Dead End BBQ

Food was awesome! Service was nice and attentive! We ordered ribs, tatertot brisket (my favorite) and sampler with pulled pork and brisket. The brisket is juicy and the ribs and perfectly smoked. We also order the banana pudding which i would NOT recommend. It tasted premade and like a refrigerator, the cookies on top were soggy and it is way over priced for what you get.

Here for event in Knoxville, looking for good bbq. Was refereed to another establishment that was an epic fail on the bbq front. Finally found Dead end and it delivered an excellent meal Exemplary service for our very large party. All options were great. Loved the Fritos and queso and I don’t even really like Fritos! Bbq chicken was excellent as was the brisket. Will return here for sure if ever in the area again.

Place has gone downhill. Last three times we’ve been the bbq has been a little cold and dry. I won’t be back for quite some time.

Love this bbq! Everything I get is fabulous here as well as great service. Love the mac and cheese and sweet potato chips too! Really easy for me to pick something around my food allergies as well. Sauce is by far my favorite in knoxville.

Loved the pulled pork. The brisket has good flavor. Enjoyed all the bbq sauces. Sweet potato fries were a little too sweet. Cole slaw was delicious. Loved the corn muffins. Cobbler was amazing!

Very good barbeque i can see why they won so many awards. He has pictures on the wall of him with all kinds of barbeque greats. Like Mike Mills, Johnny Trigg, And many more. I had the burnt ends the were very good. My wife had the pulled pork. And my daughter had a chicken salad. They all were great. The sweet potato waffle fries was amazing. Every time we come to Knoxville we stop here. I had never had anything bad here

After hearing about this BBQ joint through some ESPN sportscasters, I decided I needed to stop by and give Dead-​end a try. First of all, the place has a nice contemporary vibe to it with sayings about BBQ, sports stuff, and BBQ trophies. My entrée today was the combo plate with brisket, pork, potato salad, slaw, Jalepeno cornbread, and sweet tea. The combo plate was $ 17. Sadly, I have been to other BBQ places and have paid less for more. It was a good portion but just comparing it to others — doesn’t feel like you get your money’s worth. The brisket and pork was tender, more dry than juicy, and both had some kind of rub on it that can be only found at Dead-​end. There are 3 sauces — mild, regular, and a spicy. The mild and spicy were more vinegar base and runny than the regular. I enjoyed the regular the best because it had more of a tangy, tomatoey taste. The best part of my meal might have actually been the red, white, and Bleu slaw. Never had slaw anywhere like it. It was very creamy and I lived the Bleu cheese that was in it. The potato salad was very disappointing. It didn’t make any sense. It was mustard base with green onions and bacon bits mixed in, but it had the most blandest taste for a potato salad ever. The bread and sweet tea were wonderful. I would eat Dead-​end again but with its price and other BBQ choices, I find it hard to believe this to be the best in Knoxville. The price knocks it down to a 3 for me.

This is a nice little bbq joint. If it’s the best in Knoxville, this is disappointing. The chicken and brisket were both on the dry side, and the sauce was above average. The majority of the sides are store bought frozen, SAD.
My waitress was friendly and the food waa fast.

This has to be one of the best BBQ joints in K-​Town. They have a sandwich that I usually get called the Tennessee Grilled Beef and Cheddar it is out of this world good! Served on 2 pieces of Texas Toast to start with you know that your going to getting something good. Then there is beef brisket which is out of this world by itself and then throw in some cheddar cheese with the sandwich and you have a masterpiece for a sandwich.
Now for the sides. I typically go with the the sweet potato fries. They are cut like waffle fry style and served with sugar, which I typically hold, because I prefer salt on mine.
But man they have some really unique sides that you should really try out. I have tried their red, white, and blue slaw which is really good and their Macaroni and Pimento Cheese which will definitely provide you with the comfort food you are looking for it that’s your thing.
Over all, great BBQ joint. They take pride in their food and have won many competitions. If you are in town, this is a must see.

Our waiter was really nice to wait, as my boyfriend & I came after my sister. David, our waiter, always kept our water glasses full! So he was great. But the reasoning for the three stars was the food. I ordered the pulled pork plate that comes with two sides. For my sides, I ordered the mixed greens & the beans and sausage. I did not like the greens one bit. My sister asked if I could switch them out & David was happy to do so. So I got the fries instead which were good! The pork was on the dry side, and the sauces were not that good. For me personally, this wasn’t my cup of tea. The price of my plate was $ 12.02 including tax.

I got the beef brisket with caramelized onions on sourdough. That was DELICIOUS, good taste with nice chunks of beef and a firm crunch on the bread. The pimento cheese Mac and cheese was also very creamy with just an extra kick, very good.
We also got the nachos with pulled pork, which seemed a bit random. Mexican flavored amidst the southern bbq didn’t quite fit. Nothing special.

I don’t usually write reviews on Unilocal,but I felt I had to chime in after visiting this place. I went solely on the recommendations of other Unilocalers, and was utterly disappointed. I had a quick and simple meal — a beef brisket sandwich with a side of slaw — and there was nothing about it I could say was any good at all. OK, maybe the pickle on the side of the plate.
The brisket tasted like pot roast — not that there’s anything wrong with pot roast, but at a BBQ place you sort of expect the brisket to be smoked and sliced. This was shredded and kind of tinny tasting, like it had been slow-​cooked with a packet of onion soup mix or something. The slaw tasted dirty, like the cabbage was old and unwashed, and it didn’t have the bright or creamy flavor you expect from a good slaw. Worst of all were the three sauces, which I would describe as mild, milder, and ketchup. If the sauces were better they could have disguised the poor quality of the meat, but sadly, they only emphasized it.
The whole thing was a miserable failure. Maybe I should have gone with the appetizers, which looked good; maybe I should have stuck to the pulled pork, which is the mainstay of most Tennessee BBQ places; maybe I should have had a few beers before my sandwich came so I wouldn’t have been so critical. The folks were friendly and the place looked fun and lively, and I had high hopes when I sat down, but the food was not even mediocre. In a town with a lot of BBQ, ranging from pretty bad to very good, I don’t see why this place is here at all.

I had the combo plate brisket, sausage with two sides.
First i want to address the portion size vs cost — 2 slices of brisket, 4 slices of sausage for $ 16. Not even close, IMO, worth buying. I know meat costs have risen but this ridiculous.
Now, the 2 thin slices of brisket were dry but reasonably tender. Taste unremarkable C-​. The sausage, the slices were bigger then the average and the taste was good B+.
Had ‘Mayers’ beans nothing worth noting just normal baked beans. The okra was your garden variety store bought deep fried.
I love their sauce. I tried 2 of 3 on the table both were excellent.
Service was also excellent
BBQ is very subjective but short of the sauce I was disappointed.

Very good stuff. Had the pork plate with 2 sides. The pork was OK, a bit dry and could use more smoke. The 2 sides I had were outstanding. Cole slaw had a little crumbled blue cheese in it and that was awesome. Also had the beans and sausage which was very good. Sauce at the table is always nice. Each of them were good. Service by Tanner was very good.

Pork is awesome!
Pork is awesome at Dead End BBQ too (yah, that 1^st sentence was just sayin… in general… you know).
I tried a combo platter with pork, chicken, okra, fries («chips»), and southern cornbread.
The pork was pretty awesome — with their medium bbq sauce.
The spicy bbq sauce was OK as well, but flavor wise, I’d say medium is nice for their pork.
The chicken was… OK. I probably wouldn’t bother with it on my next visit.
Okra was good, just fried sliced okra (With a few peppers mixed in here and there — maybe on accident).
The fries were seasoned with cinnamon — a sweet sweetpotato — type of deal.
The corn bread… i THINK was good, but it was hard to really enjoy its sweetness when my mouth was still filled with cinnamon from the sweet potato fries.
If I could re-​do my food order, I’d just skip one of the sides (probably the fries), get more pork — and be quite gewwwd.
The service here was good — good people, prompt when I went (on a weekend lunch).
A good # of TVs everywhere — so you shouldn’t miss the game.
And a pretty cool patio for hanging out when the weather’s nice.
I def liked this place — it’s a «would visit again» spot.

Decent barbecue but not all the hype that it was built up to be for us, unfortunately. The meat was a bit dry, too much smoke flavor for our liking, and larger pieces of meat (not shredded fine enough). Sauce was a complete dislike — every one of them. Banana pudding was not «traditional» style with vanilla wafers… not what we were expecting at all. «Might» try again? The place has received many accolades but we weren’t impressed. Too bad! :-(

The two best things we had were the BBQ Brisket Nachos and the Yazoo beer. Our main course was good but wanted more meat! The chicken was tender and tasty but I was overloaded with bread and sweet potato fries (which were good), I just expected a larger portion of chicken.
I can’t say enough about them Nachos. Simply the reason why I keep coming back.

Unlike the Nashville and Memphis area, Tennessee’s 3^rd largest city (Knoxville) does’t have many killer BBQ restaurants. Calhoun’s is famous, locally, but average, at best, when graded on a larger scale. Sweet P’s downtown location (the other location is just average) does make the grade, but that’s one of the few. We came to Dead End BBQ with high hopes after seeing the sign out front stating it was ranked by someone in the top 10 in the country and while it’s better than average BBQ it doesn’t belong nationally ranked (and yes I’ve been to several hundred BBQ restaurants to compare it to).
Dead End is a quality BBQ restaurant, that’s clean, modern and provides good service in a fun, upbeat atmosphere and it’s close to campus. It’s a great place to bring friends and family when in town for a Vol’s game (if you can get a table). The food is priced fair and portions are large. You do get what you pay for.
We aren’t big on vinegar based sauce, which rules out most of the sauces here. The tomato based one is ok, but none of the sauces compared to our favorites at competitor locations. Brisket is suppose to be a staple here so we both ordered it. When the brisket arrived it came with as much fat as there was meat. They didn’t trim it at all. The brisket itself was good, but not world class. Most will be thrilled with the flavor. The pulled pork rivaled the brisket. Meanwhile, the star was the pulled chicken. It’s a challenge to keep chicken juicy when grilling and they do a great job of it here. It one item got Dead End on national rankings, it must have been this one.
As for the sides we were eager to try sweet potato chips, note the word «chips» on the menu. These aren’t chips, rather waffle fries, but nonetheless tasted great. We also tried the fried okra, which wasn’t greasy and was fine. We were impressed with the green beans, which had hand cut pieces of bacon and tasted fresh.
In closing, when in Knoxville, you’ll be stretched to find better BBQ than here (except for Sweet P’s downtown location). If you’re a fan of BBQ there’s a seat at the table ready for you here.

I’ve driven by this place numerous times and always told myself,
«Next time, I will definitely stop and eat»
Well, that next time turned out to be next next time followed by a few more.
Finally, came here on a sunday evening. Yes, they are open on sunday which is thrilling because at a certain hour in the evening (especially on a sunday) its slim pickings.
The wait was not bad, actually, there was none around 7:30pm. Immediately, I was seated and ready to order a beer. Their beer selection is decent as well as their wines. Their food menu is not complicated. You either want bbq or you want a sandwich or you want bbq. Two types of salads were listed, but did not have any appeal. I ordered the half rack of ribs which came with two sides. I picked the sweet potato chips and pimento mac n cheese. yum! I must say that the ribs were über tender and falling off the bone. There was a nice dry rub on it that was not salty. The sweet potato chips were more than a handful. It tasted and looked as though they dusted some cinnamon sugar on it to add a little more sweetness and spice. I couldn’t done without it. I requested for a side of their chipotle dipping sauce. It sounded good, but look thick and mayo-​ish. I wished it was a lot creamier. The mac n cheese was quite delicious.
The sauces: ugh, not enough heat! they offer three different types– regular, mild, and spicy. I’m always looking for that bbq sauce that has a kick to it. Apparently, Knoxville can’t hang. The only other option was Tabasco. No thanks.

The staff here know how to accommodate! Came here as part of a «destination date» for a friend who was moving from Florida to Ohio as a well deserved driving/​lunch break. The hostesses and servers treated us like family and gave some delicious recommendations like the loaded nachos and beef tips! Their Rebel Yell BBQ Burger was nice and flavorful… and I mean it also helps the school system right? So you don’t even feel bad about feeling as lively as a sun baked turtle after the hearty meal.
I will say it wasn’t the best BBQ I had but it also was a far cry from bad, it’s PRETTY DARN GOOD. Unless you’re more of a dry rub person then this is the right juice and flavor level for you. I can say I personally could have had a spicier BBQ sauce than what they offered, but I know my tolerance is high and I’m also partial to incorporating the spicy/​fruity habañero flavors into high spice and flavor sauces.
Still, worth the destination date :)