Judge Bean's BBQ — Restaurant in Brentwood

I always look for green beans on a menu at a barbeque joint, it's key to the BBQ experience for me. Judge Beans gots the beans! And they were delicious! Also, if you're going to serve pulled chicken, you really should offer the white sauce. That's what MAKES pulled chicken. Judge Beans has that, too. Their white sauce has a thick consistency, and if not the best I've ever had, it's pretty freaking close. Can't think of a better one off the top of my head...if you've never had white sauce, try it. Unless you hate mayonnaise, then don't try it. White sauce is mayonnaise based and sometimes has a little horseradish. It's SO good on poultry. Now...I had the the pulled pork plate with green beans, obviously, and fried okra. The fried okra was really crunchy and delicious, and at least half a pound of it on my plate. The hubby got the pulled pork and pulled chicken plate with turnip greens and mac n cheese. That white sauce though...🤤 he also really liked the BBQ sauce that came with the pork, it's more of a vinegar based sauce, which is not my thing. But they had a thick sweet on the table and that IS my thing. And it was good with a little of that vinegar based mixed in. It came served on those shallow metal trays which are perfect for barbeque. Plenty of space to experiment with the sauces. They also have their own Judge Beans pepper sauce you could mix in for a little extra kick. We both had the sweet tea, it wasn't overly sweet, so it was really good. I really wanted to try the sweet potato fries, but I knew I would never finish HALF of what I had on my plate. So, next time, I'm getting those for sure. There were so many yummy looking items on the menu and not enough room in our stomachs. They also had a full service bar, saving that for next time as well. No idea if they have dessert, didn't make it that far. 🤣 Now we discuss the staff. It's a seat yourself kind of place but we were still greeted at the door by Emma. She cleaned our table, brought us menus and silverware, took our drink order and then gave us plenty of time to review the menu without us feeling forgotten. She constantly acknowledged us and checked on us. I observed her with the other patrons and there was an older gentleman with a LOT of questions and she was so kind and patient with him and incredibly helpful. She was thorough in her explanations and brought us to go boxes and a bag to put them in, that's actually important information because most places don't give you a bag and without a bag our leftovers would have been on the ground in the parking lot. I'm known for dropping food. 😬 Anyway Emma was exceptional and we'll...

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A CATERING REVIEW

We used Judge Bean's for our daughter's wedding last weekend at Cheval Manor in Murfreesboro. We can recommend Nick and his crew without hesitation. When we first inquired about pricing, we were immediately invited for a tasting, which turned out to be a full meal. Their BBQ and sides are amazing.

Nick's Southern charm is appealing; I - far away in Maryland - was getting panicky about his laid-back attitude - he didn't even charge a deposit! But for every question I had, he assured me in his easy-going way. When I inquired about how much ice we needed to bring, Nick said he would bring ice and 2 cases of water for us, free of charge. A small touch but very much appreciated. He came to the venue in plenty of time to set up and was constantly in touch with either me or my wedding planner during the set-up and dinner.

During the cocktail hour after the wedding, Nick fried pickles on site (a huge hit!!) and also served chips with guacamole (which went in a flash) and salsa. For the buffet, we chose pulled pork and beef; green beans, baked beans, their signature mac 'n cheese, and salad for our sides; and sandwich buns. Iced tea and lemonade came from them as well.

Nick and his assistant continually monitored the buffet, refilling as needed, and announced "seconds" for all guests. They dismissed tables quickly, and having a line on both sides of the buffet sped things up. When dinner was over, they put foil over "tons" of left overs (Nick reassured me he always cooks extra, and he definitely did) for us to take. Many guests freely spoke to me about the quality of the food. Barbecue aficionados at our table were quick to sing the praises of the meat. You cannot go wrong with Judge Bean's - either dining in or having them cater....

Stay far away from Judge Bean's BBQ, this by far has to be the worst dinning experience in my entire life. When we first entered it was awkward not being greeted but having multiple servers just walk past us. Finally someone did point to a table, he never returned. Then after 15 minutes a female approached us and took drink orders. 15 mins later about 3 other tables being sat, and there drinks coming out immediately. The server who has passed us at least six times, we had to flag her down take our order, but no she wasn't even going to do that. Again I'll be right back, so I asked to speak with a manager, I'm sure that she sent over another server, after all he was the one who sat us in the first place and forgot us. However he comes back and apologizes for the wait and says that he'll give 50% off the bill and also offered a free dessert. We order and it takes 30 minutes for the entire order to arrive. 1 table who was sat after we got there, has now ate and left. The other table are already enjoying there meal. Just about finished eating by the time our server who apologized, comes over the check on drinks, but really just to ask if the check is going to be split. It's now time to pay of course no discount so I'm just ready to end the horrid experience. The "manager" server returns to point us to the front to pay, after the cashier checks us he then decides to heads to front and says that he was going to discount the check. The cashier offered a cash. He says No. then he'll refund the prior transaction and rerun the transaction. As we're leaving he says that he wasn't about to loose money for that. But yet you are word travels fast. You lost two consumers both whose work place did use for catering. Please stay far away here. I wish I could give a...