Who doesn’t love sinking their teeth into smoky, tender barbecue? Unfortunately, not all barbecue joints deliver that finger-licking experience we crave.
Many nationwide chains promise authentic flavors but serve up mediocre meals that leave our taste buds totally bummed out.
Let’s dive into the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of barbecue chains across America.
1. Famous Dave’s: Coasting On Reputation
Remember when Famous Dave’s actually lived up to its name? Those days are long gone, folks! Their ribs, once fall-off-the-bone tender, now require Olympic-level jaw strength to chew through.
What’s worse than their tough meat? The sickeningly sweet sauce that drowns everything on your plate. Save your money and dignity – your backyard grill likely produces better results.
2. Dickey’s Barbecue Pit: The Fast Food Of BBQ
How can a place with ‘pit’ in its name get barbecue so wrong? Dickey’s rapid expansion has turned quality control into a distant memory. Their brisket often resembles leather more than meat.
Though they boast about Texas-style barbecue, actual Texans would likely revolt at the comparison! Bland sides and meat that tastes mass-produced make this chain the McDonald’s of barbecue – convenient but completely forgettable.
3. Smokey Bones: All Smoke, No Substance
If only Smokey Bones put as much effort into their food as they do their sports bar atmosphere! Their pulled pork consistently arrives lukewarm and swimming in a pool of watery sauce that lacks any depth of flavor.
Ever paid premium prices for microwave-quality meat? That’s the Smokey Bones experience in a nutshell. The smokiness in their name must refer to the mirrors they’re using to disguise mediocre barbecue as something worth your hard-earned cash.
4. Shane’s Rib Shack: Highway Robbery
Shane should be ashamed! This chain’s name suggests rib expertise, yet delivers some of the most disappointing bones in the business. The meat clings desperately to the bone like it’s afraid of your fork.
Meanwhile, their sauce tastes suspiciously like it came from the grocery store clearance aisle. Want to waste $20 on a meal that’ll leave you reaching for a snack an hour later? Shane’s has got you covered! #RibFail
5. Jim ‘N Nick’s: Nostalgia Can’t Save These Flavors
Jim ‘N Nick’s cheese biscuits might be legendary, but they’re serving them as distraction tactics! Behind those heavenly puffs lurks barbecue that’s increasingly corner-cutting and corporate-tasting.
What happened to their once-glorious pulled pork? Nowadays it’s often dry, stringy, and desperately needs sauce resuscitation. Those complimentary biscuits aren’t free – they’re compensation for the disappointment that follows! Share your Jim ‘N Nick’s horror stories in the comments below.
6. Sonny’s BBQ: Stuck In The Past
Grandpa might still love Sonny’s, but modern barbecue fans deserve better! This dated chain seems frozen in the 1980s, serving uninspired meat that lacks the smoke ring real barbecue enthusiasts crave.
Their pulled chicken often resembles something you’d find in a hospital cafeteria – bland, stringy, and suspiciously uniform. Though their portions are generous, quantity can’t compensate for quality. Sonny’s needs a serious wake-up call or retirement papers, whichever comes first!
7. Bandana’s Bar-B-Q: Midwest Mishap
Whoever told Bandana’s their sauce-drowning technique was acceptable needs a serious talking-to! Their meat arrives swimming in sticky-sweet sauce that could double as dessert topping.
Beneath that sauce tsunami? Often overcooked, dry meat desperately trying to hide its flaws. If you enjoy meat with actual texture and flavor complexity, steer clear! Bandana’s seems to believe that if you can’t taste the meat under the sauce, you can’t complain about it. Clever strategy, but we’re onto them!
8. Moe’s Original BBQ: Identity Crisis
Is it Alabama-style? Is it trying to be Texas? Nobody knows, including Moe’s! This confused chain serves barbecue with an identity crisis, attempting regional styles without mastering any of them.
Their sides outshine their meats – a telltale sign of barbecue failure. When banana pudding becomes the highlight of your meal at a supposed meat joint, something’s seriously wrong! Would someone please send Moe a map and a barbecue textbook? This chain needs direction!
9. Sticky Fingers: Leaves A Bad Taste
Sticky Fingers? More like a sticky situation for your wallet! This chain’s Memphis-style ribs frequently arrive either tough as jerky or falling apart in a mushy mess – there’s no happy medium.
Their signature sauces come in fancy bottles but taste suspiciously like they’re hiding subpar smoking techniques. Want to experience the true meaning of buyer’s remorse? Order their sampler platter and watch your barbecue dreams turn to ash, much like their overcooked ends!
10. Dreamland BBQ: A Waking Nightmare
What happens when a once-legendary Alabama institution expands too quickly? Dreamland BBQ happens! Their ribs, once the stuff of Southern legend, now arrive inconsistently cooked and lacking that deep smoke penetration true barbecue demands.
Perhaps most offensive is their sauce – once complex and balanced, now tastes mass-produced and flat. Dreamland’s expansion has turned this former champion into just another corporate chain churning out mediocre meat. Wake up, Dreamland, you’re living in a barbecue nightmare!
11. Corky’s BBQ: Memphis Deserves Better
Memphis is a barbecue mecca, which makes Corky’s mediocrity all the more tragic! Their dry rub ribs – supposedly their specialty – often arrive with a powdery coating that never quite penetrates the meat.
Bafflingly, they’ve somehow managed to make pulled pork boring – a crime in barbecue circles! Memphis locals know to steer tourists elsewhere. Has anyone actually seen smoke coming from their kitchen recently? The mystery continues, but your taste buds deserve authentic Memphis ‘cue, not this tourist trap.
12. Bill Miller Bar-B-Q: Fast Food Masquerading As Barbecue
Texans, cover your eyes! Bill Miller’s assembly-line approach to barbecue is enough to make pitmasters weep. Their brisket often has the texture of pot roast rather than properly smoked meat.
How do they manage to remove all traces of smoke flavor? It’s almost impressive in its consistency! Their sweet tea might be legendary, but that’s because you need something to wash down the disappointment. When your drink outshines your barbecue, it’s time to reconsider your life choices.
13. Red Hot & Blue: Lukewarm At Best
Red Hot & Blue claims Memphis-style mastery while delivering suburban shopping mall mediocrity! Their dry ribs often arrive with a strange, almost powdery coating that bears little resemblance to authentic Memphis dry rub.
Meanwhile, their wet ribs swim in sauce that tastes suspiciously like it came from a bottle with a grocery store label. The blues music playing overhead might be authentic, but it’s also the perfect soundtrack for mourning the death of good barbecue. Someone please call the Memphis authorities!
14. Montgomery Inn: The Barbecue Identity Crisis
Is Montgomery Inn even barbecue? That’s the existential question facing diners at this Cincinnati-based chain! Their famous ribs are boiled then baked – a technique that would get you banned from any respectable barbecue competition.
Their sauce, while famous, is basically glorified ketchup with a hint of spice. Ohioans might defend this place to the death, but real barbecue fans know better. Montgomery Inn isn’t bad food – it’s just not barbecue! Someone alert the barbecue police immediately.
15. Woody’s Bar-B-Q: A Forgettable Experience
Have you ever eaten somewhere so mediocre you forgot about it before leaving the parking lot? Welcome to Woody’s! This chain somehow manages to make barbecue – one of humanity’s most flavorful creations – completely and utterly forgettable.
Their pulled pork has all the personality of wet cardboard, while their ribs could double as strength-training equipment. Even their sauce selection fails to excite, ranging from “kinda sweet” to “kinda tangy.” Life’s too short for barbecue this boring!
16. Rib City: Small Town Disappointment Goes National
Rib City proves that not all small-town success stories deserve national expansion! Their baby back ribs – supposedly their specialty – often arrive either falling-apart mushy or tougher than a leather boot.
Where’s the smoke ring? Where’s the bark? Questions that remain unanswered at Rib City locations nationwide. Their sweet sauce might please the kindergarten palate, but anyone with developed taste buds will find themselves reaching for the salt shaker in a desperate attempt to find flavor.
17. Lucille’s Smokehouse: Corporate Barbecue At Its Worst
Lucille should be embarrassed to have her name on this establishment! This chain delivers theme-park versions of Southern barbecue – all style, zero substance, and astronomical prices.
Their brisket? Often sliced so thin it’s translucent, presumably to hide its lack of proper smoking. The pulled pork arrives suspiciously uniform in texture and drowning in sauce. Want authentic Southern barbecue? Keep driving! Lucille’s is what happens when focus groups, not pitmasters, design a restaurant.
18. Bubba’s Q: Celebrity Name, Amateur Results
Al “Bubba” Baker’s NFL fame doesn’t translate to barbecue excellence! His chain’s claim to fame – boneless ribs – might sound convenient but sacrifice everything that makes ribs wonderful in the first place.
The meat often arrives with a strange, processed texture that makes you question its journey to your plate. Sauce options range from cloyingly sweet to puzzlingly bland. Celebrity endorsements and Shark Tank fame can’t hide the fact that these ribs are a scientific experiment gone wrong!
19. Tony Roma’s: The Chain That Time Forgot
Was Tony Roma’s ever good, or is that just collective nostalgia? This dinosaur of the chain restaurant world serves ribs that taste like they were cooked yesterday and reheated in a microwave.
Their signature “World Famous” sauce tastes suspiciously like something you’d find in the grocery store for $2.99. The only thing “famous” about this place should be its ability to consistently disappoint across multiple decades and continents! How have they survived this long? It’s one of barbecue’s greatest unsolved mysteries.
20. Texas Roadhouse: Identity Theft Of Real Barbecue
Texas Roadhouse isn’t even a barbecue restaurant – yet somehow manages to disappoint barbecue lovers anyway! Their “fall-off-the-bone” ribs are clearly boiled or baked, not smoked, resulting in meat with the texture of wet tissue paper.
The sauce tastes like it was formulated in a lab to appeal to the widest possible audience, offending no one but impressing no one either. Those rolls are delicious though – probably because they’re trying to distract you from the barbecue crimes happening in the kitchen!