There are many reasons to recommend Royce Farms BBQ Restaurant.
Royce Farms twice has been awarded The Record's Best of San Joaquin barbecue place, in 2003 and 2004, and framed certificates hang on the wall behind the cashier. They attest that it is one of the best local places for spicy, tangy, sweet and savory meals. It's a casual and comfortable restaurant with lots of tasty food.
But there is also one glaring reason to exercise caution.
The Italian Wedding Soup (cup, $2.50), with flavorful sausage and a seemingly unending supply of tiny acini di pepe pasta would have been an appropriate opening course for the nuptial banquet of Don Corleone's daughter. Simply put, it's yum.
A plate of onion rings ($6.99) is big enough for four hungry adults and comes out of the fryer hot and crunchy. Garden salads ($4.95 à la carte or included with dinner) come with fresh mixed lettuces, plenty of veggies and a choice of five flavorful, homemade dressings.
The warm Pesto Pasta ($11.99 for dinner, or as a side) is peppy with a nice blend of spices.
The Mesquite Grilled Salmon ($14.99) offers an interesting take on a classic fish dish. A thick cut of salmon is seared on both sides to provide the crunch. The fish is cooked rare, leaving the inside orange. If you are not accustomed to fish cooked rare, remember to order it medium-rare or medium.
The Barbecue Chicken ($13.99) was as moist as it could be.
And the baked beans ($1.99 small, $3.99 large) might be the best this area has to offer. With slivers of sausage, molasses and spices, the stew is slow-cooked for two days to bring the flavors to the tip of the tongue. This is sweet and hot, fire and ice at the same time.
The wait staff is competent, efficient, helpful and cheerful.
Now, the minus. Unfortunately, it's a rather large one for a restaurant with BBQ in its name.
The day our group dined, the Smoked Pork Ribs ($16.99) were dry and chewy. It seems as if the barbecue sauce was placed on the ribs too early, and it burned. Some char is OK if the pork underneath is juicy and the sauce drips between your teeth and tongue.
But these ribs, which the menu calls St. Louis-style, took extra effort just to complete each bite. They were far from falling off the bone; even a fork and serrated knife had trouble penetrating the meat. They had to have been in the smoker too long.
Poor ribs at a barbecue joint are akin to unappetizing California rolls at a sushi bar or tasteless sweet and sour pork at a Chinese take out: inexcusable.
If this roadside dining barn, with booth seats covered in Route 66-themed upholstery, were called simply Royce Farms Restaurant, one could overlook the ribs in favor of all the other wonderful dishes. But the extra three letters in the name require more attention to detail on what is promoted to be the signature dish.
And this time, Royce Farms BBQ Restaurant did not deliver.