Dukes BBQ Pit

Pretty standard BBQ if you’re looking for ribs or brisket.
There were some pretty decent options for sides as well.
I’m going to sound bias, but as a native Texan this place was just okay.
I’d still return when the craving for a BBQ sandwich takes over.

We (my husband and I) had eaten here over a year ago and weren’t completely impressed but after eating here this afternoon I believe that they have improved substantially. The pulled pork (on special) was delicious and the brisket philly was fantastic. The sides were very good also. I think we will be going back in the near future for sure.

Okay… I’d heard some weird things about this place but my wife and I were looking for some bbq and I mentioned Dukes. So we went for it.
Their internet pricing is incorrect on some of their dishes like the full rack of ribs and the three meat platter but they’ll tell that over the phone.
I ordered the three meat platter with ribs, brisket, and chicken. They didn’t have chicken so I had the turkey. My wife had the half rack of ribs. We both had the baked beans and some cornbread for measure. Everything was fantastic! Couldn’t believe it! The sauce was delicious too!
Needless to say, they should get your business. I’m giving five stars because I was REALLY impressed with the quality and taste of our take out order.

Drove from Saint Helens to eat here Unilocal says it’s open and the place was closed. Monday 10÷20÷14 @ 2:45 pm. Not happy.

If you tired of Busters, this is a place you should check out. I had the 3 ribs and a side of green salad.
All for 7 bucks, what a deal, large portions
It’s a quite looking place
Clean, and clean bathrooms
Self serve soft drinks
It’s a small but not to small, not your typical large change restaurant. Which I like.
Seems like they are trying to make sure your are happy.
Ribs were juicy
Salad was very fresh, even though you don’t eat meat the salad is worth having. Very fresh.
I would come here again and recommend it to my friends

If we were to judge Duke’s solely from the standpoint of its BBQ meritus, this would be a bleak and gloomy 2 star review, Indeed. Sorry if that gets anyone’s undies all bunched up. The brisket was supremely fatty, the pulled pork screamed «granny crockpot» and no trace whatsoever of BBQ in the midst– not even liquid smoke as a half-​assed splash in the general direction of a feeble attempt.
I got there at Duke’s on a weekday evening, just after 5pm and was a little surprised, to say the least, to see I was the only.customer.there. Granted, a couple other people came and went w/​their own take out orders, as I awaited mine. But a business this dead during dinner rush is strange, to say the least, and almost never a good sign. It’s not like Aloha-​Reedville is flush with great BBQ competition!!!
The saving grace for Duke’s, IMO were the sandwiches. I tried the reuben, w/​extra pastrami and it was quite good— the meat was surprisingly tender and juicy and flavorful — –again, no hint of bbq/​smoke, but still quite tasty and difficult to finish in one sitting. We also had the tri-​tip-​wich which was also quite good although diminished appreciably by the el-​cheapo deluxe, enriched white flour bun. C’mon people! Care, or something! these details matter, and to more and more people, all the time!
A final note about Dukes: I have no idea if there is any affiliation with them, and the in-​house bbq eateries at the stadium in Seattle where the Seahawks play, but the red steer in the logo looks nearly identical in both businesses. Sadly, this uninspired design was not the only unfortunate ingredient shared by both places: neither one had any business calling themselves bbq. This is food, this is fast food, and a few menu items are even pretty dang good fast food. But BBQ, proper? Child, please. Next!

I got the ribs and a side salad with fries. Ribs were tender and the pieces they gave me were huge. Overall it was good but not great. My bf got the 3 meat platter: brisket, pulled pork and ribs. Brisket was a little on the dry side and the pork was a little overcooked for his taste but not horrible. Not a fan of the sauce however he liked it just fine it just didn’t stand out to him. We will probably come back. The customer service was great, super friendly and made sure we had everything we needed.

614, I am not sure what happened last time we were there, but they have improved a great deal or maybe we ordered the right things this time. We spoke extensively to the gal behind the counter and she said to took awhile to get everything just right and it seems they have. They use basically a Sous-​vide to keep the ribs moist and at temp, brilliant!
Brisket — uhhmazing, nice smoke ring and the correct amount of fat, better than ours
Full Rack of Ribs — a large amount of perfectly smoked ribs, not fall off the bone you have to tear it off with your teeth, YUM
Hot Link — spicy and freaking delicious
Cole Slaw — wonderful with almost an apple like taste, super good
Mac and Cheese — my favorite with bread crumb topping
We got the HOT barbequeue sauce and I could drink the stuff, spicy and complex
They have also added a whole bunch of new stuff to the menu, salads, fried pickles, hand battered onion rings, an array of burgers, gluten free buns. Everyone can have something they love.
Our meal came to $ 32.00 and it is enough food for at least 2 – 3 meals and I am not kidding, It is not crap food either, we have a Traeger and smoke a fair amount of brisket and ribs ourselves and their Q is outstanding.
It is so much better than the previous Food Cart Q place we went to it is unbelievable.

I don’t have high expectations for good BBQ in the Pacific Northwest, but there are a few decent places around Portland. This isn’t one of them. I bought a 3 meat platter with brisket, pulled pork and baby back ribs. I got a side of baked beans.
The brisket tasted ok, wasn’t too fatty but didn’t have a smoke ring. In addition instead of being nicely sliced on the bias, there were thick chunks of it which made it a bit tough.
The ribs had a good rub, but no smokey taste and were very dry and the meat was mushy. Makes me wonder if they were precooked on the stove first and put on the grill for final touch.
The pulled pork was by far the worse. It had some premixed sauce in it that tasted odd. In fact it reminded me of the premade Reesers pulled pork containers that u can buy in the deli section of Safeway.
I would have given 3 stars had it not been for the pulled pork. I’m surprised by the number of good reviews, so maybe I just hit a bad day for them.

First time visitor, smell was enticing with the smokey aroma of good barbeque. I had the 2 meats player with brisket and pulled pork. It was a little diet than I like but with 3 on table sauces to add to my preference it was pretty good. Wife had smoked chicken sandwich combo, WARNING: the Chipotle mayo is pretty potent with a slow delayed kick off heat.
The mac & cheese is divine though!

Damn fine BBQ. Fair prices for the smoked goodness. I will return. Try it out its YUMMY.
–B

I can’t think of a creative or exciting way to start this review… maybe because Duke’s isn’t really that unique. It’s decent and an easy place to go for food when you don’t want to cook.
I had the two meat platter with ribs, pulled pork, and mac and cheese (they didn’t have corn on the cob because it’s not in season). The plate came with four ribs. The meat was pretty dry and did not come with a lot of sauce. I guess you’re suppose to put on the sauce yourself (with sauce squirt bottles that get everywhere… can’t imagine children using those things) but when I tasted the sauce it was way to vinegary for me. I ended up not using any which was disappointing. In general the meat tasted a little off to me and just wasn’t that good. The mac and cheese was decent. My boyfriend’s brisket was pretty decent but the coleslaw was gross. Tasted way to much like mustard and wasn’t very fresh.
Alcoholic beverage choices include beer and wine, but no hard cider.
The service was attentive and friendly. Everyone was very nice. The only thing is that when we were ready to pay we stood up and went to the counter and it took quite a while for them to realize we were there.
They have a televisions and if you’re in the mood for some average BBQ this might be your place. Having tried it once, and not being impressed, I won’t be back.

Visited for the first time today — I had a brisket sandwich and beans, wife had the reuben and potato salad. Both sandwiches were excellent — the brisket is completely lean, and you get five or six ¼″ strips on a bun that is perfect for the job — it doesn’t get in the way, fall apart, or try to be anything but a vehicle for the meat. The available sauces are a matter of subjective opinion, and I didn’t care for them. They are thin, and have too much vinegar — again, this is just my opinion.
Objectively, the three sauces come in dangerous containers — asking the chef/​owner (?) about accidents, she admitted that they had had many, including a fireman who managed to squirt the XXHOT into his eyes. Serious design flaw here.
The Key Lime pie is excellent, but needs something other than canned whipped cream as a topper. As on everything else, it ‘melts’ to a watery mess before it can be consumed
The place is clean, and indistinguishable from any other sports bar, replete with big screen TV’s shoving sports in your face and country music ever-​present (why no one seems to ‘get’ that this is Oregon and not Texas or Oklahoma is beyond me).

Never have I had ribs with so much meat!
Duke’s brought their divine food to Vista Hills’ Harvest Party and we got to dish up their delectable fares. The homemade salad dressing were very good, but it was the ribs… the big, fat, juicy ribs, full of meat that had me drooling. Not only drooling, but eating so fastidiously that one rib ended up in my lap. «5 Second rule» I declared, before gobbling the rest of the meat off it’s bones.
Not only had i never had meaty ribs — no pun intended — but the sauce they used was wonderful! I wasn’t even hungry, but ate 3 ribs, nibbling every bite of meat off from the 6 inch bone (get your minds out of the gutter people!).
I have no idea if and when I will be to Aloha just to eat, so I am crossing my fingers that Duke’s will add a second location or place a food cart in the lower SE side (my hood).

Came here on a Friday night; the guy who took our order was not friendly at all and didn’t really make eye contact.
The prices are high, especially for the amount of food you get and the quality of the food. My husband and I ordered a variety of items and nothing was A-​quality. Will not likely return.

Our last couple of experiences at Duke’s have been uneven.
The cornbread is so much better, Sweet, warm, corny. It’s good. Awesome even.
The ribs though, they were sadly dry and not delicious. The other times we had them they were sticky, sweet, succulent. this time, dry, microwaved? old? I don’t know. Not as yummy. Same for the beans, seemed quite falling apart in an overdone way, and the mac and cheese was not as yummy as previously. Hubby said his pulled pork sandwich was just ok. Coleslaw seemed soggier than usual. Maybe it was an off night? In the past we have really enjoyed all of these items.
They have improved their décor. They have a few booths along the window now, a corrugated metal wall on the way in, very westernish, and what looks like a spot for a live band to play in the corner. Good.
They’ve added hamburgers, some other things to their menu. Potato salad. I think I saw onion rings on there. And the young guy at the register was friendlier this time, which is good. The girl on the phone, meh. Not so happy to be working there, which I guess I get. They do tend to have highschool aged people working for I bet minimum wage, so there’s not a lot of hospitality proffered when we go, especially when the bosses aren’t around.
I wish they would be able to get it all together, friendly good service *AND* stellar barbecue. Because I really want to love them and give them 5 stars.
And I don’t want to have to drive all the way to Portland to get barbecue.

clearly the money is spent on the food here — the digs are pretty basic and the service isn’t anything special. The food is good — even if it takes a bit to be served up.
I thought the taste and the texture of the meat separates it from a lot of places and it is a good choice to pick something up on the way to somewhere else… Probably not a destination in itself.
They are pretty proud of their cornbread and for good reason. While I had the brisket, I brought home some pulled pork and it was quickly consumed with high praise for taste and texture.

I really really wanted to like this place but it fails to impress. The first time I went there was the same week that they opened and the staff and owner were friendly but the pulled pork lacked in flavor. I had to smother it in their sauce that they keep out just to get some moisture and taste to it. The plus-​side was that the servings were fairly large, so I felt like I got a good amount of food for my money.
Because it is a local joint, not a chain i wanted to give it another shot. Sadly the 2^nd time was far worse. The cheery faces were gone and the kids behind the counter seemed more interested in chatting with eachother than talking to me about their menu. (Brand new place, I would think that they would want to share a little about their food) This time I got the brisket and it was incredibly dry and the serving size was maybe two thirds what it was the first time.
Honestly, it is the only bbq place by my work so i will probably go back, but if it is as mediocre as the first two visits I’d rather just not spend my money on it. There are too many good bbq joints around portland to waste my money on dry, bland brisket.

We finally got a chance to try this place out. I will say their ribs and the brisket were favorites! The pulled pork and chicken were eh… Corn bread most excellent — they are not screwing around with portion sizes on the corn bread either. I even ordered some of their meaty chili to go which made for an excellent lunch two days later since I was not expecting so many leftovers from the dinner. I also loved their baked beans! They may be a bit pricy but you do get food for your money. and they have great combo plates to get a lot of different meats to try out and such.
The employees were pretty nice and although the restaurant is clean — it just didn’t do it for me and felt more like a soup kitchen… super open too so you feel very exposed… in other words, yes their food rocks… get it to go!

I have little to no reason to visit Famous Dave’s now.
It’s hard to find this place at night, so just know it’s in the Safeway parking lot in front of the Blue Moon.
The brisket is the best I’ve had. The best parts are the edges with flavorful fat. Totally delicious.
I also had the pulled pork, mac n cheese and cornbread. Yeah, I’m a fatty.
The pulled pork was good, but a little more dry and cartilaginous than I would have liked. The mac n cheese was good. Not the best I’ve ever had, but yummy nonetheless.
The cornbread can be skipped. It’s not the kind of cornbread I’m used to. It just tasted sweet and spongy to me. I like mine dense, flaky, and with a more obvious corn taste. And if I can get honey butter, then I’ll be in heaven. This wasn’t it.
My other issue is their 3 sauces. They have: Original, Hot, Spicy. Not one of them was at the spicy level that I would expect. I’m a sissy, and I had no problem with the «Spicy,» which isn’t normal for me. And they all tasted really similar. The one thing I love about Famous Dave’s is their huge selection of sauces and that they all have their purpose.
I know they’re new, but they’ve got the BBQing down. I wish they’d develop more sides. Anything involving potatoes is cheap and bound to become a favorite. Greens, rice, southern gravy, etc.
They’ve apparently gained quite a few followers since their opening, and I’m sure my boyfriend will love this place and we will be repeat visitors as well.
FYI — they let you try samples. AND they are selling holiday meats. If you don’t feel like cooking for the holidays, let Duke’s do it for you!