St Francis Bbq

With some extra time before our movie started, my wife and I figured that we would try out this restaurant because we had heard such good things. We have been living in the area for a few years now and we have always been meaning to drop in. I spent some time living in Memphis a while ago so I was a little hesitant about how good it would really be, considering they do things a little differently out here in California, but to my surprise, the food was everything I had hoped it would be. I ordered a pulled pork dinner while my wife ordered the baby back ribs, though next time we are going to have to remember to come back with a heavier appetite because the portions were extremely generous. However, considering the prices of some items, we should have expected that. The restaurant is pretty small but it?s kept pretty clean and it feels very cozy. The service was decent and our food was ready within about 15 minutes. The fact that my pork was very lean without much dryness was a surprise in itself and the spicy sauce that came with it was just right. My wife loved her ribs as well and I ended up asking for a little rib as well as some of her collard greens. All in all, we had a very good time and we will definitely be returning to check out their weekly Friday night buffet. Pros: Excellent food, nice location across from the movie theater, cozy setting Cons: Pricey, but worth it more

St Francis advertises Southern style BBQ, which was enough for me to give it a try. Arriving very hungry, I ordered the two entree combo of beef ribs and baby back ribs for $24.99. A little pricey for a ribs only dinner, but it was about right since it was two half orders of ribs, which were about $16 each if ordered individually. The meat was lean, but I didn't care for the sauce. It was the most tart flavored BBQ I have yet to come across. I lost momentum after just two ribs.\r When I was waiting for my order, I found out that there was a buffet meal for only $15, but I had arrived 30 minutes early and wasn't told about it. I'm not sure if that was on purpose or not. I did see it on the menu, but I believe it was listed as a dinner special, so I just assumed it was special pricing on particular entrees. Since I came to test out the ribs, I would've still saved by ordering the combo.\r Some other notes. The place is located at a mall. At first sight, I hesitated, but knew I wanted to try it sooner or later and since I was close to starving, I jumped right in. They only had cloth burgundy napkins. That was frustrating since I had to stare at my napkin before I wipe. If I wasn't careful, I would end up putting old sauce on other parts of my hands/face when trying to wipe up. At the end of the meal, I didn't get any hand wipes at all. The restroom was outside to the back, so I didn't want to look like I was walking out on the bill when I go to wash up, so I waited until I paid my bill. Overall, the experience was okay, but the food was mediocre at best. Definitely not worth the money. Pros: buffet dinner is cheap if you know about it in advanced Cons: a little pricey; BBQ sauce is too tart; you have to exit the restaurant to use the restroom in the back; burgundy cloth napkins more

Being a native of middle Tennessee I was quite excited to find a hometown bar-b-que place in California. I was expecting the Southern hospitality I was used to....boy was I in for a rude awakening. The service the first, second and last time were AWFUL!! I'm not exaggerating! The owner himself was the most rude of the bunch! Our first encounter with the owner was a Friday evening at their buffet. It was myself and one other couple in the restaurant. As he began to lay the food out my husband and I got up and walked to the buffet line. He huffed at us and told us to go sit down....he will call us table by table when HE is ready! I was ready to walk out then but my husband insisted we stay. I didn't eat that night...I was about to give that butt-hole a dime of my money. The second time my husband went alone. He was laughing when he came home saying, that guy was rude again. Now, they've hired a waitress that needs to do the world a favor and quit! We were ignored as we walked in, I had to ask her if she could please wait on us after a 10 minute wait and only 6 patrons in the place. My food was luke warm, my husband had to walk to the counter to get a drink refill, we had to find our own silverware. She was pre-occupied with trying to close early and get out of there. Needless to say she did not recieve a tip which is so unusual for me since I waitressed for 3 years. I gave them 3 chances to earn my business...everyone has a bad day but this guy is just an unhappy, socially deficient business man who lacks the skills to make customers happy and I don't see him staying in business with his lack of customer service. Cons: Poor service, owner is rude, high prices more