Buddy’s Bar-B-Q

This was my 2^nd time trying and still wasn’t impressed. It is ok, but nothing spectacular. I got the bbq pork sandwich, same as the 1^st time, and both times there was hardly any meat on this huge bun which is bland. Their bbq sauce is also just ok nothing special. Probably wont be back unless I am starving and don’t have any other options.

Ate here this week $ 5.99 Tuesday special, meat, two sides and a drink. The meal deserved 3 stars but the price was so good that I bumped it up to 4 stars. Barbecue pork was moist, flavourful but a little too much fat. I like their beans and potato salad. I got two moist little white bread buns (satisfactory) instead of the hushpuppies. I would have loved a homeade piece of cornbread or biscuit but for $ 5.99 what do you expect? Bathroom didn’t have any soap but as soon as I mentioned it to an employee they immediately took care of it.
This is a busy place on Tuesday for their special but the employees work their butts off here so the line moves fast.
I like Buddy’s, this is generally what you expect for a southern fast food barbecue place.

What can you do/​get for 6 bucks these days? Not much, right. Well, in spite of my rave reviews about Buddy’s in the past (see my 5 star rating) I am sorry about having to downgrade them to two star status. If the meal weren’t so cheap I’d have given it one star. Why? The past three times I have eaten their chicken I literally nearly suffocated while attempting to swallow the meat. Try swallowing a cup of flour. Same effect. It gets stuck about half way down your esophagus. You can’t get your breath. Feels like having a heart attack. Actually, quite scary. Sadly, it’s time for me to kick them like a bad habit.

I was in Knoxville hoping to try some Memphis style BBQ so I could compare it to the great ‘cue of Texas. I was severely disappointed in Buddy’s. It’s like McDonalds except barbecue. Super fast but zero flavor. Had a sliced beef sandwich, beans, and potato salad. Meat was sliced paper thin deli style but was still tough as a boot. Beans were Van Camp and orange in honor of the University of Tennessee. Potato salad was yellow in the honor of Big Bird. Sweet tea was only thing that kept this place from getting 1 star. Will not return.

Good food here. Very clean and cheap. Good place to go on a budget!

Buddy’s is very average fast food BBQ. I’m a huge fan of BBQ and this will fill the craving only if there is no other place around… which in Knoxville is an almost ridiculous idea.
Honestly, it’s not really even that cheap. For a buck or two more you could go eat at Calhouns or someplace nicer and get much better food.

BBQ is my favorite type of food, without question. I am from California, though, so I have no idea what separates «good» bbq from «bad» bbq besides my own taste. With that said, I really like Buddy’s.
Buddy’s — a chain with a number of restaurants in the Kx area (among other places?) — is what I would probably consider «bbq fast food». The meals are pretty cheap (under $ 10 for ribs a couple of sides) and the quality is not going to blow anyone away. The chili was very tasty and the ribs were good, even though they would not win any awards.
If you want something quick and cheap, Buddy’s pretty much hits the spot without hitting the wallet.

This barbecue really isn’t that great. I can be a barbecue snob, though, as I am from barbecue country. The regular sauce tastes kind of like ketchup and the hot sauce tastes like ketchup with Tabasco. The meat itself was okay, but there were alot of burnt pieces in it. The potato salad and baked beans were nothing special either. The hushpuppies were good, though.