“BBQ Ribs, Hush Puppies, Coleslaw, and French Fries” from The Red-Hot Blue Restaurant in Fairfax, Virginia.

4th of July Review from The Red-Hot Blue Restaurant

Hi, Angels Working on Earth Family!

I ate some good BBQ on the 4th of July! Typically, I go to Red Hot Blue for my BBQ as it is an old standby of mine. I always had good experiences at the Red, Hot, and Blue! My favorite combo is the 1/2 rack rib combo which includes ribs, hush puppies, coleslaw, and fries.

Today, the restaurant was bustling; it was the 4th of July! I could tell they were short of staff because many patrons were waiting to pick up food or to be seated! Plus, how was I going to distance myself from the restaurant socially?

I was seated at the bar, and only two other people were seated together. I was at least 6ft apparent from the other dinners, and the servers at the bar were masked. My goal today is to eat, review and dash out. The service was prolonged because of the holiday. It was a combination of being busy, short of staff, and needing customer service training.

Let’s talk about the food! It was good. I was hoping to taste the greatness of the food in the past. The meat was tender, and the sauce was good (for example, they offer different sauces for their BBQ). The coleslaw was ok. I would reduce the mayonnaise, but it was otherwise ok. I loved the hush puppies and the fries. Both were still warm and crisp.

I heard the restaurant was under new management. I hope the management brings back more of what people raved about in the past. The servers were too busy to adequately check customer satisfaction(i.e., refills or service). I knew they were busy, so I paid as soon as I got my order to avoid delays in checking out.

Would I go there again? Maybe. Not a definitive, yes. The quality of the restaurant showed through that day. The test of quality is how one rises to the occasion. I am curious about other BBQ restaurants in the area. I want to do a review at Famous Dave’s in the future. They appear to be their closest competitor.

I hope you all had a great 4th, and I will post a video of my experience at AWE-TV on my main YouTube channel.

Happy 4th of July!