Since we moved into our new neighbourhood (Parkdale), one restaurant has been taunting us to go with its smokey smells and vibrant wall art. I am talking about Electric Mud BBQ located at Queen and Brock in Toronto.

Not only do we walk by it every day, we keep hearing great things about the BBQ food they put out. My interest was piqued at BBQ. We used to live up near Barque on Roncy and after finally eating at Electric Mud recently, we have definitely found our new close-to-home BBQ place.

I can’t wait for the weather to warm up so we can experience the patio, while again, being within stumbling distance to home.

Before I get started on sharing our first dining experience there, my one piece of advice would be to reserve a table. We tried to drop in before and were greeted by a 45 minute wait. Also, based on how scarce parking becomes on our street at night, I know Electric Mud is doing just fine.

What We Had Heard

Before we even moved into Parkdale there was buzz about this place. I had heard the name and that they did great BBQ. We were told it was very “hipster” and “trendy” and online reviews commented on the high prices despite it being a little on the grungy side. I figured it was just off Queen Street and was popular, so of course prices would be a little high. But also, good BBQ is not cheap. When you smoke meat for several hours or more, you can’t just give it away.

So going in, we had an idea in our head and since I do a lot of backyard smoking myself, I do have high expectations for BBQ.

The outside of the place does look different with the graphite but I think it matches the neighbourhood. I like a place that does not take itself that seriously other than the food. If the food is good, who cares how it looks.

What We Experienced

Our evening out was for four and we did reserve a table. When we arrived we sat at a picnic table that was in the patio section but it still had the winter tarp walls up. The place is a tight fit, but again, it’s not fine dining and the new trend seems to be smaller eating areas.

The inside was also pretty loud. There was the patio area and a small bar area inside. I never counted the tables but there were not that many. The walls were decorated with beer posters from the 80’s or 70’s that were hilarious and pretty offensive in terms of what flies in 2016. Again, I liked it and it fit.

Drinks were first. They had a decent list of cocktails, several beers on tap and a few more in cans or bottles. Enough to please everyone.

The menu was small but I like that. We were not at Boston Pizza where it takes 20 minutes to go over the menu. They had a few starters, mains and desserts.

Since there were four of us, we tried to sample as much as we could.

Our order consisted of:

• Crack Rolls
• Cole Slaw
• Rib Ends
• Baked Beans
• Buffalo Cauliflower
• BBQ Pork Sandwich
• Fried Chicken
• Pork Side Ribs
• Beef Back Ribs
• Banana Cream Pie
• Buttermilk Pie

You can see their full menu here.

The clear winner of the food was the fried chicken. Wow it was amazing. I don’t think I have ever had better fried chicken. This was a unanimous decision.

Other stars were the crack rolls and the buffalo cauliflower. I don’t even like cauliflower and I could have eaten a tub of that.

As for the ribs, they were okay. First of all, I smoke my own ribs at home and they are the best in my books. Also, I am not a fan of side ribs. The beef ribs did look impressive, but there was not a lot of meat.

The pies came in little cups and they were more like ingredients of a pie stacked on top of each other.

Overall, the meal was tasty, we were left satisfied and I can’t wait to try the other dishes we missed.  They do takeout as well, so it will be hard to walk by without ordering some more cauliflower.

The time of the meal does fly. We were hardly there a few hours. The food comes fast and we never felt rushed to get out until we were done eating and polishing off our drinks. I get it, it’s a small place and they want to turn tables.

It was starting to get loud again anyways and I needed to walk off my meal.

Electric Mud BBQ will be a definite stop for us when we have friends and family visiting or we want really good takeout food. It’s still not my fave BBQ in Toronto. That was Greenwood Smokehouse on the Danforth. But Electric Mud BBQ sure will be handy as it is 5 minutes away.

As for it being kid friendly? We probably won’t take our boys there just yet. They do like BBQ but not the way it is plated there. But the environment is fine for kids as long as it is not too late. Hey, I could be wrong, our boys may love it. At least I know they will if Electric Mud BBQ is still there in five years.

Summer is going to be great with a cool patio and smokey food goodness right around the corner.

Have you been to Electric Mud BBQ? What did you think?