THE REVIEW - Josh's BBQ, Santa Fe, NM

Our second BBQ restaurant in Santa Fe was Josh’s BBQ – www.joshsbbq.com. It’s about 10 minutes southwest of Santa Fe in a strip mall. It won Santa Fe’s best new restaurant of 2008. You order at the counter, get a number and they bring the food to the table. We knew it was going to be decent when we saw a selection of three different sauces on the table along with a massive role of paper towels.

Outside Josh's BBQ in Santa Fe

Inside Josh's BBQ in Santa Fe

Three-meat platter at Josh's BBQ in Santa Fe. Includes brisket, pulled pork and pork ribs as well as sweet mashed potatoes, crisscut fries and cornbread

Josh's BBQ stuffed spud - baked potato with the works and pulled pork on top

Video of the grub at Josh's BBQ in Santa Fe, NM

Sauce – 3.5 – They had three different house-made sauces: Traditional Mild, Traditional Hot and Seasonal. All three started sweet and finished spicy, the difference came in the level of sweet and spicy. My mom and I preferred the Traditional Mild because it was just right and didn’t over power the food.

Sides – 3.5 – Sides were interesting because two of them were the best part of the meal and the other two were below standard. The mashed sweet potatoes were tremendous!! Sweet with a tad of spice! The beans were delicious as well. I’d go back just for those two sides. On the flipside, the coleslaw left something to be desired and the corn bread was standard.

Slabs – 3.5 – Josh’s pork ribs were tender and meaty like Cowgirls BBQ ribs, but Josh’s had that crispy skin and a slightly pink middle that I like. A half-rack was plenty. Add the sweet potatoes and beans and you got yourself a nice bbq meal.

Steaks – 3.5 – The brisket was moist and flavorful. Eating it plane with no sauce was just fine. It didn’t require a knife to cut it; a simple pull with your fork tore it apart showing its tenderness. I enjoyed it, but I hope we come across better, especially when we get into Texas.

Sandwiches – 3 – The pulled pork was decent. We enjoyed that it was chunky as opposed to stringy. It packed flavor so it was fine on its own, but the tasty sauce improved it slightly. A bite of saucy pulled pork covered in sweet mashed potatoes brought an immediate smile to my face.

Rating System:
1 - Barely edible
2 - Standard
3 - Good
4 - Very good
5 - Outstanding on every level