Dickey's Barbecue Pit — Restaurant in Buena Park

My, how things have changed

BIRTHDAY MONTH=BIRTHDAY COUPONS=HAPPY RODNEY

Free Classic Sandwich for Big Yellow Cup Reward members

Whu?! No more free soft serve! Oh, the agony!

I used to frequent this Dickey's Barbecue Pit when we'd attend the summer concerts at the Buena Park mall. Pick up a sandwich, a drink and plenty of free soft serve - good times! I stopped attending the concerts a few years ago, so haven't been by lately. When my Free Classic Sandwich coupon arrived in my inbox, I looked forward to visiting after being away so long.

First thing I noticed - no indoor seating. A lone young man was present, behind tables which blocked the beverage station, restrooms & kitchen. I let him know I was there to redeem my coupon, and he quickly helped me. Second thing I noticed - where was the free soft serve? He informed me the company eliminated that years ago. Man, that's half the reason for visiting Dickey's. At least for me, that is.

Finally, the last & most egregious thing - the brisket was horrible! I chose the Classic Sandwich w/ brisket to go, and the meat was tough & inedible. Akin to old pot roast, this was the poorest example of brisket I've yet to witness. After picking at it a few times, I had no alternative but to throw the sandwich away. That bad.

The young staff worker was friendly & provided quick service. However, it's the product being served which causes the operation to topple over like a house of cards. The dismal food quality control, not to mention the lack of beloved free soft serve, is why I won't be back.

Free Big BBQ sandwich for email club members

Attending the Buena Park Downtown Summer Concert Series, held in the courtyard between the Krikorian Theatre & the mall, some eats were what were called for. Dickey's being the closest eatery in proximity and not having been there prior, Dickey's seemed just the answer we needed for some summertime pre-show grub.

With the concerts being on Wednesdays, I had the pulled pork & Polish sausage Westerner combo. The sandwich comes on ciabatta bread & a side of original BBQ sauce, accompanied with pickles, onions & cheddar cheese. Having the sauce on the side was a nice touch, as customers can apply the amount of sauce they want, as opposed to drenching the sandwich outright. I would have preferred the cheese to have been melted onto the pulled pork & polish sausage, but it wasn't a deal breaker. The pulled pork was tender & juicy, the sausage fatty & unctuous. The Westerner is Dickey's largest sandwich, and it was, indeed, a generous amount. My 2 sides were waffle fries & fried okra. The waffle fries were good, however, I would've preferred a spicy seasoning, like say, Carl's Jr.'s criss-cut fries. The fried okra was delicious! Cooked to perfection, these were much better than the okra I get at my beloved Church's Chicken.

For my free birthday month Big BBQ sandwich, I chose brisket as the meat. Like the Westerner, the sandwich came with onions & pickles, but no cheese I found Dickey's brisket to be rather dry. I'd prefer a fattier cut. Slathering on BBQ sauce helped make the sandwich more palatable.

Service was good. I didn't wait long for my order, and staff seemed to be helpful & friendly. A good amount of seating, with al fresco options overlooking the Buena Park Downtown courtyard.

Dickey's, I raise my Big Yellow Cup to you! Which, BTW, is reusable, recyclable, dishwasher & microwave-safe! Your Deals of the Day are, in fact, deals where customers can have a filling, stick to your ribs BBQ meal for not a lot of scratch. Having free soft serve is the icing on the cake. The food's good & always an option when I attend another summer concert.

Highly...

(UPDATE)

Came back after awhile of not going to Dickey's.

... I think it had a lot to do with communication. I wasn't wearing a mask this time and I think that made all the difference.

Got a great kielbasa sandwich, Mac & Cheese, and fries for a fair price.

It was really good... and looking back like a year ago, I can very much see this was a communication problem.

Will definitely go back 👍👍👍

Honestly, I'm pretty confused by the interaction I had today.

Went over to Dickey's for lunch, or, at least, I tried to. I looked at menu and tried to order a Kielbasa Sandwich with a small Mac and Cheese.

I'm looking at the menu, and it looks like 15 bucks at the most. Give or take a dollar. Sure, a little pricy, but I wanted a kielbasa sandwich, that sounded really good.

First off, the cashier and chef have a small discussion whether or not they have Kielbasa. And that was fine, no worries there, they took about a minute or so to give me an answer, no worries, but the transaction, that's what got my attention.

...38 bucks? What? I was so confused and I was worried the cashier didn't understand what I wanted or something. So I respond saying something like, " For a keilbasa sandwich and a small mac and cheese, are you sure?"

The cashier then tells me he'll throw in a discount, and that takes a minute or so. He then lowers the price to 30.

I go on to say, "Dude, I just wanted a keilbasa sandwich. The menu says it's like 9.50. Why is your price so high?"

The cashier then says something about the menu not being up to date.

Honestly, I don't know if it was me or him. I'm kinda worried I just wasn't clear about what I wanted or the price for a keilbasa sandwich just went sky high as of late?

I think it might've been a communication problem? Maybe? I mean, I was wearing a mask, we were pretty far from each other. I don't know, he repeated my order back to me though, if I remember correctly.

Anyways, left after that. Was not going to spend 30 bucks on lunch...

I haven't been here since pre-COVID, and I was really craving it. I was so disappointed. The menu is extremely limited now. We paid $40 for 2 1-meat plates, that included the meat of your choice plus 2 sides and a dinner roll, plus 2 small drinks. So, right off the bat, way too expensive. My mother ordered a piece of Texas toast, and was told that they didn't have any, and that the plate came with a dinner roll...BUT they could swap out the dinner roll for a piece of the Texas toast....which they just told her they didn't have any!! My mom also ordered the BBQ chicken, which came sliced. Then while we were eating, another group of ladies came in and asked if they had chicken, the staff told her they didn't have any of that either. We were so confused! We told them we were dining in, but they brought the food to our table completely tied up in a to-go bag. We had to sit there and unpack it all so we could eat. The food itself was "ok"...not terrible, but not great, and lukewarm at best. Not ONE of the items were hot. If we WERE going to take it home, it would have been cold by the time we got it to the car. Dickey's has a great reputation, and the last time I was there, it was amazing. My mom had never eaten there before, so I was really hoping for a much better experience. Unfortunately, between the experience and the lackluster food, we won't be returning. The one star I gave was for the Mac n Cheese and the Baked Potato Casserole. They were both good, even though they were barely warm. I normally don't give bad reviews, but I feel this one...