Reo's Ribs

Visited Reo's again this weekend, my first time since their most recent re-opening. I love how they remodeled and also acquired the next door space for some seating. It's technically all takeout, but you can take your meal to the seating and enjoy it immediately. They were also super friendly. EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD OMGI got the 5-meat sampler, which comes with 3 sides. These are very generous portions! I got brisket, catfish, chicken, and 2 kinds of pork ribs (babyback were my favorite), plus fried okra, yams, and mac&cheese. I've been eating good all weekend long. It was 3 meals' worth of food and all of it was excellent! I added just a tiny bit of salt to my fish but otherwise all the flavors were spot on. The sauce is perfectly smoky and not overly sweet, and the mac had just a perfect spice that didn't overwhelm it and enhanced the flavor. All the meats were cooked just right and so smoky good. I'm ready to order more!

My work brought Reo's for lunch last week. We had the chicken, brisket, yams, and greens. I kind of had hoped they'd get the mac and cheese but its okay. It was on time and I appreciate that with catering. The food came in pretty standard aluminum trays but everything was good. The meat was good and the chicken was actually my favorite which was surprising to me, the collard greens were a little extra salty, and the yams were sweet. Honestly I liked all of it, I overate and spent the next hour absolutely useless at work (if my boss reads this please know I worked very hard anyway). Everyone on the team seemed happy and enjoyed the food and it was big portions so we never ran out. We also got the cornbread which I had to literally wait and go get as a second once I cleared some room on my plate. The cornbread was a tad bit dense for my liking but overall very good. Absolutely better than pizza for a team lunch.

So good!! The ribs are so smokey and delicious i was thinking about them the next day. The sides are also sooo good. Baked beans, yams (yams!), coleslaw etc, were spot on. My wife had the pork sandwich and loved it. This place is undercover so good!

Really good smoked pulled pork. BBQ sauce was a little plain. Would go back. Reps ribs!

Never tried them before, and they were closed a LONG time due to a fire. But they reopened.I was looking forward to trying them. Wasn't expecting much because of previous reviews, but still disappointed. I got 2 of their pulled pork sliders. Ate one walking home. Sooo dry. Maybe 1 tsp of BBQ sauce on top of overcooked meat. Very hard to build up enough saliva to eat it. When I got home, I put extra BBQ sauce on the 2nd slider. A little better, but meat still dry & tough. Indoor seating is still being worked on. ETA 2 months.There's a couple small tables outside with no cover.It's only been open a couple weeks, so maybe they're still working out the kinks. I'll give them another try in a few months.

The smoke pouring out of the giant smoker out front is intoxicating, even if you are driving by in a car. Having lived in the neighborhood for many years, I've been to Reo's a few times. When the ribs are moist and juicy, they are some of the best in Portland. But when they are over cooked and dry, they are like leather. It's this inconsistency that saddens me and makes me hesitant to go back. During these Covid times, I understand that restaurants have difficulty gauging demand and that could impact the quality. But customers who are supporting businesses, have to decide where to spend their limited funds. I feel especially bad for Reo's after having experienced a fire that destroyed their business, only to rebuild then be hit with the pandemic and the senseless violence and destruction in Portland. Their once beautiful building is now covered in graffiti and is surrounded by a fence in an attempt to protect the business and allow them to continue cooking for customers. I'll give them another chance, but when I have time to go in person and make sure my beef ribs are fresh off the smoker.

Ordered delivery from here. Hadn't had Reo's since they were in John's Landing. I like the charcoal smoky barbecue taste of their ribs. I loved their ribs at that time. Decided to order a half rack of baby back's with mashed potatoes and baked beans. I asked for sauce on the side. Delivery took about 20 minutes. To make things short into the point... When I open my order there was already sauce on the ribs and normally when you order a half rack or full rack the ribs are intact and not cut up. So I got six cut up ribs That definitely did not come from the same rack. To top it off three of of the ribs were burnt to a crisp and tough as leather. The other three ribs were falling off the bone yummy good and tender.So apparently they cut up the ribs so that you get three yummy good ones and three leather burnt ones.... and then cover them all with sauce so that maybe you won't notice. Hmmmmm....not cool!! Don't express the mashed potatoes to come with gravy because they don't. In the bag beans or dry with barely any sauce.Reo I'm on to you! There are lots of other places that I can spend my $25 and get decent ribs.

Small portions for lots of money forgot my coleslaw. Now they're closed again due to a fire. Seems suspicious to me.

Pulled pork sandwich. Good smoke on the pork. Not much else on the buns. Kinda plain. If you just want meat this is your sandwich.

They're back open!! I was surprised to see that today, but also I was hungry, so I popped in and got fried catfish, coleslaw, and fried okra.OUT. STANDING. So far the only place I've found in Portland that does Southern food right, and they've elevated it way past right. The okra was tender, light, and crispy, without being oily. The catfish was the same, with a perfect thin cornbread crust, and generous enough for a second meal. The slaw was served with its delicate, lightly sweet dressing on the side, so the very thinly-shredded cabbage could still be crisp on serving. So good. Even the tartar sauce is good. I don't like tartar on my fish, but this warrants repurposing in a potato salad tomorrow. Super excited for the hands-down best Southern food in Portland to be back with us. I'm gonna lie to my mom and tell her it's a meat 'n three so she'll let me take her there. I mean it's kinda a meat 'n three.Service was a very nice dude named "Bruno," and my food came out super fast.