Swadley's Bar-B-Q — Restaurant in Enid

Meh ... Just meh.

• I don't normally review 'chain' restaurants, but since this is only in Oklahoma, I made an exception *

The service was flawless. Tony was a wonderful server and another lady, gorgeous at that, approached me and we had a fun chat. The food was plentiful, but gosh it was cold and felt like lunch-time-leftover. Tony provided all the sauces Swadley's has/had to offer and I liked 2 out of the 4 sauces provided. Upon entering Swadley's it was a maze of barn-wall feel. Steer ropes here and there adorn the process to make it up to the counter. Ordering felt like a chain restaurant at that. Aside from calling out my order over an intercom Wendy's or KFC could be likened to this sort of dining feel. All-in-all it was a fun atmosphere and a nice nod to cattle farming and Oklahoma in general. For this dining experience and one that I could really give a solid review of I ordered none other than the "Oklahoma Special". Not quite the Holy Trinity of BBQ, but this gave me a broad taste of the different styles of meat Swadley's puts their brand to. Accompanying the pre-selected meat choices were; spicy beans and sweet corn. The sweet corn was AMAZING! Excellent flavor and heat (not off putting) I could have eaten hot or cold. The beans were meh, too soupy and seemed like the beans in the barrel were more liquid and my scoop of beans were what I got. Again, lunchtime leftover vibe ... The smoked sausage was the best for the meat selection. Wonderful taste. A good snap at first bite, and flavorful through-and-through. I could have been satisfied with just that. Other meats on the special were chicken, brisket and ribs. The chicken was meh, but not dry. The ribs were basic. Good, but basic. No flavor profile that screamed, "Swadley's Ribs are the best ribs". The brisket was a disaster! Such a waste of good meat by slicing it super thin. Dries it right out! Do yourself a favor and chop it or serve larger slices. As soon as I received my Oklahoma Special I knew that to be the case by first glance. What are y'all thinking??? The brisket was so dry it was darn near worth skipping. Too bad. It had a nice mild 'smoke' flavor but it's Oklahoma already ... give it some smoke! Not the best but not the worst. I'll not go back, but I'm a stickler for good smoke. That was the Achilles heel to what could have been more than a...

First off, how can they be world famous? Never heard of the place before and there are apparently not to many. My guess is they live in a smaller world than most people. Parking lot had numerous signs that vehicles are towed after hours. So they must have a real problem with parking there after hours. Can't see why, the place is almost outside of the town and there is really nothing around to support an overflow parking problem. Had to navigate a strange dark maze once we were inside, kind of like they run cattle through to brand them or load them on a truck. May have been to just prevent people from turning around and leaving. Lot of wasted space either way. The place kinda resembled a barn without the smell. Food was ok and about average and nothing to write home about. The whole menu, which is very limited, is really way overpriced for the size of the servings and quality of the food. You can get much better quality for less at almost any restaurant. They obviously do not specialize in steaks or high end quality foods, so not sure why the huge prices. Food had a sloppy, greasy, wet appearance but that may be their trademark. It was edible and none of our party got sick but two did pass their dinner on within an hour. This is probably an ok place if you don't eat out much and want to spend a lot of money. Still can't figure out in which world they are famous in, then again they may just be famous for being famous, and not in a good way. Either way if you like to spend money and leave feeling hungry this is a great...

I got the Oklahoma Sampler. It came with brisket, pulled pork, chicken, sausage, and a rib. She asked if I wanted moist or lean on the brisket, so I figured that was a good sign. I chose moist (more fat). I ordered 2 extra ribs with it for $2.99 a piece, and I'm glad I did (I'll tell you why in a sec). The 2 sides I chose were Mac n cheese and baked beans.

The portion size was moderately generous. The Mac n cheese was very tasty, the beans a little too sweet to my liking. The problem is my sides were piping hot, but the everything but the ribs were cool to the touch and dry as a bone. The brisket was definitely not from the moist end with zero fat and no smoke ring to boot. Pork and chicken were both dry. The sausage was OK. If it was all fresh and hot, it would have been 100 times better. The flavor was there, the delivery was not.

Remember the ribs? Those were pretty awesome. Hot and juicy with a good bark and a good pull to them. They didn't just fall off the bone. They were done right, and I enjoyed them thoroughly.

The restaurant has a nice vibe about it, and my waitress was super on point. All in all, I may give it another chance, but it's only because the ribs and service were great. I can say, without a doubt, that my dog enjoyed the to go box tremendously.

Out the door cost...