The Bar-B-Q Barn

Stopped here around noon on a Saturday, waited 25minutes then left, got a good laugh at the menu prices, knowing what’s good here and what’s not, psst most items are not worth it.

Staying local to the area and was looking for something not mainstream for dinner. I chose the Unilocaltonet to select such a place. Being an ardent fan of all things BBQ, my attention was directed at this establishment.
Noted the comments, seemed to come from folks who travel frequently, and I was pleased to see the BBQ Barn rated highly.
Upon entering the establishment, there was no host available, so I proceeded after a rather long wait, while the staff tended to customers, to select a place and sit. I chose what I thought would not be a table that would be used much, from the several open to choose from. Immediately after sitting down at one of the many four spots available, a waitress came to me and asked if there would be others joining me. I told her no, and she was pleasant, yet firm, in asking me to consider moving to the only two seater left. It was a bit untidy for my taste, but I agreed to do so, and waited until the table was cleaned. In this town, only 1 person has the towel to clean tables at the BBQ Barn, and she was busy.
10 minutes of awkwardly standing and waiting, a young smiling lady, rushed out of the back, picked up the previously used tableware, consisting of a paper napkin, knife and fork, and a beverage glass filled midway, then proceeded with a laborious 1 swipe across the middle of the two seater, leaving a heavy wet sour smell, and she was gone. I took that as my cue to sit. I chose the chair that would provide the best view of the table to which I had been banished. After wiping out the seat and using some Kleenex to wipe up the wet sour smelling residue from the only towel used in the BBQ Barn, my former waitress and seating coordinator tossed down the menu and not-​so-​cheerfully asked for my choice of beverage. I chose the sweet tea for $ 2.25.
She then politely, yet sternly recalled the special of the evening and recited it as though I was getting my Miranda rights. I chose to bypass the special and went straight for the menu, which was well worn as well as tattered, and kept falling apart.
As a real BBQ fanatic, I thought I would go straight for the jugular, and test the quality of this establishment, I chose the brisket platter. Described as an ample serving featuring juicy hickory smoked and thinly sliced, succulent brisket I was taken. It was served with 1 trip to the salad bar, and one side item of your choosing, from their $ 2.25 section of sides. I selected the mac and cheese, since the creamy slaw, cottage cheese, macaroni salad, potato salad and something else were all on the salad bar, leaving a choice of either baked beans or the mac and cheese. A potato was $ 3.00 and could not be substituted.
The salad bar had shredded lettuce, various sliced or shredded vegetables, with all the typical fair, plus all the aforementioned sides, and your choice of ranch, creamy Italian, or what I thought might be French dressing, I really had no clue, I chose creamy Italian, because I did not know what it was, and was honestly hoping for something else, as none of the three were labeled.
The salad was good not great, there was a certain taste from something in my salad I have never associated with my selection previously. It tasted similar to a sour soap.
Fortunately the sweet tea arrived very soon afterwards, and a swig or two of that masked the strange taste I was experiencing. Oddly, I was not offered a refill on the sweet tea.
I had plenty of time to enjoy my salad and sweet tea, because the meal took a bit longer than one would expect at a BBQ joint. No problem, I just sat in the mostly empty facility, eating my salad, sipping on my sweet tea and watching the table I had been moved from remain unoccupied.
Finally, my brisket arrived, and my friendly, yet stern, waitress placed the plate on the table. She did get only one of the descriptive correct, it was sliced thinly. Swear to all that is holy, I have never seen Brisket sliced so thin anywhere in my life. I am talking paper thin. Juicy, not so much. Hickory smoked, maaaaaaybeeeee? Ample, no way. Not for the $ 15.95 I was charged. I do not think there was more than 2 – 3 oz of meat on the plate.
My side item, the mac and cheese, was not a highlight either. Hot starchy, yellow, paste flopped into a small serving dish that took up half the space of the entire plate. The meal was accompanied with 1 piece of industrial bread along with 1 pat of butter in a plastic foil covered container found at most low end food establishments.
The food quality was marginal at best, and for the $ 18.95 cost and generous $ 4.00 tip to the friendly, yet stern young lady serving my meal, I promise you, on this night, it was severely overpriced for quality and quantity. Perhaps the other items served on the menu are worthy of a try. I will never know. I will never visit this place, ever again.
If you do go, and your party is not more than one, for Gods sake, do not try to sit at the four seater in the back. It is reserved for air.

Delicious BBQ! Ribs and brisket were both excellent which is a tough task to tackle. You’re going to want to make sure that you are extra hungry for these portion sizes. They also have a full counter of sweets, pies and pastries. Everything looked delicious, but we were too full to even think about it. I asked the bf if he had anything to add and he says that «superb» is actually the best word for the brisket. I would add on a final note, that you need to try the hot bbq sauce for dipping. Very unique flavor combo. We will most definitely be back for more.

After a long day @ The Garden of the Gods & then over to Bell Smith Springs we went here to an early dinner only to find they weren’t open. Holy moly isn’t anything open in Southern Illinois on Sunday. I read the reviews on Unilocal and connected with a person that actually ate there. She had great a great review on the food there. Well I came down here from Chicago with great expectations drove all the way to Harrisburg only to find they aren’t open on Sunday. I am bummed out this is the 2^nd restaurant that wasn’t open.

Four stars for the barn. They got good ribs (pictured) and pretty good pecan pie. If you’re from South Georgia, you pronounce «pecan» as something you may want to empty every night. For the rest of us, its «pecan», like «re-​con». The ribs were 4-​star quality. I’ve had better, but these were very good — required three wet-​naps to clean up. Since I cannot make good ribs meself, I appreciate those who can.
This is a worth-​while stop in the city of Harrisburg.

Really good food, GREAT salad bar, work on speed of service and prices. Prices are just a few dollars too high.

I’ve driven by this place thousands of times over the years, but have never had the opportunity to stop in and eat until today. I’m glad I did, the food and service is great! Upon entering I was promptly greeted and told to sit wherever I wanted. I had read some of the previous reviews and one says to get here by 11:30am — that’s still true… It fills up fast. I put my drink order in and reviewed the menu; sorry about the shadows on my menu pics. I got the special and was served quickly. The BBQ is great and the Rib sauce is tasty. I then finished up with some chocolate pie (sorry-​no picture), it was gone before I remembered to take a picture. So go try it out you won’t be disappointed. Ask for Katie — she was my server — she was great!

Passed by this place on my way to a job site. We decided to stop in for breakfast. I have to say this was one of the best meals I had in a long time. I had the ribeye and it was cooked to perfection, the eggs were great and the biscuits and gravy were delicious. I highly recommend this place, hopefully I can stop in for lunch another time.

Came back and had the rack of ribs. Much better than the turkey sandwich.

The pie! You must try the pie! They make a bunch of different kinds every morning and when it runs out, it’s gone. The strawberry cake is delicious with the best frosting I’ve ever had.
My husband likes the barbeque and I like the country fried steak. They actually have a large menu with many different options. Cheeseburgers, spaghetti, catfish, nachos, etc and I haven’t had anything that was bad. It’s a little pricey but a nice place to take the family.

Ok, a disclaimer: I grew up in Harrisburg and know what the bar b que is supposed to be like. Bar B Q Barn touches almost all the bases. It’s popular for a reason. Suggest getting there at 11:30am for lunch because it’s jammed a bit later on. One of the best sliced bar b que pork sandwiches I’ve had in a long time. Be sure to request it this way because otherwise it comes chopped. Would prefer hand cut french fries to the crinkle store bought ones but they were actually ok and were crispy. I prefer the sauce from one of the Barn’s competitors but the hot sauce here is certainly acceptable. I’d skip the sweet sauce entirely but that’s just my taste. Top it all off with a slice of home made pie (coconut crème and cherry are especially good.) Decent prices although I wonder if the place recently changed hands. Somehow a teriyaki chicken sandwich didn’t seem to fit in on the menu at a bar b que joint. Service is friendly. Good salad bar too but I thought it was pricey at $ 6.99 for lunch. Breakfasts are really good here, too.