Adam’s Ribs

Adam’s Ribs and Freakin’ Frog owner Adam Carmer is nothing if not a showman; it’s no wonder Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is pictured prominently on the cover of his takeout menu, because there’s a lot of common ground there.

But a barbecue margarita?

I had to bite — or, rather, sip. And guess what? It was good. Really good. The barbecue flavor is present in the cocktail in the only way it would work — very subtly, just a hint of smoke, maybe a tinier hint of sweet, with a flavor boost from the rim dipped in the restaurant’s signature rub. So how about that.

Yes, Carmer’s a showman, but the most successful showmen have a great deal of substance beneath the style and that’s the case with Carmer, who seems to have taken a page from Goodman’s book.

There’s the rub — hah! — for example. Most rubs (including the one that comes out of my own kitchen) are dominated by salt, but that’s not the case at Adam’s Ribs. There’s a lot of flavor in that secret mix of herbs and spices, and there’s a shaker of it on the table just in case you need it. Which we didn’t.

But a barbecue margarita and a low-salt rub aren’t the only things to like about Adam’s Ribs, and not the only quirky things, either. How about fried pickles that are prepared tempura-style? We love fried pickles, but they tend to be greasy, heavy. These slices (with the middles missing, like donuts) had been coated in a tempura-style batter and fried carefully so that no grease was left behind. Somewhere, a Southern grandmother is crying — and wondering how she can get the recipe.

The pickles were part of an appetizer Sampler Platter ($7.99) that also included wings, barbecued shrimp and onion rings. The rings and the shrimp were both similarly tempuralike, which resulted in a nice bit of light crunch. The wings were more conventional, but what we liked about them was that our waitress, unprompted, asked not only how hot we wanted the sauce but if we’d like to have it on the side so we could adjust the degree of heat ourselves. Normally that leaves you a wing that isn’t very flavorful because it hasn’t had a chance to soak up the sauce, but that wasn’t the case here.

And here’s something else I like about Adam’s Ribs: You don’t have to pig out to partake of the pig. Baby-backs come in three sizes ($7.99, $15.99 or $23.99) — the rib tips, beef ribs and spare ribs do, too — and my small was a half-rack, just enough considering the appetizer platter. Prepared with the rub they were tender and smoky, and the sauces served on the table — regular and hot — amped up the flavor, although they also amped up the mess. For a side we chose the garlic mashed potatoes, which were quite unusual — basically roasted potatoes and garlic that had been sort of gently mashed up together, so that they were extremely chunky and didn’t have a lot of added cream or butter. Perfect.

A pulled-pork sandwich ($6.99) was equally perfect — yeah, it justifies the menu moniker "Adam’s Famous Pulled Pork" — because it was even more tender and smoky than the ribs and also blessedly short of grease. We had baked beans on the side with this one. The fact that they disappeared so quickly that I very nearly missed getting a taste is testament to their flavor.

And we had a side of sweet-potato fries ($2.99) because I’d heard that they were good and they were, indeed — crunchy and drizzled with just a touch of honey.

Service throughout was excellent, our waitress clearly realizing that we’re all in this together and making suggestions and just generally being helpful. One complaint: The napkins are truly cheesy. A barbecue place needs good absorbent napkins or a roll of paper towels on the table, which would’ve made cleaning up our fingers a lot easier than dealing with those tissuelike napkins.

We also liked the interior. The place doesn’t look like much from the outside, but indoors it has lots of space, with neatly upholstered booths, panelled walls and numerous flat-screens to make it easier to catch the game, whatever the game may be.

So don’t judge a book by its cover — or its image. Adam’s Ribs may involve a certain amount of showmanship, but when it comes to barbecue and all the trimmings, it delivers the goods.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@review journal.com.