Posted by Todd Tucker on July 13, 2008
I have lived in Johnson City for a little over 15 years. I moved here from South Alabama. I have lived in Georgia and South Carolina. When I moved here all folks here talked about was Ridgewood BBQ. I decided I had to try it out. First, finding a day when they were open for business was hit or miss. The posted hours really don't mean a lot to them.
Over the last 15 years I have tried this place at least a dozen times and each and every time I have been let down. If you like BBQ soaked in so much sauce that you can't tell what kind of meat you are eating, then this may be the place for you. They only have the one very, very, very sweet sauce; you have to like thick sweet sauces. Also, one of the biggest disappointments in any BBQ place is when they don't serve ribs. The best thing I have had at Ridgewood is the blue cheese and crackers.
I have eaten at Big Bob Gibson's in Alabama, and Dreamland. I have eaten at Maurice's in South Carolina, and many small unknown places. Ridgewood just does not stack up. The prices are not too bad, but not too good either.
Overall: Worth a slight detour
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Reviewers "Must Eats" List
"Just north of the restaurant is this smoky building where hams are slow-smoked over hickory wood for hours."
Michael Stern
"This is the view from a booth near the kitchen: a beef sandwich and a pork plate, just assembled by the cook and ready to be carried to a table -- OUR table, we pray!"
Michael Stern
"Mostly what you see are French fries -- delicious, hot-from-the-kettle fries -- but beneath them is a heap of smoky pork slices bathed in tongue-tingling sauce. "
Michael Stern
"Although it is far off the beaten path, the Ridgwood is almost always crowded. Expect to wait at peak mealtimes."
Michael Stern
"Smoky, sweet, and laced with meat, Ridgewood's beans are a must-eat side dish."
Michael Stern
