Bandana's Bar-B-Q Carbondale Il — Restaurant in Carbondale

It makes me sad to update my 4 star review from 5 years ago and switch it to a 1. Unfortunately, this is what Bandanas has done to themselves.

The budget buster options don't openly advertise the amount of meat you get, for good reason because it's hardly enough to constitute any sort of meal. For chicken, you get 3 piece of chicken that taste and look like frozen Tyson chicken strips. They're a little bigger than an index finger. The corn seems to have come from a can. The fries are bland and basic. I don't even think Walmart sells fries this boring.

The rib sandwich is falsely advertised as coming with a toasted bun. Instead you get two pieces of garlic bread with bone-in ribs. If you've ever had the displeasure of eating their ribs lately you'll know they are tough and dry. This isn't a sandwich unless you're a dog and can eat right through bone, I guess.

The rib sandwich raises the question of why it is advertised as coming with 1 piece of garlic bread and a side, yet you get two pieces of garlic bread to constitute the "bun". For those not following, it's a rip off.

They're also charging exorbitant prices for basic drinks nearing $3. If you insist on going here, get it to go or get a water. You should never pay $3 for flavored sugar water.

Altogether, $30 gets you a soda, 3 dry bland pieces of probably frozen store bought chicken, 3 tiny chewy fatty ribs, a tiny cup of canned baked beans and corn, and 3 pieces of garlic bread. Oh and the privilege of sitting within a foot of every other customer (despite plenty of tables) and elusive servers.

At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if this place closes by the end of 2024. They really need to up their standards and quality to avoid becoming another failed Carbondale business. Likewise, customers need to up their standards as well to get the message across if they haven't already. Very sad how many businesses in town have stopped trying.

I'll never go back after being a loyal customer of 5 years. Bandanas appears to be purchasing the lowest dollar food they can get, "cooking" it in the most basic sense of the word, and selling for an undeserved...

I should have read the reviews. Recommended by a local, and it was average at best. First a side salad with processed shredded cheese on it - no thank you. The meats were both very dry, pork had very little flavor, and luckily, the spicy bbq sauce helped that out. The brisket was very disappointing. Very little of it, very dried out and very hard, it would not break apart with fork. I had to put pressure on it with fork and a knife to separate at all. Not even the bbq sauce could salvage the brisket. The garlic bread has no garlic flavor to it and was so buttery that you could literally feel the butter releasing from the bread with every bite. I really wanted to like this place, but I just can't. It is less than...

On 09/19/2021 around 5 pm, my Husband, daughter, and I came here to eat. The restaurant floors were dirty, there was silverware, straw wrappers, etc on the floor. The women's restroom was sketchy, it was disgusting. There wasn't alot of customers when we came in, so this seemed like the employee were just lazy. I know it's hard to find good employees right now, as I work in the industry. But, if you have time to lean you have time to clean. This was my first time eating here, and I wasn't impressed with the food. Our server was awesome, I wish I could remember his name, but I did tip him 20%. Because, it's not his fault that my experience wasn't the best. At our table, all the sauce bottles were...