This last weekend when we were at Disneyland, we knew that they had re-opened the BBQ at Big Thunder Ranch. It has been at least a decade since it was open and we loved it back then, so we figured we would give it a try this time.
A few things have changed - first, it is a little pricey. $28 per person for all you can eat BBQ and some characters. The food is served family style and you can ask for more at any time. Although we had already done a character breakfast that morning, we really felt like some BBQ, so we decided to splurge and give it a try.
Here is the
menu. You get a little of everything on it.
First, you tell the folks in the booth how many in your party and then wait to be called.
There is a stage area in front where various bits of entertainment are provided for the guests as they eat. You can see that tables are covered slightly by canvas. It was overcast, and there are a lot of trees back there so I imagine on a hot day that it would be fairly shady, but don't quote me on that.
As your party is called, you get pictures with a character (or two) before you are seated. We got
Chip and Dale in their Western vests. Love those guys!
Sasparilla Sam is the resident piano player and he does a musical show throughout the day. He likes to have his picture taken and doesn't charge for it. (He let me know that after I took his picture)
Tumbleweed Tex also performs with his guitar, but I was too busy scarfing to get his picture.
Miss Chris is the proprietess of the Round-up Celebration and BBQ. She called my mom up on stage for her birthday,
and let her ring the
celebration dinner bell. As you can see, Mom really got in to it!
Then Miss Chris discovered that
Mom was married to a cowboy and had to come over to meet Dad. She wanted to know what was under his hat and when she saw he was bald, she gave him a big kiss on the top of his head.
Bullseye showed up to do a dance number.
Then, out came
dinner. As I said, it is served family style. I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures before we started eating, so these are the best I could get of what was left. As previously noted, I also forgot to take pictures of Bullseye and Jessie doing their numbers, missed Woody and also Tumbleweed Tex. I guess if I had eaten my
Cowboy Crunchies for breakfast I might not have been so hungry!
Ranch Beans - a little spicy but I could eat them, and I can't eat Taco Bell sauce, so...
Corn Cob Wheels - great way to serve corn on the cob! It was good sweet corn too, not that tough stuff they usually serve at BBQ places.
Cornbread - the slightly sweet kind.
Cookie's Coleslaw - no mayo kind. Mom and Sis LOVED it!! They asked for the recipe. I don't eat slaw, but they said it was soooooo good and it was also a little spicy.
Barbequed Chicken and Ribs - They serve the meat with sauce on the side. The chicken was moist and tasty. I didn't think it needed any sauce. The ribs were a little spicy, but had great flavor. It was a spicy Texas-type rib, not the sweet Kansas City kind of BBQ like they have at the Taste Pilot's Grill in DCA. These were much, much better than Taste Pilot's.
Jessie comes around to visit and take pictures and she also does a few things on stage, like teach yodeling.
Miss Chris's Cupcake Sensation - I love the way they do the presentation for the desserts!! You get your choice of three kinds of cupcake sensations.
This is a chocolate with cherry filling cupcake in a cone.
This one was a vanilla cupcake with strawberries at the bottom.
And this one was chocolate cupcake with raspberry creme filling.
Despite the price, we were able to fill up and make a double meal out of this one. We ate at 3pm and it counted for lunch and dinner and it stayed with us so we didn't really get hungry again!
Great food, fun entertainment and a nice place to get away when those crazy summer crowds are getting to be a little too much for you. This restaurant comes highly recommended by me.
