So, we were in town for a convention, and decided to try something different. We had a taste for soul food so we went online and Alabama Que popped up. We checked out their menu and the food looked like it might be pretty good. Well, we were sadly mistaken!!! The turkey tips were tender, but cold and saturated with sauce. The smoked chicken was dry & cold. And we're pretty sure the yams came from a can! Wouldn't suggest you patronize this place! read more

This place is excellent. We had lunch on a weekday and it was fair ful.The BBQ aroma hits you as you walk through the door. You order at the window and wait to be called. There isn't much seating and little air conditioning. The food took a little longer than expected but was worth the wait. The Fruit Punch is refreshing and worth the price. The Turkey Tip with Mac & Cheese and Yams was great. I enjoyed their BBQ sauce too. read more

Alabama Que - Turkey Tip (regular dinner size) with Mac & Cheese and yams - Soul Food Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

See all

Good food and good prices. I can understand some frustrations with the sauce being "too sweet." But it tasted so good! The baked beans were also very sweet. It could have almost been considered a dessert. Mac and cheese was hot and cheesy! The roll served with it was really nothing special. Something out of a bag I presume. read more

DO NOT ORDER FROM HERE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! As someone who orders a LOT for my company, I have never encountered just poor service and food quality!! Thank goodness for ezCater customer service who is fantastic and making things right since the Alabama Que refuses too! Issues: 1. SHOWED UP AN HOUR EARLY! Then said "I have two more orders after this." I said that was unacceptable. If you can't deliver to me at the time requested then deny the order! Don't just show up! 2. Only half the intensive that I paid extra for showed up! 3. Because the food had to sit on Warmers (thank God we have some at work otherwise the food would have been way colder), but the turkey tips became hard and nasty. 4. Both meats became cold, even with our warmers, because it had to sit out for an hour (not to mention the drive up here so up to 90 mins it sat out before being able to be eaten). It wasn't delivered in warm containers like professional caterers use. 5. The ghetto lemonade! Nasty. It comes in a gallon WATER container and they mix in sugar and something that makes it yellow. Tasted like straight up sugar water! 6. Owner/Store management/driver very rude!! Did not give a crap that they showed up 60 mins early. Did not give a crap that the food was of poor quality. Refused to give a refund except for the missing utensils. SERIOUSLY DO NOT USE! My company has now black listed this terrible "caterer" and I suggest you do too! read more

Three words. Turkey tips, turkey tips, turkey tips!...Well, technically six words but whose counting? I'm not sure what part of the turkey the tips come from but I'm pretty sure its not the ribs. In any case they are divine! I usually go with the spicy sauce but they serve a sweet Carolina gold sauce I believe is made of mustard. It's not a sauce option I see very many places. The tips are smoky moistness slathered in spicy sweetness. Amazing flavor combo's...and the sides aren't bad either! It's also impossible to find beef ribs because of the cost associated with them but they have them here as a menu item which earns extra points in my book. Not so humbly submitted, Michael C. read more

The real fruit flavored iced tea was the gem here. I've been looking forward to visiting Alabama Q for quite a while now. I got the 3 meat combo of Turkey Tips, Pulled Pork, and Brisket. Turkey tips were good, pork and brisket were bland and dry. Though bathed in sauce, they were still dry. I like the style of the place, and the wait time was not long, but the meats didn't have smokiness and flavor I expect from a smokehouse. I've wanted to love this place from afar, but the fruited teas are probably their best bets. I'd go back for the tea. read more

Alabama Que - Real raspberry iced tea. Delish! - Soul Food Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Wife and I were from out of town. Never heard of the place. Found it on google. We ate there. Man the food was great, the portions were good and the owner is a very nice man. He makes the best baked beans in the entire world. You must try them!!!!!!! And this is one of the rare places that you can actually get REAL properly cooked collard greens! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm good. read more

First time ordering. Ordered brisket, green beans, mac & cheese, coleslaw, potato salad, roll, and peach cobbler. The brisket was a bit on the dry side. I definitely tasted the smoke, but there wasn't a lot of seasoning w/in the meat beyond this. Green beans were ok. Coleslaw and potato salad were base vegetable and mayo. The mac and cheese was a little too heavy on the cheese and needed salt. Was looking forward most of all to the peach cobbler. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a letdown. The filling was coagulated, the one bit of peach present was gummy, and the crust was extremely dense and inedible. Disappointing, as I was looking forward to a good down-home type meal. This is probably just a consistency issue in the age of COVID (cutting corners/trying to stay afloat). Will try them again in the future and hope for better experience. read more

I tried this place years ago when they first opened. I did not care for the food. Many friends recently told me it was delicious. Sooo I tried it. I got smoked chicken, greens and cole slaw. The chicken was cooked beyond any life. It was horrible. My friend had beef ribs, they were cooked so hard they were inedible. The flavors are good but I've never had meat cooked this poorly. My friend took her ribs back, they gave her a hard time. They said this is how we cook our meat. Well its overcooked by anyones standard. I go to J&W, Eli's and Pontiac all great food. Now the prior week the family had food from Smoq for my dad's bday , we had pulled chicken, ribs, fried ribs, all of it was moist and very good. I'm so disappointed with Alabama Que. read more

Upon entering Alabama Que you would think that the food would be borderline on the downside due to the quaint space, type of customers, and semi slow service. I assumed wrong! The service was good and the cashier seemed to be readily available to assist with your needs. Reading the reviews on Yelp helped me to decide on my meal choice: two meat combo (Turkey Tips and Pulled Pork), Greens and Mac/Cheese. First the meat. It was soft and tender and not too juicy, with amazing sauce that compliments the spices. The Mac and Cheese taste like what you would eat at home while the Greens were seasoned to perfection! I would say though that the food could have been warmer and more spice on the greens would not have hurt the taste. We were also encouraged to try the tea. The tea was average. It was not sweet enough and not indicative of your normal southern sweet tea (Lemonade and sweet tea). I would suggest they offer more fountain drinks. Overall, I recommend this place! read more

Alabama Que - Pulled Pork and Turkey Tips... Yummmm! - Soul Food Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Unfortunately, I think this place is pretty hit or miss. I've eaten their food twice. The first time I had Alabama Que's I ordered through GrubHub. It was ok but since I was raised on BBQ and soul food, it was nothing special. I tried it again on the 4th of July holiday. I got a pork tip dinner with baked beans, and mac and cheese. The sides were pretty tasty but with every bite of pork, I didn't know if I'd get a tender piece of smoked meat or an over cooked, chewy mouthful that I wanted to give to my dog. If you were wondering, the couple of pieces my pooch intercepted, she wolfed down with gusto. She's less discerning about her meats than I am. I can't see myself choosing to go here anymore. There are just too many good BBQ places in Cincinnati to play Russian Roulette with my food. read more

Good food, quick takeout, and great location. My boyfriend stated that the lady at the register was distinctly rude to him on his to-go order and could've cared less about her job; so that is why we rated 4 stars instead of 5. read more

Great food! Makes you feel like you're at a backyard barbecue. The people make you feel at home.

Okay, this is little more than a storefront with a few unclothed cafe tables. If you're looking for ambiance, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for really delicious southern barbecue with authentic sides and great sweet tea, Alabama Que serves the real thing! Fantastic for carry-out, and you can probably get it delivered via app as well. The sauce is wonderful --tangy with just a hint of spicy heat--and the cornbread, fried okra, beans, etc. are all delicious. I highly recommend it! read more

Food is very nasty wouldn't recommend this place to anybody got the two meat combo with grease and mac and cheese , greens by the taste they were made a couple of days ago macaroni and cheese was brown and mussy taste like baby food I also got apple cobbler but I couldn't tell what it was it was so dry that's also how you know it's leftovers because that's how bad it taste when I tried to pour the apple cobbler out it looked like a big lump of brown s::t I get tire of places saying they have good food when even the owners know that that is not true at all, if they just tell the truth about their food, maybe somebody may feel sorry for them I don't have a problem telling it like it really is I very hard to tell from the rib tips and the turkey tips cause it was all so so nasty watch out for this if you thinking of getting good food from here I advise you to go with your next choice it will probably taste better anyway read more

Food was excellent. Reasonably priced. Nice choice of sides. The regular was a little sweet and the medium had a a pretty good kick. Wish there was one in the middle. I look forward to trying the mustard base sauce next time. read more

Question, we have not found a BBQ joint that has beef ribs with the full bone in. Are there beef ribs with full bone? read more

This is my third time having alabama que, and probably the last. I ordered beef porktips, mac, and cornbread. The only thing edible that i ordered was the mac and the bun that came with it. Cornbread looked like cornbread ive never seen before and the beef tips i couldnt even chew. Almost like leather! Definite waste of money and i'm still hungry since i threw away 3/4 of a meal away. Very disappointing especially on national bbq day! read more

Alabama Que - Beef Pork Tips Dinner, Mac and Cheese, Bun - Soul Food Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

See all

Meh. I was so excited to try this place. It smelled so good! I was not impressed though. My chicken was partly dry / other parts ok. The green beans had BBQ sauce in it which tasted weird. The corn bread was NASTY!!!! Extremely dry and bland. To be fair, the cashier also said he didn't recommend it. The Mac and cheese was the only enjoyable part of the meal. And the dinner roll. However the place was pretty busy so others must enjoy it. The restaurant is very small with seating maybe for 10 ish - more of a take out restaurant read more

Got to say THE BEST you'll get in Cincinnati! I order from here all the time & the portions are perfect sizing & AMAZING taste! I like to order mine later in the day, as I feel this is a meal you been waiting for the whole day to eat, everything soaked and perfectly cooked. read more

Just ordered from here and was very disappointed. Walts, Eli's, Velvet Smoke, and Smoq all could teach them a thing or two. Beans way too sweet and runny. Yams too sweet. Mac and cheese ok. Greens more of the thick stalks then green leaves. Taste was ok. Beef Brisket was not brisket more like a rump or round roast. I didn't taste any smoke flavor and there was no smoke line like brisket has after it's been in a smoker for hours. I know my cuts of meat and it was not the brisket. Was tender enough but too much fat for me. No corn bread or roll all I got was a hamburger bun. Don't think I'd go back... read more

See all

Absolutely wonderful! Met the owner he was very down to earth and personable. The food was incredible. I will certainly be back!

I use to enjoy stop in here for lunch but I don't want a hamburger bun when I didn't order a hamburger. I ordered greens. Thanks but no thanks read more

I love this place when I am craving good local BBQ. Unlike eli's I get my food within 10 minutes if ordering. The staff is always very friendly and helpful when it comes to which sauce I should use for my bbq. Alabama Que, hands down, has the best green beans, I don't know what it is but they are magical. I always get the pulled pork and it has never failed me. It is very reasonably priced which is nice being so close to campus. It's basically a hop, skio and a jump away. It's not a place I would bring a bunch of my friends to go out to eat. It is the epitome of whole in the wall but their décor has so much Cincinnati pride it's hard not to love it in there with their Bearcat red and black walls. Great for take out. Bread is always soft and fresh. First impression is a little intimidated but definitely do not judge this book by it's cover. read more

Alabama Que - Soul Food Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

I first went to Alabama Que a fee years ago when they were on Harrison. Immediately got hooked. I was bummed that they moved to Short Vine because the Harrison Avenue location was much closer. The food is great. I used to always get the salmon patties (no longer made) then tried the turkey tips. They were ok but my personal favorite is the brisket and chicken. I only get the hot BBQ sauce...never tried the others. I've tried the greens (ok), green beans (excellent), potato salad (excellent), baked beans (awesome) and mac and chz (great). The teas are pretty tasty. Very sweet and comes with real pieces of fruit. I've had the strawberry and mango teas. Never disappointed. All meals come with bread to make little sandwiches (well, that's what I do) and everything is affordable. The owner is very nice and down to earth and that makes the experience much better and keeps me coming back. The restaurant is small but I usually get takeout so that isn't a problem. Service is always fast. read more

Probably one of the best barbecue spots in cincy for a cheaper price. I really really love their mac & cheese, although I do wish they gave you more than what they usually give. the indoor seating area could be updated so there's more spots to eat at that are cleanly & look nice to eat at but the building the restaurant is at seems very old. nonetheless, really great food & it's one of my go to barbecue spots. read more

Yummy!! Big meaty ribs, rich green beans, home style mac and cheese. So delicious. Go on down there, you won't be sorry. Not fancy, just soft drinks. Get 'em to go if you need beer. read more

Nothing against the staff who work there because they are all SUPER friendly, but I feel like that's about all that is good about the place. Oh, and their sauces are pretty tasty. Those two things equal two stars. Everything else is pretty lackluster though. Their card reader takes FOREVER, which I know isn't their fault, but come on, I don't want to wait 15 minutes in line just to place my order. Secondly, it's not actual barbecue! My brisket was super lean, super small (as opposed to long, horizontal slices of actual brisket) and there was no smoke ring. Come on, It's not barbecue if there's no smoke ring. The texture was also nothing like brisket, so I'm guessing it was something like tenderloin. My beef ribs were also very lean and they're definitely not the full size, almost a pound per rib, type that I was expecting. It was just the end piece of the rib bone with a little bit of meat on there. I was expecting a place representing southern barbecue to stack up a little better than this. read more

I'm going to give Alabama Que a blazing 5 stars for being among the best soul/southern food in Cincinnati. I've tried most of their meat and sauces, along with most of their sides, and never had a bad experience. My personal favorites are the Brisket and their famous Turkey Tips. Absolutely delicious. Do the hot sauce if you can handle it. Also, be warned - the greens are delicious but very spicy! Quick service, great food, inexpensive prices, especially for lunch ($5 lunch deals). Great for carry out or delivery, but you can also eat there. It's a little divey, but that's what I'd want from a place that brews up good southern cooking. read more

It was ok at best. I've had better. The yams tasted like artificial vanilla flavor was dumped on them. I only managed to eat a few bites. The macaroni was mediocre, nothing to wow over. The pulled chicken was drenching in sauce, although it was the best thing I had ordered. I wouldn't recommend this place. There are better BBQ options in the city. read more

Yes sir! This is BBQ. I recommend the beef ribs and turkey tips. Portion sizes are a great value for the money. This place uses some serious seasonings for all their cuts of meat. All sauce options are delicious. I recommend the medium spice sauce which packs some serious heat. The baked beans have a serious amount of brown sugar and butter. This is easily one of the top BBQ places in Cincinnati. read more

After my last two over top reviews, I need something to bring me back down to earth. Enter Alabama Que. This place is not bad, but not great. They are located near UC. Nobody will ever confuse their BBQ with Eli's, but their menu is so different that they almost shouldn't be compared. Alabama Que specializes almost exclusively in Turkey Tips. I don't know exactly what they are, but we ordered a large portion of them based on the recommendation from the manager. I also got a brisket sandwich because its so tough to find good smoked brisket around here. The turkey tips were just okay, to be honest. Maybe we got a batch that had been sitting around for too long... I'm not sure. The brisket sandwich was average as well. I wish it had been better. I was honestly hoping it would be delicious as I'd love for Eli's to have some real competition in the area, but Alabama Que didn't stand up to the test. FWIW, their bbq sauce and sides were good. Oh yeah, for the non-pork eaters, Alabama Que makes their collard greens with turkey instead of bacon and it was pretty dang good. read more

It's not the best BBQ in the world but it's nice to have a solid takeaway option. Also, if you are a spice lover, you can get some decently spicy BBQ sauce which my husband loved. I had the pulled pork. Basically, the flavor revolves around the sauce as the meat itself isn't exceptional and was slightly dry. The BBQ has a decent flavor and they have 3 or 4 sauces to try. The sides were all solid though none stood out and the mac and cheese was a little...odd. It was a solid block that had to be pried apart. You get a LOT of food for not much money and service is fast. You can eat in though there isn't any atmosphere to speak of. So, if you want to have a serious BBQ meal, make the drive to Eli's BBQ. If you need something quick and convenient to bring home, this is a good option to have on Short Vine. read more

I've been in Cincinnati for just over two years now tried a lot of barbecue this is my favorite in Cincy small little hole in the wall with great food turkey tips are awesome greens are some of the best I've had baked beans are really good go there every time I'm downtown in that area read more

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of barbeque is pork. But what if you're like me and you don't eat pig?? Enter Alabama Que. Plenty to choose from besides the piggy version of bbq, and this makes me very happy. Beef Brisket, Turkey Tips, and the Smoked Pulled Chicken are all very savory and sure to please. I like their yams too. BBQ lovers should check this place out! read more

Heard lots of good things about this and met people outside who drive up from Dayton just for the food so expectations were high. We ordered brisket and Salmon. Brisket was hard fatty leathery and the salmon wasn't smoked and was barely cooked. I ordered yams which I was looking forward to and they gave us Mac and cheese instead. Let people without masks come in and order despite the signs. We threw all of it away. Giving them a D- read more

Great barbecue in an appropriately divey location -- there's a little bit of space to eat, but this place is pretty clearly set up for carry-out orders. Only been here once, but I'll be back to try more stuff because what I had was delicious. I enjoyed every last bite of my $10 two-meat combo dinner (turkey tips and beef ribs) with collard greens, barbecue beans and a glass of strawberry tea on the side. As nearly everybody else has noted, the turkey tips rule: They're tasty, bite-size chunks of smoked bird, moist and flavorful enough to eat without sauce. Never had anything like that before, but I'm already craving a repeat. The beef ribs were OK: super tender but not all that highly seasoned (and a little *too* tender for my tastes -- I like 'em a little chewier than that, but it's a personal preference on that one). Tried two barbecue sauces, hot and gold, both of which were tangy and delicious. I was slightly surprised they charged me 50 cents for the second little tub of sauce. The collards, which have cabbage and turkey mixed in, were tender and satisfying. Beans were interestingly spiced and the dinner came with a small whole-wheat dinner roll that served to sop up all the delicious juices left on my plate. Bonus: Check in with Yelp for a discount. read more

Floor and tables haven't been mopped or cleaned in quite a while. Food was a huge disappointment...had the 3 meat combo and all 3 meats were completely overcooked and dryer than the sahara desert...ended up throwing the entire meal away. read more

Ordered this via Uber Eats when in town for business. I loved that they used turkey tips in collard greens and that I could eat them (don't do pork). Food was really good. Sauces are different, but I like them. I did original and the mustard one. The baked beans were different but also good! read more

Sides are ok. Salmon is from frozen package, pre cut. Little seasoning on ONE SIDE. As you can see. Would never order again. read more

Alabama Que - Salmon - Soul Food Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio