McKethan Brothers Barbecue

Went in for a family meal at 5:30pm on a Sunday and we were 1 of 3 tables in the restaurant. Our appetizers came on time (hush puppies and fried pickles) and we’re a little overcooked but still good.
Our server came back with the promise of more drinks and an update on our food. Then, we didn’t see him for about 15 minutes. When he came back, he asked us what we needed (in a very polite way. While the service wasn’t great, he still was very polite and upbeat).
We waited another HOUR for our food. And on top of that, no one could tell us why the food took so long. We had the staff bag our food up for To-​go so we could get somewhere comfortable.
They gave us a 25% discount (bill still ended up being $ 70 for four people, which is about the norm now I guess).
We got back to the house and the food was okay. It probably would have been better if we could have eaten it there.
I gave this place two stars because the corn muffins are amazing. Definetely the best thing on the menu.

Awesome food!!! Unbelievable salad bar… Our family tried the smoked turkey, pulled pork and smoked chicken… All the best I’ve ever had!!! The hush puppies are perfect and the staff is delightful. If you want barbecue in Boone THIS is the place to go. It’s super cute and one of the cleanest restaurants I’ve ever been in. You can see they are doing something right here!!!

Great Food and great service! We visited the area from Texas, the waiter was very nice even giving advise on must sees in the area!

Surprisingly horrible service this evening. My pic is of a deserted bar and service area. There must have been something VERY interesting going on in the kitchen. Almost every guest at some point was looking for their server. I actually was served a plate of turkey and wasn’t offered any of their awesome sauces. Not at all what I expected. Usually a 4 – 5 star experience.

Well pleased. Stopped for takeout. BBQ was very good, wings excellent (and huge) and the Brunswick stew was delicious. Very friendly and helpful waitresses. Had a pint (Booneshine Molasses Porter) while I waited and the waitress offered samples of the other beers on tap unsolicited, nice. Will visit again when back in town.

We had to wait a couple minutes on a Sunday, but it was worth the wait. The ribs (baby backs and St Louis style) were tasty and not too dried out. The sauces were tasty and a little tangy.
The green beans were too oniony for my taste, but the collards and hush puppies were great. The waitress replaced my gbs with collards. The service was good. We also liked the cornbread… We’ll be back!

This edition of Excited about Eating covers McKethan Brothers BBQ Restaurant in Boone, North Carolina.
McKethan Brothers BBQ serves smoked meats, homemade sauces, and southern sides. This family owned BBQ joint offers all the classics including baby back and St. Louis style ribs, chicken, chopped pork, and turkey.
Dora here. We’d been itching to try this place since discovering it over July 4^th, but they were closed. It’s a bit off the beaten track and shares the same driveway with another business. Don’t be alarmed by the empty seats. As usual, we opened the restaurant. By the time we left, they were filling up fast.
We shared the Brothers Sampler Platter, a huge tray of pulled pork, chicken, turkey, St. Louis ribs, and baby back ribs with mac and cheese, Brunswick stew and a corn muffin. Huge, full of flavor, and a great example of southern BBQ! The star of this plate was the baby back ribs, juicy, tender, and fall off the bone. The St. Louis ribs were a close second, full of that smoky flavor that you look for in BBQ. The chicken and pork were great with the turkey being a little on the dry side. The Brunswick stew was outstanding with all of the normal ingredients found in the stew plus a little heat.
Dora here. Delish! We could’ve eaten for two days on this meal! The baby backs were killer, but I’m not a fan of St. Louis style ribs, so Ernie got lucky. I ate most of the turkey myself, so I was glad hubby thought it dry. lol. Love the zing that hit going down with the pork. If we lived here, we’d be a weekly visitor. Probably more than that in the winter because I’d order a whole bowl of the Brunswick stew on the off days.
5 forks all the way! ~Ernie & Dora Hiers, Fiction Faith & Foodies Blog

Went to this place for dinner and got a 2 meat plate with 2 sides. I had the pulled pork, smoked chicken, mac n cheese, fries, and corn muffin. Overall it was a good value for the amount of food you get! The pork was juicy, the chicken had that nice smokey pink color too it, and the sauces were solid. Also $ 3 draft beers are a plus! I’d go again and try the pulled pork sandwich plate that looked really good!

From the atmosphere to the service everything was excellent. Everything is freshly prepared; Cole slaw, hush puppies, even their own homemade honey mustard. They smoke their meats every day. They had fresh tea, and five beers on tap,(variety of domestic and local brews), and the prices were very reasonable.
They also have daily bar specials. We had the pulled pork sandwich with fries, Cole slaw, and fried ocra. Well worth the 50 mile drive. Their kind attentive service, and their use of fresh ingredients prepared with care, make this a regular stop for us on our travels to Boone.

Moist brisket, meaty pulled pork, delicious corn muffins, ample salad bar, good iced tea, nice sides, portions are plentiful, service is attentive. GOOD STUFF. Clean, too, and beer on tap.

Average at best. How is this place still in business based on the barbecue? The staff seems attentive and well trained but it doesn’t make up for the low quality barbecue. They claim the use wool to spoke the Que but I’m doubting that fact… Couldn’t be happier if I never return…

Have only had their catered barbecue at an App football game, but it was quite good. Definitely will try the restaurant experience.

This is the second year we’ve visited & eaten here both times. Everything has always been delicious, highly recommend! Wait time was great, we have two young kids and the atmosphere is perfect for them too. Good service as well!

My family and I really enjoyed Bandana’s ribs so we thought we would give its replacement a try. With the mostly good reviews, we had high hopes.
First off, the interior remodel of the building is beautiful. Honestly, I’m a sucker for Edison bulbs. It’s really lovely inside. However, that’s one of the few good things I, sadly, have to say.
Inside was absolutely freezing. I was wearing two layers and still it was cold enough to make myself and my family shiver. This wouldn’t be a problem typically, but it was also decently cold outside, and remained cold throughout the entire meal.
The service was also… To put it frankly, god awful. We saw server after server pass by us, looking at us, but no one stopping to take our drink order. We waited ten minutes for a drink order. It wasn’t even a waitress that ended up taking our drink order. The hostess, and I am assuming also a part owner or something of that nature, walked to up to our table while we all kept glaring at anyone who passed by who worked there. She apologized for the wait, was very polite, and got our waitress to come take our orders.
I wish I could say the service improved after this, but it did not. The food took forever to get out, tables that were sat after us got their food before us. We weren’t an abnormally large table either. Just your typical 4 top. When we got the food, the flavor was nice. The collard greens are literally the best I’ve ever had, the cornbread muffin was sweet which I love. But the ribs were BAD. The toughest, fattiest ribs, I’ve ever had before. The overall flavor was delicious, just the right level of spice and smoke, but the quality was poor.
Overall, we left with extreme mixed feelings. Maybe we caught it on a bad night? The food isn’t terrible, it has some execution flaws, but it does have its strong points too.

Aside from just being a perfect ambience and atmosphere for a date or family meal, the service was incredible and the food was even better.
After a long day hiking on the mountains, this was the best ending to the day. Long list of beers and ales to choose from, and the pulled pork with their sweet sauce was to die for. Definitely, definitely recommend the Mac n Cheese and fried okra. The okra was lightly fried so you could taste how fresh the okra was.
If you love barbecue and the mountains, this is a restaurant you don’t want to miss!

I would have given this place 4 stars but my husband was not that much of a fan — so we are going with 3 stars.
Service was great and we loved the bluegrass band that apparently plays there a lot on Friday nights. We were worried our little one would get tired early on in the evening but he loved the music… and the green beans and beef brisket.
I ordered the beef brisket sandwich that was on special — it came with coleslaw plus 1 side — I went with the macaroni & cheese — I liked it all. I wouldn’t say it was the best mac & cheese but it was good. The brisket had enough flavor to it that I did not need to add sauce — so that’s a good brisket. The bun that sandwich comes on almost looks like a brioche bun — it may be one — I like it a lot better than Texas toast.
My husband ordered the ribs and collards and he didn’t like either. Normally I am the picky one. I didn’t try the ribs but the collards were a mix of leaf and stem and were a bit too vinegary for our liking.
They have a solid selection of beverages. We both liked the AMB Honey Badger which was on special on Friday night.

Good southern Barbeque at reasonable prices. Great food to go! My extended family and I (14 in total) vacationed in Boone in the summer of 2015 and needed some bulk BBQ and sides to go. We ordered pulled pork, and sides of mac n cheese, baked beans, cole slaw, and potato salad. The pork was moist and tasty – not exactly North Carolina styled with a heavy vinegar base but southern styled-​smoked over hickory chips served with sauces. The tomato-​based sauces, although limited to hot, mild and sweet, were pretty good. The sides were very good. The kids grabbed all the mac n cheese before I could try it but based on the other sides (and the kids’ smiling faces) the mac n cheese was probably great.
If you want good hickory smoked Barbeque with great sides, this is a great choice. Next time I’m in Boone, I’ll be sure to stop by.

Disappointing. Ribs were grilled not smoked. Tough, not much flavor.
The baked beans and Mac and Cheese were quite good.
Service was prompt and friendly, looks like a lot of their waitstaff is probably ASU students.

Holy portion sizes batman! I walked in here ready for a decent sized dinner and left stuffed to the gills with tasty tasty BBQ.
All told my mom and I ordered an order of pulled pork, a half chicken, some mac and cheese, Cole slaw, and a pulled pork flatbread pizza.
The flatbread pizza was the least impressive of the dishes, but it was still pretty tasty. I’m used to my flatbreads being nice and crunchy but this one was just sort of doughy. The cheese was also a bit of a letdown. I was hoping for some really fresh mozzarella which was accented by the sauce. Instead the pizza was heavy on the sauce and the cheese was just meh. Fortunately both the pork and the sauce were mighty tasty, so I still enjoyed it.
The pulled pork entrée itself was reasonably sized, not enormous, but definitely large enough to satisfy an appetite. The pork itself drew good reviews, and their sweet sauce was a great compliment to everything.
I had the ½ smoked chicken, which was HUGE. I guess I should have figured with the half chicken part, but I suppose my brain turned off. Fortunately the chicken was cooked to perfection. The white meat was absurdly moist, and the dark meat was just as good. I would have preferred slightly less dry rub, as it was a bit spicy for my taste, but overall I was definitely satisfied.
The Mac and cheese was also solid. Be aware that it is super rich and definitely has a good flavor to it. I dipped mine in some of the sweet BBQ sauce and it was positively scrumptious.
The service was a bit slow, but hopefully that will get ironed out as the place is open longer and the servers get more experience.

I consider myself to be a barbecue aficionado. I’ve had ‘que from coast to coast, including the «holy sites» of Kansas City, Memphis, Texas, Chicago, and the Carolinas.
So, I think I can speak from experience when I say this new restaurant in Boone has some of the best barbecue I’ve ever had anywhere!
They serve several different types of barbecued meat — pork, chicken, turkey, and ribs. If you can’t decide, you can always go the the Brothers Sampler Platter, which has all of the above — enough to feed two people!
All of the meats here are smoked to perfection — perfect flavor while still being moist and juicy! And you have a choice of sauces to go with it, including one made with peaches.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention their incredible St. Louis style ribs. These were AMAZING! Fall off the bone tenderness with an incredible dry rub. Next time I go, I’m getting a plate of these.