May appear pink in color

Last week, we looked at a bottomless dish known as the Canyon Skillet. But what if you happen to be trapped on the other side of Walt Disney World in the far away land of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, with no hope of getting across property to Wilderness Lodge, much less an ADR, and you are seriously craving some barbeque ribs? Fear not, intrepid explorer, Flame Tree Barbeque has you and your stomach covered!

At Flame Tree you can pick up a 1/2 slab of St. Louis Ribs. Accompaniments always include baked beans, as well as a corn muffin or coleslaw (the second side dish has not been consistent in recent times). For the sake of this taste test, we were presented with coleslaw.

Let’s start with the sides. The presentation, in small cups, may not seem pleasing to the eye, but they do keep the various meal components from seeping into one another. The coleslaw is utilitarian and lacks a colorful punch. Meanwhile, the baked beans add some much needed heat to the secondary meal elements. My only real complaint? Two bites and they’re all gone. While the ribs are substantial, in both taste and size, the sides are strikingly small.

Now, about those St. Louis Ribs. The 1/2 slab has been expertly smoked and the meat is filled with the flavors from Flame Tree’s celebrated rub. The ribs were moist and slid off of the bone, the outer edge was crispy and chewy at the same time, and meat was very tender. As far as ribs in a theme park go, the St. Louis variety found at Flame Tree Barbeque are top notch, especially when Flame Tree’s barbeque sauces, either Original or Sweet and Spicy, are applied liberally.

I have yet to find a meal at Flame Tree Barbeque that hasn’t been an appetizing example of the barbeque arts being done right. Not only is the cooking process traditional, but it is evident that time was well spent in finding the right combination of ingredients for their rubs and barbeque sauces. All that really means is, regardless of what constitutes a side dish, I will continue to search out Flame Tree Barbeque at meal times.