Big T's BBQ & Smokehouse — Restaurant in Calgary

TL:DR version – Good food and good service, followed by horrendous experience with management and thus a bad overall restaurant experience. Long version: This review is based on today’s late-lunch visit to Big T’s BBQ McMahon. By no means does the rating reflect the quality of the food or the attentiveness of the wait staff (both of which were very good). The score reflects the condescension and apparent dishonesty that the restaurant’s manager heaped upon my table following a quibble with the bill. We noticed a $2 upcharge for substituting a side (we changed from coleslaw to steamed veggies, as well as from baked beans to a gravy, and declined the cornbread altogether) on the $185 Elvis platter, and asked the wait staff if we could discuss it with the manager. The wait staff informed the manager and he came to our table. We mentioned to him that we had never been upcharged for substituting any of the sides (context: to this point, we had been a loyal customer for 10+ years, and in the last 17 months alone, had ordered the Elvis platter 15 times with the exact same side dish substitutions – from regular side to regular side, and NOT from regular side to upgraded side – with no upcharge), and that we were not informed that we would be upcharged when we requested either of the substitutions. He then asked us condescendingly if we had gone to the grocery store recently and, without giving us a chance to respond, he went straight to explaining that the cost of the fresh vegetables is now more than the coleslaw. And that he knew we were regular customers, having seen us in the restaurant many times before. And that if he waived the $2 upcharge, then he would have to do it for us next time, and the next time, etc. (Which is not true – he can rightly upcharge all he wants, and I would be willing to pay… as long as the upcharges are transparent in the menu or at least when the order is made.) I asked him if the steamed veggies side was more expensive than the coleslaw side in Big T’s menu, and he claimed yes. (A quick check of the menu online shows that they are the same price [see photo accompanying this review], so as mentioned above, he was clearly dishonest.) Anyhow, in an effort to de-escalate the situation (the manager was getting pretty huffy), I agreed to pay the upcharge, and then he went away without even thanking us for our patronage. Due to the manager's horrendous approach to the post-meal customer experience, Big T's can consider this long-time, loyal customer to now be an ex-customer, and I will be relaying this experience to everyone that I had ever recommended Big T’s to. Congratulations on destroying this customer/restaurant relationship over an opaque $2 upcharge on a $185 platter, Mr. Restaurant Manager – the whole thing just leaves me shaking my head in...

This place came highly recommend. However it unfortunately did not live up to expectations, seriously overrated and over priced. I have experience in culinary training, plus, the server was terrible, manager was decent. Front host’s were good though. The ribs were dry, had little texture or barbecue sauce, spiced/seasoned poorly. Yes Fall off the rib but that’s it. The “smash” potatoes were bland and quickly forgotten. Brisket was tender, consistent I’d say but again the flavour wasn’t great, there’s certainly an issue with prep, seasoning, rub, spices ext. The couple sitting next to us says “this is garbage I smoke meat better with my eyes closed at home.” I was also on the toilet 4-5 times the same night so that didn’t help. Been sick all morning, possibly because the plates were entirely too small and 3 foods were crammed against eachother -use appropriate plates it’s a restaurant not your aunt house! Cross contamination can occur at any point. Anyway If you want to get subpar not as advertised barbecue with little flavour then treat your childish taste buds. Positives= place has potential but food quality must improve, staff and servers as well. Test the food before it’s served, quality doesn’t just happen overnight and in one category, make sure all the boxes are checked first. Have a...

We were in town for a hockey tournament and decided to try Big T's as our family loves BBQ and smoked meats. We ordered a Big T's platter to go to bring back to the hotel and were very surprised at the lack of meat. There was 4 strips of Brisket, 2 sausages, 8 ribs (which the menu says a full rack), 1/2 chicken, 8-10 rib ends and barely enough pulled pork for a sandwich. We have ate lots of BBQ in the past in the States and in Canada and usually the amount of meat is overwhelming and have leftovers but unfortunately this was not the case with Big T's. There was about an ice cream pail of fries if that matters... Even the baked beans and coleslaw were lacking in size especially to feed 3-5 people, it would have been a bite or two each and that's it.

We did call and ask if we had received the wrong order but the fellow on the phone said we got the correct order. If we didn't have a 12 year old and 9 year old that were beyond hungry we would have returned and got our money back. I understand that meat is expensive and gone up in price but 4 pieces of brisket is ridiculous!! Lay off the fries and give some more meat!!

I will say the food was really good and this would be a five star review on food quality and taste however for $100 and a lack of meat this is lucky to...