I had been working at the CBS Radford lot for at least six months before I realized there was a spot called Uncle Andre’s BBQ. I asked around to see if anyone had tried it…and no one had. I think the only one who had ever mentioned anything about it was Jim Hill, who said they had a great sweet potato pie or banana pudding – I forget. Someone on the assignment desk mentioned that Dave Clark used to love them. So one day, I got it in my head that I would try something at Uncle Andre’s BBQ, even without a menu.

I looked them up online, but they had no website, plus no one had their menu. But at least I knew, from the reviews, that there was a helluva wait time. OK.

So I called on a Saturday night. I told the guy on the other end of the line, “I want to order something, but I don’t have a menu. What do you recommend?” He was all, well, what do you feel like, beef, chicken, pork? I said beef. So he recommended the beef ribs dinner, and I asked for mac and cheese and red beans and rice. The total came up to about $12, which was a relief, since I was ordering blind. I gave them a lot of time before picking it up. The beef ribs were super tasty and tender, the mac and cheese was really good, but the red beans and rice were a little spicier than I like, but its all good. Not bad for ordering blind.

Since then, I’ve tried the pulled pork sandwich, the tri-tip sandwich and the catfish dinner (pictured above). Verdict: I don’t like the sandwiches as much, as they tend to bathe the meat in spicy BBQ sauce (although I think if they went easy on the sauce, I would like it more), and I loved the catfish dinner. The fries were a bit cold, but the sweet yams (which were not even a side, but they gave it to me anyway) were super tasty. I was full already, but still found room for them.

However, not everyone has had such a good experience with Uncle Andre’s BBQ. My coworker and work spouse says he has ordered from Uncle Andre’s five different times, and they have screwed up his order five different ways. Last night, when he ordered the Southern Fried Chicken, he asked for an extra pint of mac and cheese (even after taking an extra 20 minutes on top of the 30 minutes they had quoted). Yeah, they forgot the mac and cheese.

I dunno. I like Uncle Andre’s and I’ll keep going there (even though they never give me napkins or utensils), but Alan (who is black) says if you order, have your non-black friend or coworker order for you, since his theory is that they seem to always mess up his order because he’s a brother. *shrug*