Beach BBQ — Restaurant in Bentonville

I rarely give a 5 star review as long as I have been a Google guide. So believe me this place deserves this rating until proven wrong. We got to the BBQ joint about 15 minutes before they were to close on a sunday afternoon. We were greeted by a bar and bar tender straight ahead as we entered. We tried to order online, but since they are so new (opened 2 wks ago), they didn't have a menu or website ready to order or to view the menu. (Those need to be remedied ASAP as people want to look at a menu before they come in). There is a large blackboard menu on the wall next to the food counter, so we were able to review all the options. They sell by the plate and by the pound. We opted for the plates since we had 5 people in our group, but I plan to buy in bulk the next visit. We called out or individual plates as we watched the pit folks cut and prepare our various meats. My mouth was literally watering as they cut the fresh brisket. As they were cutting the brisket, James, theco-owner, came over and started talking to us as we asked about how he came to open this BBQ joint. He is a very courteous and friendly young man, who 100% has a passion for BBQ. We opted for a pound of pork belly in addition to our orders. Let me say this...every bite of every meat was perfect. That is about as true as I can get. I have eaten at every BBQ place in Northwest Arkansas, and for the total food flavor, there is none better (sorry Wright's and Smokin' Joes). The ribs fell off the bone, and every piece was edible with a crispy and slightly sweet bark. The pork belly stole the show with everyone, and I was literally dipping the juices from the brown paper with a bread bun! I personally was not a fan of the kimchi slaw, but all the other sides we delicious. They provided three different sauces that we blended while trying them out. The portions were excellent (the prices are just bit higher than the local favorites), and the packing did a great job of keeping the food hot for 2 hours, and I really appreciate the compostable trays. All in, we are very happy with this new place. I truly wish them the best! This new customer will be...

I ordered the 3 meat plate with fatty brisket, pulled pork, turkey (meat cutters recommendation) mac and cheese and collard greens.

Service -- I went for an early weekday lunch. They were not very busy, so I got in, ordered, paid and was seated, all about 5 minutes or so. Nice! -- I was asked if I wanted sauces with my meal, I told them what sauces and proceeded to not get any sauces. Not a big problem as I like to try the meat without sauce. More of the principal of it. The conversation they were having amongst themselves was more important I suppose.

Atmosphere -- The building is neat, has a small bar and plenty of seating inside for a building of it's size and plenty outside if you like that kind of thing. -- The music so so loud, it was hard to concentrate on eating or have a conversation. Not a place for a quiet meal. Please, turn the music down.

Food -- The brisket was cooked perfectly (in my opinion) and was tender. However it lacked any additional flavors from seasoning or smoke. -- The pulled pork again, was cooked perfectly. Tender and not dry. However, they put what I assume is Tajin on it, which gave it a weird flavor. If I had known it had Tajin on it, I would have got something else. It also lacked any smoke flavor. -- The turkey was excellent. Tender, seasoned perfectly, and moist. It was the best part of the meal and I'm glad I took the cutter's recommendation. Oddly enough, it had some smoke flavor too! -- The collard greens were acceptable. Not the best I've ever had, not the worst. If there was some vinegar pepper sauce to put in it, it would have been better. But they're very plain. -- The mac and cheese was not good. It didn't really taste like anything to me. I'm not sure what they use for cheese, but it didn't have much of a sauce or flavor.

Summary When I saw the construction going on, I was excited for a new BBQ joint. I left pretty disappointed. I'll probably go one more time and see if it was a fluke, but they'll really have to bring it. Hold the Tajin and turn the music...

This is a mixed review, but let me start with a full disclosure: we are from Austin, and we have very high standards for BBQ. We are not Texan BBQ snobs at all. We enjoy all kinds of BBQ, whether it’s Texas, Kansas, Carolina, Korean, whatever. All that matters is the flavor.

Well, friends, this place is a mixed bag.

The location is very cool and looks like the kind of place you’d want to hang out at and enjoy a plate of ribs and beer. The service was very nice and friendly. But my “Uh Oh Alarm” was tripped when I did not smell oak smoke while walking up to the restaurant. I had called in take out, so our order was already in the bag, so to say.

Item by item, here’s my opinion:

Smoked chicken wings - absolutely incredible. Get the dry rubbed wings and ask for spicy. They’re medium spicy by Texas standards, but they were incredibly flavorful. I would go there just for the wings and beer.

Sliced Brisket - this ain’t it, folks. While it was tender, it absolutely requires sauce. I always eschew sauce since it just hides subpar brisket, which this was. I wouldn’t order this ever again.

Baby Back Ribs - same as above. Looked like it would taste amazing. It was not. Very tender, very bland. I ended up giving these to my dog.

Collard Greens - these were incredible. Nice rich flavor with bacon or ham in the mix.

Mac & Cheese - this was also enjoyable. It wasn’t that orange runny stuff you get at some places (TBH, I like that stuff, too)… it was more of a Parmesan Mac & cheese.

Kimchi Coleslaw - I didn’t have high hopes for this, but I was pleasantly surprised. I’m not sure it qualifies as kimchi, because it wasn’t all that spicy. But it still had a nice tart and vinegar flavor that was enjoyable.

My guess is Beach BBQ isn’t “oak smoked” at all but instead pressure cooked with smoke flavor. Maybe I’m wrong, but the brisket and ribs were not worthy of a second try. Everything else we ordered was delicious, though, and the ambiance and service...