Kiser's Barbeque — Restaurant in Athens

New location (after a long strange hiatus) That was my comfort food spot for a time, until they went away, came back, went away, rumored to be coming back, didn't come back...and so on. The new location is less sad than the mall location and more bustling. They have table service now and you don't have to cleanup after yourself when you are done eating. They do have outdoor seating at picnic tables but you have to order to-go. It would be nice if they had table service there was well. I've only been there once now, but from what I saw it looks encouraging. Let's hope they maintain some standards.

The food seems about the same as I remember which I'm happy with. I love the fries and the sweet red sauce for dipping.

Old location I'll start with saying that I really like the food so I'm going to cut them a lot of slack. The fries are fresh cut and the sauces are good and warm with a thin consistency which I like.

That said, this is a strange place. For starters, are there any other barbeque joints in malls? You'd think the process of getting some pork would be straightforward, but no experience is ever quite the same here. You may be one of the only people there but still have to wait 25 minutes for fries. They once forgot my fries for like 30 minutes and to make it up to me gave me a huge order of them that nearly killed me (and which I appreciated). For years every time I went in there I would receive a different price for the same exact order. Going in for the BOGO deal? There is a good chance the person taking your order isn't aware of such a deal or is aware but will struggle trying to enter it into their system. The terms are not straightforward and not well understood or enforced either. This was all a bigger problem in the days before "The Change".

I don't know what precipitated it, but one day they shut down and said they would reopen as a burger joint. That was until they later changed their mind and reopened months later as the same place. Things are a bit more consistent now with the pricing, and the terms of the BOGO are less favorable but at least seem known and understandable to the employees.

If you are going you may want to call ahead. I've seen this place shut down for the following reasons. -out of pork, gate shut but people inside and employees not acknowledging anything happened, a worker had a medical issue and paramedics were in the kitchen, employee appreciation event, change of business hours, went out of business for months.

But yes, the...

5 stars all around! Our first time visiting Kiser’s in this location did not disappoint! From the time we walked in until we walked out, we felt welcome, comfortable, and appreciated. We ordered a variety to share. We ordered the individual sides, and they were VERY generous portions! More than enough for two to share! The meat portions on the sandwiches were also very generous, and the buns were toasty and warm, yet soft and delicious, the perfect kind of bun for good bbq! The flavor of the meat instantly hits in the first bite. Delish! The sweet sauce is very unique and flavorful…I picked up some appley (is that a word?) notes, which I absolutely loved. The stewed beans…holy moly! So so good with little chunks of bacon goodness (and sausage, I believe!) Again, like the sauce, very unique! Not the typical bbq beans. The cornmeal biscuits were fantastic, served with REAL BUTTER. The house made pickles and onions…YUM! Sweet tea…PERFECT! I can’t say a bad word about anything! I only wish we had enough room to eat every bite, but with the generous portions, we were filled to the brim! Can’t wait to try the house made smoke sausage next time! Super friendly, helpful, and attentive staff! Extra clean dining area and restrooms, and the kicker… *BETTER THAN MYRON MIXON! We ate at the Myron Mixon restaurant in Gatlinburg several weeks ago, expecting to have the best barbecue ever. We couldn’t have been more disappointed. KISER’S blows that place out of the water!!! Meats, sides, service, the whole nine yards....

Today Tony and I stopped at Kiser's BBQ in Athens, Ohio for dinner after our movie date to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary yesterday.

Tony started out upset from the jump for 2 reasons...it was 5:30 pm on Saturday..they do Ribs on Saturdays only and they were already 86'D on the menu...if they had a notice outside we would have went somewhere else immediately and the second reason, they do not serve BEER!!!

But, I wanted to eat here! I'm the driver, my choice!! We both had Iced Teas. Tony went with the Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ sandwich with the Sweet Red BBQ sauce on the side with the Creamy Cole Slaw. I chose the Maxwell Polish Sausage Dog with Peppers and onions. We ordered a individual size order of Onion Rings to share. We always split everything!!!

We only had to wait about 8 minutes for our food. It looked delicious!! Like I said it looked ..... Delicious!! The pulled pork was dry (glad for the sauce on the side) the Cole Slaw was great but it had huge pieces of cabbage...a little to big on cabbage chunks! But the taste was good.

The Polish Sausage did not have onions...but it was huge! The peppers were hot. I can see how they were going for a version of a Chicago dog, but it was a miss! The onion rings were very good. Not very greasy, and they were fried well not burnt. I loved them! The iced tea was very good also. Definitely would go back again. Not ruling them out, I would love for you to try them out if in the area and let me know...