Brooks' House of Bar-B-Q

Eating at Brook's on the way home from skiing both the Catskills, and Adirondacks, has become a tradition with me and my ski buddies. As or visits have increased, sadly the quality of our meals has declined. I won't even order ribs anymore, you have to cut each individual rib from it's neighbor. You shouldn't need a knife to eat ribs. I've substituted pulled pork for ribs. This was fine until our last visit, the pulled pork was chewy. Last night my chicken was dry as a bone, it tasted as if it had been under a heat lamp for some time. It probably had, the place was dead. Another issue we have is being told we would be charged for more than one loaf of bread for our group despite all checks being separate. If we came in individually, we'd each get a small loaf of bread. Kudos to Brook's for adding real bacon bits, replacing the soy bits they used to provide, and adding chick peas, to the salad bar. This doesn't make up for the decline in quality of their main fare. They've also raised prices by 30%. Brook's used to be a great meal for a little more than fast food, not so much anymore.
7 years ago (19-01-2018)

Having ordered takeout from this restaurant previously, my dining experience was underwhelming. To begin, they apparently do not serve alcohol, when dining in. If they do serve alcohol, I was not informed, and yes this is a deal breaker in some circumstances. The service was amazing, the staff is extremely receptive and friendly. Unfortunately, however, the layout of the restaurant is very plain and feels dated. Its very family oriented, which is great in most circumstances, but I was expecting more. What ultimately prompted me to write this review, was the quality of food. My guest and I received what seemed to be precooked frozen food that was prepared, perhaps, in a microwave. I cannot validate this claim, but the food appeared to be cheaply made or a few hours old. We did not send the food back, but instead left approximately 10 mins after being seated and attempted to recook whatever we could at home. We ended up discarding about half of what we took home. I can understand why people visit this establishment, but respectively, I don't accept the quality of the food prepared and would not expect others to either. Its unlikely I am the only individual with these concerns and I find the current 4.5 star rating to be very deceptive.
7 years ago (24-01-2018)

Long standing line but moves fairly quickly. Fries not cooked enough. Thought baked beans were part of BBQ but we must be wrong as not on menu or rather limited salad bar. Soft warm fresh bread to slice yourself but butter was hard and cold. Decent size portions. Never got to dessert.
7 years ago (05-10-2017)

This house of BBQ is over 70 years old and yet it still pulls in big crowds even for weekday lunches. But the place has lots of parking and a very large dining hall. Once you taste the food you will see why they are so popular. All of the barbecue meals are excellent. There is even a small salad bar.
7 years ago (29-10-2017)

We went there on the weekend and we had a long line of people going in. But when we got in we were served quickly and it was worth the wait. The chicken is so moist and savory. Lots of choices on the salad bar also. You meal is served with a small loaf of warm bread. My suggestion is if you are going to try it, go during the week.
7 years ago (08-09-2017)