Chain Bbq restaurants.

[desertsubi]

No real chains down by me, got a place that has 2-3 places all together if you wanna call it a chain. Called Exit 87 in Jackson, Tn. they do pretty good sausage breakfast sandwiches (real thick) and PP sandwiches. Started as a small trailer on the side of the road that mainly fed truckers. Now they have multiple places.

most are 1 off's that are Good, where they have been around for years just serving their towns.

 

[TNJAKE]

No real chains down by me, got a place that has 2-3 places all together if you wanna call it a chain. Called Exit 87 in Jackson, Tn. they do pretty good sausage breakfast sandwiches (real thick) and PP sandwiches. Started as a small trailer on the side of the road that mainly fed truckers. Now they have multiple places.

most are 1 off's that are Good, where they have been around for years just serving their towns.

I've been to the one off exit 87. Locals seemed to love it. I had pulled pork. Wasn't bad. They did have good banana pudding lol

 

[desertsubi]

I've been to the one off exit 87. Locals seemed to love it. I had pulled pork. Wasn't bad. They did have good banana pudding lol

yea I worked around the corner, the breakfast from them is where its at, sausage patties the size of a baseball. the sandwiches are ok. they dont use anything special for sauce its just sweet baby rays

 

[Karribaldi]

I remember eating a burger at a questionable diner in Jackson, and my stomach hurt so badly afterwards that I wanted to go back to that diner and feed a couple of them to the chef who makes them. I very rarely eat burgers and sandwiches, which is probably why my stomach couldn't handle it. I travel a lot and visit hundreds of restaurants and cafes a year, but I always try to choose healthy food. My wife wants us to visit this popular Kava Bar. You've probably heard of them: bestkavabar.com . I hope my stomach can handle Kava, because otherwise we have to stop our trip and go home.

 

[1MoreFord]

We have some Dickie's BBQ's in Arkansas, a coupe of Corky's BBQ's, Sim's BBQ(local) with 2-3 locations, plus The Whole Hog Cafe. There may be more joints with multiple locations that I'm not aware of.
Having read a lot warnings I've not eaten at Dickies. I have eaten at Corky's which is OK but not great. I've also eaten at Sim's. Many Arkie's love Sim's which surprisingly, for Arkansas, uses a SC style mustard sauce. I find it so-so since they omit the bark on all their chopped pork.
Whole Hog is a small chain of local origin. It has the original location on Cantrell Rd in Little Rock plus 6 more locations in Arkansas and more in 4 other states. AFAIK most are franchises. Mike "Sarge" Davis and his partners are ole comp cooks who won Whole Hog along with a couple of seconds in Ribs at MIM some years ago plus many other awards. Mike Mills featured them in Peace, Love, & BBQ.
I eat at Whole Hog when I'm too lazy to cook which has been happening too much recently. By far the best of the joints I've mentioned.

 

[netspyder]

i gave up on "bbq" joints quite a while ago -- most around here are pulled [insert meat here] and call it bbq. that being said, i stopped by a bbq place in waterloo IL while working at the PD, and that place - i don't remember the name of it, sadly - had brisket that rivaled my own. made me happy to spend 10-15 bucks on lunch.

there's a place i've been wanting to try here locally that has a 500 gallon pit running outside all the time that i've been thinking about trying but i've been afraid of being disappointed.

 

[Hijack73]

Sonny's is decent. My kid loves their ribs so we hit them up maybe once every 6 or 8 months. It's overpriced but not as bad as the next place I'll mention.

If you like SBR's regular sauce you will like the Sonny's sweet sauce. Cost is about 6 bucks a quart at Sam's. I used to get it there for 5ish bucks a little jar and was happy to pay it (20 years ago SBR's wasn't available here).

Jim and Nick's is a regional chain - I've had it twice on business lunches and wouldn't go there if I was paying because the prices were stupid but it wasn't terrible food either. I think a brisket plate 3 years ago was around 25$. On the company dime is one thing but 'Madone - if I'm spending that kind of bread there better be enough left over for me to make at least a sandwich outta the leftovers.

 

[Fueling Around]

Common failure appears to be ... "Chain".
Had Dickies in both Texas and 2 locations in North Dakota. Both ND sites gone as bad food is just not tolerated.
Speaking of "chains". Have you visited any of the "rib fests" featured in your area? Many of them are chain events offered by the same production company that hires the same whoop-de-do bbq comp teams.
The worst (best?) example was Lakeland (FL) Pigfest last year. Wife and I sampled many places and her best comment was "you make better". The best pulled pork was from Publix (a regional grocer).

 

[MiamiSmoker305]

I have to agree with TNJAKE about whitts. We have been to Mission BBQ a few times and the ribs have been good. We mostly go to Smokey Bones in Bowling Green KY.

I catered a "guys night out to see hockey in South Florida" lunch/dinner with Mission BBQ. Not bad for a high-volume chain. The catering menu and setup was perfect, we had everything we needed (plates, knives, napkins) and plenty of food. The price was not bad either $20/person out the door.

 

[MiamiSmoker305]

Forgot about Famous Dave's. Had them a few times and when they first opened they were good here, then went downhill. Strange thing is though their place here closed the main restaurant but we can still get some of their food out of the Johnny Carino's restaurant not too far away. Weird.

I'm not a fan of Famous Daves. I agree it was okay when they first opened and went downhill fast. Nothing special. Everything is dry. Prices are high.

 

[Apparition]

There's a Dickies near my office. I've determined that I don't mind their baked potato. Then I get a drink and have some ice cream. Not a fan of their meats.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

I live in an area of the south that's saturated with great BBQ just about everywhere. We have a Tennessee started chain called whitts. They suck big-time. The only other chain is mission bbq and they are all over the country. It's veteran ran and they support a great cause and have decent BBQ. Lots of local joints beat them hands down though

I have to agree with TNJAKE about whitts. We have been to Mission BBQ a few times and the ribs have been good. We mostly go to Smokey Bones in Bowling Green KY.

Not a fan of Whitts either. They do have a drive-thru, so I have been known to blow through there if it's been a long day. There used to be a Corky's here in town, and it was awful which was strange because the one in Memphis was pretty good. Mission is pretty good. There used to be guy around where I worked with a pull behind smoker that made some serious BBQ, but I think the food police ran him off. My all time favorite is the Rendezvous in downtown Memphis. Go there and belly up, and then walk to the Peabody to watch the ducks march to the fountain. Great fun.

 

[fxsales1959]

How many of these are in your area of the country? Are they good/bad/ugly?
I will go first
City BBQ, not too bad, they have Brisket, Sausage, 1/4 chickens, St. louis ribs and turkey breast plus other bbq inspired sandwiches and meats that range from really good to decent. The only thing ive gotten and been truly underwhelemed with is the pulled pork, no smoke flavor or bark. the place is clean and the staff are really nice. Pricing is good.
i give it a 7.5 out of 10.

South Florida sucks for BBQ. tht's why I learned. We have Sonny's (nuf said) there are a fgew pop ups with big smokers. usually way overpriced nd eratic There are a few Missions. Was taken to one by a client. it was fair, but much like getting a cheese steak at At Pat's. I appreciate their support for military.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

I'm not a fan of Famous Daves. I agree it was okay when they first opened and went downhill fast. Nothing special. Everything is dry. Prices are high.

The only time I went to Famous Dave's was when if your name was Dave/David, you got a free meal on your B'day. I'm not sure they still do that. Never tried their BBQ, but they had pretty good catfish with a sauce that was really good.

 

[Inscrutable]

Not a fan of Whitts either. They do have a drive-thru, so I have been known to blow through there if it's been a long day. There used to be a Corky's here in town, and it was awful which was strange because the one in Memphis was pretty good. Mission is pretty good. There used to be guy around where I worked with a pull behind smoker that made some serious BBQ, but I think the food police ran him off. My all time favorite is the Rendezvous in downtown Memphis. Go there and belly up, and then walk to the Peabody to watch the ducks march to the fountain. Great fun.

On our only visit to Memphis, our we didn’t plan our schedule right to allow us to go to Rendezvous (closed the day we wanted), but we did eat twice at the Central, and that was really good.
Memphis definitely a repeat … I’ve thought about Memphis In May, but without the crowds I could still do several museums again, made it to Sun but not Stax, not to mention all the music venues and restaurants.

 

[fxsales1959]

Sonny's is decent. My kid loves their ribs so we hit them up maybe once every 6 or 8 months. It's overpriced but not as bad as the next place I'll mention.

If you like SBR's regular sauce you will like the Sonny's sweet sauce. Cost is about 6 bucks a quart at Sam's. I used to get it there for 5ish bucks a little jar and was happy to pay it (20 years ago SBR's wasn't available here).

Jim and Nick's is a regional chain - I've had it twice on business lunches and wouldn't go there if I was paying because the prices were stupid but it wasn't terrible food either. I think a brisket plate 3 years ago was around 25$. On the company dime is one thing but 'Madone - if I'm spending that kind of bread there better be enough left over for me to make at least a sandwich outta the leftovers.

ditto on jim an Nicks (Homewood/Birmingham). They sell their muffin mix down here in grocery store

 

[fxsales1959]

On our only visit to Memphis, our we didn’t plan our schedule right to allow us to go to Rendezvous (closed the day we wanted), but we did eat twice at the Central, and that was really good.
Memphis definitely a repeat … I’ve thought about Memphis In May, but without the crowds I could still do several museums again, made it to Sun but not Stax, not to mention all the music venues and restaurants.

My sales territory is the whole Southeast. I cherish my trips to Memphis. My first trip to central was at night, was a little concerned on the neighborhood but it was worth it.

 

[uncle eddie]

COMO Smoke & Fire is mostly awesome in Columbia, MO. Their burnt ends are so good I don't even try to make them anymore. Their sides are crazy good as well - which is very important.

As for a national chain, Dickies is not too bad. Regional chains - Bandanna's has some good qualities as does Rib Crib.

 

[Apparition]

The only time I went to Famous Dave's was when if your name was Dave/David, you got a free meal on your B'day. I'm not sure they still do that. Never tried their BBQ, but they had pretty good catfish with a sauce that was really good.

I'd be fine eating a plate of their cornbread muffins.

 

[Heart of Dixie]

Once upon a time in the Birmingham area there were a plethora of great, small, family owned BBQ joints. Over the last 40 years or so they have pretty much dried up and have been replaced with the new "trendy" places that just don't get it. Quantity for the masses has overtaken quality and the art of good BBQ. A big gas fired commercial smoker run by part time teenagers replaced the real pit masters. The few small independent joints around still put out a pretty good product. The original Dreamland in Tuscaloosa had a menu that said "Ribs & white bread, no sides, don't ask." Mr. Bishop was a rib artist.
I can't think of any big chains that have made it here for very long. I have tried a few of the trendy places but there is nothing to me that compares to the flavor that comes from tending an oak or hickory fire on an offset for hours while consuming adult beverages at home.
Sorry for the ramble.