this is a decent place but needs to focus on their take out menu and customer service.
pros: the bbq ribs and burnt ends are reeeeeaaaaalllly good!
the sides are pretty good. some are better then others. they have good mac n cheese especially if you get a small side of pig tail mac n cheese and stir it in. amazingly good, smoky and cheesy.
they have delicious fried pickles and fried green tomatoes. i have had an amazing pimento grilled cheesesandwichon sour dough w/ avocado for the vegans out there. delicious. i have enjoyed the jalapeño corn bread muffins and the chive butter and tobasco jelly were perfectly matched. i even used the tobasco sauce to dip my burnt ends in because it's that good.
the cons: all the wonderful and delicious things i just mentioned are hit and miss!!!!'
this place suffers from inconsistent execution of food quality. i will give them one reprieve in this critique and say that the burnt ends have been exquisite every time. but you are rolling the dice on there sides, thesandwichand especially the corn muffins. i had to return the corn muffins twice in one take out order because they were coming out cold, hard and dry. i get take out a lot because i can't always come in to eat and i have had one manager explain how much better the food is if you just come in and sit down. i think that is a ridiculous response to an insatisfied customer when they even charge you .50 cents extra per item to get it to go.
not an ignaramous and yes food is usually presented better when dining in but did my fried pickles have to come in a rows paper bag where all the breading fell off and they balled up so the grease ran out the bottom and leaked through the main bag that it was in. and remember they charged me extra for that awesome service!!!! :-/
my mac n cheese may have bread crumbs and cheddar on top of it in the to go container and sometimes it doesn't. the corn bread muffins were so moist and flaky the first time that i went on yelp and raved about them and the next time after two tries they kept over cooking them. and....um.....excuse me mr. manager. but do i have stupid written on my forehead? don't tell me these are made to order ween i sat there and waited for them and they came out cold, hard and dry again. i have been insatisfied with their food lately but that's probably my fault for going to often and expecting to much based on what they served the day before.
the food has the potential to be amazing but they are severely inconsistent in what they serve day after day.
on an ending note: i was irritated after dealing with a male manager that seemed butt hurt that i didn't like his hard corn muffins so my wife and i were going to go to jack stacks bbq in the plaza where the service is phenomenal and the sides are always consistently delicious every time. however, we haven't had their actual bbq yet. so filled with a mission to show the char bar that hey suck and i'm going to spend my money over here at js instead i ordered the burnt ends.
i have been humbled!
the jack stack burnt ends can't hold a candle to the char bar. yes, the char bars service is mediocre in comparison to js. yes, they can't seem to give you the same quality of meal, especially with their take out, like js. but, they have the best damn ribs and burnt ends i have tasted and js can't even compete with the quality and flavor. it hurts me to say it but it is true. the char bar has better bbq and it is worth spending a little more money because they are also a little higher priced but it's worth it.
this rating is all the flavor of their bbq and the lost points are due to the inconsistency with their take out food and the lack luster service.