This weekís ìAbout the Town” restaurant excursion featured Omahoma Bobís BBQ, an eatery located in downtown Wooster.
KK: At first I was really impressed. For such a small restaurant, it was very well split between the dining and kitchen areas. Its size could not hold many patrons, but they definitely went to lengths to take advantage of the space they had.
KC: I agree. Although the menís bathroom was in the basement, there is still enough seating for the volume of customers they seem to be expecting. Personally, I feel as if this would be more of a quick stop, lunch grab than a suitable environment for a sit down Friday night meal.
KK: Iím going to have to disagree with you. If you think about the fact that there are outdoor tables as well, and the way they deal with the space constraints inside, I think it would be a fine place to grab something or even to stick around.
KC: Well, maybe not in the winter. Regardless, people come to restaurants for more than scenery: thereís also the food. And Omahoma Bobís menu had plenty of options.
KK: I found the menu deceptively large. A lot of the things on the menu were combinations of other options. This was nice because it allowed you to shop around for the best value.
KC: It was a bit confusing, but their staff was more than helpful in deciphering the large blackboard of a menu. The workers suggested that I try the pulled pork sandwich with a side of steer fries. I ordered an additional side: a bowl of chili. The whole thing cost me about $11.
KK: In preparation for my macro midterm, I decided to try to find the meal with the most value per dollar. The friendly cashier suggested a half rack of ribs and a brisket, a meal that came with two sides. I got steer chips and French fries, bringing my total to just over $15. The cashier also informed me that there was a special on dinner meals ó wings cost 50 cents after purchasing the meal.
KC: We sat ourselves at a round table, and our food was brought out to us without much delay. My pulled pork was simply divine. It had a sassy BBQ flavor that left my mouth happy, but not on fire. The chili was also very flavorful, but was not spicy in the least. This is good for me, because I am not a fan of spicy food. However, more hardcore chili lovers may be a bit disappointed.
KK: Iím glad you enjoyed your food as much as you did. Unfortunately, I cannot say I had the same experience. In terms of ëbang for the buck,í the half rack of ribs was not as filling as I had hoped. The meat of the ribs and the brisket were somewhat dry, and I felt it lacking in spices and herbs. For me, however, one of the best measures of a BBQ place is the variety and quality of the sauces they provide. And in this respect, Omahoma Bobís BBQ did not disappoint. The BBQ sauce located at the tables provided a much needed dose of flavor and zest to what otherwise might have been a disappointingly bland BBQ experience. The French fries were what I would have expected, perhaps too heavy on the salt, but otherwise satisfying.
KC: Kipaya and I also had the recommended steer fries. I was hoping for a more traditional chip, but this was not the case. The fries came out warm, which was nice, but they were too ambiguously crunchy and yet chewy at the same time. How bizarre. On the other hand, I ended up eating all of them. Since I canít come up with a solid conclusion, how did you feel about the chips?
KK: Again, it would appear that our experiences have diverged. The steer chips had a good variety about them. But coupled with the dryness of the meat and the natural dryness of the French fries, the meal turned out to be quite thirst inducing.
KC: Good thing our meals came with a drink, then. I think we can both agree on one aspect of our visit, however, the wings. Although there were two options of wings (hot and mild), I found that the heat level was strangely similar. The only thing that changed for me was the degree of flavor. The hot wings were not that much hotter, they just had a much more robust taste.
KK: I would absolutely agree with you on that point. Oftentimes youíll find that places slap on sauce and call them BBQ wings. I was quite relieved and thrilled to find a place where the zing was in the meat as well as outside. As a fan of spicy food, I was disappointed that the hot wings werenít particularly sizzling, even though I did enjoy the tingling sensation they left in my mouth afterwards.
KC: We also had some cookies for dessert. It would suffice to say that they were average for their price.
Letís rank it!
Atmosphere
KC: 5/10
KK: 9/10
Service
KC: 9/10
KK: 9/10
Food
KC: 9/10
KK: 7/10
Dessert
KC: 5/10
KK: 7/10
Price
KC: 7/10
KK: 4/10
Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcome and can be emailed to voicestaff@gmail.com or mailed to the Voiceís campus mail box C-3187.
To find out more about this column, click here.