I've been by this place thousands of times in the 17 years I have lived in Waterbury, but not once…read morehave I ever walked in here. Until today that is. You can certainly see they serve a lot of food, and you can see the combo deals from the outside looking in as well. That being said, anyone who's never been in here before might get a little confused on what to order, and I still had some confusion on how to order food even after I had made a decision. Also, being that it is on the corner that separates West Main from Willow, trying to get any kind of parking spot poses an inherent risk. Therefore, the only people I would really recommend try to come here would be people who either already live in Waterbury or are used to inner-city environments from similar cities. They do have another location on East Main if you are uncomfortable coming to this location, but at least here you can't really miss it.
What I will say in this restaurant's favor is that the portions sizes are huge, the food comes out hot, and the combo deals comes with a 2-liter bottle of soda. Example of this includes what I got today, which was their BBQ rib Combo, where I did white rice and chose the Fanta Orange for my soda. My combo comes with a container of baked beans, the aforementioned rice and soda, and also a salad that comes with a dressing.
So for my thoughts, let's start with the positive: the rice. Rice was cooked to a good temperature. Wasn't crunchy or mushy. The container was also enough that I will have enough for at least a few days. Maybe even the better part of the next week.
The ribs were alright. They weren't outstanding ribs, but they'll get the job done if you need some cheaper, smaller ribs. You can definitely get better ribs if you go to an authentic BBQ spot, and I would still eat Hindsight's ribs, or maybe even the ones from Texas Roadhouse, over this any day of the week, but in a pinch I could eat these ribs again.
I was not a fan of the beans. Now, I never was big into eating baked beans to begin with, so I know I am not the most qualified to talk about this. That being said, my time in Yelp has introduced me to new dishes I otherwise would never choose, and there have been other restaurants who have introduced me to a new dish and have won me over to that dish. In the 2020's alone, I have taken likings to Crab Rangoons, Lomo Saltados, dim sum, and even bubble teas. Unfortunately for this location, the beans tasted like they were even more heavily processed than Bush's baked beans. If I were trying find good baked beans, then I would need to keep looking.
I do like the convenience of this place and the portion sizes. That said, if I do order from here again, I would need to change how I place my orders a slight bit to see what else I can try.
