Southern Coals Restaurant — Restaurant in Fayetteville

Walked in here twice both times greeted unenthusiastically but they "have good reviews" and we wanted to see if we could find a decent BBQ place being from Memphis and Texas in Fayetteville .... first time was just to check out the place and menu since we were next across the street, second time was to actually order.

Was unimpressed at the fact we couldn't smell any bbq outside or strong smell in the place so we should've known there's would be a problem 😂

Place was a disappointment from the dry brisket, ribs, & thick Mac & cheese to the girls laughing about, then discussing amongst themselves if the ribs were pork or beef? Idk if they didn't know there's a different or if they're were just being rude bt anyway... the ribs are pork if any visitors want to know to save you getting laughed at..... and so are the beans, they have bits of pork in them too but the place has a nice set up...

Ribs had no sauce and I was not a fan of any of the sauces they provided. All watery, vinegar tasting. The Mac and cheese was thick and dry, no flavor, but the beans were good. The bread was good too but I wouldn't recommend this place for bbq or service so I...

Collards or mush? :(

I will say, the brisket was really good. The corn bread was tasty and I’m glad I listened to a friend and ordered the burnt brisket ends—they were delightful.

However, the Mac and cheese made me sad. The cheese isn’t fresh shredded or baked. It’s basically the mac and cheese you get from Applebee’s or Chili’s on the kids entree menu. The cheese tasted like melted powder and just wasn’t pleasant.

The collards :( omg. I was so heartbroken. For what I assumed to be a privately owned business, what in the world is that overcooked green mush? It was nearly paste. It had been cooked and boiled down so much you couldn’t even identify the leaves. I will say, at the very least, the seasoning on them was good but definitely didn’t have the vinegar, sugar, and ham balance I’m used to with collards in the south I was raised on.

I think this restaurant has a lot of potential, but they have to really rethink how they’re pre-cooking food to be easily assembled on the line. There’s a thin line between preparing food to be served fast and precooking until it’s over cooked, dry, and in the case of the greens...

The resturant was nearly empty on a Saturday evening should have been the first red flag. We ordered the combo platter with ribs, brisket, and bbq. They were out of coleslaw, so we got the brocolli slaw and baked beans. The bbq was just ok. I could name 10 restuarants that do NC style bbq better. The ribs were simply salty. When I have ribs I expect to have spicy, savory, and sweet notes to the rub before adding the sauce, but there was none. However, they were tender. The brisket was overly fatty and an odd cut. It didnt seem that any of the food was fresh and had a gray color to it. The cornbread was the highlight of the plate. I do also want to mention for the price, the portion was extremely small. I was expecting a platter, but it was packed in a lunch style to go clamshell plate. Since moving to Fayetteville, I try to eat local to support home-grown businesses, but I will not be returning. I had high hopes with the reviews, but ended up hungry and super...