We wanted to try this place because all the good reviews and we are glad we went! First of all the customer service was great! The people were friendly, helpful, and funny too! I think it's a family own business. Now the food was delicious! The ribs were tender and very flavorful! I love their bbq sauce. Best bbq place in Tracy and I will sure come back for more! But the only thing that bothered me was the hygiene.. While we were sitting down waiting for our food, we noticed there were lots of flies.. There was flies everywhere, in the air, on the tables, and everything. I would give it a 5 star if it wasn't for the bad sanitary place. read more

This place was just amazing. Got the ribs lunch special and they were the best ribs I've had in years, if not ever. Tender, fall off the bone, but still flavorful to the max. You could taste the smoke in the meat they were so good. My one regret is that I didn't order a full BBQ platter, but whenever I do end up back somehow someway, I will. The people here were the nicest people I've met in years too, really great place that I'd go to almost every day if I lived nearby. Will be back EVERY time I roll through North Cal. read more

I 've been going to Shorter's 4 over 5 yrs. now, never disappointed.My food is always fresh and delicious. I've referred over 20 of my clients to my spot. Bbq or Cat fish for me.. A1 5 Star Service swift service always.. Shannon & James Above The Rest Barber & Hair Designs read more

Stopped off here for some dinner one night - pleasantly surprised. First off, this place knows how to squeeze "casual" until it begs for mercy! Nice, homey feeling to the place, and the folks couldn't be friendlier. I ordered a bbq sandwich - don't even remember what the sides were, or even if I had any. Wow! Portion size is NOT a problem here! I opened up the sandwich and ate a bunch of the meat before I bothered to put the sandwich back together and start again. The meat is fall-apart tender, smoky and delicious; the sauce only complements it. There's no "covering bad meat with strong sauce" going on here! These folks know what bbq is all about! read more

Always good, generally busy, good friendly service. Where BBQ is concerned, this is the closest to Flint's (Oakland's finest) I've found in CA! Today I had fish and cole slaw. I brought a friend who chose tilapia while I had cat fish. I tasted hers but mine was better. Today was really, really loud; my friend and I could not carry on a conversation without having to raise our voices. If I had one suggestion it would be to make Frank's Louisiana hot sauce available for those of us from the east coast...however, I have been known to bring my own. read more

Customer service is rude. Takes forever to get food and they are not polite at all. Amount is not worth the price.

This place is FANTASTIC!!! My husband and I love supporting family owned restaurants, and this is hands down one of the top BBQ places we have ever been to in the U.S. They have the smoker in the parking lot-- that's how you know it's amazing!! The tri-tip and hot link are so good, it makes you wish you had more room in your stomach so you could eat more!! We will definitely be returning! It's a must go!!! read more

The smell from the street draws you in. RUN as fast as you can away, or lower your standards by 85% and you might not get the shitz. Ordered BBQ wings and red beans, simple right. 35 minutes later I get wings improperly packaged and overflowing with BBQ sauce that took almost as long to clean off the rental car seats as they did to cook. Red beans were basically old Dennison Chili, with MORE BBQ sauce. If you think it could not get worse, it did, there was hair on the wings. Going to make immediate contact with the health department. This place needs to be fined and closed. SIMPLE This place must have a lot of friends and family commiting fraud with the 4 & 5 star reviews. Owner did not even bother to come to the phone. read more

I haven't been to Shorter's since they moved. I looked on Yelp for ribs and just wasn't interested in the places listed. I remembered the people at Shorter's as being welcoming and the ribs to die for. Nothing has changed. The people were awesome and the ribs... sooooo good! In fact, when I drove up the guy outside called my name. He knew I had that "I'm gonna get my ribs look." I told him that I wouldn't share my ribs, but I did... with my hubby. I'll be back!!! Maybe this weekend. THE NEXT DAY: Yep, went back for the pulled pork dinner with potato salad and greens. Yummy!!! read more

New location and still awesome. I drove from Dublin to get food for church picnic. It's worth it!

I was happy they were still open due to covid I wasn't sure their bbq is delicious. I've been craving bbq, I haven't been here over 3 years so i moved to Sac recently and I drove from sac to come get some bbq. read more

Pretty solid bbq. I had the three way bbq with pork ribs, tri-tip, and brisket. Very friendly staff. BBQ spaghetti was amazing. I will have to try the sweet potato pie. Can't wait to come back. read more

I love, love, love the ribs at this place!! We stopped by on our way to Yosemite and this little gem was a great find. The ribs were tender, but still has a bite. The sauce is on the sweet side, which I love. Had the greens and coleslaw as sides, and they were just OK. Definitely will be going back and ordering a whole rack of ribs. Yum yum yum!! And the service was great and super friendly. Ca definitely tell it's a family ran place. Wish there are more restaurants like this in the world. read more

That is good BBQ! Had a delicious pulled pork sandwich with a side of potato salad. Great service. read more

Top of the line!!! This is great BBQ, you can't go wrong with any of it. The BBQ sauce is awesome with a sweet tangy taste!!! Woooo

This is my home away from home. Dave and Ebony are the best. Great quality food with service you can't get anywhere else.

Our first visit to Tracy... 'Had to try the local barbecue and wasn't disappointed. Excellent ribs and tri-tip. read more

Shorter's Barbeque - Barbeque Near Me - Tracy, California

I have been craving real BBQ for a while and this place def, def is great!! After reading all the reviews I just had no choice but to try it. I tried the Tri-tip dinner with Mac n cheese, cole slaw, and I added a small side of potato salad...it was all delicious!!! Worth the time and money. I personally feel that the sides are perfect because the amount of Tri-tip that I got could feed me for four days. Everything is fresh and by far the best cole slaw!! I would def recommend this place to everyone and the customer service is awesome too. Try it out! read more

Oh me, oh my! Great tri tip sandwich! I'm leery of coleslaw, but theirs is perfection! And the mac'n cheese? TO DIE FOR!! I saved room for sweet potato pie, and it's the real deal. I've made it myself before; but clearly, using real sweet potatoes instead of canned (like mine) makes a HUGE difference. read more

Shorter's Barbeque - The aftermath - Barbeque Near Me - Tracy, California

(review overdue) We had some of Shorter's DELICIOUS Pulled Pork for an event. To this day, it was the Best ever and Huge portions ! (9/10/2011) read more

I am sitting in Shorter's right now waiting for my to go order. This is my second time coming in the past week. The food is delicious. It is difficult to just pick one thing. Luckily, the menu has a two way combo and a three way combo. The ribs are tender, the pulled pork is juicy and flavorful. This time I am trying the brisket. There is also catfish on the menu. The catfish has a light cornmeal coating, and is moist and flakey. If you like heat with your BBQ then you must ask for hot sauce for your BBQ. The owner and other staff are very nice and welcoming. Happy atmosphere. I will return again. read more

Tiny local place next to a barber shop Fries from scratch Good tri-tip Service with charm Call ahead, I waited almost an hour for one sandwich and fries Every person is a regular and recognized read more

Had dinner here tonight with my 2 kids. I had the link sausage dinner with coleslaw and barbecued spaghetti. It was delicious! That spaghetti is spicy but oh soooo tasty. My son had the pulled pork sandwich we he said was really good. My daughter had the fish (catfish) and chips. She said the fish was nice and crispy. Really good meal. We will definitely be coming back again. read more

We were in town on a job and were struggling to find somewhere to eat that actually had a dining room open. Shorter's was open and we could sit down. Then I got into some of the best BBQ I've had in a long time. I travel a lot all over country and try to find good local BBQ and this place is definitely it. It's not upscale, it's a down home good food type place with no frills but has some great BBQ. I had the ribs, great smoke flavor, tender well cooked and the sauce was great. The slaw was great and the garlic fries were good also. Lol enough garlic to ward off a pack of vampires. My colleague had the chicken with garlic fries and Mac and cheese. It was great also. I would recommend this place, great BBQ. When I'm back in town I will be back. read more

Found this place after shopping at Crate and Barrel outlet. It is in a bowling alley, you know it's good BBQ when it's in a non-touristy location. Went for lunch, had the pulled pork sandwich, the meat was so soft, melts in your mouth. Sooooooo delicious, I put a little Louisiana hot sauce on it. I would drive out of my way for this. read more

Excellent ribs, period -- perhaps the best in the San Joaquin. After our first HUGE order of ribs was drenched in sauce (but were still incredibly flavorful) (and the sauce was quite good) we went for sauce-on-side on our subsequent visits and were very satisfied ... make that *beyond* satisfied. Why only four stars? Here's my (bad) math: the barbecue gets five stars, the sides get three stars (good stuff, but small portions), the service gets a three (why so maddeningly slow each visit, even with no other customers waiting for their food?) and a two for the ambiance (come on, spend a few hours fixing the joint up!) ... which adds up to a 3.25 stars, which I'll round up because the barbecue is really, truly, honestly wonderful. Looking for great barbecue and willing to sit around and wait for it? Give Shorter's a chance. You won't regret it. read more

BBQ spaghetti??? Soooo good. Tilapia is not oily and doesn't taste like fried batter. Tri-tip is perfect. read more

Shorter's Barbeque - BBQ spaghetti - Barbeque Near Me - Tracy, California

We tried the pulled pork, tri tip, and ribs. Our sides were Mac and cheese, greens, and backed beans. The food was delicious, and the staff is great! Will Def come back worth the drive. read more

The owner is friendly and the BBQ is NO lie hands down best TRI-TIP sandwich I've had thus far!! I asked for the spicy but don't tempt DAVE the owner! He will light up the BBQ Must TRY!!!!!! Best BBQ ever hands down!!!!!!!!!!! read more

I have never had a bad meal from Shorter's. The price is a bit high, but I keep coming back because the food is good! I would encourage anyone to try Shorter's at least once. read more

I give this place a 1-star due to the portion size is small the side orders are small the macaroni and cheese was terrible it was dry the potato salad could be better the prawns were over cook and burned and this is not acceptable when you're charging pricey 17.99 for a fish dinner in 12.99 pawns that were over cook and that were dry and they were small they were not even fresh prawns. Will not be going back there BBQs probably okay and that's even also just okay sometimes to me just an FYI proceed with precautious. read more

Changed my opinion on the ribs. Like the tri-tip much better. I think the cut of ribs were not that great, too grisly and too much barbecue sauce for my taste. Loving the tri-tip now. Also, their pulled pork is really really good. I also thought they had gone out of business. It appears they moved from downtown to a new location. Not thrilled with the location but will need to try it again. read more

Excellent, excellent food! Had the ribs, beans, and potato salad. Devoured the ribs, which I don't usually do- the ribs were big and meaty, and nice and smoky. The sauce had a nice spice to it, but not hot at all- very tasty! The potato salad and beans were really, really good- definitely recommend! read more

The African guy that works there is really nice. He seems like a good guy but talks a lot. I feel like he needs to pay his employees more because of the service they give. BEST NIGGA BBQ IN THE WOLDDDD!!! read more

I have to say this is the best family owned (non chain) bbq in Tracy that I have found. Although the small shop could use some white glove cleaning (it is a bbq joint), the staff is always friendly, the food is always good, the sauces are wonderful. I have been coming here since they opened and appreciate the soul they put into their cooking. read more

Best bbq I've had period. These people might not have the decor or big chain appeal or 'big yellow cup'... but their food is flat out the best bbq in Tracy. Their best order is the ribs. Smoked and paid attention to. They take real pride in their food. These guys straight up know what they are doing. I tried out Dickey's a day when Shorters wasn't open out of curiosity and even the Dickey's employees admitted that shorters was better!!! read more

This place is AMAZING! Even before you step inside, the aroma of slowly-cooking barbecue wafts through the air. The second you walk through the doors, you're greeted by the smells of the different meats that are always fresh off the grill. The place may be rather small, but that just contributes to the family feel. Indeed, it's more like stepping into Mom's kitchen than a restaurant. That feeling of down-home comfort doesn't stop at the ambiance. The people taking your orders are some of the most friendly I've ever encountered. If there was a review based solely on customer service, the staff alone would deserve five stars! And don't get me started on the food... DELICIOUS! Beyond a doubt one of the better pit stops for Tri-Tip, Pulled Pork, and Ribs in the valley -- if not in all of Northern California! Tall order, I know, but this place is definitely worth the praise! I first came here as a student at Tracy High School, and have been coming back regularly after a year of graduation. Obviously there's something to this place aside from the large portions and friendly staff. I can assure you, I will be making this place my barbecue staple whenever I'm in town, and would suggest the same for anyone serious about having an unforgettable 'Cue experience! read more

Had a craving for BBQ today and came upon this place on yelp. I decided to give it a try and let me tell you, I was not disappointed! I got the rib dinner and double potato salad. The meat was so tender and just fell off the bone. The salad was very delicious as well. The sauce was AMAZING!! Perfect consistency, flavor and they put plenty on the plate. I don't know if they bottle it for purchase, if not, they should. It's that good. I will definitely return and try their other menu items. Another thing I noticed is that the lady that took my order was very nice and she made me feel very comfortable. read more

I went in yesterday on April 10th and walking inside smelled amazing!! I got some nachos and French fries let me tell you the fries tasted soooo good also bought the churro donuts which were THE BEST I well be coming back for the churro donuts and fries! Hehe read more

I got the rib dinner with spaghetti and potato salad. Potato salad was standard. This was the first time I had spicy bbq spaghetti. It was pretty good, but if you cant take spice I suggest you skip it since its pretty spicy. The ribs were the star of the show! I never really have much faith in soul food places because I've tried way too many places that have let me down, but these RIBS! They were tender and juicy. They had a great smokey flavor and the bbq sauce was absolutely delish. Will go back to try more sides, tri tip and the brisket! read more