Steakhouse & Juke Joint: Buck's Naked BBQ

Before heading out I gave Buck's the Facebook test: change my status to "I'm reviewing Buck's. Anyone been there?" I received nine comments within 30 minutes stating "the BBQ was awesome," "Try their wings! Holy f-ing crap!," "It's awesome!" and "Awesomeness." The condescending d-bag in me was ready to find Buck's faults.

The drive was about 20-25 minutes from Portland. We pulled up to a full parking lot at 8 pm on a Thursday. Walking through the foyer I got a little nervous thinking the place was going to be a corporate-type-market-to-the-masses restaurant. Inside it was all down-home - a uniquely Maine experience. The converted log cabin had wood everywhere, tin walls and open ceiling, exposed wood beams and piping. Straight ahead was the open-window kitchen with the dining area on the right and the bar to the left. An Elvis Costello song welcomed us to the bar area.

The bar seats about 10-15 and there are a few 2-4 seater tables. Our bartender, Evan, was quick to take our orders. I'm on this ridiculous Long Island Iced Tea kick so I hooked that up and the boyfriend tried the Big Fat Pig Pale Ale (Magic Hat).

Choices for draft beer ($4-5) include Magic Hat seasonal, Magic Hat Big Fat Pig Pale Ale, Allagash White, Shipyard Export, Guinness, Shipyard seasonal, Geary's seasonal, Gritty's seasonal and Long Trail Ale. Bottle beer costs $3-4 and includes Magic Hat IPA, Corona, Peak's Organic Espresso Amber, New Castle, Heineken, Sierra Nevada, Coors Light, Michelob Ultra, Budweiser, Bud Light and Twisted Tea.

There's a small selection of white and red wines and a full bar for mixed drinks or shots. Specialty drinks include the Bloody Buck, Buck's Gold Margarita, Naked Dance (margarita with peach liquor) and the Grape Popsicle (Pinnacle Grape Vodka with juices and blue curacao).

And then there's the Fooze: "a little food with some booze." What a concept! And one I couldn't pass up. I ordered a Buckito, which is a mojito with an apricot-orange glazed baby back rib atop. Just look at it! It's glorious!

We came hungry, sure to test the popular consensus that Buck's is the best. The menu is full of all the down-home barbecue foods to fill your belly for days. Check out the starter menu with gumbo, catfish fingers and fried okra, greens menu with 9 different salads, sandwich menu, From the Grill menu, Comfort Food and BBQ Menu. I have to admit that meat is incredible. And the service is insanely quick - just a couple minutes for Fooze and a few more for that big meat plate you MUST try. I whole-heartedly agree with Evan when he said they've got "the best BBQ in New England, without a doubt. We've had people from Texas tell us it's the best." Buck's has cornered the market on naked barbecue, for sure.

After tearing through the naked meat, we headed downstairs to the Juke Joint. An XBox Rock Band stage was set up at the bottom of the stairs with the bar, tables and pool tables to the left. There was quite a crowd below. Upstairs the foodies had filtered out by 10 pm, but down below the kids were raging. Disappointed the pool tables were taken, we settled for a few rounds of Rock Band. After two Long Islands and a Mojito it was time to take it down a notch and sober up with a couple Allagash Whites, so I was in no position to hit the mic. I let the boyfriend play and took a walk around the Joint.

During my usual soak-in-the-atmosphere tour I rarely talk to people and they rarely seek conversation with me. Even when I'm not reviewing no one wants to talk to me. It's not that I'm a hideous freak show, but rather I don't have that buy-me-a-drink mojo. So when one of the more attractive Juke Joint regulars offered me a drink and a phone number I was floored. Yes, my boyfriend knows and he doesn't care. The point of this story is not to toot my own horn, but for you to know this place has attractive singles, alcohol and pool tables - the recipe for a late-night Frenching session and possibly a one-nighter-with-potential-for-a-second-date.

While I set out to find fault in Bucks, the only fault I found was that it isn't located right outside my apartment door. I had an opportunity to meet with owner Alex Caisse to put in a request, and with a beaming smile he alluded to another location in the future. He also took a minute to tell me about how Buck's got started: Alex was a stay-at-home-dad who went for his dreams and opened Buck's. "We had a line out the door when we opened," and they filled the place every day - even during those wintery-I-never-want-to-leave-my-apartment-again nights - until they had to open a larger location down the street.

Buck's, please come to Portland.

Amy Martin is a freelance writer.