Dining out: Rib City Grill

Rib City Grill is named right.

The Sandy franchise, which incidentally is co-owned by "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" star Vincent D'Onofrio, has some of the best ribs I've tasted, and that's coming from someone who doesn't normally care much for ribs. But the ultrasmoky, chewy, surprisingly lean and meaty baby back ribs turned out at Rib City would convert almost anyone.

Nothing else we had at Rib City quite met the quality of the ribs, but we were mostly OK with that. Some things were good, a few were very good, and the whole experience was enhanced by painstaking, friendly service with a casual vibe.

Rib City Grill occupies a smallish dining room in a strip mall between a Shopko and a Smith's. Its decor is of the hokey kitsch variety — our kids had a good time reading signs with pithy sayings and spotting the pigs decorating the walls and tables — with some nice country touches.

We started with the three-cheese fries, waffle-cut potatoes topped with shredded Monterey Jack, Cheddar and Pepper Jack cheese that wasn't quite melty enough, as well as a generous sprinkling of chopped bacon and spicy ranch sauce on the side. My favorite starter, however, was the onion rings, thick and tender onion slices breaded up nice and crunchy.

Two of our daughters had fried favorites — jumbo shrimp and "corn doggies" — with pots of applesauce and crisp French fries. On the advice of our server, our oldest daughter shared with my husband and me the enormous Feast for Two, which arrives on a round tray that looks like it should be holding a jumbo pizza.

Instead, the tray was crammed with a pile of sliced smoked pork, another of beef, half a chicken, a full rack of baby back ribs, two baked potatoes with butter and sour cream, two bowls of baked beans and garlic toast. Cole slaw is listed on the menu as part of the meal, but we didn't get any, and frankly, I forgot about it until after we'd finished eating. I like a good cole slaw, and normally I think I'd have noticed, but I was too busy trying to make a dent in what was in front of me to think about what wasn't.

I like good barbecued chicken, and this was a superior example, with tender, juicy flesh covered with darkly seared skin. The beef and pork were nice and smoky, though the pork was fattier than I'd have liked, and both were barely warm. I understand that cooking in a smoker doesn't always get things piping hot, but these meats were lukewarm at best.