Bareknuckle BBQ - Food Truck & Catering — Restaurant in Hawke's Bay

From a vegans perspective... Now I'm wishing to give a 2 star, which may look harsh, I settled for a 3 as my family actually had great meals and experiences. I see it as room for improvement. Being a vegan, I found the menu options at this very much meat on meat establishment to be very lack luster. But I can not not go to such places being the only vegan in my family. As a chef and a product developer myself, I find it really hard to fathom how a dish of Blackbeans and chilli (straight from a Delmaine can I presume, or other brand) can be heated and placed on top of store brought corn chips and sprinkled with a few spring onions can be deemed an acceptable representation of a vegan meal? Where is the imagination, creativity or skill in that? Now this dish was made vegan from a vegetarian option, which had sour cream and cheese as part of it, kind of was disappointing. I paid the same price as well. If it wasn't for the delicious Guacamole (a separate starter that I ordered) that I layered on top, the meal was lifted to a higher level of enjoyment. Thing is, vegan cheese and vegan/dairy free sour cream is a thing, ok a BBQ establishment may not want to stock such expensive options to be used once in a blue moon, but the cheese can be frozen. There is a Green Mean vege burger, which I think could be veganise, but I'm wise to what a brioche bun is, having cooked them for years in my chefing days, they are an egg and butter enriched yeast dough bread bun. A shame really, that burger sounded great. If there are any chefs out there needing vegan inspiration / meal guidance and...

This is the best place my partner and I have ever eaten at in our lives, period. We got the fried chicken tenders, pulled pork, brisket, fries and slaw, and it was the best food we have eaten in our lives. But aside from the food, the vibe and the waiirua of this amazing establishment is absolutely unmatched. The staff are absolutely wonderful, the most lovely people I have come across, amazing fast service, friendly staff, you feel like you are talking to an old friend that's welcomed you whole heatedly into their home. Just amazing. The music was awesome, so cool that there's a piano and talented people who played it a little while we were there. And the family atmosphere is amazing. It was the absolute cutest thing with a sand pit and trampoline and friendly young lovely girl having her dinner there with her dad who's one of the staff. We stayed longer just to soak in the lovely atmosphere and sat outside just to chill after our meal and let it settle. We just felt so welcome. We loved this place so much we bought the awesome tshirts the have for sale, just to remember and represent such a cool special place we have been to, while on holiday in the hawkes bay up from wellington. Arohanui guys, you are doing such amazing work and I wish more establishments were like Bare Knuckle BBQ. Thank you so much for our special time there, if I could give a hundred stars I would. Can't wait for our next trip up so we can revisit, and we will tell anyone we know about your guys and our amazing experience eating at your establishment. Thank you so so much Lara...

A few months ago I rated as a 5. Today a 1., This place was our favourite place for a drink and a bite to eat until today. I took my partner for an early birthday celebration lunch. We sat down at a table, and after a long wait were given some water and then the waitress walked off. We waited for what seemed like for ever before we could finally order our drinks and something to eat. I asked if the loaded fries could be served first and our main at least 15.mins after that. A few mins later the waitress returned and put the plates so hard on the table we actually got a fright. She brought all the food out at the same time, and we didn't complain at the time because everything just kept getting worse. Bit long after the waitress dropped glasses behind us and glass shattered under our table and all around our feet. This was not cleaned up, nor was there any asking if we were ok, yes they cleaned up near the door of where the liquid was, but our table area was left as is whilst we continued to dine. We then paid and left, at the counter whilst paying, there was no apology nor sincerity, just a print off of our menu and thats it. This place has now gone from being our favourite to our, not go back again. We were happy, patient paying customers made to feel like we were almost an inconvenience to having to have to be served. I hope the owners read this and contact me because it was that bad. Not Bareknuckle, more like...