Joe’s Real BBQ – Gilbert, AZ

Who would think you could get good BBQ in the middle of the Arizona desert?  Today I was driving through the Town of Gilbert and passed by a little place in an old brick building called Joe’s Real BBQ.  I’m immediately intrigued; I haven’t really seen that many BBQ places out here in Arizona since I’ve been here so I decided to stop by and see what this place was all about.  I walked into this place and they have some really cool midwest farm style decor going on and the restaurant is cafeteria style.  I’m personally a fan of cafeteria style because I like to see what I’m eating before I order it.  Now I realize that some  could argue with me that with cafeteria style you are not getting fresh, made to order food.  I reject that statement with Joe’s Real BBQ.  I looked over the menu, he had quite a selection; ribs, chicken, brisket, pulled pork, salads, oodles of side dishes, and some fabulous looking homemade desserts like cheesecake and pecan brownies.   I’m thinking I’m in hog heaven.

I can’t decide what I want because everything looks damn good, so I go with the sampler plate which comes with some pulled pork, 2 ribs, chopped brisket, and a quarter of BBQ chicken.  It also comes with one side, I was between the baked beans and the corn, but I decided to go with the corn.  The sampler runs $10.99 with one side, and it’s a dollar more if you want another side.  You get your tray, flatware, and drink yourself first.  The sampler came out pretty fast, I hadn’t finished paying the cashier yet.  It was definitely a solid portion of food.  I lifted my tray and started walking to find a table and I noticed in an island I was confronted with more choices.  Joe’s Sweet & Spicy BBQ sauce and Joe’s Extra Hot & Spicy BBQ sauce.  Why just have one when you can have both?  So I filled two little paper cups with sauce and found a table.  Now it’s time to see if this place is worthy or not.  I dig in.  It is worthy.   First of all, let me just say that the meat on the ribs, literally fell right off the bone.  They had a very nice smokey flavor.  I used a little bit of the extra spicy BBQ sauce, which had a nice bite to it but wasn’t overpowering.  Everything on my plate was delicious.  I liked the pulled pork and the brisket the best, extremely tender.  And let me say this, Joe’s is really smoking this stuff for a good while;  the brisket and the ribs had that nice pink layer right underneath the outside of the meat confirming my suspicion.  Good stuff I say.  The chicken was uber tender and moist, also coming nicely off the bone.  The corn was also top notch, super sweet. I like this place very much.  So far, this is the only BBQ joint I have tried in Phoenix and so far it’s my favorite.  One small con to Joe’s; I don’t like that they have the line (which gets rather long, as this place is popular with the locals) running past the booths and tables.  You get a lot of food oglers, which I find somewhat annoying.  They just wait in line and watch you eat.  I would like to see them move the line in it’s own area.  Regrettably, I stuffed myself silly and did not have room to go back up and try a pecan brownie which I was eying up as I paid for my meal.  But that’s okay, it just gives me a reason to go back to Joe’s.

Joe’s Real BBQ
301 N. Gilbert Road
Gilbert, AZ 85233
http://www.joesrealbbq.com/