Ozona is right down the street from my apartment, which makes it perfect for an easy low-key dinner. I've been there many times during law school, but this was my wife's first time.
The interior dining area is about average, but one of the best things about Ozona is their massive outdoor patio. There are multiple sections and big picnic tables that are great for large groups. As you can imagine, Ozona is very popular with the nearby SMU crowd, particularly on weekend nights.
Ozona isn't really a barbecue restaurant, but they do have baby back ribs on the menu, so I thought it was worth a review. I got a full rack (you don't have the option for a half) of baby back ribs. The menu offers the ribs with either a bourbon barbecue sauce or a Dr. Pepper barbecue sauce. I find that the soda-based sauces rarely taste like their namesakes, so I opted for the bourbon sauce. I picked their homemade fries as my side dish. For some reason, my ribs also came with a side salad, but I passed it off to my wife.
The fries definitely tasted homemade, but they were extremely flaccid and limp. There was a good seasoning though, and I appreciated the natural flavors too. If they used a deep fryer rather than an oven, they'd be spectacular.
When my order came out, I was a little confused by the sliced onions and jalapenos scattered on top of the ribs. It just didn't make sense, so I scraped them all off. I did notice a nice lingering spiciness from the jalapenos, but the onions were just useless and odd. There was no discernible bourbon flavor on my ribs. It made me wonder if they had used the wrong sauce, although it didn't taste like Dr. Pepper either, so who knows. The flavor was ok, I'm just not sure what it was supposed to be.
There was no noticeable smoke to these ribs, which means they were probably baked in the oven and finished on the grill. I used my knife on the first rib or two until I realized that my fork was enough. Actually, a dull spoon would have been enough to cut apart the completely overcooked rib meat. The interior meat was decently tender, but the crust (if you can call it that) was pretty dried out. They weren't the worst ribs I've ever had, although I certainly wouldn't call them good either.
My wife said her chicken quesadillas were really good. I'll probably go back to try some quesadillas or maybe a burger, but I won't be ordering their ribs again.
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Ozona Grill & Bar
4615 Greenville Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 265-9105
http://www.ozonagrill.com/
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