Ribfest Review

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Yesterday wadE and I continued a tradition of sorts-- our annual lunch at the Rockin' Ribfest, or as it could be known, the messiest, most expensive lunch I eat each year. Unless my math fails me, this is the fifth consecutive year that we've hit the Ribfest for lunch; neither of us have enjoyed its evening offerings, mostly because we aren't that into 80s rock.

Anyway, here's a (brief) review:

• Crowd: Somewhat sparser this year than we could remember, but what the hell do we know. An interesting mix of people who just come in for lunch (button-down shirts, khakis, smell of cologne) and people who drive in from rural Minnesota to make a day of it (dirty wife-beater shirts, sandals, smell of alcohol.) The longest we waited in line was about four minutes, although we selected vendors with shorter lines since a) we were hungry, b) I had a 1:30 meeting, and c) we're Wades and naturally impatient.

  On a side note, was there something going on yesterday that requested women to wear ties? I saw six women wearing ties throughout the day yesterday (not just at Ribfest) and I don't recall seeing even one woman/tie combo since 1987. Are you women all on some sort of mailing list that us men don't know about? The Menstruation Monthly or something?

• Eats: Impressive stuff, really. We each got a sampler (two ribs) at Chicago BBQ Company and Pigfoot, then split a sampler at Johnson's. Oddly, each place's ribs were pretty diverse-- in a cooking method sense, not a corporate sense. I'd give the blue ribbon to Chicago BBQ, although Pigfoot comes in a close second. Pigfoot also wins kudos for providing wet naps.

  To that end, you may want to note that I didn't actually start eating ribs at Ribfest until 2001. Until then I had issues with eating meat directly off of bones, so I stuck to the sandwiches. Now I could eat ribs or buffalo wings at every meal. Sure am happy that I got over that little issue, although coming back to work with bbq sauce on my face and hands probably won't get me to that corner office as quick as I'd planned.

• Cost: For once, we were smart and split the "15 tickets for $20" deal, meaning we only spent $10 each for lunch. Not great, but not horrible. Each sampler was 3 tickets each ($4). We stayed far away from the soda (3 tickets), beer (5 tickets), and the full rack of rib platters (20 tickets.) Ribfest is a Ripoff. But worth it once a year. By the way, I think that the Ribfest Corporation (or whatever) has an actuary who sets the ticket prices and amounts such that you have a 95% chance of ending up with a single ticket in your pocket so you can either leave without "spending" all your money or (more likely) you buy more tickets so that you can spend that last one.
• Entertainment: Since it was lunchtime, we just had people-watching and attempting to get food out of our teeth without looking like we were doing so. One of the main reasons I've never been motivated to hit Ribfest in the evening is their concert performer selection. Generally, they feature (pick three) Rick Derringer, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Rick Derringer, Pat Nebe.. er, Benetar, Blondie, and/or Indigenous. This year is more promising: Big Head Todd, Cowboy Mouth, the Spin Doctors, John Michael Montgomery, and Morris Day and the Time. Okay, a little more promising. Not enough for me to want to pay $6.65 for 20 ounces of Miller Lite in a plastic bottle.

Overall, good stuff. Come join us next year. :)

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