Butt Hutt BBQ — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

I used to love this place. Years ago when I was in school, I'd go weekly. Recently my husband and I would frequently get take out or eat in if possible. Something has changed though, in the last 6ish months, in terms of their service. The food is still excellent -- IF YOU CAN GET IT. I often call in to order food on my way home, and lately it's 50/50 that they bother to answer their phones (tonight I called over and over and it rang and rang with some voice mail saying they weren't accepting calls). Since I had a little extra time this evening, I thought hey, why don't you try to go inside and order the togo food, maybe their phones are on the fritz! I enter a half-filled restaurant and am directed by a server doing nothing else at the time to go to the bar to order my food. I think, huh, this is new (the servers have always helped me with togo orders in the past), but I go to the bar -- which has no bartender. So I sit and wait for almost 10 minutes WITH NO SERVICE, then overhear some ladies next to me expressing concern that they want to make their order and where is the bartender? I strike up a conversation with them, find out they've been there a few minutes more than me with no service, and elect to go ahead and leave. As I walk out I pass a frazzled bartender carrying easily 5 large stacked bags of togo orders. Now I realize that the half empty restaurant doesn't always equal "not busy" (ie there may be tons of togo orders and whatnot), but I also realize that when one person is overwhelmed on her end the other staff should respond appropriately to help with the slack. So please, Butt Hutt, get some better staff or light a fire under the ones you have, because you are going to lose customers otherwise and your food is just too...

Top notch. Not too busy on Friday for a late lunch. I haven't been here in years and everything was great like I remembered. For me, a meal is an experience. I enjoy food and it's often the highlight of my workday. That said, my lunch was exceptional! I ordered the porkwich lunch special with fries and a dangerously sweet tea, just how I like it once the ice melts a little. I also ordered a Turkey Plate with baked beans and macaroni and cheese, with white bread. She said there were other options but I didn't inquire as I'm just trying to get my bearings regarding the smoke and moisture content of the meats. Lemme tell ya what... They may have a slurry of something back there they keep it moist in but it was un-sauced and MOIST!!! Same for the Turkey though naturally the pork was a bit more moist. Turkey was freshly smoked, still had a good thick layer of soft fat in places indicating so. Baked beans were a little heavy on the onion for my preferences but delicious nonetheless. I would prefer the onion cooked down a little before it's addition to the beans as well but that's just me. Macaroni and cheese was basic but decent nonetheless. Their Brunswick Stew is the blended style and heavy on onion, light on the vinegar. It was great! From Savannah, I grew up on Carey Hillards Stew which was beef and potato based. As a whole, the meal was great. The service was great. I didn't catch my servers name but she had an old Lollapalooza shirt on which I greatly appreciated!

Update on a Door Dash order: I got a Combo plate with Turkey and Ribs with baked beans and stew. I also got a kids pork sandwich with fries. Phenomenal to go!!!!! The sandwich wasn't soggy but still warm enough and the pork was smoked perfectly. Fries were nice and hot still...

Drove specifically to check this place out. This is a genuine hole in the wall, and it's extremely worth the visit. Entire place is super clean, bathrooms are sanitary well decorated. Decided to give the half chicken a try, paired with all three of the fried sides. Mac and cheese bites tasted like Sysco, they were rich and had plenty of flavor. The corn bites were exactly the same, although I enjoy homemade fried foods these hit the spot in a pinch! The half chicken was perfect! Slow cooked and plenty of flavor, not a dry bite on the plate. I purchased an extra just to check! The Brunswick stew was lacking just a tad for my taste but was hardy. The chicken mull was more of a Carolina version and was well made, a little salt and pepper and it was perfect! The sauces were vinegar based, and pair well with the pork. Choices were hot, mild, sweet, and vinegar. Hot was more mild, than hot with a slight kick. The service was excellent with Riley starting us off with a happy attitude and dedi action to her sales ability, adding her favorites as something to try. Skyler finished our service never allowing our drinks to fall empty. Craig also stopped by to introduce himself and tell us a few secrets to his culinary style. We finished off our visit with the banana bread pudding, I do not like banana pudding, but this was amazing! Homemade meringue topped and full of dense flavor that paired so well with my palate, that I may have to try deserts more. If you happen to see mama Gay dropping off her homemade deserts, tell her how special it is. I will be back here and absolutely recommend this to any one...