The new Red Dog Saloon opened in Nottingham October 2016. It’s the first one based outside London with one soon opening in Southampton.

They definitely have an American meat feast thing going on which I love. Lots of meaty dishes on the menu to whet your appetite, plus they even have a devastator challenge. You’ll find lots of grilled chicken, pork, ribs and burgers on the menu, as well as southern fried classics.

The décor is really cool in the Nottingham restaurant. It’s dark with moody lighting and great music. Staff were friendly and not too in your face!

And so we ordered. My advice – go hungry! I went for the pit cooked bar-b-q combo with brisket and ½ chicken. My wife had the Texan burger. We also ordered sides of fries, mac ‘n’ cheese, wedge salad and jalapeno poppers.

The brisket melted in my mouth and tasted fab. All the sides were pretty spectacular too! The mac ‘n’ cheese was everything I hoped for and the jalapeno poppers (massive battered jalapeno peppers) may have blown my head off, but still tasted great!

My wife’s burger was fully loaded. However, it did come out rare when we asked for it well done. Things like this don’t bother me if the waiting staff and kitchen manage to rectify the situation quickly – and they did. It was taken away and a new one was swiftly returned using two patties instead, to ensure the beef was cooked to my wife’s liking.

All this meat had to be washed down with something – preferably something red!  We had a bottle of the El Colectivo Malbec which was slightly sweet and went well with our dinner.

The only problem with this place is you’ll rarely have room for dessert. I would love to have fitted something sweet in at the end but I guess I got too carried away with the mains. Probably an issue with self-control on my part! I often have an Irish coffee when we go out for dinner but I couldn’t even fit that!

In conclusion

This is another great restaurant to add to Nottingham’s food scene. It’s cozy with a great atmosphere thanks to the music, benches, dark wood and fixtures. From the moment you sit down with the menu, you know you’re in for a good feed with some good wholesome grub!

The staff were attentive and dealt with the burger issue quickly which meant it didn’t have an impact on our evening. It may just have been down to teething problems as the restaurant has just opened?

I’d definitely recommend the brisket and mac ‘n’ cheese. You could actually have a pretty good feed on sides and starters if you wanted! Other things I’d recommend after seeing them on other people’s tables are the ribs (they’re absolutely massive) and some of the bar-b-q sandwiches look amazing.

I’d certainly recommend a visit. It’s in a great location if you’re out for the night in Nottingham, but it looks like it could get busy at the weekend so book early.