Restaurant Review: 28 BBQ

The wife and I went to 28 BBQ tonight. You don't want to go there for the ambiance.

The restaurant seems new, but we saw other reviews going back to 2007. It looks like there is a take-out part and a sit-down restaurant part, which is where we went. The walls are a light green and all the tables are square wood tables for two. Larger tables are created by putting multiple tables together. The light is bright fluorescent and the floor is tile, so the place overall is very bright. Since the place wasn't busy, the waitress told us to pick a table where we wanted to sit. There was a TV hanging from the ceiling in a corner of the room playing a repeat of Law & Order.

On the table were mustard and ketchup squeeze bottles (the yellow and red one's), a napkin dispenser and salt & pepper shakers. The tables had paper place mats and settings with a fork and knife. Remember, you're not there for the ambiance.

I ordered the beef short ribs and the wife ordered the paella. I got a salad included with mine and my wife ordered a separate one. When they came, they were just lettuce, tomato and onion. We weren't offered a choice of dressing and oil & vinegar was brought with the salads. A bread basket with basic bread and butter was also brought to the table. The place is BYOB so we brought a bottle of Mark West pinot noir wine, which I'm "testing" for Thanksgiving. (Any errors in this post are attributable to the wine, since I ended up drinking almost the whole bottle.) Julia was bummed because she was looking forward to sangria.

While we were eating the salads, which were fine, the waitress brought each of us a plate, which she put on the side of us. This really could have been done once the salad plates were cleared, but then, you're not here for the ambiance. When we were done with the salads, the plates were cleared promptly. Then it was time for another glass of wine, at least for me.

The main courses were served and they were large portions. The paella was a large silver bowl of yellow rice with half a lobster on top. There were clams and mussels mixed in. There was also supposed to be shrimp in there, but there was none to be found. The mussels weren't open, so they were not edible. We pointed this out to the waitress and she brought the manager over. He apologized and offered to re-make the dish, but Julia declined. Ultimately the dish was removed from the bill. The short ribs were good. They were a little fatty near the bone, but that is to be expected. They were cooked as ordered (medium) and were tasty. There were a lot of "meat" items on the menu, so I think that is what you should be ordering if you go there. The prices were reasonable.

As far as beverages go, there were Coca Cola products in a cooler on display. It looked like there were pieces of cake and other desserts in a cooler next to that one. We did not order dessert, so I don't know how those tasted.

Overall it was just "Ok." My dinner was good but Julia's was not. The ambiance was nothing to speak of. I think the place does a good take-out business because the parking lot was full, but there weren't many people in the restaurant part.