Old Armory BBQ — Restaurant in Decorah

Came in out of state (Indiana) and have to try the local BBQ. The few people I asked about where to get good BBQ told me about Old Armory BBQ. Welp, I had to try it out. Small location but with good parking and outside seating. Good location too by the college. Staff was exceptionally friendly and accommodated me with a special request on my nachos.

Menu is small, however this is not a bad thing. Everything is represented on the menu that you would expect. I prefer this as it tells me they specialize on what they are, a BBQ joint, and not cafe style with a thousand different things but great at nothing. They are doing what they do right. 5 sauces at each table for whatever hits you at the time you eat. You will find one you like. We settled on the Kansas City as it is a bit sweeter. It's the style I prefer when I light up my own pit.

My wife ordered the brisket tacos, and baked beans. She opted for the slaw on the side instead of on the tacos. Tacos were good. Brisket was a touch dry, which isn't a bad thing to me on tacos or sliders as it makes a good vehicle for the sauce. I'm not making excuses for it because it was still delicious. Brisket is a fickle thing and they did theirs great!

I had the nachos. I asked if they could use brisket instead of the pork or chicken. There was a small upcharge but I completely expected that. They were delicious. Their choice of chips were spot on and it was a good portion size.

Now to where I think Old Armory shines.

The sides.

First, the corn muffins. Why these aren't sold out when they first open i dont understand. Made with probably cream corn (how I make mine so kind of similar), and jalepenos. Was extremely moist and cake like, not crumbly like most corn miffins. I should have ordered a dozen.

The mac and cheese was standard. Of the entire meal these shined the least. Good texture and sauce just nothing fancy. I would never tell someone what they should and shouldn't be doing but, jalapeños like in the muffins, pulled pork, or even previous days brisket mixed in would top the Mac and cheese off. Either way was good.

Now for the pièce de ré·sis·tance. The baked beans. I'm not sure what Harry Potter spell they perform to make these but these are special. These are like your wife giving birth to your first baby but hands you a second and says "SURPRISE!" Yeah THAT kinda special. Like your first kiss special. Like when a lawyer calls you to tell you an old uncle you never knew dies and left you some money kinda special. Like the log you just hooked in the river turns out to be a 30lb channel cat. Ok enough about that, these beans are amazing. Maybe just our preference but the best thing they gave us.

Good job OABBQ, we will be back if...

In Decorah/Calmar for Memorial Weekend, ate Saturday night around 7pm with a group of 8 at the Old Armory BBQ (208 College Dr.) and it was not busy, only a table of 4. Picked Old Armory BBQ for dinner based upon previous reviews. Ordering was simple yet confusing when walking in the door - menu board at ceiling height of entering (left side of restaurant) then moving over to the right side to place order. Staff was courteous, and working at the cashier register and on the line cooking - total of three staff. Pricing of food was fair to middle. Ordered the beef brisket sandwich. The beef brisket was not SMOKED and not too sure if it was a brisket cut of meat?. The beef was dry, not flavored of smoke or seasoning. The bun was not grilled or toasted and had no flavor or taste - plain. It was edible but not satisfying. My wife order the Chicken Street Tacos. Let's just say they were very wet - swimming in liquid! Juice from the Cole Slaw and roasted chicken covered the bottom of the plate. The chicken was NOT smoked and lacked flavor - no seasoning. I asked others about their meals (Beef Brisket/Cuban/Prime Rib), four members were not impressed and two others said their food was good. I tried the Mac & Cheese - the pasta was cooked perfectly (firm, not too tender) but the Mac & Cheese lacked any flavor of cheese and there was no seasoning (salt/pepper) - very bland, unappealing. When I go to a restaurant that is offering BBQ, I expect smoked meats in all of your dishes! That was not the case on our visit. Something has changed with the food since moving to the College Drive location (previously at Water & Mechanic St.) and based upon the previous reviewers of this establishment. Go with a warning to Old Armory BBQ, as of September 2021 - not as good as it used to be! I would like to go back and try a different item to see if this was a one off situation but my experience says spend my money somewhere else for a...

Environment: Nice. I liked the very casual dinner setting. The lighting was appropriate, and the music was not loud.

Service: Good. We were attended by two young gentlemen, which were very nice and helpful.

Cleanliness: Not very shinny. A few of the silverware pieces were not washed adequately (they looked stained, and I could remove the stain with my napkin). One of the plates provided has previous food residue on it.

Food: Very disappointing. As a starter we had Iowa nachos. These were OK. I ordered a beef brisket platter with smoked BBQ beans and house fries. The beans were delicious and the fries were good. The meat had no taste at all. I had to use a lot of sauce to eat it. My wife had baby back ribs with mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were really great, but the meat (again) had no taste. She tried putting sauce on them, but she gave up.

Price: Not reasonable. We spent about $45 in a meal fow two. I would expect tasty food for that price.

The only thing that made me not to give 1 star is the fact that I appreciate a good service when provided. On the other hand, I expect an enjoyable dinner when eating out at a restaurant. We could have very well gone to a fast food, and that would have...