Buster Rhino's
Categories: Restaurants Barbeque Restaurants Southern Barbeque, Southern [Edit]
2001 Thickson Road SWhitby, ON L1N 6J3
(905) 436-6986
- Hours:
Mon-Tue 10 am - 4 pm
Wed-Fri 10 am - 8 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
16 reviews for Buster Rhino's
Review Highlights
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"The ribs are great and the pulled pork is good too." In 8 reviews -
"The way God (Darryl, and Annie Lennox) truly intended them..." In 3 reviews -
"We moved on to Bacon Explosion." In 2 reviews
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16 reviews in English
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Review from Scuba B.
Whitby, ON
Updated - 4/7/2012 3 Check-ins Here
OHHH.... MYYYY .....GOD !!!!!
You have to try their new smoked fried chicken... This should be illegal!
Darryl, you are the devil..LOL... Another Home run for Buster Rhinos!Listed in: Five Fab Takeouts in Durham
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/20/2010
Save yourself a 1000 mile drive to the deep south as Buster Rhino's is REAL southern BBQ!
I have been… Read more »
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Review from Gord M.
East York, ON
4/24/2012
Arguably the best BBQ in the city.
Prior to the arrival of The Stockyards and Barque, the Toronto BBQ scene was a massive disaster and disappointment and the problem I think , was two-fold:
1) The restaurants have never actually eaten good BBQ or they gave up on putting the time in to making good BBQ.
2) Most people don't know what good BBQ actually is, so they tend to think that anything drowned in BBQ is good.
So wrong.
All the popular BBQ joints were terrible. Nothing was actually smoked. Meat was either dry or was steamed or boiled until it wasn't, but completely void of flavour and God forbid you serve meat with a rub and no sauce. Heresy!
Buster Rhinos was the first place that did southern-right. Killer dry rub ribs with lots of smoke and moist pulled pork that melted in your mouth. The brisket, admittedly on my visit, was mid-range. It was smoked and it was flavourful, but it was a little dry. And all the sammies are served on plain, white buns. JUST THE WAY THEY SHOULD BE!
The owner, Darryl, actually stopped by no to ask how everything was, but to find out how we heard about it, and what we know about BBQ. He actually really cares about his product, what his customers think and does it at an affordable price point. How he makes any money off three pieces of chicken, a side & a drink for $9.99 or the Friday $14.99 full rack special, I don't know!
And with the announcement that they'll be open on weekends, my return business is pretty-much secured. -
Review from Paul L.
Whitby, ON
I've been to Buster Rhino's many times and really enjoy their pulled pork, which is my favourite. Many places soak their pulled pork in some nondescript BBQ sauce and you can't even taste the smokiness in the pork. However, Buster Rhino's does is just perfect. I've also tried their ribs and really enjoy them as well!
Recently, I finally had the chance to try the new Fried Smoked Chicken, which is only available on Wednesdays for $9.99 (3 pieces of chicken, 1 side order and 1 drink). Since they fry it fresh, you'll have to wait at least 10 minutes for it. I was amazed that you could really taste the smoked flavour in the chicken, and the batter is very unique and tasty. That being said, it was quite rich and very greasy, so this isn't something that I'll have very often. I'll stick with the pulled pork. -
Review from Christian L.
Whitby, ON
Updated - 2/15/2012
I went back to Buster Rhino's today to try their newest creation, Smoked Fried Chicken. That's right, SMOKED Fried Chicken. It's only available on Wednesdays, & you get three pieces of chicken, a side & a drink for $9.99 + those damned taxes.
The chicken is quite different from any other type of chicken I've ever had, & it's absolutely delicious. The skin was nice & crispy, & the chicken was really tender & juicy, but the heady, smoky flavour is what really sets it apart from any other chicken. It's a unique combination that, for lack of a better description, rocks.
If you're in the mood to try something new on a Wednesday, this chicken should definitely be on your list!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/20/2011
I've been going to Buster Rhino's for a few years now, & the food is always good. Their ribs are… Read more »
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Review from Jonny B.
Toronto, ON
12/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
If you are within an hour of this place and craving BBQ... Get in the car and drive. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
I was pretty skeptical especially upon pulling up to this joint - located in a south Whitby industrial park. The inside actually had me laugh out loud when I walked through the door. There is a big counter and some patio furniture where you can "eat in". Just as I was about to do a 180 and head home, the smell hit... The rich smokey real BBQ smell. While my brain said "go" my taste buds said "stay".
We ordered ribs, pulled pork, beans, fries and coleslaw.
As a self professed "fat boy" I have eaten my share of ribs from Texas, Florida to many! many ribfests. These rank up there with the best, succulent, perfectly cooked and the spice is fantastic.
Pulled pork... Wow. Honestly the best I have ever eaten. Tangy, melt in your mouth goodness.
Beans were also great, and i swear they had pulled pork in them!
Everything went down a treat with our visiting expanded family...they all raved about he food. We'll definitely be back..
Also for Durham region yelpers they have some great weekday specials... Considering the food quality... They are total deals. Check out their website.
Mmmmmm good! -
Review from Sheila B.
Toronto, ON
9/1/2011
Why don't they busta'a' move and come to Toronto. There are many creepy empty store fronts on the Danforth just begging for someone to give them life and I bet the rent would be the same as this industrial strip court in Whitby.
The bbq was fantastic, reminded me of some that I have had in Florida. The pull pork sandwich has a subtle flavour of smoke with just a small portion of homemade Buster bbq sauce. It doesn't smother the thing. The full rack of ribs are melt in your mouth off the bone. They are not saucy. I bought a bottle of the hot sauce and used it for dipping them. The fries are homemade enough said they're good & coleslaw like you used to taste at family picnics years ago.
1 pulled pork sand
full rack of ribs w/fries&coleslaw
one bottle of homemade bbq sauce
2 waters
1 pop
$36....worth the drive to whitby. they also sell meat you take-out and bbq at home check website. -
Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
2/26/2011 9 photos
mmmmm...Pulled Pork Sandwich...mmmmm
Buster Rhino's Pulled Pork give me hope.. that I can enjoy tons of meat and enjoying it! Sorry Vegetarians!
Juicy, Smokey, Tender, Soft and TASTY!! The Spicy BBQ sauce AWESOMELY good... mmmmmm
Wish I were here on a Thursday or Friday to try out their BBQ ribs too! Now Buster Rhino's really worth a drive all the way to Whitby for the authentic Southern BBQ experience!!
BBQ Ribs! BBQ Ribs!! BBQ Ribs!Listed in: MEAT!! I want my Piece of…, A Day in Whitby!
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Review from Jason D.
Ottawa, ON
7/19/2011
I've been frequenting Buster Rhinos for the past few years, and also keep a stock of the vacuum sealed meats in my freezer. Can't say enough good things about this place, nor anything that hasn't already been said by anyone else. Ribs, pulled pork, brisket are all amazing, but I generally end up going for wings & hush puppies ... to DIE for. Oh, and Habanero vinegar on the fries ... 'nuff said!
Darryl himself is always willing to go above & beyond for his customers and his food, which itself says alot about this place. I would seriously go to the ends of the earth for this BBQ, and feel that I do having to come from Mississauga :) -
Review from Andre M.
Toronto, ON
10/14/2010 1 Check-in Here
I'm torn with this place. I arrived on a Thursday night -- hard as hell to find the entrance...its on the side street of the side street -- and there was no lineup. Other reviews will probably talk of its spartan interior. The staff were friendly and uber efficient. I had my rack of rib dinner with fries in a second. I think next time I will ask for wet ribs though. By the time I got them home, the ribs (dry ribs) were tough to chew and bone, bone dry. I know rib-ivores debate wet versus dry. I think I am leaning more to wet. I'll have to ask next time. I will go back again. The fries are perfect. The coleslaw a nice blend of tangy and sweet, but the ribs left me wanting.
I'm giving it three stars because the spartan appeal only goes so far, it is truly like entering a warehouse/kitchen. And, the ribs left me wanting. The staff, however are completely five star. Thanks. -
Review from Christine C.
Etobicoke, ON
2/28/2010 25 photos
Meat. Sleep. Pray. Then give thanks to the higher powers for a dude named Darryl Koster (pink hair and all) for his love of creating the perfect smoked meat. Life is just too damn short not to eat such good bbq. Or as one 'smokin dude I know and adore would say...."Put a little south in your mouth!".
Picture this. Out in the burbs. In a meat processing plant. Sitting in a room with 20 other strangers. You have one thing in common. You've come to eat smoked meat. Not just any smoked meat....Buster Rhino's smoked meat and more importantly hosted by the whacked up, jacked up, smoke head we know as Darryl Koster. Any guy who'd take a couple of pounds of Italian (pronounce that Eye-talian) ground sausage meat, wrap it in bacon and 'cue it is just one step over the smoked up line of sanity. If Darryl wasn't already married him I'd scoop him up in a second.
The girls who love to eat the meat met up (or in this case meat up) to indulge in one of Darryl's private tastings. For thirty bucks we not only go to gobble up meat but we got educated a ton about the difference of bbq. From the low and slow philosophy to the should I pull the membrane off those ribs to the difference between back ribs and side ribs....it was a moment.
So this was the menu....started with Pig Candy. Oh gawd. Take me now I'm in bacon heaven. Then it was Atomic Buffalo Turds. Yup, you read that right. Jalapeno peppers, halved, stuffed with cream cheese and then wrapped in bacon and bbq'd. Oh like that wasn't orgasmic enough. We moved on to Bacon Explosion. That would be ground sausage meat wrapped up in bacon and sliced like one of those jelly roll cakes. The sausage meat is well seasoned with fennel and marries well with the bacon.
Then comes the smoked brisket on a bun, sided with simply some of the 'effing best potato salad I've ever eaten in a commercial setting. It was chock full of sweet potatoes, green onions and hard boiled eggs.
Potatoes are perfectly cooked and the spud salad is perfectly dressed with mayonnaise & mustard....not gloopy or cloying. Darryl encourages us to try the meat before we decide to slather sauce on top. Taste the smoke, taste the true flavour of the meat in its pureness. After that if you want sauce he's ok with that.
Moving on comes the smoked pulled pork. Natch there is coleslaw slaw on the side. Darryl informs us the traditional way of eating PP is to slather the slaw on top of the pork. My husband Dennis is beginning to moan. I'm looking around the room wondering if they have one of those emergency CPR resuscitation machines. If not I'll just leave him on the floor until I'm finished my sandwich.
This just ain't human. Out comes the ribs and the hush puppies. No, these arent' those nerdy Hush Puppies that you put your feet. Hush puppies are corn bread dollops deep fried and served on the side of the smoked ribs. Now be forewarned. If saucy is your trip then these ribs ain't gonna work for you. This is about rub....and low and slow cooking. It is a snout-full of smoke. Dennis declares these are the best ribs he's ever tasted. I'm wounded....my ribs have always been the best he's ever tasted. I'm calling my lawyer first thing on Monday morning. I make a point of unplugging the charger on the plant defibrillator machine.
The swan song in this bbq extravaganza....smoked Mars bars. Yeah, you read that right. Darryl freezes them and them they put 'em on the cue. Check out the pics. You'll see the grill marks on the back of the bars.
Ok, so what did I learn? There is food life in the 'burbs....I mean we are talking serious smoking effing cue here people. My priceless moment.....getting to meet (meat) Shari M's mom. Meat rules.
Meat. Sleep. Pray....for a chance to get out to Buster Rhino's.Listed in: Where There's…
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Review from Greg B.
Whitby, ON
11/5/2010
Great take away!
Bbq to go!
Nothing else to cover that hasnt already been covered except that this location is way better than the North Oshawa location.
Its bbq at its best... too bad it hasn't got a licensed location where you can enjoy a beverage and some great bbq! -
Review from Shari M.
Toronto, ON
2/28/2010
Meat dreams are made of these.....I think this was Annie's original intent on these lyrics. I believe that the reason they were changed was some angry vegetarian stepped in with a broccoli wand and stopped the masterpiece. Who then would preach the truth, and tell us about the real vegetables in life - MEAT?! Oh, Darryl, that is who. And get back Christine C., you are already married. If he wasn't married, I would have married him right then and there. As you can tell from the look on my face in Christine's photos, I was in meat heaven. I have discovered heaven, and f**k me - it was right near me when I lived in the hell hole shwa, and I didn't even know it!
This place deserves my highest rating of SLAP MY ASS AND CALL ME SALLY. I was in such food nirvana that you could have slapped my ass and called me Sally, and I honestly wouldn't have noticed.
This place is actually set up as a meat processing plant in a strip mall. So austere and non descript, that you wouldn't even notice it. My favourite "bells and whistles" in the place are the 2 jiffy pops hanging over the doorway. When someone from our religious group (aka the meat samplers) asked Darryl why there was jiffy pop above the doorway, he said it is a redneck fire alarm. If it gets too hot in there, the popcorn she start a popping.
For $30, we feasted. There was so much meat, I couldn't eat it all. And, I was really glad I ate a salad before I went to meat heaven.
The bacon candy I think was one of my favs. Buster's makes their own bacon. Yes meat worshipers, you heard it right - their own bacon. The bacon candy is achieved by cooking the bacon with a rub and brown sugar mixture to create a bit of a sugary exterior. Simple and divine.
The Jalapeno pops were so good. The only bits of green in sight! Again, bacon was the the blanket of love around these puppies.
The bacon explosion was so over the top decadent that it was amazing. You will see from Christine's photos, that NONE of the items were greasy. And being served on paper plates, you would spot the grease from a mile away. The in house bacon and long and slow processes really aid in this pork defying amazement.
The brisket. Oh, sweet Jesus, it was so good. Thinly sliced and succulent. This is the stuff Annie Lennox was singing about. I tried it sans sauce, and it was excellent. I tried it with sauce, again, excellent. The meat God, Darryl, informed us that Canadians like our meat saucy, and that by default we put sauce on smoked meat. I tried each of the items with and without the sauce. The meat is so tender and has such a great smoky flavour that they really can go without.
The pulled pork, again, amazing. This one I did prefer with the sauce (and what a sauce Buster's makes!! Wow!!). The coleslaw really adds a nice crunchy texture to the meat. Again, great.
The ribs were so juicy and smokey. I preferred them with the sauce as well. But with the quality of meat, these bones stand on their own - no sauce required. The hush puppies that came with them were absolutely amazing. If you like corn bread, you will love these.
The zinger of the night was the smoked Mars bar. It reminded me of smores around the campfire at Brownie camp. Delish and smokey. The way God (Darryl, and Annie Lennox) truly intended them to be.
At our table of four [Christine, her husband Dennis, my mom (aka The Mulva) and myself], we all fell in love with Buster's and his fine selection of meat. I am so pleased to say that another location has opened up (this one in the shwa at Taunton and Simcoe) and it is opened on weekends, where this southern Whitby one is not.
I cannot say enough about the quality of the meats here (all local Ontario meats). Look at the pictures. Too bad we don't have scratch and sniff abilities on our monitors.....Listed in: The Burbs To The East
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Review from Chantal m.
Scarborough, ON
Updated - 6/11/2010
It's been 2 weeks since my first bbq experience and I had eating more on my mind. I was already in pickering so why not drive the little distance to whitby for some more. Still amazing I'm going to waste so much gas just for this meat!!
I got my brisket, I took one home for my boyfriend and the guy at the counter gave me the sealed bag the meat is stored in and buns and sauce so I could make it when I got home without it being dry.
I had already paid and apparently the cold one costs less so he refunded me almost 5 bucks. Such a nice guy!!!!
I'll be back!! You should go too :)1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/3/2010
This place is fucking AMAZZZZIINNNGGGGGGG. I would have never thought I would say this but I wish I… Read more »
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Review from Mike W.
Whitby, ON
8/31/2011
Without a doubt the best Southern BBQ I've tried north of the border. Had the ribs and bought some brisket to go. Loved both. The ribs are done right - dry smoked. In my opinion the only way to do 'em - and these guys nailed it. No easy feat considering that "cheaters' can only attain succulent ribs by mopping the hell out of them and drowning them in sauce. The only reason I didn't give them 5 stars is because when it comes to BBQ they're not quite on the level of places like Austin's Salt Lick or other legendary smoke houses in the South - but for a Canadian BBQ shack, they're pretty damn close. Well done guys. I'm definitely going back.
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Review from Mike B.
Toronto, ON
5/28/2010
On the rare occasions that i am in Whitby, I try to make it to Buster Rhinos. In fact I haven't eaten anywhere else in Whitby in the last two years. The ribs are great and the pulled pork is good too. I keep meaning to try the brisket, but I cannot get past those two. Maybe next time.
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Review from Christopher L.
Whitby, ON
2/26/2009 2 photos
If you're in the mood for excellent southern style BBQ at a reasonable price Buster Rhino's is your place. They've opened a lunch counter in the front of their production facility with limited hours (Mon - Tues 10AM - 3PM, Wed - Fri 10AM - 8PM, closed weekends). It's located in an industrial complex at the corner of Thickson Rd and Wentworth St in Whitby. You'd probably never drive past it unless you happened to be in the immediate area.
They serve awesome smoked brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken, and baby back ribs (which you can nab fresh from the smoker on Fridays as their special of the day).
Since they serve from the front of their production facility, they usually hold the meat portions individually shrink wrapped and held in a hot water bath. This ensures the meat retains its moisture and the product is very consistent. They also make excellent rubs and BBQ sauces.
