I recently decided to use one of my Groupons and headed to Davis Square Somerville to check in on Redbones.

Davis Square is chock full of great shopping and dining nuggets and Redbones is certainly one of the landmarks of this hip area.

Seated as we walked in, one can’t help but notice that this place is more about the substance and less on the style — don’t let the close tables and bare bones comfort fool you, the people here from the kitchen to the wait staff clearly love what they do and they do their best to make this foray into southern BBQ a truly enjoyable experience.

I had waffled all day between pork ribs and beef ribs….the last time I did this, I took the indecisive route and went with the BBQ Belt, which is  “A taste of the South, featuring Memphis, Texas & Arkansas Ribs & Sliced Brisket. Served w/ beans, cole slaw & sauce”.  Now…I KNOW I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I have been trying to make more definitive choices in life…and why not make one here?

Pork ribs…beef ribs…?  Pork ribs…Beef ribs…?  Fully leaning towards pork ribs…I had made my decision…and when the server asked what I was going to have…I told him proudly….”Brisket!”….Damn those delicious ribs!  Brisket!!!!

So — this poor guy says “small or large?”.

Do I look like someone who orders small things?  Coffee…beer…button down oxfords…I am a guy that usually takes the biggest size of anything.  So, large dinner plate of brisket.

My dining partner went with the Buffalo Shrimp…., so I was out of luck if I had hopes of trying some of their pork.

We had also decided to try some fried pickles and fried jalapenos, served with a side of ranch dressing/sauce.

These fried nuggets of love were good, with a nice batter coating the outside.  The jalapenos gave some spice to the palate, but were tame on the Scoville meter.

The micro brew list here has gained its own, separate, distinguished reputation.  It is well deserved!  They had quite a sampling of items not seen at most restaurants.  I went with a Pretty Things Jack d’Or, which was very tasty, lighter than expected.  I’d like to try another one sometime, perhaps with a few degrees chillier to make my full assessment.  In an effort not to overpower my food, I backed off the deeper, fuller varieties and went with a lighter standby, Allagash White for a second pint.  Nice, clean, consistent Maine brew.

I sampled the Buffalo Shrimp which was very tasty.  The coating had a light crunch to it, which was so welcomed!  Some buffalo shrimp have a coating that is like a wet fried paste, but this version seemed to give it a full, fried coat, and the buffalo sauce did not break down the crunchy batter!  These were very good — but on to the BBQ, I mean, this IS a BBQ joint after all!

My serving was huge — I guess I did order large — but this was one massive grouping of delicious, tender, love… This “sliced, slowly smoked, tender brisket” was as great as one would hope!  I also used their “hot” sauce on the side, which was very tasty, but again, not very hot — I think they could increase the heat on the sauce.

The brisket left no reservations about my choice to skip the ribs.  It was accompanies with plump, hot baked beans which were better than most.  The cole slaw was fresh and plentiful, but lacked a little mayo in my mind.  Yes — this could be my Hellman’s addiction talking -

I left full of food and full of appreciation for the food, beverages and service at Redbones –

I’ll be back — just don’t make me choose between the pork or the beef….

On a recent Sunday, I travelled into Boston over near the Boston University campus to scout out the Sunset Cantina.  I had been here briefly for a margarita a few years ago and I wanted to try this cantina, knowing how great their sister restaurant, the Sunset Grill and Tap is.  It also helps that I have a Groupon to use sometime in the next few months.

I was there in time for a brunch, but I thought I would just do a quicker hitter — a couple (few?) beers and a small bite was more what I needed on this day.

First up, I ordered a Racer 5 IPA and a menu (which meant a lunch menu, a beer menu and a specials/brunch menu).

At this point, there was a minute when I saw some Mahi Mahi tacos on the menu, and was tempted to switch it up, but when the bartender told me they were not available until dinner, it made my mind up for me….today was going to be a burger and beer place — will do some Mexican here the next time.

It took me some time to make up my mind, so it was time for a second beer — which was going to be a Stone Arrogant Bastard (approriately named, huh?….I can hear you…).  Beers were very cold and the service was prompt.  The bartender was very helpful in telling me what was good, what beer seems to be getting some buzz and what was “just tapped”.

I chose to go with the Sante Fe version of their regular beef burger.  This adds slices of fresh avacado, chipotle pepper sauce and pepperjack cheese, all served with pickles and a choice of fries, onion rings….and (white noise)…I mean it’s always going to be onion rings or fries, right?  (disclaimer — ok, maybe cole slaw with some summery fried fish)

The burger was tasty and firm.  Now, I say firm, because I thought it was unusually firm.  It was not overcooked, but I think the cook may have sat on the patties to make them so firm.  So, the nit-picker in me prefers a burger that isn’t so hockey-puck firm.  The burger had a nice beef taste.  And while we are talking firm….the avacado was a little firm as well.  The chipotle sauce was more of a pepper tasting sauce, rather than a smokey chipotle.  The pepperjack was semi mild with this burger.  The onion rings appeared to be those pre-cut variety which can be tasty (and these were!), but I sit here as a fan of obivously homemade onion rings.  If these were homemade, I was fooled.  As far as cookie cutter onion rings go — these were very good.

Third and final beer for the day was Anderson Valley Imperial Amber — which came from a “fresh” keg.  The beer tasted like it lacked a little bit of the CO2, which left me, and the beer, a little flat.

In summary, service was very good, menus are great and varied, food was decent and the beers were almost perfect.  This time around they get a 4.5 out of five “Bucks”.  But, I’ll be back….soon.