Blue Oak BBQ

This place is phenomenal!! We actually came here twice in our two day visit to New Orleans the food was THAT good! Everyone in our family loved it and the staff is super friendly!

Had a hankering for BBQ and stumbled upon this joint. The line was long when we arrived around 5pm on a Saturday night. Interestingly, noticed that most of the clientele were college folks. Despite the long line, it seemed to move pretty quickly.

Got the 2 meat combo plate with sliced beef brisket, St. Louis spare ribs, roasted garlic mac and cheese and the Brussels sprouts, along with an order of the pork belly cracklins. The food was good, but the highlights were the Brussels sprouts and the cracklins. It's been a couple of months and I'm STILL thinking about the sprouts... get them!! The cracklins too, especially with the Sichuan rub if you like a little spice in your life. Would definitely come back for those two items specifically!

Seating is open indoors as well as outdoors, and there is plenty of it. The staff is very quick and helpful. Definitely a place to bring friends and family, and a group seems to be ideal to try out the many items on their menu. The vibe is fun and can get quite noisy, but overall a good time!

I think this the best thing I've ever eaten in New Orleans, and that is not an exaggeration at all. The fact that it's also ranked the best BBQ in NOLA says something, too. It's further from the French Quarter, so you gotta either walk a ton or drive a car. Limited parking, but lots of seating especially outdoors. Pretty lighting inside and outside the restaurant, too. Order first, then find a spot to enjoy. My partner and I happened to order the family style all meats and all sides. The lady who took our order told us it's been done by two people before. Challenge accepted. Here's EVERYTHING that was part of the set:

Brisket (both lean and fatty): The best meat on the plate, hands down. The fatty brisket was so juicy, melt-in-your-mouth fatty. I'm drooling just thinking about it. The lean brisket was good as well, and the burnt ends were delicious. I loved the smokiness in both styles of brisket.

Pork ribs: The sweet and smoky glaze that was smothered on top of these pork ribs were delicious. It was a pretty solid rib, though not my favorite.

Turkey: Someone tell me how Blue Oak took turkey, an infamously drier protein, and turned it into this moist delicious goodness? Drenching it in butter, that's how. Probably the best turkey I've ever had. I didn't even know it could be this flavorful and juicy.

Sausage: Delicious and spicy! Had a tasty bite to it and was embedded with peppers and spices.

Wings: Nothing too special, but were still some solid wings. I think they gave us a ranch along with the rest of the meal. Perfectly balanced spiciness and coolness when dipped in ranch.

Pulled pork: Probably one of the harder meats to eat because pulled pork can be really dry. Drench it in their original recipe BBQ sauce, and you'll be finishing it quicker than you can say pulled pork.

Chicken noodle soup: Their soup of the day when we went. Was super light compared to everything else on the table, but still very delicious. They even put ham in their soup for that super meaty taste. The noodles were also cooked very well.

Coleslaw: Heavier than expected, probably because they used some kind of sesame dressing for it. Still VERY delicious. It's like your typical coleslaw but with a unique spin to it.

Red beans: Again, there's something about the South and how they do beans. These were BBQ beans, sweet and full of pork chunks. They were addicting and not sickeningly sweet. I think they were my second favorite side.

Mac n' cheese: The South also does their mac n' cheese justice. Creamy, cheesy sauce that just catches onto the crevices of the pasta. Absolutely delicious. Very filling. Would 100% eat a pint of it.

Potato salad: I LOVE potato chunks in potato salad. Not that mashed potato mess people like to call potato salad. These were refreshing. It reminded me lots of Korean banchan. My third favorite side.

Brussels sprouts: I just had to leave this towards the end because my God, I'm writing this review a month later and I still can't stop thinking about these brussel sprouts. I've looked up recipes on Reddit and it seems that I'm not the only crazy on out there. The sweet glaze just coats your tongue and the brussel sprouts are fried but still have this incredible bite to it. I would order these separately to-go. Buy a ton. So sad I didn't do that while I was there. A girl can only dream about them, until next time!

This was easily my favorite thing we ate on our trip to NOLA. We had already been wandering around City Park and over to the Botanical Gardens and decided it was just a bit further to this place. The line looked intimidating, but moved really quickly and there was plenty of seating inside and out. I got the pulled pork sandwich with the tastiest Brussels sprouts. I highly recommend checking them out!

Yelp Insider Note: the check-in freebie here is a sticker :)

My wife had the smoked chicken sandwich and I had the Doobin' Loobin (brisket and sausage) sandwich. Both were very good and just the right amount. My wife enjoyed her drink, which was a rum punch-like concoction and I had a s'mores old fashioned, which was pretty good. Overall, tasty but a bit overpriced (especially the drinks) and the service was just OK. We sat outside on a lovely note-too-warm summer evening and had to fight off flies, so some fans would have been appreciated. Worth going to, and in any other city it would be a must-visit, but NOLA provides lots of stuff competition!

Good neighborhood spot for BBQ. I had the beef brisket plate, and when I was asked if I wanted it lean or fatty, the counter help divulged that it was the same cut of meat. I said lean, and still had to trim a lot of fat, but whatever. There were plenty of sauces to choose from, but I first tried the brisket sans sauce to see if the meat had good flavor. It was slightly dry, but nothing bad...the regular BBQ sauce seemed to be our favorite. Of the sides we all selected, as strange as this is to say, the potato salad was far and away our favorite. This isn't some yellow slop from the grocery store - it's very flavorful and a nice blend of spices and ingredients. Considering afterwards we talked about that more than the BBQ could be considered a slight, but next time in town I'm game to try something else.

Good food, slow service

https://blainerestaurantreport.wordpress.com/2018/10/07/blue-oak-bbq-new-orleans-la-report-147/

We were in New Orleans and wanted to get the most out of the local cuisine in our 5 days in town. I was searching for the best bbq places in the area and Blue Oak BBQ came out in front.

Looking at the pictures and reviews, I had to make Blue Oak a part of our dining itinerary before we left for Chicago. After our meal there, I'm so glad we didn't pass this up.

It was so good. All of it. We had 0 complaints regarding food quality and service. They serve up main bbq staples such as pulled pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, etc.

The restaurant goes by order number. Order up at the register and they will give you a number for your table to bring food out to you.

What we ordered was absolutely phenomenal. We chose a combo meal of pulled pork and beef brisket. The meal comes with two sides. We each got gumbo and their mac and cheese. The meal alone was roughly $25 after tax and let me tell you... It was devoured.

The meats were tender, juicy and full of flavor. They also make their own house sauces to accompany your Q. Not a single sauce offered was sub par.

There are few restaurants where everything is spot on delicious. This is one of those places. I had leftovers but those didn't last long because I finished it up hours later.

The ambiance is really chill. They have a big outdoor patio if you want to dine out during the warmer months. The parking lot can fill up quickly. We found a space on the side streets because they were so busy.

Dare I say this was the best bbq we've had in ages. I wouldn't hesitate to return if given the opportunity. If you find yourself in NOLA with aims to seek out excellent bbq, this is your place.

Always a great happy hour option from 3-6 during the weekday. I love the smoked wings. The chicken sliders were also really tasty. Mac and cheese was okay. Had the sage daiquiri, which was also included in the happy hour specials, and it was bomb! In addition to strawberry margarita. Service was quick!

We stopped here after a long (but awesome) day at the jazz fest. The staff was friendly & helpful. The establishment stayed open after their listed closing time and accommodated the long line of tired & hungry fest goers that only seemed to grow as we ate our food. I am thankful we got the nachos as they were our best selection. I was disappointed with the pulled pork, with as much sweating as I had done that day it was shocking to find the pork overly salty, so much so despite not having eaten since the morning I did not finish it. The mac & cheese was also disappointing. Not sure if this was an off evening or the norm for this establishment but I do know when in the area in the future we will visit other spots.