Out Of This World BBQ And Saloon

When you think of the HD, the last thing you think of is BBQ, especially smoked southern style BBQ. Out of This World BBQ (OOTW) is a bbq stop located in the outer part of Apple Valley that serves smoked bbq, burgers, and other various bar foods. OOTW is decorated in a country western theme, the dining area is even equipped with a booth inside of a jail cell. The dining area has a delightfully smokey aroma to it that is very common in the majority of bbq restaurants that use smokers to cook their meat.

The first thing we ordered was the Buffalo Wing Appetizer, the first thing that I noticed is that the wings came dry with the buffalo sauce off to the side. I enjoy being able to choose the amount of sauce that goes on my wings so I don't end up with sloppy and soggy wings. The wings were fried perfectly, there was amazing crunch on the outside, and a moist/juicy inside. The vinegar based buffalo sauce was perfect and not too spicy. The best part about the wings being fried perfectly is that you're not left with a super greasy wing, you're just left with brilliant crunch and tender chicken. We finished every last wing on the plate and were ready for the main course!

My wife ordered the pulled pork sandwich and also added a side of mac & cheese. The pulled pork was great, it was tender, juicy, and had a light smokey aftertaste. The only drawback to the sandwich was the huge roll it was served on, while it made it difficult for the sandwich to fall apart, it also created a hassle in chewing each bite. The fries were undercooked and incredibly greasy, which was a shame considering what a great frying job they did with the buffalo wings. The mac & cheese had great flavor, but unfortunately was left in the oven for too long, the top was almost rock solid, and the pasta ended up being a huge clump of noodle underneath the hard, burnt shell of cheese.

I decided I would try everything and go with the bbq sampler platter. The platter came with brisket, pulled pork, chicken thighs, ribs, baked beans, and I substituted my corn for french fries. I'll review each item individually.

Ribs: usually when ribs are smoked the meat will fall right off of the bone, in this case, these ribs didn't. They weren't rough to eat, but they weren't as tender as other bbq spots will offer. I also was unable to taste any seasoning or dry-rub on the ribs whatsoever, which left a mild and bland taste to the ribs.

Chicken: The chicken was already diced into pieces so I took a dinner roll and made a mini sandwich. Unfortunately the chicken had fallen victim to the same crime as the ribs. No taste of seasoning and were borderline dry.

Brisket: Brisket will most likely make or break a bbq joint, nothing is more satisfying than a juicy, smokey, tender slice of
brisket. The brisket that was presented in this sampler was dry and had very little flavor besides a light aftertaste of smoke, it tasted like it was pulled out of the smoker yesterday and left on a table until it was served the following day. A smoke ring was visible on the meat (a sign of a great smoke-job), but unfortunately the meat just couldn't live up to the smoke ring.

Pulled Pork: The pulled pork is definitely the show-stopper in the sampler, it tasted great and almost made up for the unfortunate serving of dry meat that was presented with the rest of the meats in the sampler. The pork was moist, juicy, had a perfect amount of smokey taste, and almost melted in my mouth. It tasted great and was the shining star of the entire sampler.

Sides: The baked beans tasted great, i actually ended up mixing my baked beans with the meat in the sampler to provide liquid to the otherwise dry meat. My fries were also undercooked and swimming in oil just like the fries that came with the pulled pork sandwich.

House BBQ Sauce: On the corner of the table was a bottle of house bbq sauce, I figured I would drench this on my chicken to help with the dryness, while the bbq sauce is definitely homemade, it tasted like a plain bbq sauce that could be acquired from the local grocery store. The sauce had a strong brown sugar/cinnamon aftertaste that left the sauce with a very tangy aftertaste, but nothing more than that.


Before you read my conclusion I would like to first say that by no means will I ever tell anyone on this blog to not eat at a restaurant, everyone's experiences differ at certain restaurants and everyone's taste buds are different. I am simply offering my point of view, I strongly encourage everyone to try new things and to enjoy what you love regardless of what anyone says. I also support the growth of HD businesses and would prefer that we choose a local establishment over a chain restaurant. With that being said, read the next line for my conclusion.

OOTW is a fairly new establishment, they've only been open for a little over a month, it's very difficult to judge a new restaurant under those circumstances, but it's very evident that OOTW has a lot of work to do before they can become a contender with the HD's best restaurants. It seemed as if most of the servers were brand new to the craft and it was very visible that most of them were struggling. Our server let our food sit on the hot-tray for a good amount of time before we received it, she also had trouble remembering refills and extra orders, the worst part was that she incorrectly charged the couple that came with us for dinner, charging them double the price of what they ordered from a different ticket. The cooks also seemed to be overwhelmed with the large amounts of customers to cook for, which was evident in the undercooked fries, overcooked mac & cheese, and the dry servings of meat. Our friends shared a burger from OOTW, the burger came out looking like a million bucks, it was juicy, and the flavor could be smelled from the opposite end of the table, they devoured it before I could even get a picture! The negative to that is that the only reason they shared the burger is because one of them ordered a chicken salad that came with chicken that was fatty and tasteless, and was sent back. OOTW has massive amounts of potential, and I would love to go back and give them a second try once the bugs and kinks get worked out in the kitchen and on the dining room floor. Since my visit, I've heard of great experiences from friends and family member's visits to OOTW, I guess it's safe to say that maybe they were having an off night when I went. The bill for the sampler, sandwich, and wings came in at just over $50. OOTW is located at 21041 Bear Valley Rd. in Apple Valley.