Russell's Barbecue . - Elmwood Park

I've been eating here for 50 years....always a great experience! They never disappoint.

Went on Wed about 5pm. Mushrooms were extra salty, rib tip dinner was old tips they were hard and seemed to be baked not smoked, very chewy no sauce. Coleslaw is better at Popeye. I will not be going back there! I don't know why the other reviews are 5stars very hard to believe ????

The Beef Brisket was really good. They have picnic tables and umbrellas in the grassy area by the parking lot. Makes for a really nice place to relax and have lunch without being stuck inside. The also have a drive thru now. That is a new featuresince the pandemic started. I used to come here as a kid and I still love it as much (or maybe even more) now as I did backthen.

The pork is dry, shaved, deli style meat not pulled. If it's house made and not frozen, which I doubt, it's not smoked. At least not the way their website claims. There's no tell tale pink smoke ring. And most tellingly, the restaurant has no BBQsmell. I can't comprehend the positive reviews here for dry pre made meat.

I wish there was a star less then 1. I don?t care how hungry you are don?t waste your time here. My rib tips were like little beef jerky pieces, sides were in cups think they were in the freezer and thawed as needed (potato salad) and only God knows whatwas in the baked beans straight out the can would have been better. The restaurant smelled like it?s been closed up needs to beaired out or deep cleaned. It just wasn?t it for me at all. I asked for a refund and I will never look back at this place