Me & Ed’s Family Restaurant – New Bedford, MA

I couldn’t stop my craving for barbeque ribs and wanted to avoid a chain restaurant.  I had heard that Me & Ed’s (located at 30 Brock Ave.) had good ribs but I hadn’t been there in years so I wasn’t sure. I mentioned it to my husband and although he wasn’t convinced they specialized in ribs, we thought we would give it a try regardless.

When we walked into the restaurant, the first thing that stood out was the old, dated décor. Stucco walls with exposed wooden beams! The second thing that stood out was the strong smell of malt vinegar. While we were walking toward our table, which happened to be in the far corner of the restaurant, I noticed why I could smell so much vinegar. Almost every table had some form of fried seafood in front of them – and they were obviously dredging their dishes in vinegar.  Okay, so seafood must be their specialty and not ribs.  After taking a quick glance at the menu, and the long list of seafood specials that accompanied it, I confirmed my suspicion.  I went there for ribs – but should I conform and order seafood?  This was going to be a difficult decision. 

Caramel Apple Pie Martini



However, first things first.  I needed to decide what to drink. There were some seasonal cocktails on the specials menu and the Caramel Apple Pie Martini ($6.75) sounded delicious.  This martini was made with Absolut Vodka, Butterscotch Schnapps, Apple Schnapps and a hint of cream served with a cinnamon sugar rimmer. My husband decided on a Long Island Iced Tea ($6.25).

While waiting for our drinks, I carefully reviewed the menu to see if there was something that would sway my mind away from the ribs. There were so many choices and I do love seafood but the ribs also sounded delicious and why fight the craving?  I decided on the full rack of Pete’s Baby Back Ribs ($19.99).  These ribs were described as slow-cooked and oh-so-tender fall-off-the-bone baby back pork ribs, slathered with their special BBQ sauce.  This entrée was served with a salad and choice of side.  The side choices were garlic red skin mashed potatoes, baked potato, French fries, butternut squash, vegetable of the day, spaghetti, ziti, steamed broccoli and rice pilaf.  Since I was eating ribs, French fries were the only logical choice in my mind. I ordered the fries and chose blue cheese as my dressing for the salad.

My husband ordered a cup of their “famous recipe, homemade,award winning” chowder ($3.29) and a Boneless Buffalo Chicken Pizza (hold the onions).  It seems we were both very hungry that night since he ordered the large pizza for $9.99 (the small was only $1 less).

 

When our drinks arrived, we were also brought a basket of bread. The bread was grilled with butter and was piping hot.  I couldn’t resist digging in!  After eating the bread and looking around the restaurant I started to think that this is a great place if you’re looking for some comfort food in a family friendly atmosphere.  I was still struggling with the stucco walls, though!

The salad and chowder arrived. Of course I had to take a bite of my husband’s chowder and I have to say, I can see where this would have won an award. Anyone that loves a nice, thick, rich creamy clam chowder would fall in love with this.  Again, this reminded me of some good old comfort food.  My salad, on the other hand, was nothing more than a bowl of lettuce with a few shredded carrots on top.  At least the dressing was good – it was a nice thick blue cheese dressing.



Boneless Buffalo Chicken Pizza
 

Before too long, our entrees arrived.  My plate had two half-racks of steaming hot ribs smothered in barbeque sauce.  The side of fries was served on a second, smaller plate.  My husband’s pizza was a thin crust pizza made with blue cheese dressing (instead of sauce), boneless buffalo wings and topped with cheese.  His only comment about the pizza was that since the blue cheese was cooked on the pizza, the flavors of the blue cheese and the buffalo sauce blended together. He prefers the hot, spiciness of the pizza dipped into a side of cool blue cheese dressing. I took a bite of his pizza and completely understood what he meant.

 


Pete's Baby Back Ribs
 

The ribs were true to their description and fell right off the bone as I was eating them.  If I had anything to criticize it would be that a few of them were a bit charcoaled on the edge. This didn’t stop me from eating the entire plate full (with a little help from my husband).  Thank goodness I was given a few wet naps to wipe my hands when I was finished!  I was glad I chose the ribs and didn’t give in to the seafood.  But, we’ll need to visit again since there were so many seafood entrees that looked delicious. Baked Stuff Scrod with Newburg Sauce, Haddock Oscar, Honey Pecan Salmon, Native Swordfish, and Fish and Chips are just a few of the seafood entrees that caught my eye!

Since my husband helped me eat my ribs, he still had half of his pizza left to bring home. The waitress took the pizza to box it up and brought us our bill.  Luckily I double checked the bill before we paid because she inadvertently charged us for the chowder twice. She was very apologetic and quickly corrected it.  The total bill with tax (minus the extra chowder) was $49.51.  

 

Based on this visit to Me & Ed’s, I would recommend this restaurant if you are looking for family-friendly, comfort-food kind of dining (and don’t have a major aversion to stucco)!