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Sam's BBQ (Barbeque cuisine) $$

1110 South Bascom Ave, San Jose, 95128 (Directions)

408.297.9151

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Slow cooked meats, woodfire smoke, secret sauce at this San Jose BBQ joint
Reviewer: Jason Total Reviews: 1040 Reviewed: 5/24/2006 Rating: 9 My photo gallery	You can thank Sean D. for giving jatbar the lowdown on Sam's BBQ in San Jose. I was fairly confident about his choice as Sean is more of a meat and potatoes type of guy. We had an interesting mix of people today, Sean, Wes, and new guy Edward to join the caravan over for BBQ. I had my beater commuter car and we gracefully landed a parking spot in front of a somewhat bustling lunch crowd. The restaurant has the country old western feel to it without the heavy bbq smoke. I glanced through the menu and ordered the 14-hour beef brisket with chili beans, garlic bread, and salad ($9.95). If $10 is too high for you, go for the lunch special $6 bbq beef sandiwch. salad - ok, average tasting, decent dressing, small plate, just enough to land some greens for the iTract (my new word, I'll explain later in the upcoming jatbar dictionary). See pic #5 garlic bread - pretty dammm good, real garlic and heavy on the butter, large serving. chili beans - I'm going out on a limb on this but this has got to be one of the best chili beans I have ever had. Seriously, I don't know if its because of the beef pieces in the chili or firm beans but whatever they did today, it was truly amazing. I'd give this a 9.5-10 rating. Btw...if this is canned chili, please shoot me. (picture #6, bad picture..my fault). brisket - at a first glance, it looks super dry (picture #6). Very lean, not too much fat, I was kinda disappointed and thinking, damm...I'm not going to like this. It did have a prominent smoke ring and my 1st bite, meat is one smokey delight. Sean then suggested to try the warm bbq sauce. I poured some on there and wallah...VOLTRON IS FORMED! yes, mix a smokey quality piece of beef with semi-sweet, semi-tangy, lightly-spiced sauce and you have bbq heaven. Don't tell the Texans I said this, as far as I know, Texans don't believe barbeque can exist outside of Texas. Well, I'm not Texan and we ain't in Texas. Brisket is excellent at Sam's. pork ribs - I tried a tiny bit of this and I would have to say it is on a par with Uncle Frank's BBQ in Mountain View. Bold words indeed. I need to come back to try a full slab to myself. We had a good time at lunch and I think everyone was in agreement that the bbq at Sam's was excellent. The portions were huge and had trouble finishing the plate. Prices were inline with other BBQ houses so you can expect to pay a bit more than your usual lunch. Service was fairly fast and people behind the counter were courteous. When I think of barbeque for South Bay, Sam's Barbeque makes my top 3. Have a good time at Sam's and check out Weds nights for the live music.

	RETURN VISIT for Jason! 7/12/2006 - 9 Rating: Today's lunch special was Carolina pulled pork platter for $9.95. Garlic Bread, 2 sides, and pulled porked. With a soda, the bill came out to $12.39. We occupied the same table from our last visit hoping we would repeat the superb meal. My plate arrived with pulled pork, 2 helpings of chili, and garlic bread. garlic bread - great stuff, on the crunchy side today. chili - unbeatable, I love this stuff. pulled pork - incredible, I think this is some of the best stuff I've ever had and when you mix in the bbq sauce, this is becoming my favorite bbq place in the bay area. the pork was moist and had mild sweetness and pepper flavor. Warm smokey flavor to it. They should rename pulled pork to magic food makes my stomach happy. Here's another 9 to another outstanding lunch.

8.5
Agent Rating

Reviewer: takeru Total Reviews: 31 Reviewed: 7/31/2009 Rating: 8.5 My photo gallery	Finally tried Sam's and can confirm that jason is right on the mark. The carolina pulled pork has a great savory smoky flavor and with the addition of their BBQ sauce is pretty hard to beat. And I wasn't a big chili fan but the texas chili here has turned me into one, no wonder jason gets a double side order - I had a single and found myself wanting more. Also tried some of their brisket which was also damn tasty. Definitely worth multiple return visits to sample other items, my eye is on the smoked prime rib!


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hatingsjfood ate...

Pork&beef ribs,pork sliced, carolina pulled pork

“Not like Lexington, NC BUT SAM's IS GOOD. If you like tomato based sauce- has perfect seasoning; tad less sugar would be perfect. Potato salad is now better; wish slaw less mayo but good taste. Hush puppies yuck. At times fatty beef & pork slices. 9”

5/23/2008 6:32:36 AM

Forcella ate...

Brisket, cole slaw, mac salad

“Excellent brisket. The pork shoulder is good, too. If you like BBQ there's not much to say except this place deserves all of its positive press.”

3/31/2007 10:16:06 AM

foodswami ate...

Whole chicken w/ potato salad and cloeslaw

“pretty good size plate, the warm bbq sauce was really good, and my mates had the chili (looked like stew / no beans) but they said it was great. Go check it out, its solid.”

1/28/2007 1:59:11 PM

Mommy ate...

pork ribs

“I love the ribs. Very tasty, lots of meat, good sauce. Worth going out of the way (past every Aramadillo Willy's) for! ”

12/12/2006 6:15:25 PM