📍 Address: 406 Center Dr, Superior

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5)

After being in the Boulder vicinity off and on for the last few years, I was excited to find a "Texas BBQ" place only a few blocks away. Of course I had to visit, since most of the local "bbq" has been disappointing to a Texas native. I've now stopped by Wayne's several times,. The bottom line on Wayne's Smoke Shack is -- while there are some positives, I am still disappointed. However, many local folks really like it. I was weaned in Fort Worth on first Walter Jetton's, and then Angelo's BBQ (and more recently Railhead). Then I spent several decades throughout central Texas, regularly visiting and enjoying all the regional standards. I was a frequent patron of the markets in Luling and Lockhart, and I have repeatedly sampled the goods from each of the places enshrined in the wall photos in Wayne's. (I really liked the back room at the old Kreuz Market, now Smitty's). This review is from a sound knowledge base of the important BBQ style Wayne (correctly) praises. When you enter his shopping center storefront, Wayne cheerfully greets each customer at the cutting board. He seems like a really nice guy, and I bet he has a lot of stories! He explains the "format" of getting lunch by the pound, a sensible way that may be new to his customers. The "decor" is entirely appropriate -- wooden tables where there is no problem sharing a long table at crowded times. He really knows the traditions. You'd almost expect to see knives chained to the tables, like at the old Kreuz. Proper BBQ is sliced on the spot, and served on butcher paper, and this is the way Wayne does it. And he sells it 'til its gone: another proper way to run a BBQ place. First, the BBQ: Brisket - very moist (unusually so). Wayne offers a choice -- either "lean" or "moist" cuts. This is an unusual distinction in bbq parlance. The usual distinction is between flat cuts of brisket (universal for slicing) and point cuts of brisket (fattier, marled, and less desirable). When you cook a whole brisket, you get both parts, and of course preferences will vary. I prefer the flat cut parts; the rest (trimmed) is for chopped beef and for leftovers like chili (which Wayne's does have). Each time I have been to Wayne's I have been served slices from point cut brisket, and it had been "moist" but too fatty for my taste. It is very tender (falls apart), and no knives are needed. But too much fat for my taste. This is different from decades of experience in Central Texas. Wayne's brisket has disappointingly little flavor -- even repeated shakes of the salt shaker did not make it savory. There was no detectable smoke flavor or overtones. There was a nice crust, but the "moistness" rendered the crust wet and limp -- no bite or "mouth-feel". After finishing a half-pound of moist brisket, there remained about 3 ounces of fatty bits and "juice" (=oil) on the paper. I never left anything on the paper at old Kreuz Market. Ribs -- same price as brisket ($14/lb). Wayne asks how many bones. I had 3. My ribs were brought from a warm-cabinet where they'd been stored. They were "ok". Lots of very tender fall-off-the-bone meat. Much fat remained, it had not been fully rendered. Nice crusty-coating, but soggy (moist). Maybe storing bbq wrapped in a warmer can lead to a loss of texture. The ribs had no flavor at all. Maybe all the rub was washed off by the "moistness"? But the ribs were tender and juicy. Sausage -- made from some kind of organic cows I think. That must be a Boulder necessity. Bottom line -- the sausage is sausage, but it is not Elgin sausage. Enough said. It is good that Wayne has sausage for folks that want it. Chicken -- why would anyone go to a Texas BBQ place for chicken? Sides -- sides are not a tradition, so not too important -- baked beans were the worst I have ever had. I did not finish them. Slaw was OK. I didn't try anything else. Thanks to Wayne's for having sides for folks that want them. Rolls -- These come with the meat -- they're OK, hot, good with butter, a little dough-y but they will certainly keep your belly and backbone from bumping (apologies to Guy Clark). The last time I was at Wayne's, it was busy lunchtime, and there were no rolls when I was served. Got some 10 minutes later. Now, the simple solution would be to imitate a central Texas BBQ place, and have few loaves of white bread or soda crackers right at the counter to served with the meat. Hot rolls are nice, but white bread would have done the trick nicely. Unanswered (maybe I should have asked) - where is the meat cooked? In the central Texas tradition, one sees the meat cooking. At Wayne's storefront, I saw no evidence of BBQ production. I guess with clean-air requirements, they would need smoke arrestors and scrubbers on their discharge. Maybe they cook on-site, but it is not easy to see where or how. Maybe they cook the meat some non-traditional way. It is certainly tender, but it has no flavor or smokiness.

📍 Address: 39 Smithe Street, Vancouver

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐ (2.5)

This place only look fancy and located in the new casino downtown. Other then the high end location with nice quality setting. The foods did not match up to the expectation. Servers some nice and some just don't really care to help . You need look rich to be serve better or something. The manager only care for bigger group of Chinese costumers. My group only have 3 pplz and we asked him to take our orders and he said be right there. N we just watching him walk around n say hi to other costumers. Introducing his name n walk around like a dog with his wagging tale! We waited for a long time to get serve , and the foods took like 20'mins to come out. We only ordered dim sum. Nothing complicated. Yet the foods came out n we all very disappoint . Taste like frozen stuffs , not fresh. It has a smell to most dishes like chicken feet, beef Tendons, and sieu mai. We decided not to order more dishes after our first 6 came out . All was such a let down . Very disappointed. And when the bill came out. They seem to be more sucking up to us for better tips . Expensive, bad service , nasty foods!

📍 Address: 559 Washington St, Brighton

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5)

This place has been great in the past, but they have been disappointing as of late. We're now looking for a new Thai place...

📍 Address: 7860 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

What a wonderful find! We happened to drive by the shopping center where the Hills Market is located, and decided to pop in after seeing some signs for it. It turns out we decided to check it out on a great day - it was Ohio Market Day, and they were featuring tons of booths for a variety of locally made products including sauces, cheese, tea, meats, milk, and more. A Boar's Head stand was offering free hot dogs, and all of the booths had delicious samples. In addition to discovering so many new wonderful products (that new chocolate milk from the Snowville Creamery was amazing!), I was delighted to see the variety of specialty products carried in the store. There was a lot of locally made products, clearly labelled, and I was really impressed by the variety of gluten free products offered (including many products from local gluten free bakeries like Sweet Mama's and Soodle's & Company). I was also excited to pick up a list of events and cooking classes that the Hills offers and look forward to attending some. While the standard grocery items were higher-priced, the specialty product prices and the items on-sale were competitively priced. Since I regularly shop multiple stores, I am looking forward to visiting the Hills again for specialty products and locally-made products, as well as some events.

📍 Address: 316 SE 123rd Ave, Ste D-11, Vancouver

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5)

Moved here from San Diego. After 2-1/2 years we have finally found a great authentic Mexican Restaurant. Believe me we have tried most of them. My husband is a fan of really good chile rellenos, and has not been happy with any of them locally until we came to Lindo Mexico. Superb customer service and great tasting food. Definitely a fan!! Really like the fried ice-cream too

📍 Address: 4 S Market St, Boston

⭐ Stars:⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4)

I recommend to go early when i went there i think all stores were almost to closing i heard normally it's crowded but when i went there there was no people I think because all the stores and restaurant was closing even though I didn't eat they made a good space to eat your food