I absolutely love Scott Ja-Mamas. I've been going here for over 10 years and every time I go I get their pulled sandwiches with their twice baked potato. The amount of pulled pork they give you is enough for 2 sandwiches. Don't even get me started on their twice baked potato. I dream of them sometimes. Given that I live over 30 minutes away they go out of the way to separate everything so once I'm home I don't have a soggy mess. The staff is incredibly nice. Every time I go they accommodate my request for buns on the side. I'm always offered a soda while I wait for my food. Their spicy bbq sauce is delicious and has a bit of heat to it. read more

The food is the best rids ever nice place the people was very nice I live here for 62 years I have lots of ribs all over mpls this place is one of my favorite.. read more

The ribs were horrible, tough meat, no smoke at all. I mean the ribs were pale in color...from outside to bone, resembling a tough dry pork chop. Chicken was not terrible , but is this meant to be BBQ? I've had more interesting BBQ served to me while a patient in a hospital than this. I seriously can't believe this place has been in business for as long as it has been. Ted Cooks long may you reign!!! read more

If you have read any of my other reviews I fancy myself an amateur BBQ snob. Scott Ja-Mamas is so named because after baseball cleaned the team went back to their home for Scott's mother's BBQ dinner and everyone kept saying "Scott ja-mama's BBQ is sooo good." So the name stuck. I ordered a 1/4 rack which comes with a twice baked potato, slaw, and a roll. Ribs were done well. The tomato based mild sauce was very good. The slaw was reminiscent of KFC, but less sweet and more peppery. Good, but not great. The star of the plate was the twice baked potato. It is creamy, sour creamy, with chopped backed and topped with shredded cheese. I was a little bummed in that I think this place uses gas or electric ovens rather than wood fire, but I gotta say, I really did enjoy my ribs. Bite off the bone was clean, meat was tender and flavorful and their BBQ sauce does not over power the meat. (And I especially loved that they gave me 5 ribs instead of the normal 4 for a 1/4 rack!) The place smells awesome and it does have seats where a few people could eat, but I'd prefer to do take out. It's a tiny hole in the wall type place with only a high table. If a queue were to form they be right.next to you while you eat. Rather than eating there, order to go and grab a picnic table along Minnehaha Parkway. Parking can be difficult as the street parking on 54th and Nicollet is often filled. So, I parked at the Holiday across the street and walked. Easy. Over all: 3.5 stars because everything I ate was delicious. read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - 1-4 rack ribs with mild sauce, twice baked potato, Slaw and dinner roll. - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Good ribs, great beans, ok twice baked potatoes and forgettable Cole slaw. As in next time, forget to order it. And don't start me on the roll Easy to order ahead, which you are going to want to do for ribs or chicken, at a fair price. These are not smoked ribs, but they are prepared well and are tasty. The sauces are Kansas City style, and good. The beans are delightfully spicy, and great. The twice baked potato half is fine, if a little dry by 730. Unfortunately, the slaw is really quite terrible, and the roll needs butter to be at all edible. You can get soda to go, but for beer you will have to make a second stop read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - It's small. Pretty much all take out. - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Scott Ja Mama is my go to for barbecue their food is wonderful. Their spicy beans are fantastic. When I want barbecue this is the place I call. read more

My daughters wanted ribs for dinner and this place had the quickest pickup time compare to nearby BBQ places. Easy online ordering, easy street parking and friendly staff. It's been ages since we've ordered from or eaten here. First time having ribs here and it's very tasty with a little kick. Good price and like that do a meal deal. read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - A rack of ribs with twice baked potato, dinner roll and cole slaw - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

My first time to Scott Ja-Mama's, I've been driving by for years and finally gave it a try. First of all I love the vibe of this place, being just a hole in the wall. There is some popularity here so it's best to call 1/2 hour ahead before arriving. The rib review: By all means don't mess around, get the full rack! From what I understand from other reviews, there's no meat smoker happening here so this may not be BBQ in its truest sense. However the meat flavor is nice and the medium sauce has a nice heat in the background. I would get a side of sauce next time. The meat doesn't fall off the bone however, perhaps because of the lack of smoking the meat. Either way, I would love to try out their pulled pork sandwich next time. The baked potato: Good flavor, a little dry, the cheese on top is a little weird, like the type of cheese that doesn't melt. The potato salad: Very nice, light, not too heavy, good seasoning. read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - The Scott Ja-Mama stamp - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Scott Ja-Mamas is, without reservation, THE best BBQ I have ever tasted! It is a literal hole in the wall and, for the most part, take away. There are very few tables and those are typically occupied by local police stopping in for lunch. The owner and staff are so friendly. We have been going there for years. When we lived out of town, we always made time to stop by for some of Scott's fabulous ribs with his special sauce. The flavor is stupendous. The meat is smoked and tender, the beans are delicious and obviously a family recipe. I can't say enough about this place. We moved back to Minnesota a few years ago and continue to enjoy Scott Ja-Mamas. You should, too! read more

You're not planning a fancy linen service, right? This is a hole in the wall joint that's been around forever. Cause the food is straight forward and great. Staff are classic neighborhood Treat yourself and family/friends. You'll be back time and again. read more

In terms of bang for your buck, I'm not sure that you're going to find a better BBQ place in the city. $12 for a half a rack of ribs, a twice baked potato, roll, and coleslaw. Seems like a price from my childfood. I got the ribs with their hottest BBQ sauce. While it wasn't quite "fall off the bone" meat, they were still super tender. The sauce packed a little heat (I like extremely spicy...so like 3/10 spicewise for me), but offered a robust combination of flavors. The twice baked potato (does have cheese on it for those lactose intolerant people) was the star side dish, although the coleslaw (especially when I added hot sauce) and roll were also legit. Service is amazing and unbelievably helpful. It's a very small place, so I'd recommend calling ahead. I walked in and it was a half hour for ribs. For fresh food, I certainly have no problem waiting, as it truly did seem like you were at a cookout in someone's back yard. read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - Outside - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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I live on the opposite side of the state now and I still think about the food here. Definitely worth a visit. super friendly, super nice place. read more

A couple of decades ago, I lived in Mpls. 1993-1994. And on my drive home one day I spotted a little BBQ joint I had to try. And I'm glad I did. I went several times a week, and the food was always amazing, and I loved the story. Scott, you got your mama's bbq sauce? He does. It's amazing. Sitting here thinking about MN and remembered my fave bbq place. Glad to see you survived the pandemic and are thriving. Feel free to open a spot in Phoenix. We love good bbq. East side please. :). If I get back up that way, this spots on my list. Can't go wrong. Don't miss out. read more

We ordered a couple orders to go one day during a midweek lunch break when we were craving BBQ. I got the pulled pork sandwich and my husband got the 1/2 chicken. Ordering in person was easy and we got our food quickly. We dove in as soon as we got home, maybe 10min after our food was ready. It all smelled and looked delicious right off the bat. My husband really enjoyed his chicken and would definitely get it again. The flavors in my pulled pork sandwich were really good and had a great sweetness to them. I was a little disappointed in the bun choice for the sandwich. The bread was completely disintegrated from the BBQ sauce on the sandwich. It seemed like the bottom half of the bun and the meat got put into the styrofoam and then a ladle of BBQ sauce poured in like a bowl of soup. It was impossible to eat as a sandwich but still had really good flavor. We also got sides of twice baked potatoes that were just okay. The inside was good but almost room temperature and the skins had a funny texture. I would definitely go back for more of the pulled pork - just not as a sandwich. read more

I had been here for lunch quite a while ago, with a friend who loved their steak sandwich, which is what we ordered. I remember liking it a lot, so I had intended to come back and try their ribs sometime, and just recently that's what I did. The place must be busy, because when I arrived they were out of ribs, to be ready in a half-hour. He said they had plenty of chicken. But I wanted to try the ribs, so I ran an errand and returned about 45 minutes later. I decided to try the ribs-chicken combo to complete the checkout of all of the main meats -- but now they were out of chicken (like I said, they must be busy, so as one reviewer has suggested, it might be good to call ahead rather than just drop in like I did). So I ordered the half-rack of ribs with the medium sauce. That includes cole slaw and a roll. I also ordered some beans and potato salad to complete my sampling of the sides. To help answer the question about smoking the ribs: I believe that Minneapolis has laws about smokers, and it's likely that the place can't install a smoker for the meats. Something to do with fire code is my guess. So in any case, the meats are not smoked, which I thought would be rather disappointing. I was wrong. They are also baby back ribs, which I usually don't care for; I prefer St. Louis style ribs. But again, this was not a big deal. The ribs are tasty even naked. Profile: good pork flavor without the smoke. And the sauce was good. There was considerable tug to the meat coming off the bone, but not really too much. If you must have fall-off-the-bone meat, then you could probably just steam them until they do that. Sides: The cole slaw is very minimalistic, just a scantest touch creamy and not vinegary. I liked it -- I'm not a fan of ultra-vinegary cole slaw. The beans were very spicy (the clerk had warned me about that as I ordered), and that's ok for me, but, as another reviewer has mentioned, it was a combination of beans and meat in a thick paste. Also, many of the beans were almost not identifiable as such; so it's like like the whole mixture had been cooked a lot and many of those beans had broken down. The potato salad I really liked. A nice combination of flavors. So hopefully this review has accurately set your expectations. The people running the place are fair and do their best to please. I think it deserves a try, especially considering that I'm really picky with my BBQ and I came away satisfied, especially for the price. read more

Stopped by for dinner while in town for a brief trip. We were drawn to this place by the high Yelp rating and cool vibe of the place. There's parking on the street right out front and two tables inside. The decor of the place has a lot of cool, "hole in the wall" style. We ordered the ribs, slaw, twice baked potato, potato salad and baked beans. The ribs are baby back style. We were a little disappointed at the quality of the ribs giving the other rave reviews. They were a little too tough. We went with the mild bbq sauce, which is very tomato-based, almost like tomato paste (RT). That made the sauce a little unique, and a bit tasty. The potato salad was decent, but it seems the cole slaw needs some work. The slaw either needed more dressing or needed to marinated longer. The twice baked potato was kind of forgettable for us, which is strange based on the over reviews we read. We were alerted that the baked beans are very spicy and they weren't kidding. The beans looked more like a paste than beans. We wondered if they mashed the beans as part of their recipe. Regardless, the beans were extremely spicy. So much so, that we couldn't each much of them. We liked the texture, but they were just too spicy. Generous portions of meat in the beans which helped a little. Bottom line, we're glad we went, but we probably won't be back. read more

I've been waiting to visit this place, so it was Groupon day. $7 for $12 value. I ordered the half rib combo. It included coleslaw, roll, half baked potato and baby back ribs. The coleslaw didn't taste very fresh, but the ribs were meaty. I had take-out, so I warmed mine in the oven with my bbq sauce. The place is supper small, but very interesting view while waiting. Very nice customer service too. read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - Half ribs combo baby back - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Very tasty food. Glad to see places like this around. It was a very nice surprise. Chicken was good. Ribs were good. Beans were very good and spicy read more

This is a full rack? Menu says 10-12 bones. Very disappointed. The food was decent but not worth the $$. read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - Full Rack? Menu says 10-12 bones. Count them. - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

I've passed this place a million times and didn't even notice it. This lil hole in the wall is a gem in SW Minneapolis. It's set up for take out & catering with only 2 small tables inside. I called in my order--you should too to make sure they don't run out of stuff--and picked it up within 20 minutes. The guy on the phone and in the restaurant when I went in was so nice and accommodating. I got the pulled pork sandwich and the 1/2 chicken 1/2 slab meal. Both of these come with a twice baked potato and cole slaw. The sandwich comes with chips and a drink too. Pricing was beyond reasonable for the amount of food you get. I'll definitely go back and support this local gem again. This would also be a great place to cater a party! read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - If you don't pay attention, you may pass it up...small place set up for takeout but there are 2 small tables inside. - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Great, fantastic, superb ribs....cole slaw not edible, terrible dry dinner roll and something that was called a potato, sadly I would order the ribs again and again but leave everything else was sub-par at best read more

Delicious barbecue every time! Always good. Always hot. You will not be disappointed or left hungry! Lots of food. Git it!

The meal was prepared after I arrived, despite the 1/2 Hour advance order. I got a medium sized baby back meal. The ribs were of a generous size. I didn't try the sauce. The potato was flavorful and prepared properly. I had forgotten that Minneapolis long ago ruined the smoked meat trade by outlawing wood cooking by restaurants.. By knuckling under to big energy, they left smoked meat fans with inferior choices. The ribs came out more like steamed than smoked and the pork clung stubbornly to the bone. The slaw order was parsimonious but okay. I may return for a different dish. I do not recommend this place for anyone with mobility disabilities unless they do it curbside. The front steps are hazardous. Okay n my case, the staff person was kind and opened the door for me. read more

This place is a great! It's a little understated and only open from Wed-Saturday. I probably drove by it for a year before I realized it was actually open for business. That being said, I'm really glad I decided to give it a shot- based on our first experience it looks like we found a local BBQ place that we will keep coming back to! You should note that this place is definitely a BBQ takeout spot- it's super tiny, there is a small table inside for a couple people to sit and eat if they really want to. The website says call ahead so I did and asked for a pickup time for about an hour later. My order was ready on time. We ordered a full rack of ribs and the combo with half a rack and chicken. Of course, we asked for the hottest sauce! Sorry I didn't try any of the other sauces, my husband doesn't let me anything less than extra hot!!! We loved the hot, although it wasn't super spicy for us. For reference, we regularly eat super spicy chilies, think Carolina reaper and ghost peppers. I think for most people who are used to the Minnesota spice heat levels the hot might be spicy enough or even too spicy. The half chicken was moist and the covered in the sauce which was pretty good. Also- it is important to point out that these ribs are not dry rub ribs, the ribs come slathered in whichever sauce you choose. I would add they weren't crazy meaty and the meat didn't exactly fall of the bone. Despite this, the overall flavor was great and we plan on ordering again. Maybe next time we will try some of their pulled pork, the guy before me got a pulled pork sandwich. read more

We placed online order, paid ahead, and picked up. Delicious and convenient! So good with no time for pics. I'll try to remember next time ;) read more

This place is a hoax. The food was terribly cooked and rubbery. This is a BBQ spot for the person who doesn't know any better. There is no smell of BBQ inside or outside the restaurant. If I had to guess, they are reheating food cooked somewhere else. read more

I'm from Kansas City and I've heard about this place many times. However I knew something was off when I didn't see see or smell smoke outside or inside the restaurant. Maybe they've had to result to different cooking tactics due to Covid but this isn't a BBQ place. I ordered the chicken and I'm certain is was not cooked on a grill or smoker. There was no smoke taste and they just drown the meat in their bbq sauce (the bbq sauce was pretty good). read more

@FancyDinnerClub will never take Famous Dave's for granted again, but at least the sauce was good I had a serious hankering for ribs for some time. Things reached a head when I came home to see two clear plastic containers filled with baby-back ribs that Brad had as leftovers. So when Matt texted me and suggested getting some BBQ, I started pre-loosening the belt buckle to prepare. Instead of visiting our perpetually barbecue sauce covered friends at Ted Cook's, we decided to branch out and try somewhere new. Matt consulted Eater's guide to Twin Cities BBQ and we went to the first place on the list: Scott Ja-Mama's BBQ. At first glance, Scott Ja-Mama's had everything a good barbecue place should have. Small menu with meat and carbs only: check. Neon signs galore: check. Three sweaty men crammed into a small kitchen: check and wink. It seemed like we made the right choice. We ordered almost the entire menu (i.e. we ordered "chicken" and "ribs"). Chicken was ready right then, but ribs would be about 40 minutes, so we headed down the road to a bar to grab a beer while we waited. And they had Big Buck Hunter! I kept shooting the girl deer on accident and Matt basically destroyed me. I did win the bonus round where you are in an underwater shipwreck trying to shoot as many electric eels as possible, but I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to feel about that for a lot of reasons. I cut my losses and we headed back to pick up our feast. When we got to the restaurant, Scott himself was there to greet us. Not often do you get to meet the inspiration for a neon sign face. And to top it all off, he let us help ourselves to what I previously thought was a prop refrigerator. Matt and I both snagged A&W Cream Soda, for the lulz. We loaded up our drinks, and two hefty styrofoam containers and readied the nom tanks for happiness. After taking my first bite of rib, I was very conflicted. On one hand, I was very glad to be sating a long-standing craving. On the other hand, the ribs were pretty bad. I'm no expert, but I am positive I shouldn't have had to try that hard to tear the meat off the bones. I could actually hear David Attenborough in my head saying something along the lines of "the apex predator evolved over time to develop powerful incisors used to rend the flesh from its prey." Having that inner monologue did make everything a little better, but no one has ever debated the benefits of nature documentaries or British people's voices. I guess when you're making a wish to your fairy god-jamama for ribs, beggars can't be choosers. The chicken was a little meh, too. When they told us chicken was ready when we ordered, they must have just boxed up the chicken right then and turned attention to cooking the ribs, because it was room temperature when we got to it. I still thought it was tasty, but nothing spectacular. It is chicken after all, so there's not a ton of room for error usually in terms of making it memorable. There were some positives. The BBQ sauce at Scottie J's is really really good. The pulled pork sandwich they have on the menu would probably be incredible with some of that sauce. Then there was the unexpected star of the show, the twice baked potato. I honestly don't know what exactly it was. It might have just been the fact that both Matt and I picked up the potato and ate it with our hands, making for a strangely satisfying eating experience, but we both enjoyed it a lot regardless. The dinner roll was...well it was a dinner roll, and you can't really screw that up. I really wanted to like Scott Ja-Mama's. And you know what, maybe I did. The people were nice, the price was right, and in general, sometimes you want something so badly that it doesn't matter how much of a letdown it ends up being. This apex predator gives Scott Ja-Mama's 2.125 out of 4 om noms. read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - I really want a neon sign of my face someday - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

According to some reviews, Scott Ja-Mama's doesn't have a pit and thus cannot claim to serve true BBQ. OK. Whatever you want to call the Baby Back Ribs served here I think they're tasty, satisfying and pair really well with Scott's chunky, dense, smoky/sweet medium sauce. I like to order the ribs naked with the sauce on the side. To improve, add a pat of butter, a dash of sea salt and a turn or two of cracked pepper to the twice-baked potato and then fluff up with a fork. The slaw is a forgettable side. The dinner roll is mostly filler. The stars are the ribs and the sauce for sure. As pointed out this is a hole-in-the-wall best for takeout. It's easy to miss as you're driving by. Cash or check only, no credit cards. On the occasions that I've stopped by everyone has been friendly and accommodating. This place definitely merits consideration if you're thinking of adding another option to your BBQ rotation. read more

Talk about character! This place delivers and has great bbq with very good pricing! Check out their little spot ...don't blink or you'll miss it read more

BEST BBQ in Minneapolis. My family has been coming to this hidden gem, Scott Ja-Mamas, for close to 20 years. I recently visited over the weekend and it had been quite a few years since I've last been. Scott Ja-Mamas is a total dive. Everything is exactly as I remember it as a child. Every little trinket and poster hasn't been moved in years. I've always had the pulled pork sandwich but I really wanted to try the chicken sandwich. I was extremely pleased with the quality and taste of my chicken sandwich. It was AWESOME. It even had cheese and a little bacon on it. The pulled pork sandwich is also amazing. Both sandwiches (along with steak) come with coleslaw and Lays potato chips! Don't let the building scare you! The employees are super friendly and the food is out of this world for a really great deal. I dare you to check it out! Here's a few tips: *It's cash or check only *They only have one table in the whole place, plan on take out or sharing the table *Street parking only - but it's not that busy of a street read more

Scott Ja-Mamas - The menu - Barbeque Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Scott Ja-Mamas is a true Hidden Gem, they have what I consider to be the best barbecue in Minnesota. Scott Ja-Mamas is a very small family owned restaurant, they have two tables so people tend to just come in and get takeout. They only make small batches of some of there sides so not everything is available to get all of the time. What makes Scott Ja-Mamas the best barbecue in Minnesota is the sauce. It's a family recipe that you will be falling in love with. I am not kidding when I say you will be drinking the stuff, and coating all of your food with it. The menu does not have many options but everything they do have is fresh and taste perfect. To any and all barbecue lovers I can not recommend Scott Ja-Mamas enough. I fell in love with them after the first bite, and I am sure you will to. 5/5 -Trenton V read more

Our first time trying this place. WOW, so good. We had the chicken and rib combo with the twice stuffed potatoes. The service was awesome too! read more

We decided to try baby back dinners, pulled pork and chicken sandwiches tonight all were excellent the hot BBQ was my favorite flavorful and not too much heat. Beans were excellent side potato salad was also good. I'd skip the coleslaw not flavorful. read more

Based on the reviews we really wanted to like this place! We ordered a half a chicken, quarter slab of ribs along with a side of baked beans. I saw my wife eating the chicken and she could barely pull it off the bone at all it was so tough you could barely eat it. While she was eating the chicken breast it look like sawdust it was so dry. So the. we moved onto the dark meat which actually look like white meat and was equally as dry which I said how do you dry out dark meat ? We threw away almost the entire half a chicken. My ribs were OK but the last few it's were like jerky they were so dry it out. The beans really weren't beans it was more like a meat paste of some sort, very strange not good at all. I had 3 bits and each one was worse than the other. Sorry I'm just speaking the truth here and like I said we wanted to love this place! read more

Scott Ja-Mamas you are truly outstanding, I had a lovely experience here yesterday. Delicious menu items and excellent service. All of the food items are outstanding, their menu is awesome, I really like their Whole Half Rack. The service was also excellent and everyone was friendly. Must try: every thing. read more

Great food, could eat weekly Went with the combo meal. Beans had a real nice kick to them. Love supporting restaurants like this too. read more

i love this place....they TALK to you, and help you choose! they GET IT!!! love all the food, feel it's a great value and very Honest eats.....everyone working there is Positive and Polite! (how often does THAT happen?) ....have had terrific food and service here; miss Scott himself, though his nephews and Aunt are wonderful, too! what great staff. Nice, friendly, open-minded......gives me a huge lift to visit. love the food -- perfect, every time. No complaints. read more

I stopped by here for lunch because I had heard great things, and the rumors are true. I got the half rack combo that came with a twice baked, coleslaw, and dinner roll. You can pick your sauce for the ribs, I went with the hot which wasn't spicy but it was delicious. Can't wait to go back and try the other items on the menu. It's a small spot that I've driven by countless times without even knowing it. I like that it's a small hole in the wall spot, perfect for a pick-up order, and I like supporting the local family ran businesses. Plus the customer service was great, the guy who took my order was very friendly and gave me a free soda which I thought was pretty cool. read more

I was super excited to be in the neighborhood and stop to pick up dinner. Haven't been there in several years. I ordered half rack & quarter chicken and quarter rib combo. Spend $40! The service was great but the ribs were dried out and taste like yesterdays left overs. The chicken leg was little dry as well. Missing my extra potato and beans. read more