JJ's Meat Shak- Catering Services — Restaurant in Buena Vista

My husband and I originally selected JJ’s as our wedding caterer in 2019 for a May 2020 wedding - a wedding that was postponed until June 2022 due to covid. While the food was great both in 2019 and on our wedding day last Saturday, we had several problems with unprofessional and frankly rude behavior on the part of the JJ’s owner/manager.

We had written communication in early 2020 that stated final numbers needed to be submitted 2 weeks prior to the event. When we did so 3 weeks prior to our wedding date, we were told the policy was changed in the last two years to 30 days. This was done without notifying us and JJ’s would no longer honor our agreement. However, the owner said we could “meet in the middle” by making slightly less food, although still significantly more than our final numbers. When asked if she understood that this was going against our agreement that we had in writing, she flatly responded that she didn’t care about the agreement and wasn’t going to lose money on our order by changing the number. She told us we could do her proposed number or walk away - three weeks prior to our wedding. There were no other caterers available at such short notice. In the end, we ended up with a large amount of leftover food.

Second, on the day of the wedding, the JJ’s staff arrived late in the afternoon after the morning food drop, during which they had placed all the beverages for the wedding in the beating sun. The father of the groom had to speak with the staff in order to make sure the drinks were iced down in time for the event and about the lack of preparation as guests were arriving.

I worked in the restaurant industry for many years, including wedding catering, and my husband and I were planning a wedding on a budget. While the end result was good BBQ, the bumps in the road, including being treated so rudely on the phone, were very off putting on what was already an event delayed through no fault of our own. During a conversation the owner literally stated that we “didn’t care about small businesses'' and heavily implied that we were wealthy W&L kids who just don’t get it. We do get it - and we would suggest taking your...

I raved to my friend about the bbq at JJ’s, so we I drove 30 minutes out of our way to and pick up up a picnic dinner to have later that night for when we arrived at our destination in Broadway Virginia, Its over two hours away and no cell service. I ordered bbq by the pound, cole slaw, carolina sauce, 4 rolls, macaroni and cheese, and some pecan pie. When we were hungry I pulled out air picnic dinner, and to my surprise there was no pecan pie, and no Carolina sauce. I was of course upset because I felt like I had not delivered what I had promised to be a wonderful meal. My friend said not to worry we would just stop the next day, again going 30 minutes out of our way to pick up the pecan pie and some Carolina sauce so that we could have our meal the way it was originally intended. When we arrived we told the man at the desk what it happened. He said he could not give us pecan pie they were out. And that I had not paid for Carolina sauce on my ticket, and that we were supposed to report this immediately when we realized the meal was wrong. I explained that we had no service where we were and had no idea it would be such a problem to replace just some pecan pie and Carolina sauce. Again he pointed at the receipt that said you had to report it right away. I couldn’t believe it and I asked if he was a manager and he said he was part owner. He offered to give us some coconut cream pie and said I could pay for some Carolina sauce. When I purchased everything the night before there was no mention of having to pay for the Carolina sauce or I would’ve been happy too because thats what I like on my bbq. However, when I said could you just give us some Carolina sauce we’ve gone 30 minutes out of our way to come back? He said that they were not in a habit of giving away food. I have been in the Customer Service industry for over 35 years. This is not the way you keep customers. I will never go out of my way to patronize JJ‘s meat shack again. Someone needs to give that Young man a lesson and good...

My family and I were on our way home to PA from TN. It was dinner time and we were needing a stretch break. I pulled up restaurants on google maps and found this gem. The town was rather quiet and to be honest we were quite nervous that we took a wrong turn. When we pulled in, the parking lot was full. Which is always a good sign! There was a rather long line but it moved super quick! My husband had the pulled pork sandwich. The pork was tender, juicy and full of flavor. It came topped with coleslaw which was a great touch and he dipped it in the Boss sauce. Amazing! The kids enjoyed the burgers and Mac and cheese. It’s so nice to get Mac and cheese and it’s actually homemade not the Kraft boxed stuff! I had a salad which was super fresh and delicious. We sat in front of the pizza oven and enjoyed watching them make the pizzas. It made me want to get one to go, so I did! The pizza sauce is full of flavor and the crust, oh man the crust is so crispy. Some of the best pizza I’ve had in awhile. We were able to talk with the owner, Lew and learned about how JJ’s Meat Shak all started. If you’re not from the area but want to have some great homemade bbq and stone fired pizza, I suggest you stop and try it out...