Mike's Grill

What's it like?

I’ve heard more buzz about this place for the last year than I have about most restaurants in Fresno. “You’ve got to get the tri-tip sandwich!” Ok, I’ve been eating tri-tip since before it was cool, like back in the 80’s when my dad barbequed it at home. Mike’s tri-tip sandwich is good, real good. The bread is seasoned and toasted and the tri tip is sliced thinly and has a good ratio of fat to meat. I can see how he built a reputation off this sandwich alone.

What people either forgot to tell me or failed to eat were the pork ribs at Mike’s; they’re damn good. Honestly, these are some of the better ribs I’ve had in the entire United States. Tender, but not completely falling off the bone (which they shouldn’t be), solid pork flavor, good, even smokiness but not acrid or bitter, and meaty. Mike puts a BBQ sauce on his ribs as a matter of practice, rather than a dry style BBQ.

I spoke with Mike for a little bit and he said people are driving across town for the sandwich, but for my dollar, I’d drive across town for the ribs, they’re worth every bite. Nice job Mike, keep knocking out great sandwiches and ribs brother. They do have full rack ribs available for take-away.

Yes, Ambiance scored a 1, but I have to be fair, I'm eating in a parking lot...and happy to do so when the food is this good. As for service, they did walk my order to me, so kudos for that.