| Baker's Ribs 8019 Glen Lane Eden Prairie, MN 612-942-5337 Meat: 4.5 Sauce: 3.5 Sides: 3 Service: 4.5 Atmosphere: 4 Overall: 3 Reviewer's Comments: Growing up in Minnesota, I used to think barbecue meant sloppy joes. 6 years in Kansas City finally showed me the light. Upon moving back to Minnesota, I began a quest to find REAL barbecue. This search started out being not very promising, so I started making barbecue myself. Relief finally came at Baker's Ribs, a rather non-descript looking joint in a strip mail in one of the second ring suburbs of Minneapolis, and it's no suprise that it tooka Texan to bring real barbecue to Minnesota. In fact, both the pit (an all wood burner) and the pitboss were shipped up here from Texas. When you walk in, you know they make serious barbecue from the wonderful smoky aroma permeating the place. You may have to wait though, the line was out the door by 11:30 on a recent lunch visit. Efficient service got us to the line pretty quickly though, and many patrons get their Q to go, so there were plenty of seats. I elected to go with the sliced beef platter (Minnesotan's wouldn't know what it was if it was called brisket) and the beans. The brisket sandwich was great. Nice bark, tender & juicy interior, and a sauce of moderate sweetness and a bit of zing. This sauce brought back memories of the barbecue I got near Houston years ago at a roadside stand. The beans had a curious aftertaste to them, which I couldn't identify, and were only average. The addition of some chunks of meat and fat would work wonders for them. As it is, they are still above average for the area. Previous discussions with the staff revealed that the briskets are put in the smoker around 1:00am for lunch the next day. The smoker has a thermostatically controlled inlet damper, and only takes one addition of wood to last the night. What a great setup! I can't recall the temp they use, but when I get a chance, I'll find out and post again. In Minnesota, I've tried Famous Daves, Tony Roma's,
Roscoe's, John Hardy's, and a few others, and Baker's Ribs is the ONLY place I've found up
here so far that I would call real barbecue. John Hardy's is good, but it's been so long
since I've been there, that I really can't comment. Famous Daves & Tony Roma's are
just BAAAAAAD. It's hard to get much smoke flavor when you boil your ribs. Try this place
when you're in the area!
Baker's Ribs Also, I recently found out that they cook brisket & pork for 12 - 16 hours at 250 & ribs 4 hours at 290 Reviewed By: Patrick Lehnherr (lehnherr@isd.net)on April 2, 1999.
Baker's Ribs
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