I hate to rain on this parade, and if you guys want to kick me off the forum for my negative reviews, I will understand, but I went to this place the other day and unfortunately, though he is a real nice, likeable guy, Karlos just doesn't seem to have what it takes to run a successful restaurant business.
He states that he has been in business for 3 months. However, his place is an absolute wreck. There are old, junky looking, unplugged pieces of equipment strewn about the main eating area that are remnants from the previous chicken establishment. There is no menu board. There is loud music playing that for lack of better words I would describe as old-school, African-American lounge music from the gold chain and herpes era. And, the entire place has the look of an 'I'm not sure that I should eat the potato salad' establishment that will soon be featured on one of the TV news dirty dining segments. Furthermore, I am not saying this because I am scared to eat at dives. I've eaten at many dives in the past and overlooked a lot of issues in the name of good food. This place, though, just doesn't have a confidence inspiring look to the way it is organized.
With respect to the food, though I was the only person in the restaurant, it took an awful long time for it to come out. It appeared that Karlos was struggling to find the menu items that I ordered. Eventually, he told me that the ribs were simply unavailable. The pulled pork, however, was actually pretty tasty, and mixed well with the sauce, though the sauce did have kind of a weird gel-like consistency. Unfortunately, the brisket was absolutely nauseating. I'm not sure if it was undercooked or what the problem was, but it was no different than eating pure fat. I threw it away, despite my desire to try his sauce on another meat. As for the potato salad, it was delivered to my table in a plastic Tupperware container and I had no confidence whatsoever that it was fresh. Having had food poisoning from barbecue restaurant coleslaw in the past, I threw it away without taking a bite.
At the end of the day, I feel bad for Karlos. There is perhaps some potential for a diamond in the rough with his food, but the grand sum of his restaurant presentation is sadly lacking, and I think there are systemic problems that go way beyond growing pains. Perhaps, if he could team with a more business savvy member of this forum, his place would stand more of a chance. But, ultimately, at the end of the day, he must come through himself, and thus far, I've seen better run lemonade stands.
Please, don't shoot the messenger.
