Buster Rhino’s Southern BBQ

This restaurant has now closed permanently, and it’s not at all surprising. I was super excited to see Buster Rhino’s coming to the neighborhood, and I can pinpoint the exact moment that I knew that the biz would fail. It was my first visit, and kiddo and I were excited to mow out on BBQ. I ordered a sweet tea while we perused the menu. Our server brought it over, and I took a sip. It was terrible, rancid, fridged, turned. I sent it back, told the server it had been in the fridge too long and that they needed to throw it out. The manager came over and condescendingly told me «it’s too bad that the sweet tea isn’t to your taste. Some people find it too sweet». I said, no, it’s turned, it’s been in the fridge too long. He continued, telling me that I just didn’t know what sweet tea tastes like. That’s when I informed him that I used to live in North Carolina, where I had worked in a restaurant where I made the sweet tea. You have to make sweet tea daily, it doesn’t keep. The batch they were serving was more than a few days old, and it was gross. He seemed shocked and just walked away. At that point, we should have too, but kiddo was stoked for BBQ. And the BBQ sucked. It was dry and tasteless, with poor texture. It tasted re-​heated, and I asked the server. She admitted that yes, it was q’d elsewhere and then reheated at this location. What a waste of good meat. So good riddance to this place, and I hope that manager went back and tasted that nasty sweet tea.

Was awful! We got the brisket nachos SUPER salty and SUPER sweet. Took them back. The fried chicken sandwich was alright, nothing special at all. The sangria Burton was nothing but water and wine. Very disappointing.

Dry and bland brisket, grainy and tasteless chicken, average ribs, oddly dry and mealy fries, too-​sour and hard deep fried pickles, bland and greasy mac & cheese (I’ve made better from a box), meh beans, stale bun/​bread and overpriced. The service was excellent; both the server and the kitchen were very fast and attentive; perhaps because we were the only customers there at 5:30pm on a Saturday.

No, no… Just no. I went her a couple months ago and didn’t get a chance to write a review.
This place was overpriced and had awful food. The one star is for service.
I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with Mac and cheese and coleslaw (in the bun.) The pulled pork was just dry, so dry… And the bread! The bread kept falling apart and tasted as it was 2 weeks old, stale and dry.
The Mac and cheese… So disappointing. When I order a Mac and Cheese I expect for it to be well, a Mac and cheese! It was a cold macaroni salad type thing that had no cheese. Please label that better, it’s definitely not a macaroni and cheese.
I kept looking at what was coming out of the kitchen as I was having a very disappointing meal and nothing looked better than what I had. The platters looked small and uninviting compared to other bbq joints in town.
America, you can keep your crappy BBQ joints in the states.

The waiter’s lower face is identical to the lower face of Jussie Smollett. If you don’t know who Jussie Smollet is, I would encourage you to come out from under your rock on and watch Season 1 of Empire. The server has the same upper face as my friend you don’t know him, Devin. He was just adorable!
The waiter knew everything about the popular sauces and favorite dishes at the multiple locations. The is a far cry from the poor service at Gabby’s on King I had that one time. I asked the waitress what was popular, and she said, «I dunno, depends on what you like.» She wasn’t listening, and that response doesn’t even make sense.
I got the Rib and Wing dinner with a Pineapple Martini. My only constructive criticism is that martini. It was wayy tooo salty. Way too salty. What’s horrifying is that I think it’s SUPPOSE to be that way. I don’t do that weird stuff like order the tomato hot sauce drinks. to me that sounds more like a prank my brother would pull on us if we were kids.
The fries were really good. Especially with the sauce. Ummph! :)
The wings were FREE of jiggly, goosebump-​having skin (I’m lookin’ at you Swiss Chalet wings: Dufferin Mall!!). The ribs did not fall off the bone but they were plentiful and delicious, so I got over it. Every piece of meat I ate was legal, tender and fine. The meat tasted fresh like the animal just died 3 – 5 days prior to being seated.
I also sampled the beef steak sandwich which was all kinds of delicious. Not too much cheese – only enough to make your teeth click twice. Tasty! The beer was chilled and so crisp OH MY. That cherry cider tasting drink was weird though. You can’t gulp or chug that cuz its way too sour. Wayy to sour. But the BEER omg… I can’t remember the hipster branded name my beer had, but it was crissssp. mmmm mmm good.
Oh, the décor was nice too. I don’t really GET why it wouldn’t be to others. The couch has these swirly details in em, it’s fun! That burger place on Bathurst has couches that have been in knife fights.
The bill came and it was sky high but I still gave an above average tip. I did it because the food was great, the service was too, but MOSTLY cuz the waiter looked like Jussie Smollett and season 2 of Empire is about to start.
5 Stars!

BBQ rib were kinda dry, nothing special.
Prefer Big Bone BBQ over this.

Ribs were awesome. Great smoke flavor. Brisket was grisly and dry. ⁵⁄₅ for ribs, ¹⁄₅ for Brisket.

A bit of background: I have «just» recovered from a BBQ road trip to the southern US three weeks ago with some foodie buddies (Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri/​Kansas), and still had the taste on my brain, if not the odour of wood smoke in my skin. We sampled a baker’s dozen different well-​known ‘cue joints as well as fried chicken, fusion, and just plain ol’ Southern places. Kentucky bourbons and ‘shine were had. So when a place advertises itself as «Southern BBQ», I am in.
The Food:
My son and I ordered their special, a beef brisket cheesesteak sandwich with a side ($ 14), as well as 1 lb. of their smoked wings and a side ($ 16). We chose their mac and cheese and their BBQ baked beans as the sides, although they have some healthier salad options (not typical for a BBQ joint!). The one side they don’t have that I would’ve hoped to see was collards. The one side I regret not ordering was the hush puppies – that is a really Southern thing… oh well, next time! I requested their Championship Original and Georgia Mustard sauces (I have acquired a love for mustard-​based sauces from South Carolina/​Georgia).
I know some other reviews have slighted the fact that the meats are smoked elsewhere and shipped in to be reheated sous vide on site here. This confuses me because I was told by Manon the co-​owner that they do indeed have a wood based smoker on site. I wasn’t able to confirm this, but I will ask to see it the next time I’m in. Either way, the results are what I’m really interested in:
Beef brisket cheesesteak – the brisket was juicy, had a nice, rich smoke ring to it, and was in no way overpowered by the carmelized onions or non-​descript melted cheese (I believe it was a mild white jack cheese, but I could be wrong) in the sandwich. The bun was the right size and held in the juices without disintegrating, just like a proper burger bun. The smoke flavour could have been stronger, and I’d personally prefer the slices to be thicker, but it worked fine in the sandwich. Serving size was more than enough for me, had I been on my own. The mac and cheese side was creamy (my son prefers the baked version with some textural bite to it, but apparently they don’t have a salamander on site to be able to do this – could be a good investment for many reasons!) and about average for portion-​size.
Smoked chicken wings – meaty, plump and juicy – if these weren’t made on site, I really couldn’t have cared less. The rub was just right – I’d had smoked wings at Greenwood Smokehouse, and these were straight-​up better. The smokiness was also on point, so much so that I ate most of my share without sauce. The baked beans were smoky, not too sweet, but just not that memorable – I think the best I’ve had was at the 17^th St. BBQ in Murphysboro, IL, where they do a combo of different kinds of beans and there are bits of smoky meat in it.
The sauces: The Championship Original is thick, not overly sweet, for me a cross between what I’d found in KC and St. Louis. Manon also brought the Championship Hot, which was liberally sprinkled with black pepper (you can see it and taste it) to kick it up a notch. Black pepper doesn’t register on the Scoville scale to me for straight-​up capsaicin-​acid burn, but it definitely affects the flavour. For me, it paired well with the wings, while the mustard sauce paired well with the brisket. Their Georgia mustard sauce was thinner than I was used to, but still had that savoury-​sweet-​hot mustard trifecta that I’m addicted to. Unlike some places in T.O. (and most in the States) that offer their sauces in large squeeze bottles, the three came in smallish paper cups – but there was enough for us. I’m sure if we needed more, we would’ve gotten it.
What made me happiest is that their sauces ARE all served on the side, so you can appreciate the meat for what it is. I’ve come to not like places that drown their meat in their sauces (I don’t care HOW good that sauce is!), it feels like their masking some deficiencies.
The Drinks:
Their liquor selection, for a BBQ joint, is impressive. They have around 50 different whiskies, with more than 2 dozen of those being proper Kentucky bourbons – pretty much the best I’ve seen anywhere. They even offer a selection of whisky flights! As well, they have several selections of other spirits (tequila, gin, etc.), a modest wine selection, and a decent beer selection (both on tap and in bottle). I ended up having a Neustadt sour lager, which was light and went well with the heavy meats. If I came back with adults, whisky goes SUPER well with BBQ!
Service:
Great. Manon isn’t a ‘cue master, but she’s not the one working the pit, so that doesn’t matter! She knows enough to explain the food (I never got a chance to test her on the bourbons!), and was attentive, efficient and humble.
Is this place perfect? Certainly not (I would’ve given 4 ½ if I could’ve, and a few tweaks on the sides would be nice), but it’s pretty darn good. I will be back!

As a fan of the Oshawa location I thought I would give them a try after they had a some time to work out their opening kinks.
Excellent meal, great service and to all the haters on the early reviews… Give them another try, no one is perfect to start… Way to Go Buster TO

Great service, great drinks, great food. I really like this place, it has great bbq, if you go make sure to try the brisket.

Meat is dry and bland (where’s the southern and smoky character?), sauces taste like they came out of a bottle, and very small portions for the price. If you order a side ($ 4 for each side), they come in tiny portions. Mac and cheese came in one of those small ramequins, was watery and wasn’t seasoned properly; I could tell they had really skimped on the cheese. Had to have a few alcoholic drinks to distract myself from the food.

Just had our first experience at Buster Rhinos on College. Food was amazing! Ranch sauce is so so tasty and Manon was super friendly-​insisted I take home a free desert when I went back to pick up the Mac and cheese they forgot to put in the bag (it was worth the trip back). Needless to say we’re happy they’re so close. Will definitely be back soon!

Simply amazing. The food, atmosphere and service were all really top notch. The meats were all tender and sumptuous (although I did not eat them the rest of the table could not stop oooing and awwwwing). The corn bread is moist and flavorful, and the maple butter is a terrific add on to bring things to the next level. The deep fried pickles, cheese curds and onion rings were a step above. The smoked whisky sour was a great way to start and the rest of the beers and bourbons were very very tempting. I will return again and again!

Let me start by saying it wasn’t bad by any means it just wasn’t great… When you hear smoked in house you sort of expect a lot and as someone who smokes at home I know how juicy and fantastic it can be. I went on a Thursday night few weeks ago.
The bad:
— the décor is absolutely terrible… some interesting things but overall pretty bad
— it was freezing!!! lol they had mini heaters around on the floor but I wasn’t close to one I’m sure this would be better in the summer though
— not enough sauce on the sandwiches
–meat was kinda dry… I realize this can happen sometimes with smoking but I expected nice and tender brisket and pulled pork
The good:
— holy cow, big chunks of curds in the poutine, poutine gravy was awesome, fries were awesome, just awesome poutine
— service was good, only one waitress working and she did a good job! She even let us try a sample of the craft beer because they have so many to choose from that we hadn’t heard of before
— The sauce on the brisket and pulled pork sandwiches was awesome!!! but left us wanting so much more on it! Flavour is definitely there
–onion rings are good too
Suggestions
— spruce the place up a bit
— keep that meat tender after it comes out of the smoker
— add beer/​meat combos because with all those craft beers who is choosing to add the side+softdrink combo?

Went with my sis and ordered a full rack of ribs with 2 sides. coleslaw and beans. The beans were really yummy. The coleslaw was average.
We got the original sauce for the ribs.
I read some reviews and I’m sorry that they were dry. We had excellent ribs. The smokiness was to die for and ribs were quite good.
Now I like to go the CNE and get ribs cooked right off the grill… so I can see that these ribs might not be ‘off the grill’ but they were still very good. My sis asked to try the hot sauce and she liked it a lot too.
I’m curious about the pulled pork now. So I’ll be back

We’ve been to this location twice now, with our two kids (10 and 7), and will likely become regulars. We have tried the ribs, wings, poutine, blt and chicken sandwich, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Our littlest still craves Hadley’s old macaroni and cheese and was quite satisfied with the full order on offer here. The servers are pleasant and efficient. The peanut butter pie served in a small mason jar was excellent shared between three of us, lots of caramel and a crunchy crust that mixed perfectly with the whipped cream.
The price is quite reasonable for a Wednesday night dinner after swimming lessons type activity.

My companion and I went Thurs April 2. We ordered the three meat platter with onion rings and classic cole slaw as sides. Since we are both brisket freaks (smoke our own) and since the server advised us it was their signature meat, we elected to take a double portion of brisket and one of ribs. The onion rings were OK, not great and the classic coleslaw was forgettable. But what of the meat? It is smoked in Whitby (pulled pork is smoked in the old Phils smoker on site) and vacu packed for transportation to Toronto. The ribs (all eight of them) were really good. Cooked well with a fine smokey flavour. The brisket on the other hand (eight ounces to my eye, and this was a double portion!) was lacking any smoke flavour at all. It was also sliced really thin before it left Whitby. Like sliced on a machine thin. Was this responsible for the lack of flavour? Who knows. We then decided to try the pulled chicken which, like the brisket, was void of any smoke flavour and did not have a pulled texture. We had the peanut butter chocolate thing for dessert and it was great.
As we were tasting our food we had an animated conversation about what we thought and it turned out the table beside us was listening in because after we were done they confessed as much. They also concurred with our evaluation. They, also, were no neophytes to BBQ having sampled a lot in Texas and other southern places. We told the server of our thoughts and he was very patient. So to sum up… Portions small. prices high, tastes inconsistant. I won’t be returning despite the large beer and larger bourbon and whiskey selection.

Went last week, was not impressed. Phil’s was better food at a better price. The price would be good if the portion was a little bit larger. The corn bread was good but we had a laugh at the cue stick chalk size. Pulled pork was good but the ribs was not. The problem is that there is a lot of BBQ places that we would be better served at. No good reason to go back, however we do like to support local as much as possible, so maybe one more time.

Just got back from Buster Rhino’s…and «meh, I’ve experienced better» sums up the visit precisely.
We got the 3 Meat Platter ($ 36). You can choose from like, 7 or 8 types of meat and it comes with 2 sides. We got the pulled pork, ribs and wings.
Sweet tea and limeade that we had to drink were perfect. Refreshing and not too sweet.
Pulled pork was okay… but sorry, not as good as Phil’s BBQ (the place that used to be here). And the portion was chincy.
The ribs… ugh. The rib were really disappointing. Super dry and tiny. They were almost burnt too. We got the «championship original» BBQ sauce on the side which helped with the dryness a little bit. I would have preferred them to have bottles of their sauce on the table so we could serve ourselves (like Phil’s had) but they were served in tiny little cups.
Chicken wings were the star of the show. Big and juicy. A nice change from typical deep-​fried wings I am used to.
They have quite a selection of sides (onion rings, fries, Mac and cheese, coleslaw, deep fried cheese curds, etc…) so we had trouble choosing what we were going to get. Settled on the cornbread and deep fried pickles. Pickles were good and the cornbread was too… but again, portion sizes were not up to par.
Also, hate to be nitpicky, but we sat at the window and the ledge was so dirty with drywall dust and general grime and had a couple bugs crawling around as well. I couldn’t identify what species of bug but it was kind of gross.
In summary: food was okay but the portions were chincy. We spent almost $ 50 and are still hungry. My fiancé heated up a piece of lasagna in the microwave as soon as we got home.
Wasn’t impressed, but might give them one more shot. Just curious how this place thinks they’re going to survive when Phil’s (who had way better food) didn’t last…