I grew up less than 10 miles from the Cave Man restaurant, and somehow never ate there. I had passed it many, many times and knew exactly where it was. When I was a kid, my dad would take the salmon that he had caught down there to get it smoked.
Anyway, on this trip to the Seattle area we passed it, and I told my wife that I want to eat there. A few times throughout our trip we intended to eat there, but other things came up, and we managed not to eat there. But today we finally managed to get there for lunch. And we almost missed it again. My sister in law had suggested a place named Rooter’s Barbeque & Catering in Black Diamond, and we probably would have eaten there, but we did have the address, and didn’t see it while driving through town. So we ate at the Caveman.
The parking area was pretty full. It is not a tourist place at all. A few police officers were in line right in front of us. They smoke their own meats right there, and they have various choices of things including chicken, beef, pork and salmon. We ordered two large sandwiches, one beef and one chicken. They were each sliced in half, and we split them between us. We also got some potato salad.
I first ate half the BBQ chicken sandwich, and it was very good. Then I ate half the BBQ beef sandwich. It was good, but I liked the chicken sandwich better. The potato salad was okay, but I have had much better. I wich we had gotten the BBQ pork sandwich instead of the BBQ beef. I am thinking it might have been very good. I will pobably come back next time I am in town.
The Cave Man is located at 807 West Valley Highway, Kent, WA 98032. Phone:(253)854-1210.
I had the bbq beef and it was not very good. It had a pizza sauce paste instead of bbq sauce. My rank from 1-10 is 0. I will never go back.
Dennis
Comment by Dennis Harvey — July 30, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
Well I can agree to what Dennis said but it wasn’t all that bad for me I give them a 2 just because I was served with that friendly attitude.
http://bbq-ideas.blogspot.com
Comment by Sef — November 3, 2007 @ 9:17 am
What planet did you come from? Listen up uranus beings Cave Man is “Fantastic”and a ledgendary institution to the valley of smoke. If you don’t like cave man maybe a grilled cheese is for your skinny torso from Buckley??CAVE MAN FOREVER!!
Comment by Dave Jaenicke — March 31, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
No offense Dave, I enjoyed it. Overall it was good, but not great. I have eaten at much better BBQ places. Dreamland BBQ in Tuscaloosa, AL is at the top of my list. Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester, NY is pretty good too.
Comment by RJ — April 2, 2008 @ 9:28 am
Just got back from go-kart racing and remembered that caveman bbq was just down the street. Ordered the sliced beef sandwich with hot bbq sauce. What was delivered can not be considered a bbq sandwich. Both me and the Mrs. felt it was essentially a ketchup sandwich. No hotness, no smokyness, just all out awful. I use to frequent the place 10+ years ago and thought it was decent. After this visit, I will not be going back. Also had the cole slaw…too much mayonnaise.
Comment by Brent — April 11, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
Gosh, we ate at the Caveman, 25 years ago, and it was incredible!! What has happened??? We plan on visiting Seattle this summer and our plan was some Caveman BBQ. I know the original owner died quite some time ago, so were some changes made. We loved the bread pudding, and the cooked vegies. Please don’t tell me it’s no good any more!!!
Comment by Peggy Orr — May 27, 2009 @ 7:58 pm
I used to go to the Caveman years ago. I met the original owner, the late Dick Donley many times. He served up some fantastic pork ribs. Things have changed for the worse. Today I went to the Caveman and bought a pound of ribs and they were nearly inedible. Something has been lost over the years since Dick passed away. The ribs they make now are the toughest I have ever had.
I truly mean it when I say that my dog would have a hard time chewing these ribs. I couldn’t finish them. Very, very, VERY tough. Fool me once…shame on you. I will never go back again. Too bad. This place used to be great but no more. Sorry Dick. I loved your ribs.
Comment by Sam — June 14, 2009 @ 9:58 pm
OMG – is this the same Cave Man that serves the hot polish sausage sandwiches? Because if it is, you need to try one of those – they are the absolute best -
Comment by Sherry Jones — July 3, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
Cave Man – Kent —– we USED to love going there. They had really good Salmon Sandwiches – not BBQ mind you – just Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese on the bread – VERY GOOD – But – 8 out of 10 times (yes we ate them A LOT) “we are out of salmon” would be the answer….now come to find out (someone FINALLY told me the truth) the vendor they used has gone out of business so they won’t be getting any more salmon—-looking for a new vendor!!! Nothing else there is good enough for me to go there THAT much —-oh well – that lasted a while….off to find somewhere else……
Comment by Lisa — July 5, 2009 @ 6:13 pm
what a bunch of morons…. caveman kitchens is a SMOKEHOUSE, not a barbeque joint……..
if you go there expecting texas-style barbeque, you will be dissapointed.
that said, their food is fantastic and wonderful
Comment by alex martin — October 24, 2009 @ 5:33 am
I have been going to the Caveman Kitchens since 1975.
Best HPS (Hot Polish Sandwich) on the planet. Pork Cube Dinner is great. I suspect a lot of the comments on this board are from competition. (eat your hearts out @ the Cave Man)
Comment by Al — February 17, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
Shortly after opening in 1972, the Caveman Smokehouse brought a free lunch made up of several smoked turkeys for the staff at the Kent Post Office. At the time, the Post Office was downtown and I also lived downtown, both of which made me a steady customer. After moving away from Kent in 1974, I did not return to the Caveman until about 2000, and was very disappointed with the crappy BBQ that the Caveman had become. All things change, sometimes for the worse.
Comment by Gordy — February 21, 2010 @ 9:59 pm
Wow, I haven’t noticed a down turn. For the last amost 40 years the Hot Polish Sausage Sandwich has been a thing of my dreams. I hope the family has been able to keep things up to snuff since the deaths of Dick and Richard. I can’t imagine Kent with out the Cave Man.
lr
Comment by lrmb — June 1, 2010 @ 9:40 pm
Been a customer since day one! Haveing grown up with the family I seen many changes and life alterying times! Dick was a close friend of mine! I was his garbageman in the early 70′s never paid for lunch once! Always let me know how much he appreciated what I did! Oh the stories could take years to tell! out in the wood stack was ajoy to spend time with the OLD MAN. Richard was my best friend!!!!! After dad passed away he jumped in and kept things goin! More stories! His main concern was the restraunt! sometimes its very hard to control quality and service when employees come and go! But Damn! They got some good food there. If your not happy? Let them know. They’ll make it right!
Comment by ssdude — July 8, 2010 @ 2:03 am
So sad, but a family restaraunt has to be run by the family. Employees don’t really care, they can get a job anywhere. I will miss the Cave Man as will all the other old time Kent folks.
Comment by leerae — June 9, 2011 @ 11:48 pm
Caveman back on board!!!! Smokn again!!!
Comment by ss dude — July 11, 2011 @ 5:02 am