not be disapointed.

Noelle’s Unilocal Notebook 2014
noelle’s quick notes
delish eats
stroller friendly
st. louis ribs are amazing
stay away from the potato salad :(
excellent customer service
good value for your money
Came to Rack and Roll BBQ Shack after some serious shopping with my mom on Memorial Day. Looking for a new spot to dine at we came across Rack and Roll BBQ Shack. Unfortunately, my friend Alain’s review was filtered despite it containing good information on this spot. We were the second diners to arrive and were warmly greeted by Ono.
One will note the beautiful ambiance inside– the dark wood interior, the long and beautiful bar area, the plentiful seating area for restaurant patrons, and all the while maintaining a comfortable and casual feeling.
We ordered the following:
one iced tea
one arnold palmer
side of cornbread
pulled pork sandwich
tri-​tip sandwich
full rack of saint louis ribs
Iced tea and Arnold Palmer were served in glass jars (similar to Ball canning jars) — these were large and served cold which was refreshing. The pulled pork was über tender but could have used a tad more seasoning. I thoroughly enjoyed the tri-​tip sandwich — this was tender, seasoned to perfection and definitely a Noelle favorite. I didn’t like the potato salad– it was watery, tasteless and served room temperature. I had one bite of the St. Louis ribs– these were seasoned perfectly, smoked and fall off the bone delicious. While the barbecue sauces were good (not great) the St. Louis ribs were amazing without the sauce which is a testament to their dry rub seasoning. Cornbread was delicious– you could taste hints of honey and butter. I got the St. Louis full rack of ribs to go (for my husband).
Ono provided friendly customer service to all who entered. Great customer service and delicious food make Rack and Roll BBQ Shack a winner in my Unilocal Notebook!
Noelle’s Notes
Delish Eats!
Rack and Roll BBQ Shack is owned by the same people who own Old Port Lobster Shack.

Tucked in a corner in Westfield Valley Fair, Rack & Roll BBQ Shack is a new entry to the ever changing restaurant lineup of the rapidly changing mall.
I would like to preface this by saying that I am not the biggest BBQ fans, yet some of the items here were clear winners for me. In particular, I really liked the sausage and the brisket. In fact, this had to have been the best brisket I have ever had. For the most part, the ribs, chicken, and pulled pork were only okay to me, and I wish they had slightly more flavor. Overall, the BBQ was solid.
The real hidden gem about this place is its drinks selections. I was impressed with the wine and beer, but I opted for the soda. This place has some of the best fountain soda I have ever had, served in a mason jar. The servers were also very kind to always refill them whenever they saw me finish my drink.
The people care and the food is solid, but I only hope that some of the food had more seasoning. However, I believe I have found my favorites, and I look forward to a visit sometime in the future to get some of the lunch options. The set meals were all very convenient, but I wish there was a bit more customization! The sausage and the brisket are amazing, and I wish I could just get those two together.
It’s tough being a successful restaurant in a large mall like Valley Fair, and the location isn’t all that optimal from the outside. I wish for the best, and I look forward to visiting sometime in the future.
TIP: If I haven’t said it enough already: best brisket I’ve ever had.

Yesterday I had the baby back ribs, and they were super delicious! I also had the shack beans and I just cant get enough of these terrific beans! I also looooove the Shirley Temples and the chopped salads. I love the Shack! Its my favorite place to eat!