Tom's Bbq - Chandler

When we travel we hit up bbq joints.... this one is likely our 4th in the area in the last week and a bit and our 7-8th in general. I should pre-face my review with we didn’t realize it was Chicago style and we are typically more of light sauce people or basic rub. We would definitely get the sauce on the side next time- but that’s just us! We did a bbq sampler and a 1lb of burnt ends with Mac and cheese, coleslaw and potato salad. We try to always try a little bit of each meat everywhere we go and similar sides to compare. Burnt ends - we really enjoyed these! If my whole review was based off these it would be a 5/5. It was a perfect fat to meat ratio. The sauce - we did the mild one. Was a nice sweet bbq sauce Pulled pork - this was super moist with a lot of nice shredding. Brisket - this was covered in sauce so it was hard to see what kind of bark it had and rub was fine. It was good and tender though Ribs - these were ok. It was too saucey for us so we didn’t get the opportunity to get to taste the meat. Chicken - was good. Once we peeled off skin and sauce it was decent. Hot links - these were good. Mac and cheese - my favourite thing about bbq left me wanting more, but not in the way of more of this Mac and cheese. This Mac and cheese was shells which is great, the sauce didn’t do it for me though. I would rate this a 3/5. Coleslaw was good and moist, I would reorder that as my side again I think Potato salad was good, my husband suggests this potato salad over Naked BBQs. I think it could use some seasoning salt personally. You could smell the smoke when you walked in, but couldn’t see any “stacks” for smoking so I sure if it’s smoked on site, as we did notice on google quite a few locations. We felt it was priced higher then some of the other ones in the Phoenix General bubble area. We’d eat here again, but wouldn’t travel far distances for it.

- Paige Sveinbjornson -

I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and it was great! She got the pulled pork plate. I didn't try the brisket, because Joe's BBQ has me spoiled. But their pulled pork is fantastic!

- Tim Boone -

Tom's BBQ also offers Chicago-style items and fish. I was born and raised near Chicago and this places reminds me of home! The decor, atmosphere and smell immediately take me back in time, when I walk in. The brisket is my favorite at Tom's BBQ in Chandler and it is fantastic! It melted in my mouth, and the spicy BBQ sauce added the perfect kick with a side of the beans. Who knew a BBQ place would also have an amazing Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich? It was juicy and flavorful, a real hidden gem on the menu for me. Well done Tom!!

- Ray Vallera -

The prices were reasonable and competitive and the smoked meats were very good and so were their sauces but the sides lacked any character. The only cornbread had jalapeños and if you don't like that well you'll be disappointed. The beans were very plain but if they did something using their sauce blend it could make them better.

- Cathy Birdsong -