Mr. Tibbs Ribs (Bakersfield)

Mr. Tibbs Ribs

3508 Stine Rd,

Bakersfield, CA 93309
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It should always be like this. I was heading up to Sacramento and stopped in Bakersfield to get gas. While waiting to fill up I looked at the GPS to see if there were any restaurants nearby. Mr Tibbs Ribs was listed as only being a half mile away. Why not, I figured. Maybe it will be good.

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I pull into the parking lot and see a guy working on the smoker in this picture. He lifts it up as I'm walking past and I'm hit with the most amazing smelling barbecue I've encountered since being at Memphis in May. Ribs, chicken, brisket, hot links. Amazing. I order a pulled pork sandwich, fries, and cole slaw. I think the whole thing cost me 9 bucks. The sandwich was huge and the pork was awesome.

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A few months later I was driving back from Sacramento with my parents, we had been to a friend's college graduation, and it was lunchtime. We were about an hour north of Bakersfield and I said "I know a great place for barbecue if you can wait." They said they could, although in my mind I had a nagging fear that Mr. Tibbs Ribs was really just something I had dreamed up months earlier, or maybe it was just an apparition that occurred once to satisfy my barbecue needs. My barbecue Brigadoon.

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Fortunately, it was still there, and it was still just as good. My dad had the tri-tip sandwich. He loved it. My mom had the ribs, which, even though they were drowned in sauce, she still loved. I tried both and they were great, as were my hot links. We got fries, slaw, cornbread, etc. My dad picked up the bill, it was $23 for the three of us.

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So if you ever find yourself in Bakersfield... you have my sympathy. But if you're hungry, you could do a lot worse than Mr. Tibbs Ribs.