Bandana's Bar-B-Q Collinsville, IL — Restaurant in Collinsville

Well, this was actually my very first time at this restaurant. It was my very first time at the restaurant, overall, because even though it was in Collinsville, Illinois, I had never gone to the restaurant on the St. Louis side, either. But that's neither here nor there. As you'll see from the myriad of photos I took, the food and exterior of the restaurant are pretty great. But let me get to the food, since that's the main purpose of this review.

Overall, for my first time visiting bandanas, I will say that I enjoyed the food very much; it was actually pretty tasty. The fried okra that I ordered was lacking in a bit of flavor. I added some salt to the dish; that sort of helped to enhance the flavor a little bit. The beef brisket and pulled-pork were both delightful dishes. I also thought that the baked beans had a nice, smoky flavor to them. Even the french fries were not bad.

Where the restaurant went kind of "wrong" to me was the presentation of the whole experience overall. In particular what I'm referring to is the men's restroom! I guess I assumed that since the exterior of the restaurant was so neat and clean, and pretty immaculate, I also thought the interior would match. You'll see from a few of the photos that I took that the interior of the restaurant was not perfect; but it was not terrible, either.

It was the restroom that brought me all the way down to three stars. If I could have given them three and a half stars (3.5) I would have done that instead. However, Google does not allow for half star points. The server was pretty amazing as well! Unfortunately, she was not wearing a name tag and therefore I can't mention her, here, because she didn't wear one. She was very friendly, though. But maybe the restaurant does not require name tags of its staff; I really don't know.

Is it a restaurant that I would visit again in the future??? Hmmm...I probably would. Aside from the dissatisfaction with the cleanliness of the restroom, I see no reason to not go there again. Although I will say that my friend whom I was visiting in Illinois said that his barbecue chicken was not very good at all. I think out of four pieces of chicken---all dark meat because that's what he requested---he may have had one piece of chicken that was juicy and flavorful. The other pieces of chicken were...

Ok so let me start off with saying I loved the food here, it really hit the spot and when I'm in the area, I will definitely visit again. So I love BBQ anything, and am always on the hunt for the best brisket. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a great brisket. Anyhow, Bandana's brisket had a great flavor. Probably the best flavor I've come across, if not tied for my number 1 spot. To the bite it was very tender and had a nice smoke ring to boot. My only this down would be on the pull test as it some what gave up a fight. Lol The pulled pork was also very tender across the board, had a nice smoke ring to it shown in the pictures and had good flavor as well. To me if you do things right, you don't need sauces. But I tried them all to conduct a successful review. My favorite out of the 5 on the table was the Sweet and Smoky sauce. Very rich in flavor with a bold statement with its tomato base. The KC Style sauce would be my 2nd choice with its rich sweet flavor but was completely different at the same time from the Sweet and Smoky. Their Chicago style didn't have much difference from the top 2. Was almost like the 2 mixed together, but was still great none the less. The "Spicy" sauce was humorous as it had no heat and really no flavor, again just my opinion. That one needs some help. And finally but not least their original sauce is a mustard base sauce was strong with its own bang for the buck. I didn't use the original other than the taste test, I'm just not a mustard base fan. Moving on, the green beans were superb and out of this world with a back taste that I cannot figure put. My luck is its something easy too. Lol The BBQ beans truly amazing as well. If I'm correct it was backed by their Sweet and Smoky sauce and included a lightness of pulled pork to the mix. I highly encourage both beans. The sweet tea was pretty awesome too. Definitely no yankee made the tea. Lol All in all I really enjoyed my meal, kudos to Bandana's, keep up...

Apologies for the lengthy review. In short, my experiences are due to the great staff. The food is always consistent. And the restaurant is always clean and welcoming.

My parents and I have been coming here for many years on a regular basis. Something that I feel brings us back time and time again is the staff. From manager to kitchen staff to host, everyone is putting in the effort to make their guests' experiences the best they can be. The host was quick to seat us and is always ready to make special accomodations if requested. Our server, Lexie, arrived very promptly to our table to get our drink order while we looked at the menu. When she got back with our drinks, she was ready to take our food order, making sure to note any special requests. Not long after, our food was brought to the table. I had the turkey dinner(without the skin or "center cut") with green beans, sweet cut corn, and applesauce instead of the garlic bread. The food is always exactly what we expect. I am able to depend on the staff at Bandana's to give me exactly what I want and not have any variation based on who is working that night. Lexie came by frequently enough so we could ask for anything that we needed but not too often that we felt smothered with attention. From my seat, I was able to observe the rest of the wait staff giving the same great service to other guests and the manager walking around fulfilling his tasks and checking on the guests. Over the years, I have been to many restaurants in the area. Some restaurants give good service all the time and some don't. This Bandana's is one restaurant that has never let me down.

Keep up the great work Collinsville Bandana's! And if you haven't been in a while make sure to check...