Pioneer BBQ A Trailblazer No More

Pioneer Bar-B-Que Family Restaurant
Address: 25 Sportsworld Drive, Kitchener   N2G 3W6
Open: Daily
Cost: two barbecue sandwiches, soft drinks, two pieces of pie and coffee is $30-$35
Contact: 519-653-3761

Amuse-bouche: A restaurant from another era, though it has tried somewhat to re-invent itself, is still stuck in that era. A purported destination for pulled barbeque sandwiches of the chicken, pork, and beef variety, it does however retain a loyal following.

*     *     *     *     *

Every once in a while, a restaurant puts me into a quandary. What do I do with it? Where do I slot it? How do I categorize it? It is a too easy out to say it is comfort food; that it is home-style cooking. That merely evades the issue.

It is perhaps even more difficult when you are trying to figure out what to do with a piece of history, a part of the landscape that goes back–way back–before most people’s memory. Such it is with Kitchener’s Pioneer Bar-B-Que. Since the late-1920s, the place has been a favourite for pulled BBQ sandwiches, chicken, pork, and beef. It seems to be still going strong; the trouble is: is there any need for this sort of restaurant any longer? A time capsule it certainly is. But what, really, does it offer to the food landscape?

There are several good pies that they still serve up, true. And it is a cheap enough place to get a decent enough sandwich of one sort or another, including the diner-esque “hot hamburger sandwich” and the like. But you can get those at just about any roadhouse or chain joint–where they are just as good and sometimes better.

Club sandwich is decent enough, but isn't that the point about a Club? It's basic enough to be decent enough no matter where you get it.

The decor at the chains will undoubtedly be nicer. Pioneer is a mishmash of chairs–some upholstered in tapestry and others not–”historic” swag lights and wallpaper with borders, the dining area wants to say “cottage” (perhaps?) but comes out a muted “outmoded.” The food is a general run-down of basic diner fare too, whether or not you insist on calling it comfort food or home-style. There are sandwiches, a liver dish, a few salads, fish and chips, and of course the pulled BBQ versions of chicken, pork, and beef.

Rather flavourless spring rolls...except for the dipping sauce.

Yet it is all pretty average: so average, in fact, that you wonder why bother? Thai spring rolls as an app are virtually flavourless and the only thing that makes you aware you are eating is the dipping sauce. That’s just not right. The club sandwich is club-sandwich-standard with nice crisp bacon and lettuce (but with dry poultry), and the fries are also roadhouse quality and hot and fresh. But big deal. What was supposed to be a creamy coleslaw side was a bowl of dry. A honking big slice of lovely looking lemon meringue pie looked promising enough but just missed the mark: the crust was crisp but the filling had a place or two which was not mixed properly and some what thick and gelatinous. Too bad because otherwise the flavour was quite good.

The item you come for–the BBQ–is disappointing. Both the pulled beef and the pulled pork are dry and under-seasoned and lacking in life and BBQ vitality. You’d need to slather BBQ sauce on them to give them the needed flavour: isn’t the point of BBQ to get a good slathering of sauce and juice running down your chin–and arm? Many, many roadhouses serve better BBQ nowadays. And that is my point: this Pioneer may once have been a trailblazer in the BBQ realm, but its time has passed.

Pulled pork (and beef) sandwiches need way more vim and vigour...and vinegar.

Good service is key, and this service, I will add, was absolutely exemplary and was the visit’s saving grace. Professional, quick, very friendly and diligent, our waitress was a true delight.

So, overhaul the entire place in terms of decor, prepare some tasty and energized food, and give the wait-staff something more to work with. It’s too bad for an old Empress in the Region, but with so many other choices within just a few kilometres that are serving real food, family-style or not, I just can’t imagine going back for another visit. But maybe that’s just me. Pioneer has stood the test of time since before the Great Depression. Perhaps it will stand another several decades.

 *     *     *     *     *

Assessing food, atmosphere and service, restaurant reviews at Waterloo Region Eats are based on anonymous and unannounced visits to the establishments. Restaurants do not pay for any portion of the reviewer’s meal. Andrew Coppolino can be reached at andrew@waterlooregioneats.com.