Carmen Family B-q - Hayward

Food is good but service not so good. They don't have functional credit card system so you sometimes have to pay cash and they are expensive.

Being a BBQ expert, I knew about Carmen's for many years and still believe their sausage is some of the bay areas finest. Had to be in the area and couldn't resist a 3 meat platter. Still as good as ever and it's good to see a place like this surviving intoday's prices. The platter wasn't cheap but neither is good meat. And yes it's worth every penny !! Got the sausage, rib, andbrisket with the medium spice sauce. Carmen's sauce is very old school dark sauce that's sweet in its own flavorful way...Itsvery much their own sauce and it's finfer smacking good.

Great BBQ one of the best in the Bay Area! My favorite is the link dinner with potato salad. Been going to the one in Fremont for years and loved it, the one in Hayward is just as great ????. Rob does a great job ! Great service, food, prices andatmosphere. If you haven't gone you must check it out it's ????

Used to come here ages ago so popped in while on a road be trip. My how the mighty have fallen. If it wasn't for the sauce the meat would be tasteless. No sides like cornbread or the like unless it's a large cater order otherwise it's bland macaroni and aslice of generic white bread. So sad. Used to be the bomb.

Came here after a work conference. First off, expensive. A two meat combination plate with a drink will run you nearly $30, and it's definitely a meal for 1. I got a combination Brisket/Pork Rib, with accompanied potato salad and bread. First off, bread.Not a roll. Just a few diagnol cuts of right out of the bag wheat bread. No butter, nothing. The potato salad. A small icecream scoop worth of (potato salad? that tastes like something out of a big tub from middle school. The brisket was okay.Fatty, but cooked well enough to be edible. Outside is VERY crusted, so if you're not up for a chew, you're SoL. Not a ton offlavor, despite how fatty it is. The ribs, where do I start. Dry, flavorless, more fat than meat, and definitely far fromfresh. The rack they were cut off looked like it's been sitting around since yesterday. Difficult to eat, unappetizing, and farfrom tasty. Lastly, the barbecue sauce. Or should I say smoky barbecue liquid? It maybe had a good flavor in the first batch,but this sauce (mild was as liquid as my beer. When transferring to a takeout container, it was impossible to scrape over witha fork, could only pour it out the corner of the plate. I love barbecue, i love supporting small business, but I did not lovethis restsurant.