Grillers BBQ

Grillers is amazing. The brisket is the best I have ever had. The fries are natural cut, delicious, and enough for six people. My friends and I have frequented here quite often and we have never been disappointed. I am so glad they decided to stay open with new ownership. Best of luck to the new owners. Keep brining on that amazing brisket.

Came here during a bike ride on the Kokosing Gap Trail, and my girlfriend and I just needed a quick bite I tide us over. We got a mini pulled chicken sandwich and it was good, the fries and chicken tenders were good as well. Nothing earth shattering, but it was very busy and I’m assuming some of the more unique things like the ribs are great.
Oh by the way — cash or check only.

Sad news to report… This business is closing it’s doors, except to cater events. This makes me sad. For the longest time they were only open on weekends anyway.

I have continued to frequent Grillers and love it. It’s the only *good* food in the Mount Vernon area! The brisket is amazing — tender and tasty. And the pulled pork is delicious. I usually get a side of beans and onion rings. And always the Raspberry Tea!
My only suggestion is don’t go on a Friday or Saturday evening. The staff is limited so your wait time will be longer than usual. I suggest lunch or early dinner for the best experience.

Exceptional BBQ. Matthew H’s review is spot on. I agree that it compares favorably to city BBQ, which I think is also excellent. I had the brisket and folks from Alabama that we brought there had pulled pork. Everything was fresh and tasty. I’d venture to say it is the best food in Knox county. We are regular customers starting today!

Grillers used to have the best hamburger in the country but no more. For some reason they discontinued it. Booooo
Barbecue is good but not unique

My wife and I ate here shortly after they opened and loved it. We just got back from Grillers this evening and was very disappointed in what it’s become. When they first opened, the sides were fresh and delicious; the green beans a member of our party had tasted old. I tried one and it was like rubber. The cheesy potatoes were mushy and almost cheesy mashed potatoes.
When we ate here a year ago, the different BBQ meats were slices of delicious, smoke-​ringed cuts that were melt in your mouth. This evening I was shocked to find them service was tasted like canned meats with cheap sauces. The BBQ beef, once sliced brisket, was pulled beef smothered in sauce. The chicken came smothered as well — you couldn’t even taste the poultry hiding under their over-​flavored sauces. Yuck.
The pork was the only meat not smothered in sauce, which was great, except it the edges were dry and crunchy.
I’m not sure we’ll be eating here again. I’ve had much better BBQ, heck I make much better BBQ myself, and we’ll be driving out-​of-​town for our BBQ dining from now on.

Frankies Pizza was one of my favorites since I was a kid, and I was so sad to see it go, but I thought I would give it’s replacement a try. After a year of rain canceling bike rides to Howard, and being in the area when they’re closed, I finally had some time to stop by on a day they’re open. I was surprised by the nice little selection of macro-​brews, wine, and liquor, as well as by their friendliness, and the guy carrying a big batch of smoked chicken in from outside was a good sign. I couldn’t decide on the sides, so they helped me by giving me a couple samples. The cheesy potatoes were drowning in a little too much cheese sauce, so I ordered the coleslaw which looked too creamy but actually had a pretty good balance. They only offered sweetened iced tea unfortunately, so I ordered water, and the 3 sandwich sampler with a pulled chicken, beef brisket, and pulled pork sandwich. As I sat and waited for my sandwiches, I tried the two sauces sitting on the tables. The first was not spicy, but sweet. The depth of flavor was very balanced despite it’s sweetness and I kept anticipating a little heat or too much sweetness at the finish but all I got was a great sweet pepper flavor. It was thick, but almost closer to a mole than to ketchup. The spicy sauce was a little less sweet with an absolute perfect amount of heat. Plenty to feel, but not so much to overpower the flavor. Needless to say I was very excited to try these 2 awesome sauces on my 3 different meats (that’s 6 different combinations, 9 if I mix them, woohoo!), but I was incredibly disappointed when both my beef brisket and pulled chicken sandwich were drenched in a ridiculously sweet BBQ sauce :-(. The pulled pork tasted awesome with just a hint of wonderful smokiness, but I couldn’t even finish the other 2 sandwiches as I felt like I was going to slip into a diabetic coma. So why am I giving it 4 stars? Well the pork was pretty darn good, the sauces on the table were pretty darn good, the service was very friendly and helpful, and without the sauce on the other two sandwiches (which took up about half of what was on the sandwiches) I think they would have been phenomenal. I will definitely be back, but I will ask for no sauce next time.

My family is from Mt Vernon and recommended this place on a recent trip in which we visited the area (Sept 2011). This place is exactly what you want when you travel and don’t want to eat at a chain restaurant. First off, it is a quaint little town called Howard and the drive to get there is beautiful with rolling hills and farms on either side of the two-​lane road.
Your immediate impression on seeing the place is that it will be a good experience. The outside and inside décor are perfect and inside features tons of antique items from the both the restaurant and farming industries. As soon as you open the front door, the excellent smell of BBQ hits you and you’re ready to eat.
The staff is amazingly friendly and patient as it took us several minutes to pick from the options available. I went with a half-​rack of ribs with fries and cornbread. It was tough because they had many sides that looked delicious. Folks at our table also got the pulled pork sandwiches which they raved over.
I’ve heard the statement «fall off the bone» meat many times on TV or in reviews. I can state for sure that this was the first time I have ever truly had ribs that if you picked them up, the meat slid off the bone on the plate. They were absolutely delicious. The fries were hand cut and served with vinegar which is always one of my favorites. The cornbread did not disappoint, as this place is known for having great cornbread.
The place had a full bar and drinks were very inexpensive. One of the chefs came out and thanked us for our visit and we applauded his skills in the kitchen. They offered two sauces, one sweet and one hot. Both were delicious and the hot was not so hot that it wasn’t enjoyable.
We will absolutely return to this place when we visit our family again. I can’t recommend it enough.

I have had the pleasure of dining here numerous times. The bbq is consistently very high quality. The pulled pork, brisket or bbq pulled chicken is always flavorful, tender, moist and the portions are generous. If you order the fries be prepared to share! The corn bread is awesome and be sure to save some room for the coconut cake! Staff is very friendly and courteous!
This bbq is as authentic & as good as it gets!!! It’s worth the drive to this tiny community!