Pretty good BBQ! I'm a bit of a BBQ snob but aptos st bbq hit a few key points. We ordered two beers, 1/2rack or pork ribs, pulled pork Sando, and sides or beans, coleslaw, and potato salad. The beer selection is great and the bar tender even took an extra 30 seconds to put ice in my glass (prior to beer) as the glasses just came out of the dish washer. The selection of beers is well curated and they will give solid recommendations as well as samples. The pulled pork sandwich was great! I love having chili oil on my pulled pork vs it being slathered I sugary BBQ sauce so the style was perfect. The pork was great with big chunks that pulled right apart. Ribs were good but not great. A few ribs were under smoked and had too much "chew" but the rest were good. The ribs were lightly sauces which is preferred and pretty well seasoned but I prefer brined ribs. The sides were well done and not the typical BBQ afterthought. However I wish they had corn on the cob, watermelon, or fruit as an option. Also I would love if they had BBQ and hot sauce on the table. Also the price is a little on the steep side. Half rack was almost $20... All in all pretty good! read more

Was surprised how good this place was. It could definitely use more smoke and the brisket is cut kinda thick, but it's very moist and very good. read more

Great food. The ribs are great and so it the Gaucho sandwich. The service is awesome, and they have live music on Saturdays (at least the Saturdays that I have been there). read more

I Remember this place as better, but my recent visit Was not that great. I got the Ribs and Chicken combo with sides. The Ribs were very small and overly dry, the chicken was nicely moist but cooked in an oven. They ran out of garlic bread, and only served a unbuttered , untoasted piece of bread. The other sides were not enjoyable... a Cole slaw with 2 ingredients ... cabbage and a simple sweet dressing, the attempt at potato salad was more like 1/2 cold mashed potatoes and pieces of potato. No mayo , you could only taste potato and mustard... took one bite and gave up. Like I said, they have a lot of improvement to make if they want repeat business. I could see only see maybe purchasing meats by the pound, if you have an itch for Smokey meat. read more

One year later, we're in between picking up one child from camp, and dropping off the other child. Back for lunch, but this time there's bread pudding involved. With TWO scoops of ice cream. Still delicious!! Old review: Oh yes! Stopped here for a midweek lunch on the way from picking our daughter up from camp. This place was awesome. The BBQ sauce was delicious. It kept dipping my finger in it while we were waiting for the food. Our family ordered half rack of beef ribs, pulled pork sandwich, tritip sandwich, and kids hot dog. All of it was outstanding! Not crowded at all on a weekday. Definitely worth the trip and money! read more

Aptos St BBQ - My husband's leftovers from the full rack of beef ribs. The box wouldn't even close. - Barbeque Near Me - Aptos, California

I'm not much of a meat eater...but, an early bird to do errands...I know this place opens at 7am until 11am for brisket tacos and other things..hungry and wanted a taco...my brisket was like burnt ends shredded, sauced, spiced in a flour tortilla...with extra bbq sauce and egg and jalapeno slice if wanted...all for $5 bucks...my early to go place! read more

Love this place! Excellent BBQ and good live blues music! The staff is friendly and they make good recommendations when I struggle to order. I'm not giving 5 stars only because I'm disappointed with their sides. The coleslaw is subpar. The garlic bread is okay. With such good BBQ and music, and the pricing, I expect more overall. Perhaps somewhat unfairly, I can't help but compare my experiences here with my BBQ experiences in Texas and in the South. I recommend Aptos St BBQ, and wish they would bring their sides up several notches to match the rest of the goodness they offer. read more

The food was good. The music which plays everyday was cool and it was a nice place to eat.

We enjoy the pulled pork sandwich. The quality of the food is good and the people are nice. Sandwiches have gotten smaller over the years but that is probably economy driven, and not uncommon in the industry. We order take-out on-line and the site works pretty well but they never seem to fill the order correcty. Today we ordered the pulled pork sandwich with garlic bread but got regular bread instead. When you get back to home or office it's too late to correct. This has been a problem almost every time. An incorrect side or something left out. Probably best to order and eat at the establishment. read more

Ribs, ribs ribs... delicious Outdoor seating Pulled pork sandwich super good ANYTIME in APTOS we stop in for BBQ read more

So I am not going to review the food for this establishment, because I'm a vegetarian and their options for vegetarians here are nil. That being said, my wife and I still enjoy going here when we are in the area to see live music, and sample the 30 to 40 tap beers that they have. The venue itself is fairly small, but that lends to an intimate musical setting which always seems to be rolling out some very talented blues players. So if you are like me and are vegetarian, eat before or after you get here, and just sit back and enjoy a very tasty beer and the blues. read more

Great BBQ but horrible management. Been here 5 times and they run out of favorites before 7 p.m. Ridiculous . Owners get this place organized. I have seen groups of customers just turn away and leave when you note all the favorites being " sold out". Update 1 year later: Problem fixed rarely sold out‼. BBQ is tops - everyone I bring here loves their BBQ. And it's ALL good. I have eaten myself through all the menu this past year. Super friendly beer hosts too, help you out to pick one of the 36 esoteric craft brews... accelerating to 5 ‼ read more

The manager seems very attentive and compassionate towards customers experience. I respect their efforts in trying to improve by addressing concerns that come up in reviews. I've not been back yet but this is a very good sign to see a business dedication to its customers. Looking forward to coming back. Thanks for reaching out Jacob. read more

Excellent pulled pork and brisket. Mac n cheese was bland with little cheese flavor so avoid that, chicken also a touch dry... flavor on brisket was spot on and pulled pork was moist without being slopped in sauce. Really though avoid the wall paper paste posing as mac n cheese read more

the food was amazing, the portions are perfect and you get a huge bang for your buck. the brisket is so tender and the cornbread is amazing.

Why this place doesn't have 5 stars idk... This BBQ joint is what dreams are made of. Amazing food and huge beer selection to compliment. I will definitely be back!!! read more

Aptos St BBQ - Peanut butter beer with tri-tip potato salad and baked beans. - Barbeque Near Me - Aptos, California

Heard this place was really good, sadly we were not impressed. Dusty dingy atmosphere. Good beer options and a few ciders as well. Food not fabulous, I'm come from the land of Tri Tip so I was excited to get a salad with that on it but it was literally roast beef, shine and all! So so disappointing From a girl who knows Tri Tip y'all need to revisit the recipe! read more

This place is the best BBQ in Santa Cruz County by far. We miss the live music since COVID, but the meats always hit the spot. The sides could totally use a bunch of work, but it's BBQ, I'm going for the meat. read more

Great Everything!! Coolest Staff, Tastiest BBQ & Amazing Music Get Xtra Napkins as the sauces were excellent! Thanks Aptos Street BBQ read more

All I can say is you must yet their breakfast tacos. Put heaven. Unlike anything I have ever had. The over easy egg is just heaven.

Really good BBQ and beer. The BBQ is real and not just some meat slathered in sauce to seem like BBQ. The smoked meat was fork tender and tasty even without sauce. Hard to judge a place during COVID, but if we were locals we'd definitely go back. read more

Some of the tastiest BBQ I've ever had. The tr tip was juicy and the brisket was so tender, i probably could have cut it with a spoon. The sides were fresh and flavorful, but overall the food was outstanding. To top it all off, the live blues band was freaking great too. There's live music every night 6-8pm. Parking is wherever u can find it. Will hit this place up for sure next time I'm in town. read more

Aptos St BBQ - Stage for the band - Barbeque Near Me - Aptos, California

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Hell yea! Great place to eat at before and after riding the twisties. I will come back

Best brisket I have ever had in my life, by far. The ribs and sides were also incredible. Amazing customer service. We got 20 minutes away before realizing we were missing an item from our takeout, but they 100 percent made it right and also *sincerely* apologized for the mistake (also it was hella busy and they were all working quickly, so accidents happen...no biggie, tbh). Not a lot of businesses this good out there. Can't wait to come back again. read more

Refused to take an order to go because they were out of to go boxes........disappointed to say the least

Great place for quick BBQ... A bit pricey but not too bad. The brisket was fantastic. read more

Nice location, easy to find. The parking is not too bad if you go one block up and go around the block and park or you can park by the old hotel and its a short stroll. Little pricey and the portions are not that big. The food is good and the patio is a great place to eat gets you away from the noise. I thought the service was above average and the wait people were very cordial. I might try Aptos BBQ again maybe I went on a Friday night where they were running short on meat. Give em a try you might be surprised!!! read more

I avoid writing negative reviews unless it's truly warranted. That being said, this is one of those. What was wrong: -sarcastic, rude service -tables sticky and dirty -every single utensil (fork and knife) was dirty (party of six) -wrong order came out first, yet server insisted it was right because 'it was on the tag' -right order came out cold -beans were undercooked -meat was near flavorless I've no clue how this place has such good reviews. Maybe just an off night? Very disappointing. read more

I was looking for a BBQ joint on the way home from the beach this past Monday and this was exactly what I imagined it'd be! There is a fair amount of street parking nearby, and a private lot in the back as well. It was busy, but not crazy and also a live blues band performing. You pretty much can seat yourself, and you have the option of both outdoor or indoor. We found seats inside while we were ordering; it wasn't cleaned up yet, but a server quickly came by to clean off the cups and utensils that were on the table. The band (didn't catch their name) was pretty entertaining, the singer had a killer voice! Anyway, on to the food. (1) Beef Brisket, 1/2 lb: tender, flavorful, even tastier with the BBQ sauces they provide (original and spicy) (2) Pulled Pork, 1/2 lb: also flavorful, each fork-bite was heaven (3) Garlic Bread: so simple yet so delicious! It was the perfect amount of crispiness and flakiness (4) Baked Beans: small portion, in my opinion. The cup (more like a sauce container) was tiny! It was good, but ordinary. Also, they have a ton of beers on tap! I feel like this could be my go-to joint for post-beach days! read more

This review is based off of a pickup order but Boi was it the bomb!! Ate before I could even think of taking pictures. Maybe Next time! Ordered brisket/TriTip, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Beans, Cornbread, Bread was good too! Everything ng was great! Go and I bet you will be like dang she was right... LOL! There was a review I just read below where someone was being picky cause it wasn't like where they come from , try it for yourself... not everyone can be satisfied but I am pretty picky myself! read more

I love ordering the tri trip sandwiches here they are so yummy I would highly recommend coming here

Ran out of Brisket, Tri-tip and most meats. Was a holiday week-end, they should have been more prepared. Ended up go across the street for Burgers at Betty's Burger's which was pretty good. read more

Love this place! Only issue is the brisket has been getting saltier and that's only been a recent change this winter. Will be back but hope a lighter hand is used on the salt with the brisket rubs. Beer and cider is awesome! read more

Wow. I've eaten a lot of BBQ and I would boldly say Aptos St. BBQ is one of the best. The moment you step foot on the premise, you can smell the bbq smoke and your mouth starts watering. I came here with two other friends around 11:30am on a Sunday morning and surprisingly, there was no line and the tables were completely empty. We shared a full rack meal of pork ribs and full pound of brisket with potato salad and beans as sides- absolutely delicious! I would have definitely ordered another 1/2 rack of ribs but we didn't want to overstuff ourselves. Everything was delicious and we'll definitely be back- even if we need to make a detour to get to Aptos! read more

After having a few beers from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales..the significant other and I along with a few friends came here to grab dinner. The fellas were talking about how good this place is so I was excited to finally try it. There wasn't much people when we came around 8:00 pm, had plenty of parking space at the front and more on the street. This place is an order at the counter, seat yourself which adds that casual vibe. Choosing what to get was kind of difficult because they were out a few things, which narrowed the options - I wanted the Tri-tip sandwich but that was one of the few items that were out so I settled with BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich with garlic bread and potato salad on the side. Pork came with a sweet vinegar sauce they call "Hogwash". Next, you move over to their beer selection - HUGE selection of beers and great varieties of Stouts, Sours, IPAs, Double IPAs, etc. I got the AleSmith Speedway Stout which is an Imperial Stout with coffee added for a little extra kick, jet black with a multitude of toasty, roasty and caramel malt flavor. Pretty darn good stout. The rest of the fellas got their IPAs. Picked our table close to the stage/exit area and someone just actually finished singing. Our food came out quickly and the service is very friendly. My sandwich was delicious and the potato salad had a great kick to it. They also have regular and spicy BBQ sauce you can grab for dipping. Overall, great spot to go to if you're in the Santa Cruz County area. Hopefully I get to try their tri-tip sandwich the next time I come! read more

Aptos St BBQ - Pulled Pork - Barbeque Near Me - Aptos, California

On our way back from our anniversary trip and wanting to pick up some take out to watch the playoff game... what better than bbq. Found it on yelp and we were not disappointed! We got the ribs and the chicken with cole slaw, beans and an order of the garlic bread. If you're a beer enthusiast you should definitely come and eat in as they have many options on tap. The meats were well tended in the low and slow style, and I like the sauce, although wasn't blown away by it. Forget the bread... not garlicky at all. The slaw was tasty, and the beans were good in an unexpected way...more like chile beans, not bbq. If I lived nearby, I'd be here often, but would be working with them to develop a more memorable sauce. read more

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Super fun when the blue grass band plays. The brisket is amazing if they haven't sold out I highly recommend. They have a great steak salad. I highly recommend. Best bbq in town. read more

Aptos St BBQ does a great job. Meat is always tender and full of flavor. They are a bit pricey for the amount but meat is expensive these days. The sides are all good as well. If you are looking for something more than burgers this is a great place. read more

Hope you have all day, cuz they be SLOW. Great for a chill time, not great if you're hungry now. Beer selection is tiny these days, and they need working heaters in outdoor dining. Some succulent plants in pots for the corners would also help Aumbiance. They need more employees, service too slow. Food is good. read more

There will be few 5 star reviews from me, this is one of them. Beer, Blues, and real smoked BBQ. Lived in the area for over 50 yrs.and this is the best BBQ hands down in the Santa Cruz county, Monterey Bay area. Cow, pig and chicken... Get some! read more