Mad Max BBQ
Rio Rancho was home to one BBQ joint for a number of years that I could recall. The BBQ there is just OK. Recently a new establishment opened up near 528 and Sara close to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Mad Max BBQ (MMB). I heard about MMB from the Alibi and Gil Garduno's website. They had a lot of good things to say about this place. I had wanted to try MMB for several months, but eating in Rio Rancho requires a fair amount of planning for me due to where I 
normally wander the streets. So last Saturday, I decided that I should get in my car and go. I phoned ahead to see what their operating hours were and I was told they close their doors on Saturday at 8 PM. My dinner companions and I arrive a few minutes after 7 PM and the place looks closed. I open the door and the staff of two assured us that they were open and welcomed us in. During our dining experience we only saw one other patron, so I guess Rio Rancho eats early or does not know that MMB is open for dinner. MMB does keep odd hours, but I guess it's more of a lunch place for the Intel folks. MMB is a really small establishment in a low profile strip mall. When you walk into MMB nothing is really extra ordinary. It's small with some Pork and Brew memorabilia for sale, a few trophies , and not too much more. MMB can probably accommodate around thirty patrons comfortably.
The service here is great. One of my dinner companions did complain about the availability of certain menu items. We were not able to b
uy sausage, piggy cake, and a few other items because they just ran out. I understand my friend's point, but at the same time in BBQ if you run out it's going to take awhile to make more. We were unable to get Texas toast with our meal, but the manager made more than amends and got us some killer biscuits that are not on the menu. What we did eat, pictured to the left, were the St. Louis style ribs, brisket, pulled pork, smokey carne adovada, beans, fried okra and french fries. The fried food was done well. I know that fried food is not as complicated brain surgery or writing the great American novel, but when fried food is done well it's damn good. This was damn good. The okra had a great warm crust with fresh okra with a healthy crunch when bitten into. The fries had a great crunch with warm potato innards. Is smoked carne adovada a "meatball sundae," a meatball sundae is two awesome thing that when combined have a horrible result, the answer my friends is heck no. The smoked pork with red chile is like ranch dressing and pizza, not necessarily an intuitive combination, but you may love it. The brisket is pretty. It has a great smoke ring and color, but the flavor is OK. The pulled pork was good. It had great bark or crust on the outside. The flavor was good, but I ran into the problem of not knowing what kind of sauce to put on. I found the two red BBQ sauces, hot and regular, and one yellow/brownish sauce that I am unsure of what it is. I tried all three and liked the hot the most. The ribs were excellent, but not fresh. Meaning they had been in a warming pan, oven, bath or something like that. I'm not sure, but it's a theory due to how the meat pulled off the bone on the ribs. The ribs were not true St. Louis style: tips cut off, squared up, and a little sweet, but they were spare ribs are tasty. Gil Garduno raved about the beans. I am not a bean fan, but did try them. They were good, but I don't like beans.
We did try the apple pie, pictured on the right, and it was great. The manager is a good chef and whipped up some caramel that added a nice touch to our desert. I thought the presentation of this simple desert was great.
The staff was hospitable and allowed me to see their wood pile and smoker. They have a commercial grade indoor smoker, pictured below. The wood I think was pecan from the appearance of the bark, but the staff was unable to confirm what type of wood it was. From what I read from Gil's blog, MMB does not commit to one style of BBQ. This is true, but it's hard to commit to one style. All in all a good BBQ joint. Service is great, the decor leaves more to be desired, and the food is pretty good. The big complaint from my group was that when they run out of food they are out. The premature closing on a Saturday night at 7 PM was weird, but the staff more than accommodated us, but maybe it's a Rio Rancho thing. I would give Mad Max BBQ a score of three and a half stars out of five.
normally wander the streets. So last Saturday, I decided that I should get in my car and go. I phoned ahead to see what their operating hours were and I was told they close their doors on Saturday at 8 PM. My dinner companions and I arrive a few minutes after 7 PM and the place looks closed. I open the door and the staff of two assured us that they were open and welcomed us in. During our dining experience we only saw one other patron, so I guess Rio Rancho eats early or does not know that MMB is open for dinner. MMB does keep odd hours, but I guess it's more of a lunch place for the Intel folks. MMB is a really small establishment in a low profile strip mall. When you walk into MMB nothing is really extra ordinary. It's small with some Pork and Brew memorabilia for sale, a few trophies , and not too much more. MMB can probably accommodate around thirty patrons comfortably.The service here is great. One of my dinner companions did complain about the availability of certain menu items. We were not able to b
uy sausage, piggy cake, and a few other items because they just ran out. I understand my friend's point, but at the same time in BBQ if you run out it's going to take awhile to make more. We were unable to get Texas toast with our meal, but the manager made more than amends and got us some killer biscuits that are not on the menu. What we did eat, pictured to the left, were the St. Louis style ribs, brisket, pulled pork, smokey carne adovada, beans, fried okra and french fries. The fried food was done well. I know that fried food is not as complicated brain surgery or writing the great American novel, but when fried food is done well it's damn good. This was damn good. The okra had a great warm crust with fresh okra with a healthy crunch when bitten into. The fries had a great crunch with warm potato innards. Is smoked carne adovada a "meatball sundae," a meatball sundae is two awesome thing that when combined have a horrible result, the answer my friends is heck no. The smoked pork with red chile is like ranch dressing and pizza, not necessarily an intuitive combination, but you may love it. The brisket is pretty. It has a great smoke ring and color, but the flavor is OK. The pulled pork was good. It had great bark or crust on the outside. The flavor was good, but I ran into the problem of not knowing what kind of sauce to put on. I found the two red BBQ sauces, hot and regular, and one yellow/brownish sauce that I am unsure of what it is. I tried all three and liked the hot the most. The ribs were excellent, but not fresh. Meaning they had been in a warming pan, oven, bath or something like that. I'm not sure, but it's a theory due to how the meat pulled off the bone on the ribs. The ribs were not true St. Louis style: tips cut off, squared up, and a little sweet, but they were spare ribs are tasty. Gil Garduno raved about the beans. I am not a bean fan, but did try them. They were good, but I don't like beans.
We did try the apple pie, pictured on the right, and it was great. The manager is a good chef and whipped up some caramel that added a nice touch to our desert. I thought the presentation of this simple desert was great.
The staff was hospitable and allowed me to see their wood pile and smoker. They have a commercial grade indoor smoker, pictured below. The wood I think was pecan from the appearance of the bark, but the staff was unable to confirm what type of wood it was. From what I read from Gil's blog, MMB does not commit to one style of BBQ. This is true, but it's hard to commit to one style. All in all a good BBQ joint. Service is great, the decor leaves more to be desired, and the food is pretty good. The big complaint from my group was that when they run out of food they are out. The premature closing on a Saturday night at 7 PM was weird, but the staff more than accommodated us, but maybe it's a Rio Rancho thing. I would give Mad Max BBQ a score of three and a half stars out of five.
Labels: Mad Max BBQ
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