The Spare Rib - It ‘Ain’t Just Ribs’

Three generations of Iacono members have served three generations of Commack residents at The Spare Rib, and continue to offer the same portions, service and budget-friendly pricing as they did when they first opened their doors in 1979.

Prices have changed over the years, but the daily events at The Spare Rib haven't. Everything – from the sauces to the salad dressings to the meals – is prepared daily, on site at patrons' requests. The BBQ sauce is so popular, said manager Freddy Blanco, it's available for purchase separately.

The dinner menu features baby back ribs, with lean, mouth-watering pork ribs slow roasted and cooked on the grill with homemade BBQ sauce: full rack ($19.99); half rack ($13.99). "The spare rib" ribs ($17.99), are a full rack of juicy St. Louis cut ribs.

Although the ribs are certainly a favorite at The Spare Rib, as their slogan says, 'We Ain't Just Ribs', and the menu is full of choices.

Among the steak entrees are New York shell steaks in 12 oz. ($15.99) and 16 oz. ($18.99) sizes, a 16 oz. rib steak ($19.99) and boneless prime ribs in 12 oz. ($15.99) and 16 oz. ($18.99) serving sizes.

The sampler platter ($11.99) consists of an ample amount of onion rings (fresh sweet onions dipped in a golden brown batter) and tender BBQ rib tips piled high on a sizable serving dish along with fried mozzarella Sticks. The house BBQ and horseradish sauce mix complement the flavor of the onion rings.

Server Mary Anne brought samples of the crispy house BBQ potato wedges along with The Spare Rib's signature BBQ sauce and salad dressings (including garlic, honey mustard and bleu cheese).

Among the entrée salads is the raspberry chicken salad ($11.99) with grilled chicken, field greens, mandarin oranges, walnuts, cranberries and goat cheese topped with crispy fried onion strings and cranberry dressing on the side.

On the steak salad ($11.99) tender sliced steak is layered over a bed of romaine lettuce, corn, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions and shredded mozzarella with Horseradish Dijon dressing. Other salad choices include the crispy calamari salad ($11.99) and chicken caesar, buffalo chicken and chopped Salads ($10.99/each).

Among the colossal-sized steak burgers (all priced at $10.99) are the marinated burger with house marinade and melted cheddar; the buffalo bleu burger, topped with crumbled bleu cheese, hot sauce and crispy bacon; and the quesadilla burger, topped with a blend of cheeses, salsa and avocado between grilled tortillas. All burgers are ½ lb. choice ground beef and come with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, a house salad and 2 sides.

The varied dessert menu offers everything from a brownie mud pie ($4.99) with homemade brownie fudge and peanut butter with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream; to a funnel cake ($4.99) of fried sweet dough topped with powdered sugar, vanilla ice cream, raspberry sauce and whipped cream. For the house specialty "Jamaican me bananas" ($4.99), plantains are dipped in a sweet crust, fried and covered with caramel, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and toasted coconut.

The lunch menu includes all of the steak burgers ($9.99) and salads ($8.99-$10.99) shown above, and a full array of chicken, ribs and seafood dishes (priced from $7.99 -$11.99). Among the sandwich choices are a french dip, Tuscan chicken on ciabatta bread and a buffalo chicken wrap ($8.99 each)

Kids meals, for children under 10 only, include a free ice cream sundae dessert. ($4.99 on Fridays/Saturdays). Kids eat free all year round Sunday - Thursday, and a current special offer extends the offer to 7 days/week, including lunch.

The Spare Rib is open for lunch 6 days/week (except Sunday) and dinner 7 days/week. Dinner hours on Sunday are 1:00pm to 9:00pm.