our review
THE LOWDOWN: Recently opened on Hoxton Square, Red Dog Saloon is the brainchild of Tom Berk, a former restaurant and events manager and BBQ enthusiast. He hopes to bring the flavour of Deep South barbecue to London and has imported an award-winning smoker from the USA. It's built to recreate the cooking process of the original fire pits and uses traditional American wood (hickory and mesquite) for that authentic smokiness. The meat can stay in the smoker for up to 16 hours, cooking 'low and slow' for maximum flavour.
THE LOOK: Split over two floors, the restaurant is inspired by America's 'great ranch-style dining rooms' so expect lots of dark wood, cracked leather banquettes and shuttered windows. Ceiling fans spin slowly overhead and the walls are covered in buffalo skulls, longhorns and framed photos of railways and rodeos. It's Americana by numbers, a little bit Disney, but it's as tasteful as you can manage with this theme and it already looks like somewhere you could roll out across London. It feels like it would do very well in Covent Garden or Westfield, if that doesn't sound too damning. We liked the relaxed diner vibe and the sunny terrace overlooking the square, which was already proving popular with hungry Hoxtonites.
THE FOOD: On our visit, the menu was a stripped-back version of the one on their website, suggesting that the kitchen is still finding its feet. Their smoker proved troublesome during the soft opening and the menu is still heavy on the burgers while it's bedding in. That said, on our visit BBQ trumped burger and we were more than happy with our basket of buffalo wings. Messy, sticky and drenched in Frank's legendary hot sauce, they were just crispy enough on the outside and still moist and tender inside. The blue cheese dip was salty but a good match to the fiery wings. Better still were the sizeable St Louis pork ribs which had clearly benefited from their time in the smoker. Spice rubbed and then cooked 'low and slow', the meat was juicy and easily stripped from the bone, though we would have liked more smokiness. The accompanying BBQ beans were good too - sweet, spicy and with some pork stirred in for good measure.
The burgers are ground fresh every day from chuck steak and served medium-rare unless you say otherwise. They're also relatively cheap by London standards - all under 10 pounds. We split 'the Punisher' - a 5oz patty topped with pulled pork, streaky bacon and American cheese. The meat is great quality and the bun soft, sweet and not overly floury, but the pulled pork was a letdown. Compared to the superior version at Pitt Cue Co (under Hungerford Bridge), Red Dog's shredded pig was a little soggy and lacking in flavour. It made for a pretty mushy mouthful overall but with a little practice on the pork front, this could be a great burger.
THE DRINKS: Red Dog's drinks menu boasts some very reasonable wines by the glass, a decent range of American beers, and milkshakes made with Maryland's Y3K ice-cream. (These are very good, full of chocolate bits and other goodies to clog up your straw, but a little thin). Camden Brewery lager and pale ale should be available on tap soon. There's no cocktail or spirit list yet but they're happy to whip up classic drinks and our waitress was happy to rattle off the names of some very good bourbons for us. In the absence of ginger beer for a Dark & Stormy, the bartender shook up a Lord Nelson - equal measures of dark rum, apple juice and Ice Tea.
THE VERDICT: It's still early days at the Red Dog Saloon but we can definitely see potential. London is crying out for good BBQ and once they get the hang of the smoker, this place could really clean up. The wings and ribs are already worth crossing town for but they'll need to keep their burger standards high to compete with the busy new Byron opposite. We loved the friendly clued-up service - full marks to the lovely Hannah for keeping us supplied with wet wipes - and the food was fresh, tasty and wallet-friendly. Things can only get better. Maybe, like great BBQ, it's just a matter of time.
KP - June 2011
what the critics say
Jay Rayner
TimeOut - 2/5
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
Didn't think I would ever need to do a new review, but have to say after defending the food here I went yesterday and the ribs and pulled pork weren't good at all... Pork was a sad pile of shreds of almost sawdust dry meat with no sauce whatsoever, portion also smaller (though in the circumstances that was a blessing)
Ribs were very tough and hard to cut with the dreadful school canteen style blunt knife. The flavour was there but it looked rubbish, and hurt my mouth to eat. It used to come easily, unctuously off the bone.
The slaw was old and sad tasting in a tiny polystyrene cup like you get from backstreet chicken shops...the slaw Itself was marginally better than a chicken shop but used to be delicious. Now tastes of cheap mayo plus it was billed as being around £3 on the menu which really annoyed me...Also waiting staff ignored us throughout and I had to get my own beer from the bar even though it was nearly 3pm and about 3 tables occupied. The barman looked confused and sweaty, and slightly distressed.
Anyway thumbs down, they have disappointed a fan from the start and now I won't come back. I felt this meal was poor value as we had one disappointing main meal, 2 beers and apple juice from concentrate for 30 quid Inc service. If food and service were good then fine, but sadly Red Dog lost a life long fan that day.
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Kedi
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Overall rating 
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Friday, February 08, 2013
It was extremely busy, with a scary number of devastators being ordered, bacon cheeseburgers were lush but took way too long to arrive and elements of the service were frankly shambolic!
First waitress was terrible, and we were within touching distance of the bar.. After our first three beers we wanted were off (one she told me about 5 mins after I ordered it) she then took twenty minutes to get us 2 lagers from the bar a metre from our table! Luckily an affable and slightly embarrassed waiter got us our beers long before she bought them again...which was after our starter was finished but she or anyone failed to take away the dirty plates. I must state staff were all friendly but the main issue was waiting for drinks when being the closest table to the bar! Yet again, our beers of choice were off as well which was a shame but not a big issue as the main event was always the meat feast!
Wings were delicious as was the 3 different BBQ sauces on the table.
A good 45 mins after we ordered the burgers appeared. Huge and we both had to deconstruct them and forgo the bun. I personally wasn't a fan of the cheese but the meat itself was lovely. The waitress tried to blame me by saying the reason why the meal was taking so long was because I wanted a well done burger! Well I'm not daft, I know its not because of that, it's because there was about 8 devastators coming out the kitchen in the first half hour we were there! That in itself shocked me, as the normal burger was hefty enough! Slaw was yummy but a bit pricey at 3 quid for a portion. Still the burger was good value and the fries not bad at all.
Really like the food and most staff were very charming, they were rammed busy but service could still have been more organised.
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Kedi
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Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Monday, December 31, 2012
We were shamelessly out on a school night and a Monday night at that! Gordon had found that Oxford near legends “A Silent Film” were playing at the Hoxton Square Bar & Grill so off we strode to East Central London hoping to pass muster amongst the skinny jeans and the ironic pork pie hats. We could have eaten tex mex at the venue but instead we decided to go for ribs at the “Red Dog Saloon”. I’ve been keen to try one of the new breed of ribs places that have popped up to see where they rank alongside the yardstick that is Bodeans. There has been a lot of big talk from various news places about authenticity and smoke pits but can they turn out consistently good food? Red Dog Saloon is on the corner of Hoxton Square I was there early so took a pew at the bar. I was questioned about whether I was dining before they would give me a drink. On the whole the staff seemed a bit wrapped up in themselves rather than engaging with the customer. Anyway you don’t see Sam Adams on tap everywhere so I was contented to while away the time until Big Matt and the perennially tardy Gordon turned up.
Once the other members of the expedition had arrived we took to our booth and ordered a bucket of lone star lager, it took a while as the manageress forgot the order the first time. The waiter took our food order, without writing it down but credit due he got it all right. Now as you can imagine the menu is very meat based, ribs, pulled pork, chicken wings. There are a few more unusual sides such as burnt end pie, links as well as the familiar fries and onion rings. Big Matt the wings aficionado went for 8 buffalo wings and a cheese burger. He praised his wings but was underwhelmed by the burger. Gordon and I went for the St Louis ribs dinner. It came out looking the part but there were problems. It wasn’t very warm, now I’ve had that issue at Bodeans before as generally the ribs are cooked in a batch and heated through to order. However this little piggy had been hanging out too long. Also the cooking was uneven, the top of the rib were fine and juicy but under the ribs the meat had dried out. Not good enough really, if you are going to invest in a pit then cook the meat properly. My sides were fine, I liked the burnt end pie which was like mini shepherd’s pie with burnt ends. Gordon enjoyed his food though.
It’s not really a place to linger so we ate up and paid up £26 each which is more than “Bodeans” for inferior food. The place was really filling up as we left with smart young things from the city so it obviously has it’s clientele sussed. I think you can get away with charging a premium for this type of food off a limited menu but it has to be spot on and the ambience right. This place didn’t really work for me. I noticed in a nod to “Man v Food” they do a couple of eating challenges but for that to work you need a bit more charm and authenticity. Based on this visit and being similarly underwelmed by "Pitt Cue Co" I think "Bodeans" is still my go to place. Anyway with full tums we went off the gig to see some cracking indie rock courtesy of “A silent film” and the very good support from “Casablanca”
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david ginsberg
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Overall rating 
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Thought I would post again as some have had bad experiences recently which is a shame.
I went a couple of weeks ago again and found it lovely. It was our anniversary on a Sunday and busy but staff were fine. One lady could have smiled more but I'm not bothered by stuff like that when the place is full.
Hubby said the burger with bacon was one of the best he'd ever had and I had beef ribs and pulled pork. It's very sweet but I love that and the beef ribs had just the right amount of bite while still coming off the bone nicely. I love the slaw that comes with it but I guess it's pretty easy to make. Obviously had a doggy bag!
One thing is there always seems to be a few beers off every time I come, to the point it has always been the case I couldn't have my first choice of beer which is all I drink. Nonetheless this is a good place in Hoxton. I tried Pitt Cue at their truck and I think this is on a parr, and in the area it's one of my favourite eateries.
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Kedi
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Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, October 12, 2012
After hearing all the hype about the Red Dog Salon me and my girlfriend decided that the next time we found ourselves in that part of London we would give it a go and see it was worth all the hype it had generated.
I can wholeheartedly say it wasn't. From the moment we walked in we were greeted by possibly the rudest hostess I've ever encountered. Considering we'd never been and she wasn't wearing a uniform identifying her was impossible. Normally most hostesses make themselves identifiable and are polite, I was met with a small girl marching towards me and saying the words "yes" in a tone like I'd somehow interrupted her from something more important. After asking for a table for two she walked off without uttering another word. Following her with my eyes she just pointed to a table and then shrugged her shoulders, we took that as her way of telling us where to sit. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty annoyed. The only reason I didn't lose my temper is the fact that I was with my girlfriend. But for that hostess alone I will never ever go back and be quite happy if the place closes down.
As for the food, nothing special. There are plenty of other American style restaurants in London so I'd recommend any of them but the main two would be Meat Liquor or any of the Bodeans. Everything about those two is better than Red Dog Saloon.
The atmosphere wasn't anything to write home about either. Standard american memorabilia scattered about with lots of wood finishes trying to make you feel like your in the deep south and failing miserably.
In conclusion if you want rude staff, average to poor food and to be seated in a place with tacky memorabilia just go to TGI Fridays as at least you know its going to be poor and tacky. all I can say really is please do yourselves a favor and AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS!!
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Rob
Overall rating 
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Rudest hostess ever, made us feel so unwelcome we didn't even stay to find out about the food! Don't go without a reservation.
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Marvin
Overall rating 
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Finally got here after months of meaning to. No excuse really as I work 5 mins away but don't often have the financial wares to extend to more then a couple of quid at lunch so that's my excuse. Waitress was lovely, from brazil and served us well. Only gripe was the singular portable card machine being commandeered by a table of about 8 tourists all paying by card separately. In the end paid at the bar as I was fearing the inevitable call from work finding out why I wasn't back yet!
Food was lush, shared the rib and pulled pork platter which was accompanied by home made coleslaw. Massive amount even between 2 and really tender and sweet. Green salad was not on the menu but they gave us a lovely one with onions, sweetcorn and lots of romaine. Delicious! Madly filling though so no need for dinner.
Friend had chilli burger which was huge with a soft shiny brioche looking bun, again with slaw and chips. Chips were crispy and had that slightly see through look that I know to mean I will enjoy them! Didn't try hers but she loved it and that was the way I felt too! Think my hubby would adore it. Place was male dominated. We were the only all female table, nothing wrong with that though. It's a bit hardcore for us to eat on a regular, sadly. Unless I suddenly rid myself of my chronic gym-phobia!
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Kedi
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Red Dog Saloon has recently become one of the few restaurants I regularly frequent. The wings, barbecue ribs and pork are some of the best I've ever had (and I've just come back from living in the States).
Since Red Dog Saloon appeared in Hoxton Square the quality has at times been variable (which the owner apologetically put down to problems with the imported equipment) but over the last few months the menu has settled down and the new addition of beef short rib is an absolute must-try, so tender it literally falls off the bone as you pick it up.
To sum up then, a restaurant serving genuinely delicious food, made with real passion (one chat with Tom the owner will convince you of that) and all at a pretty reasonable price. The burgers also offer interesting combinations (some classically American, others just loaded up with meat) and are at least as good as any others I've had in London. It's so refreshing to have a restaurant serving genuinely good burgers which doesn't rigidly adhere to the GBK or Byron mould.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
I have visited here several times now and made a point of telling friends about their wings who have also travelled over town for them. I actually think they are the best I have ever had! Rest of the menu good including the steamed prawn starter.
The staff and the owner are really great. Although I have to agree with the comment below (I was shocked at how rude and surly the manageress was on the last visit).
Great place and I wish it well.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Food is pretty average. The manageress commented on us having ordered too much ! Although didn't seem like that much to me. Left me feeling greedy.
The manageress was also very rude.
I ordered drinks from her and was told that the wine had run out and then was questioned as to whether I had a tab. I didn't. She then disappeared and never came back. She also agressively waved her finger at me when I tried to order again and still never came. Paid and left.
I won't be going back.
Comment on this reader review
Overall rating 
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Sunday, September 25, 2011
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