Bandana's Bar-B-Q Columbia, MO — Restaurant in Columbia Township

I absolutely love Bandana's and have always had a great experience at all of the locations I have been to. That was until I went to the one in Columbia. I love the BBQ Chicken Nachos and today, I was extremely disappointed not only with the nachos, but with staff. The server was not rude, but was not friendly either. The cook made the nachos way too soon so I watched them sit in the window for 15 minutes until my friend meal came up. The server still severed them and I told her they were cold. She said, I told the cook that but he told me to bring them anyway, I will get you new nachos. With in 2 minutes, my new nachos came, they were hot but the was hardly any chicken or cheese (literally there was maybe 2 table spoons of both). I told the server, she said, I will let the manger know. She comes back with the ticket and says the manager took care of the nachos. I didn't want my nachos taken off, I wanted the issue fixed. Here is a tip from one restaurant manager to another...

DO NOT ALLOW COOKS OR SERVERS TO SERVE COLD FOOD THAT HAS BEEN SITTING IN THE WINDOW. SERVERS, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK THE COOK TO MAKE THE FOOD AGAIN, CORRECTLY (REMEMBER THIS IS YOUR TIP, YOUR LIVING) ALSO, SMILE! COOKS LEARN WHAT ITEMS NEED TO BE COOKED FIRST (OR ASK) SO ALL FOOD ITEMS COME OUT TOGETHER AND HOT. (PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR MAKING HOURLY PAY NOT TIPS SO PLEASE HELP YOUR SERVERS MAKE THEIR LIVING) YOU ARE A TEAM! MANAGERS WHEN A CUSTOMERS COMPLAINS ABOUT THE SAME FOOD ITEM MORE THAN ONCE, YOU NEED TO TALK TO THEM AND FIND OUT THE ISSUE, AND IF THE ISSUE IS IN FACT AN...

The moment you walk through the door you'll notice a sign posted high with the words "Smell That Smoke". Those words were an understatement, but in a good way. The smell of smoked meat filled the air and it was wonderful. I knew I had come to the right place for some good tasting BBQ.

For a restaurant chain like this I would think they'd want to spruce up the place a little more. It wasn't a deal breaker, but it would have made a positive difference. We actually changed tables a couple times because they weren't cleaned thoroughly and that was annoying.

Ok, moving on to the BBQ food. We both ended up ordering burnt ends which came with a couple sides. She chose french fries and coleslaw as her sides while I chose fried okra and potato salad. This was the first time that I have tried burnt ends and although I had nothing to compare them too I'm betting that these were some of the best.

To make a long story short, the food was delicious and the service was friendly. I will be back and next time I'm wanting to try a pulled pork sandwich. I deducted a star for cleanliness, but I'm waiting to see how things are the next time I visit to judge. We all can have off days.

Update: I have returned 2 times since then without any issues. I'll keep coming back. I love this place and I'm...

Traveling through on our way to Omaha. Hungry and tired. Arrived at the restaurant and the hostess has to turn around from where she was going to take us because all the tables were dirty. Took us to the other side of the restaurant and those tables were dirty as well. She cleaned a table for us and we sat down. 7 minutes later she (not our server) asked us what we would like for a drink. She brings us our drinks and another 10 minutes go by. In the mean time 3 different workers looked like they were coming over but, nope they were getting themselves drinks or wiping down a table. Still no server. Finally a young girl who was bussing a table when we arrived (did she wash her hands?) said our server got busy and she would be serving. I asked for the bbq nachos..."oh let me check that we have it" my husband asked for sausage. She leaves comes back and says, no nachos (chips or meat) and they did have sausage. No pulled pork either. That was it. I am not a huge bbq fan so I get nachos while my husband gets his fix and this was a horrid experience all around. Btw we left out and an outside table was piled high with dirty dishes. Why were there servers giggling and fooling around when there are so many empty dirty tables. This is a good chain restaurant but this location...