When I was considering my next review I caught a commercial that made me laugh. It was for Bob Evans and their new summertime, barbecue dishes. Rather than calling them BBQ, they went with the name Bob-B-Q (get it?). I was skeptical, of course, so rather than heading out and succumbing to something that is probably less than edible I decided to do some digging about their infamous barbecue to determine if it really is worth it.

The short answer to what I found is a resounding no.

I don’t know what part of the world you are from, but when I hear barbecue, I expect a grill of some sort (charcoal or gas) or a smoker to be involved. Bob Evans apparently does not agree or hold the same fondness for the food that I do. Well, either that or they are just trying to make a quick buck.

Their current barbecue summer lineup consists of:

Bob-B-Q Baby Back Ribs
Bob-B-Q Oven-Roasted Chicken
Bob-B-Q Ribs & Chicken Combo
Bob-B-Q Pulled Pork Knife & Fork Sandwich
Bob-B-Q Chicken Knife & Fork Sandwich
Bob-B-Q Wildfire Chicken Salad

I don’t eat at Bob Evans often, minus maybe their breakfast foods, but I couldn’t let this post pass due to their declaration “You haven’t had barbecue until you’ve had Bob-B-Q.”

Let’s start with the obvious shall we? Oven-Roasted does not ever equate to being barbecued. That’s nice that there is barbecue sauce, but there is a science behind barbecue that isn’t met with an oven. Next, the pulled pork sandwich is really a hot pork sandwich. Pulled Pork sandwiches in the traditional sense are slathered in sauce and occasionally topped with coleslaw.

Bob’s pulled pork is on Texas Toast, open faced (usually a bun is used), and includes pork, mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, and onion petals. That isn’t a pulled pork sandwich in anyone’s wildest dreams. Now, it might very well be good, but it doesn’t make it a pulled pork sandwich. The chicken is even further out of the ballpark than the pork. This sandwich comes on Texas toast, open faced, with mashed potatoes, sauce, corn, scallions, cheddar cheese, and red peppers.

My only beef with the ribs are that they have likely been cooked in an oven, as well. Then we have the chicken salad, which (and I may be wrong here) appears to be the traditional Wildfire Chicken Salad that they have on the menu. The main difference being that one has BBQ sauce and the other has Wildfire Ranch.

Needless to say Bob and his Bob-B-Q leave a lot to be desired if looks and facts are any indication of taste. If you live in an area where you have good barbecue, this will certainly never top what is available. If you live in an area where you are barbecue starved, you might want to try some of the awesome mail-order options out there, because Bob won’t be satisfying your barbecue tooth either, I’m afraid.

Technorati Tags: Bob Evans, Bob-B-Q, Barbecue, Wildfire, Ranch, Salad, Pulled Pork, Baby Back Ribs, Chicken, Food, Oven Roasted, Charcoal, Grill, Smoker

I find that most frozen pizzas either have too much or too little sauce and they are overly bland. Add in the fact that they are either greasy or the toppings are unappetizing and it makes sense to not waste your money and to just call Hungry Howie’s instead. However, when I saw this large pre-sliced pizza in the frozen food section I decided to give it a whirl.

Feeding anyone in my house can be a battle. My mother rarely wants to eat anything, Dominick is a little easier to please when I am cooking, but when it comes to frozen or takeout he is a food snob (I can relate), and then our son is incredibly picky and resists new foods and brands like the plague. I figured this was set to be an interesting adventure!

There are six varieties of Pizzamore pizzas. You can choose from 6-Cheese, Pepperoni Duo, 10 Topping, Meat Medley, Bacon, and Mozzarella. I chose the Pepperoni Duo. What immediately caught my attention was that it is listed as being pre-sliced. I was curious if it would be as easy as popping it in the oven, picking up a hot slice, and enjoying something comparable to a restaurant.

The pizza comes on a heat and serve tray, so it was just a matter of popping it into the oven. After about 15-20 minutes you take it out and it’s more or less ready to serve. It is pre-sliced though the cheese melts beautifully, so you will need a knife on hand just to give it a small run through to separate the cheese.

When it comes to frozen pizzas this is the cream of the crop. The crust was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, the two types of pepperoni were delicious and flavorful with minimal grease and the cheese was delicate and oozing over the pizza. I couldn’t have been happier with this if I tried. I even liked the crust, which is rare for me, as I usually eat the main portion and toss the upper crust to the side. Dominick liked this pizza, as well. He still says that he favors DiGiorno Garlic Bread pizza more, though this is a close second for him.

Mom seemed to be pleased with it, too and our son, well the picky little guy ended up eating nearly half the pizza on his own. He liked it so much that we ended up getting another a day or so later to make him the pizza for his lunch. Next time we make this I think we will pair it with the Pizzamore Garlic or Cinnamon breadsticks. These look awesome and contain marinara or vanilla cream in the middle of the sticks. I can’t wait to see the reaction these get and they will help pull off an Italian dinner theme, quite nicely.

Taste/Flavor: 5 out of 5 stars
Packaging: 5 out of 5 stars
Ease of Prep: 5 out of 5 stars
Look: 5 out of 5 stars
Kid Friendly: 5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: pizzamore, pizza, frozen pizza, frozen food, delicious, restaurant quality, product review