BBQ in Cincinnati

I was pretty excited when Cincinnati magazine came out with an article about barbeque.  I have grown to love BBQ lately, but I almost always seem to be disappointed.  Well established food trucks, tried and true restaurants with a long pedigree, fancy places, run down places, it just seems like restaurants just can't get their BBQ right.  Too fatty, flavorless, insipid sauces, too mushy, no meat, niggardly portions, just not right.  So I thought great, finally some people who know food have gone around and picked out the very best places.  I've been hitting a lot of the places on the list the last couple of months and, unfortunately, like so many restaurant reviews, they completely miss the mark.  Half of the barbeque rated as the tip top of Cincinnati has been mediocre at best and down right awful at worst.  The last place I went the ribs were completely flavorless and about the consistency of mashed potatoes.  Everyone likes tender ribs, but the meat should at least resemble meat, not mush.  I was so excited when I saw the wood piled up near the door, too.

So far, I have found two that I would visit again.

1) Eli's (elisbarbeque.com): Yes, everyone else in Cincinnati knows this place is awesome, so no earthshaking discovery here.  The pulled pork is spectacular, full of flavor, tender, and moist.  So, so good, and not expensive.  Good portion too.  The sides are top notch.  They only  have one sauce, but it is full of flavor and delicious.  So many places in Cincy have a whole array of sauces.  They all suck, but you have a lot of choices of suckiness.  I am perfectly content with one good one.  The ribs at Eli's I found OK, but not spectacular.  Maybe I need to try them again.  They were tasty, but just not like the pulled pork.

2) Alabama Que alabama-q.com:  I only went once, but the smoked turkey tips were great.  They were super lean and quite flavorful.  Semi-healthy BBQ.  The portions were quite large and only $8.  They make their own real fruit teas, which is a bit bonus.  My wife liked her smoked salmon.  Unlike other places, their range of sauces are actually pretty good and the spicy is very spicy.  You have been warned.  The neighborhood is shall we say gentrifying, so a mix of poverty and young money.  The sides seemed pretty decent (had collards and candied yams - very good).  They have tables, but take out is the way to go.

3) B and W (corner of Kennedy and Montgomery in Kennedy Heights) Nice ribs, good firm texture to the meat, some grilled crispiness, relatively meaty, super-hot sauce was a good balance of heat and sweetness.  Fairly broad menu.  Also have turkey tips that I haven't yet tasted along with Jamaican dishes.  This is another take out place

Ok, not great:

J and W Bar-B-Que (www.yelp.com/biz/j-and-w-bar-b-que-cincinnati):  OK ribs, friendly people

Disappointments:
Pit to Plate (love the name, but ribs expensive, mediocre)
Jim Dandy's (overcooked, flavorless)
Smoq (too expensive, mediocre food on all levels)
Food truck in Madisonville east of Red Bank (need to get the name)