CG Hooks Eatery

Chicken sandwich was good, but that's where it ends.Chicken wings are only available during the summer, pig wings too. Note: We ate here in May.Beef brisket tin plate was merely OK, a little dry and a very small portion.Baked beans were barely passable; very light on flavor.Cole slaw might as well have been just plain shredded cabbage.And then the corn on the cob. Oh my, where do I begin? If I were to try to reproduce this, it would go something like this:1. Take the oldest ear available.2. Boil it until all the flavor is gone, then keep boiling it until the kernels start to shrivel.3. Put it in the fridge overnight, uncovered to dry it out and remove any lingering sweetness that might have remained.4. Barely warm it up and serve it without any butter.Then as we were leaving I spied a caddy of BBQ sauces that we were never offered.Not going back.

Let me preface this review by saying, I love barbeque. So not too long ago, I was mulling around White Bear Lake on lunch break and out of the 80's suburban regularity CG Hooks appeared. I knew as soon as I saw it from the Taco Johns parking lot that this CG Hooks and I had a date with destiny. For there has always been a great dilemma in this Northern clime of where to find good barbeque and I thought I had found it. Alas, my experience with CG Hooks the next week was mixed at best.What attracts the senses to good barbeque is always the scent of smoking brisket and indeed, that is what caught my attention. In front of the unassuming restaurant is a large smoker from which emits that dark meaty fragrance that lures in the passersby. This is how CG Hooks makes its initial impression to me, all of which seemed good. After taking a look at the menu, I was encouraged by the selection. So, I ordered a beef brisket sandwich with my favorite fixins: baked beans and corn bread. Then comes the bad; I was surprised after getting the total which came closer to $20 than I really feel comfortable with for just lunch. I tried to comfort myself by saying the portions waiting for me in the little bag I clutched must be huge. But then, just another disappointment; the beans were in a container I normally associate with condiments and the cornbread was closer to a cookie than a muffin in size. The brisket was good, but there just wasn't much there. To be fair, they made me a sandwich which, isn't really on the menu because I was getting takeout. Overall the taste was decent, portions small and price high. I intend to visit again and eat in to see if my experience is any better, but for now I cannot rate ye high, CG Hooks.

In a nutshell: Great food, super small portions, kinda pricey.I've been here a handful of times now. It's a cute little family owned place. The indoor seating is larger than it looks, and the outdoor seating is nice too. The service has always been pretty good.The bad: The sandwiches don't come with any sides. None at all. When they bring out your $9 brisket sandwich, it's only the size of a McDonald's Happy Meal hamburger - I'm not kidding, it's really that small. And there are no sides with it. None at all. Those cost an extra $2.50 each. The food is super good though, and all hand made, rubbed, and smoked on-site. Just know what you're getting in to and be prepared to spend a little more than you normally would. It's worth it! The ice cream is also great on a hot day.

My wife and I were waiting for Acqua to open today, (July 5th 2015) and decided to swing by Tally's for a cocktail (across from cg hooks, serves bbq.) After looking at the menu and seeing the slow smoked bbq advert we decided to stay for dinner. I would consider ribs to be my favorite dish, so I was excited to try them out. I went from excited to have a close-by memphis style bbq joint to frequent, to bummed out enough that I decided to write this.Here is our order, and here's the review:Yardbird on a skin: Chicken was Dry, no smoke flavor. Needed maybe some salt or something. Potatoes tasted like they'd been cooked for awhile and reheated.Rachel Press: Wife said it was okay. I thought it was decent, but still didn't have the smoke they were advertising.Full Rack of Ribs: A+ For quantity, D for quality. There were a bunch of them, but the rub was sparse and there again was zero smoke flavor. I'm starting to wonder writing this review if their smoker was broken and instead of telling people, they just hoodwinked them and served baked ribs. They were tender, but had no rub or smoke flavor whatsoever. I was a bit concerned at this and walked over to find that unlike every single other decent bbq joint I've ever been to, there was not a smell of smoke in the place.Drinks:Mojito: Decent.Paradise Island Spiced Tea: Tons of booze, so you got some value there I guess.The wait staff was okay and the view was great. Two stars for having a drink by the lake.

First things first...This place is now CG Hooks & Spagnanmous BBQ - Not sure I would add BBQ to a fish joint unless I was confident that I could do it right. I honestly was hoping that I could give this place a 3-4 star review - I would kill for a great BBQ joint near my home, but it wasn't in the cards.As mentioned in many reviews, this place is designed to look like a shanty - the environment was nice. Walking didn't know if they were open. Not a sole in this place except for about 4-5 16-20 year olds lounging around. At first I thought they were guests, but they were staff and friends. We weren't really interested in eating in, as it would have been very akward, so we opted for takeout.We asked for suggestions, and were told the brisket was very lean, almost no fat at all. They also recommended the pulled pork. I myself am a rib man so when I saw a combo with all three of those options, I was interested. I was convinced without a doubt that this was enough for 2 adults and one toddler. It was not, more to come on that.The combo included brisket, ribs, pulled pork, toast (not texas toast, and nothing on it...weird right?), two sides, coleslaw, and two of their "fishy cornbread" which is simply fish shaped mini cornbread (no fish included).Brisket - antithesis of what we were told. We got 3 pieces, which were about the size of a business card each. One was literally nothing but fat. The other two were typical grizzle, but had some meat. Taste wasn't there.Pulled pork - it was tender, and we got enough for each of us to try. Ribs - We got about 4 1/2 medium sized bones. The ribs were okay, but not worth coming back for.------No BBQ sauce on any of the meats, nor any sides. Not sure if this was an error or not.-------We opted for bbq beans, and chips. Like other reviews mention, the beans come in what can only be described as a sample cup. It looked like something you put ketchup in. The beans were pretty good, but I kid you not, my wife and I got ONE spoonful, and my daughter got TWO. RIDICULOUS. The chips were okay.Cole Slaw? What coleslaw, we didn't get any...We ordered an additional side of 3 cornbreads, because we all like cornbread. This is in addition to the 2 that were supposed to come with the meal...which again, we didn't get. We would have went back since we live less than 2 miles away, but to be honest, we didn't really want any more of their food.Even with a coupon, it ran us something like $22 for one meal. We aren't big eaters, and have normal appetites - but we all were hungry after the meal.I am not sure how this restaurant survives with the low customer foot traffic, high prices, small portions, and adequate at best offerings.

We recently moved to WBL and want to give business to our neighbors, but not this "restaurant" again. The Cliff Notes Version would be overpriced, bad and cold food, not prepared fresh as advertised. If you want better brisket at 1/3 the price, go to Arby's. We ordered the combo BBQ tin with brisket and pulled chicken. Coleslaw was not good. Rice and beans were cold and when they brought out hot ones, they were flavorless and tasted like they were left overs. The chicken was pretty blah and the brisket was mostly fat and dried out as though it was from a few days prior. I would have requested more brisket to make up for the fact that what they gave us was mostly fat, but it was so dry and flavorless, we didn't want anymore. And the prices were not reasonable for what you received. A naked hot dog with nothing on it is $7, Chicago dog is $9, sandwiches were $9 to $14 with no sides. The BBQ we had was $18 and I noticed that a double scoop of ice cream was $7. We don't mind paying more for quality, but paying more for food that doesn't even meet fast food restaurant standards is ridiculous. BTW, we were also the only couple in the restaurant on a warm sunny Sunday afternoon at lunch. This should have been our cue to leave.

One of my favorite spots to go for ice cream, they have tons of different flavors that are all worth a try. Its a little on the pricey side, but worth the extra dollar. A cute little resuraunt right across the street from white bear lake.

Terrible awful horrible service, when the plane is empty. The food is barely ok. I completely blame the leadership here, and at tallys, their is none, which is a shame because it's could be such a great spot. Go to anywhere but here

My husband I came by for lunch on a cold day, so sat inside. The place was not crowded, and our our service was good. The ambiance was cute. We had the ribs and enjoyed them so much we ordered another rack to go for dinner. They serve several home made sauces of different BBQ styles, so a little for everyone's taste. We enjoyed our visit and will be back. We also want to try their little bar across the street on a nice day.

Absolutely awful! Never going back. This place is a shit show. The price doesn't match the little amount of food I actually got. It was way to expensive. I had to wait for 45 unbearable minutes and when I asked where my food is they said "oops it was in the back the whole time" they thought it was funny I thought I'm starving and I have been waiting FOR 45 MINUTES , some of the girl employees were talking and screaming for everyone to hear. Personally for me it wasn't a good experience. I am very sad because I have gone before and nothing was wrong. The food was also really discusting this time.