On Thursday 26, 2017 at about 6:00 PM my friend James and I went out for dinner at Buster Rhino’s Southern BBQ restaurant at the downtown Oshawa location located at 28 King St. E. Oshawa, ON L1H 1A9. Their phone number is 905-436-6986 Ext. 3. They have two other locations one is North Oshawa and the other one is Downtown Whitby. We wanted to go to the Whitby one since it was closer to where we started out but it hours on Monday to Saturdays are 11AM to 8PM which we both thought was very strange being a dinner and bar restaurant. So, we went to the next closer one which was downtown Oshawa which was open 11 am to 1 am on a Thursday which we thought that time makes a lot more sense. I found it weird that on the Facebook page it mentions a Toronto location even when the Toronto location been shut down for over a year now. We just walk in and did not make a reservation. Their website is http://www.busterrhinos.com. This restaurant does not have online reservations; we just walk in and hope for the best.
It was a very hard choice since I am a meat and BBQ lover. I order the Thursday special, rib and wing combo. Half rack of signature back ribs and a full pound of wings and one classic side. I got bourbon BBQ on my ribs and championship original on my wings I decided to upgrade my classic side to a premium side for 1 dollar and got cheese curds. James got the brisket cheesesteak with their signature beef brisket topped with sautéed onions and peppers served with hot melted provolone cheese served with your choice of sauce and one classic side. He picked bourbon BBQ as his sauce. He also upgraded his side to premium and got onion rings.
My ribs were very tender and the meat just fell off the bone. The ribs were very saucy and tasted sweet and had slightly tangy taste. The wings were huge; this place is now one of my favorite wing places. The sauce on the wings were glazed on. They were full of meat. I like how they gave me an equal number of flats and drumettes. The cheese curds were gooey but lightly breaded coating gave it a good crisp so you can hold it. It also did not taste very oily and there was no oil in the bowl which I liked. Same goes with James onion rings. I tried one and they were lightly breaded and a good amount of onion. They did not taste oily and was not plated in oil and they were dry. I don’t like onion rings due to the large amount of batter and oil and I enjoy these onions rings a lot. Everything on James sandwich looked fresh and bright and the meat was very tender and juicy.
The food plated was not fancy but it is also a BBQ joint, I don’t want fancy. My cheese curds were on a small bowl on the place which I like so the sauce from the meat didn’t get to it. It also made it look like I got more cheese curds stack in the bowl than flat on the plate. My plate was the ribs on one side and wings on the other and bowl of cheese on the side of plate. James had the sandwich on one side and onion rings on the other. I like how there was gaps between food and the food was not touching each other on both plates. We both enjoy all the food we order and thought the food was hot and juicy and tasty.
I believe the brisket were smoked then put in the ovens and wings were cooked in oven. The ribs are slowly smoked over hardwood. They believe the food needs to be cook on a low temperature and cook slowly. The cheese curds and onion rings was deep fried. I think this restaurant had good ideas for the menu. I never had deep fried cheese curds and I almost died when I saw that on the menu. Me and James has this thing we do when we go out we usually always get a poutine to split and I steal all his cheese curds. So, we thought it was funny when we saw cheese curds on the menu. The portions sizes are normal compare to other restaurants, 1 pound of wings, half rack of ribs, James burger has a good layer of meat to vegetables. The vegetables were bright in color and look fresh. The meat was big and juicy. I found the prices are fare. To upgrade sides, it only a dollar and I found that be a good price. I was disappointed that they do not serve mash potatoes. When I think of meat dishes I think of meat and potatoes. I was hoping a slab of buttery mash potatoes beside my ribs. I was shock to find out they did not serve mash potatoes. I wanted BBQ and wings and ribs scream BBQ to me so I was happy with my meal.
The first thing that we didn’t like is that there is no parking lot and you must park on the street, luckily there was an empty spot right out front the door. The first thing I saw from the restaurant was a lgbtq flag sticker in the center of the door and I liked seeing that to see that this restaurant is open minded. That gave the restaurant score some bonus points because of that. We walk in and stood there, we did not know if we seat ourselves or the waiters come brings us to a table. After standing there for about two minutes watching the three waiters stand there with their back turn towards us talking, I guess one overheard us talking and turn her head to us and said “Hello, take a seat anywhere.” There were about 15 -20 tables and 2 tables were taken. On the steady table, it had a little wooden carrying case type shelf with ketchup and mustard, salt and pepper, 2 forks and knifes in napkins and 3 flyers and a large drink menu. Not all tables had this and they just had flyers, I found that a bit odd. On the table, there was 2 other flyers and a pair of glasses. This table for four is layout as a table of two There was a stain on one of the knives. The waiter came over and brought us menus and took our drink order. She came over twice to ask us if were ready to order. We told her when we came in we both never been here before.
James mention to me what the special of the day was from the menu. The menu was clean and not too big, 3 pages. I didn’t like the colors of the menu and it was a bit hard to focus when reading since it was a lot of blue and black text. I think they could space out everything more. However, the drink menu was a massive list of drinks. I never seen a bigger drink list in my life. I understand it is also a bar but that was way too many drinks for a restaurant. I found the prices for drinks was higher than normal too. They had beer, wine, mix drinks and just about everything under the sun from the size of the list. The waiter came back and took our order and James order his burger than the waiter told him he might want the other special that was not on the menu or anywhere I could see on the wall about a different burger. James ask if he bought that one if they would remove the hot peppers, the waiter said it would be no problem but James decided to keep the burger he order. I than order my meal and ask what sauces do you recommend. She said there all good and made in house. That didn’t help me pick what two out of six sauces I want on my food. After picking two sauces out of a hat turns out they was good picks. Our food came out very quick, I was surprise. James picked one of the same sauces I picked. James ask the waiter if it was spicy and the waited ensured him it was not. He enjoyed the sauce too. The waiter came twice to check on us at the very start then near the end she same about two more times seeing if we want the bill. James was finished eating and I was still eating. I felt a bit rushed.
Once I was finish eating the waiters were out of sight. One was on the other side of room getting the bill for one of the table and we sat there. We waited a few minutes before we flag her down to come give us the bill. As we were waiting we heard a bang. The one table behind us was drunk and manage somehow to make the chair fall and he was trying to balance himself as walking out the door. I understand it is a bar too but he might have had a few too many. The waiter came with the debit machine and we paid our bill and she left with the dishes. We got up and put on our coats and walk to the door while two of the waiters are standing at the front talking. We said thanks it was good have a good night, one waiter turn around and said thanks for coming then went turn back and continue to talk.
I would of like a friendly welcome and goodbye message. The place was empty and you don’t have much to do but once you hear that door open you should be focus and greet the guest and not have them wait until you are finish talking to one another. When we were looking at the menu for about 10 minutes, clearly did not know what to order, I think the waiter should tell us the specials in the beginning not as we were ordering. I would have liked if she told us a sauce and not said they're all good. Overall the place looked clean in the front of house and washrooms. One of the knives had a stain on it. I did not like having 5 pieces of paper on my table of event posters than the drink and food menu. That was way too much plus all the other ads posters they have on the wall right beside the tables. The tables and chairs look like wood and I thought that was good since wood reminds me of BBQ and the smoky smell wood makes when on fire so I liked the connection there. The music was a bit loud. That might be a good volume when it a pack restaurant but when three tables are taken there not too much noise blocking the music so it felt a lot louder with an empty room. The three waiters all had random clothes on and no uniform. One was wearing a dress, one had jeans and a shirt and one had jeans and a sweater. I think that looks unprofessional with them looking the same as the guess. Dining in the middle of winter means everyone has a big winter coat hanging behind their chair since there was no coat hook anywhere.
Buster Rhino has three restaurants, two in Oshawa and one in Whitby. This is a BBQ joint where meat is the focus. One thing I did not like when I went to eat was there was no mention of Darryl Koster. Darryl Koster is the owner of Buster Rhino. He created all the BBQ sauces. He even went on the show Dragons Den and got a deal for his BBQ sauces. I think the restaurant should show more pride in his BBQ sauces and know more about them and promote them. I think this is a big selling feature for the restaurant. The recipes are family winning recipes from South Carolina BBQ contests. They use local food and all sauces are made in house. Big selling points that I learn from their Facebook page and not from the restaurant itself.
Overall I would give Buster Rhino 3 out of 5 stars. The food was great and I would go back again and I am planning on it. There are several things I want to try and I fell in love with their wings and cheese curds. The food save them. The service was bad and felt like me going to dinner made all the waiters stop talking and making them do their job was my fault. They seem like nice people but this was clearly a side job to make some extra cash and not what they are interested in.
