Side Door BBQ - Highgate

Gosh I love this place. Been here a couple of times, with friends and on quiet date nights. Food is consistently good with very large serving sizing and authentic Southern style food. A new reliable favourite

Ambience - Tick Service - Double tick Food presentation - Tick Drinks - Tick Quality and taste of food - This is where it goes wrong! Everything is well presented but completely lacking in taste. Not enough seasoning on the meats. The fried polenta was just like eating cardboard. Creamed corn was just corn with cream and no other flavour. Pork belly was chewy. Fries and (free) caramel popcorn were stale and not crisp. My husband eats potatoes like they are going out of fashion but couldn't stomach the soggy fries.  We were a table of 10, so there was no shortage of variety on the table, but the only dishes that didn't disappoint were Mac and Cheese and Chicken Wings.  Portion sizes are large, but overall an expensive meal considering a lot of food was wasted for not tasting that nice.

This place is so bad. It's so bad that I have to summarise & bullet point my review: - Complimentary bread with your pulled meat is a few slices of incredibly stale $1 Supermarket Loaf. Pretty sure they recycled the slices I didn't eat to someone else's meal. - Mac & Cheese is baked supermarket instant package Mac&Cheese. Not seasoned, bland and boring. - Food is obviously all pre-cooked and ready to serve. McDonald's takes longer to come out after ordering. Within 5min of placing an order the food is delivered to the table. - Why do they play the radio during dinner service? Play some music with a consistent theme, it's like sitting in a taxi. - De-seed your Jalapeño Poppers, are you crazy?!! I want to TASTE flavours, not burn my tastebuds off with the starter. - The ambience isn't good, I already mentioned the radio playing but the lighting is WAY too bright for a dinner service. Dimmers please. - Pulled Meat is dry, to make up for this they smother the meats in sauce before it arrives to the table to give the illusion of being moist and succulent. It's not. - Just because your interior is "stripped back" doesn't mean it can be dirty, it is still a restaurant and a place where food is prepared & served. Look at the light fixtures above the tables, they are covered in cobwebs and dust, hanging directly above where food is served. Okay this is the worst thing that happened: I ordered a mixed drink, whiskey and sprite. It was flat, like the can had been left opened in the fridge overnight, completely flat. So the next whiskey and sprite I asked for a fresh can so it wasn't flat - when the bill came there was a charge of $7 for a can of sprite! They charged me $7 for asking them to open a new can so my drink wasn't flat!!! Madness! Hated this place. Corny, cliche & not the slightest bit authentic. My mother-in-law cooks better pulled meats in her crockpot.

This place is so bad. It's so bad that I have to summarise & bullet point my review: - Complimentary bread with your pulled meat is a few slices of incredibly stale $1 Supermarket Loaf. Pretty sure they recycled the slices I didn't eat to someone else's meal. - Mac & Cheese is baked supermarket instant package Mac&Cheese. Not seasoned, bland and boring. - Food is obviously all pre-cooked and ready to serve. McDonald's takes longer to come out after ordering. Within 5min of placing an order the food is delivered to the table. - Why do they play the radio during dinner service? Play some music with a consistent theme, it's like sitting in a taxi. - De-seed your Jalapeño Poppers, are you crazy?!! I want to TASTE flavours, not burn my tastebuds off with the starter. - The ambience isn't good, I already mentioned the radio playing but the lighting is WAY too bright for a dinner service. Dimmers please. - Pulled Meat is dry, to make up for this they smother the... read more

Really enjoy this place. One of the best American BBQ in Perth at the moment. Staff super friendly and drinks choice is great. Collard greens mmm!