Bullock's Bar-B-Cue — Restaurant in Durham

As an out-of-towner traveling for work, a quick search for good BBQ in Durham turns up Bullock's nearly every time. I can see why as the place was packed on a Tuesday night in May and I imagine it will stay that way into the future. Here are my comments:

Service - the service was terrific. Fran was a delight and answered all of my questions with aplomb. Refills were prompt and the food was brought out in a timely manner.

Atmosphere - Personally, the atmosphere and vibe was a bit out-of-date for me, but I can see why people like it. It's a traditional down-home country setting with pictures of famous people on the walls and a no-frills approach.

Food - Finally, the food. I wanted to try everything so I got the "family style all you can eat" for one person and added a side of sliced brisket. In all, I received pulled pork, sliced brisket, fried chicken, hush puppies, string beans, brunswick stew, cole slaw, and french fries. With all that, the food was a bit hit or miss for me. When I see "barbecue" in the name of the restaurant and thousands of reviews and fame, I expect big things from the smoked meats themselves. Personally, both the brisket and the pork were underwhelming. The pork tasted mostly of vinegar (I know NC style is vinegar forward, but still) and, for me, was way too chopped. Very little texture to it. The brisket was better but wasn't as tender / juicy as good barbecue brisket typically is from Texas or other regions. Also, it was sliced too thin, but perhaps that was done to make up for the lack of juiciness. The fried chicken was actually the star of the show - each piece was perfectly fried, super crispy, juicy, well seasoned and delicious. The sides were just OK, with the hush puppies and string beans being very good, the slaw being OK and the brunswick stew being below average. Lastly, the portions were absolutely HUGE. I know I ordered all-you-can-eat, but I was expecting moderation in the initial serving and then you can add more pieces of things as you want them. Instead, I got like 3 pounds of food all served at once! Just the chicken portion of this meal (which was "for one") was a full fried chicken - eight pieces! I'm a big eater, but I was never going to finish everything and felt quite bad about ordering that much food without knowing it and not eating all of it.

In general, it was a good visit and I'm glad I patronized Bullock's, a famous local spot, this one time. That said, I will probably go elsewhere if I'm in Durham again and looking for some barbecue.

One more note -...

Cleanliness 3/5. The condiments were coated in grease and gunk from other customers dirty hands. The least that could have been done was to wipe off sauce bottles and toss out the melted cups of butter.

Service 2/5. I didn't completely fault the waitress considering she was handling 8 - 10 tables by herself while the floor manager just watched. We never got water refills. We did get refilled hushpuppies once. The odd part came at the end when we went to pay. We needed change for a $20 to leave a tip. The waitress comes back after we went to pay just to see no tip on our table and quickly jumps to conclusions that we weren't leaving her one by the attitude she exuded as we tried to chase her around the restaurant just to give it to her by hand at which point she acts naive: "What do you want ME to do with this?" I should have snatched the tip money back and replied "Nothing. My mistake."

Price 3/5. You won't break the bank.

Quality 1/5. This is what you always fear. Going somewhere, where you can't see the meat before its cooked. My Pulled Pork was marvelous. The coleslaw was school cafeteria grade level and soupy. The ribs were incredible until I got to the very end. I chewed on the last piece of meat of the ribs and started to cough at the taste of turned/bad meat. My wifes meal (bone in chicken sandwich and chicken salad sandwich) was perfect and so would mine have been if not for that last bite I accidentally swallowed. Its as if the end of the rib was cooked - AFTER it had already turned bad. I'm hoping I don't get sick. To the cooks - do a better job inspecting the raw meat and keep it better packaged.

I...

Updated 11-8-23 - Unfortunately, I cannot continue to support this establishment. Called in an order for lunch today ordering a small Flounder and Scallops plate. I get there and have to wait 15 minutes to pickup my order as the takeout is not very efficient. So when I finally get my order, I get to the cashier and it is $10 more than I expected. I am advised that the menu on the website is old and outdated. The cashier says that they are not able to update the menu online. Not sure why a successful business would not hire a service like GoDaddy to ensure that their online presence is updated. I finally get home to check my food and the scallops that I paid for are actually oysters with crumbly breading all over the plate. I feel like I just wasted $23 dollars and 35 minutes of my lunch hour. I hope that Bullocks takes steps to improve their take out service. People don't mind paying increased pricing when they receive good service, hot food and the correct order. Bullock's has been a staple of the city for great food at reasonable prices. Don't neglect to update your take out service model to provide timely service

The food is great. My only issue is if they would invest in dedicated staff to take calls for take out. The parking and waiting area for take out is always challenging. The lobby has to accommodate people waiting to be seated and take out. It is very tight during busy times. Having someone take phone in orders consistently would alleviate the wait times and congestion in the...