Bubba's Texas-style Bar-B-Que and Saloon
2262 Hongqiao Lu,
Gubei/Hongqiao
near Jianhe Lu
虹桥路2262号
近剑河路
6242-2612
Open 10am-12pm
Price Y100-Y199 per couple
Accepts International Credit Cards
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- City Weekend
says -
At this authentic Texas-style barbecue, the aroma of slow-cooked meats, ribs and tangy sauces greets diners at the smokehouse's swinging saloon doors. Two-steppin' tunes set the mood for tucking into high quality beef cuts or a sizzling pulled pork sandwich.
- Contributor
Description -
Specializing in Texas-style smoked meats, Bubba's Texas-style Bar-B-Que is China's only authentic Texas barbeque joint. Ribs, chicken, and beef are smoked to perfection using a traditional pit smoker and apple wood for flavoring through the slow-cook process. The place also does a great job of sports coverage, and is packed come big American-sport matches.
Contributed by kj
1 year, 7 months ago
Reviews Been there? Add a review!
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When I miss home, I decide against impulsively booking a ticket back to the States or and I head to Bubba's for a game and relax with all the other people in Shanghai who still believe football is something played with a pigskin and not your feet.
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Bubba's is Definitely overrated and A big dissappointment. Worst BBQ I have tasted. Chicken was cold, over cooked to be too dry --- that meat seems to crumbling to powder; Ribs was served cold, sauce used have a strong artificial sweetening flavor.
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The food was ok, but my brisket was served cold. I actually liked the BBQ sauce, but then again I am from the East Coast.... Overall it was average for a western meal in Shanghai. It was a little overpriced for the portions and Bubba himself was no where to be found.
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Agree that the food isn't that good. The reason to go is the sports, especially college football. Get on his mailing list to know what's going to be on. But arrive early for big events because the setup doesn't allow very many seats clear views of the TVs.
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Visited Bubba's again recently for a relook at their offering. I had previously been there two times (or maybe three?) a couple of months after it opened back in 2005 (or 2006?). Ignoring the imprecision of my monkey memory, let's get to the updated review.
Concept: Still a great idea. Texas Bar-B-Que in Shanghai. Sounded like a guaranteed winner back then and still does today.
Decor: Very nice build-out of a standalone building on Hong Qiao Road next door to the Marriot. Got to give the owner (KJ) credit for daring to plunk down such a chunk of money to get it done right the first time...well, not exactly right (see below) but pretty close.
Location: Bubba's is located on one of those Clint Eastwood spaghetti-western movie sets. Surrounded by dry brush and tumbling tumbleweeds (much better than the stationary kind), it takes 3 days of hard riding to reach the location. On the way there, you pass a crawling-position skeleton that is shackled to a huge wagon wheel. If you take a wrong turn, you will miss the crawling skeleton and instead see a skeleton drinking a (never empty) bottle of wine while perched on top of a pile of gold coins and other booty. Wrong way. Go back until you see the crawling skeleton and turn left.
Decor Part 2: OK, basic build-out was kinda wood bar, haunted house-ish style. When I first went there two years ago, it was too clean and uncluttered. Now the place has been scuffed up (puked on?) a bit and had some dumb things hung on the wall, so it looks much more lived-in and comfortable. The decision to use high quality materials in the first build-out seems to be paying off, since the place looks like it could go another 2 or 3 years before any renovation is needed. (Totally different from Malone's approach of using crappy formica materials and renovating once per year). Still, I think Bubba's would benefit from some additional authentic "wall stuff" with a Texas theme.
Food: Previous complaints included cold food, undercooked beans, and skimpy presentation on the plate (more like a French restaurant with sauce swirls than a big honkin' Texas-style place). Let's see how things have changed since then...
Presentation: Much better. More honkin' than before. Zimbu like.
Rib temperature: Not cold like before. Warm as promised. KJ printed a big long explanation inside the menu specifically for me about why I should not expect the smoked items to be steaming hot. I'll bet he is happy I finally came back to read it after two long years. (By the way, the menu is easier to read then the original version)
Rib Taste: Excellent. Love the grungy bark-stuff on the outside layer. Like they were dropped into a bed of sawdust before goin' in the smoker. Sounds disgusting, but tastes gooood.
Burracho (spelling? Sounds like a Mexican word for either "drunk" or "cheap"; I am not sure which; Maybe neither?) Beans: Really good, but I could have done without the cheese. Still, the taste was right on. Not undercooked either.
Potato Salad: Not to my liking. I think one of the ingredients threw it off the right path. Maybe too much celery? Chinese celery is pretty damn strong tasting, so that could be it.
Little Corn Cakes Thingies: These were a big hit last time, and they still should be good, but mine were a bit stale tasting this time. I know, KJ will say I should have asked for a fresh batch, but I am a chicken about stuff like this. I just sit there and take it and then go home to take revenge on the internet. Sorta like the Unibomber but without the hooded sweatshirt.
Hamburger: Good taste, but meat patty was one size too small for the bun (bun was really good though). Also the meat had too much "extender" mixed in (or maybe the cow was slaughtered right in the middle of chowing down on a big meal?). Still tasted great with the dark bbq sauce on it. Also loved the big ol' chunk o' tomato and honkin' slice o' onion. OK amount of lettuce also (I hate when other places give you one little piece of lettuce and a long-angled single slice of pickle for your burger. Something very "euro" about that).
Fries: Good. Not as good as Blue Frog's, but pretty close. Actually, it doesn't matter much since only Bubba's has the bbq sauce for dipping your fries. The sauce wins. Actually, just dipping my fingers into Bubba's BBQ sauce and licking it off is better that eating Blue Frog's fries.
Diet Coke: OMG...they free refill Diet Cokes! The girl saw I was nearly finished with my first, and just walked over with another cold Diet Coke for me. It was as if she read my mind of somethin'. This is more amazin' than auto-flush toilets ("terlets", in Texan)! Every other restaurant owner in Shanghai that refuses to refill Diet Cokes should be shackled to a wagon wheel and left to rot in the desert surrounding Bubba's.
Service: I don't want to help restaurant staff with their English skills. Unobtrusive is what I prefer, and that's pretty much what they deliver at Bubba's. Good.
Picky Point: Looks like they have a case of the "gee, we did not think there would be so much stuff to store when we designed this place" disease. Although the stacked up beer cases add some atmosphere, they also look a little messy. I wonder now if there really is beer in those boxes? If I was half drunk there one night, I would definitely help myself to "free refills" if those boxes had real bottles in them. Maybe they're empties only??? Not half drunk today, so I did not check. The upstairs stairway area is also loaded up with supplies.
Summary: Much improved food and presentation put Bubba's back on the "APPROVED BY ZIMBU" list.
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overrated and overpriced.