Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ — Restaurant in Franklin

The question of what constitutes good barbecue has as many answers as there are people eating the barbecue itself. However, most everyone will agree that good barbecue should be moist, flavorful, and taste like the smoked meat that it is. What we were served on Monday night was none of those things. Fat Buddies has long been a favorite of ours that we visited anytime we were in the Franklin area. Although it can sometimes be a bit uneven, it has always stood out as a recommended location. Monday's dinner was bland, dry, and chewy. We ordered the full rack of baby backs along with the brisket. When our meal came, the brisket was missing, and so our server went back to get it. A few minutes later, what arrived was five thin strips of what looked like turkey bacon given to us in a bowl. The strips of meat were sliced deli-thin and were beyond dry. It was obvious that they had been reheated either on a flat top or even in a microwave. When I liken them to turkey bacon, that's what they reminded us of. Each strip was crisp and flavorless with no smoke present at all. Once we got into the ribs, we found that they were also dry and incredibly chewy. Again, obviously reheated to the point of no return.

Our sides were a mixed bag - the homemade mac and cheese was an incredible dish, but our baked beans were a dry, pasty lump. On the upside, the young man who served us did a great job with our table of 7.

Hopefully, this is a one-off experience. It was definitely a first. But it is enough to make this location no longer a...

This was a fun and entertaining place. The menu and food was about what you expect, although my ribs were slightly over cooked and less meaty than I would’ve desired, but restaurants don’t have that much control over supply chain issues of that nature. They do have control over how much they cook the meat, and I won’t give them a pass on that. However, everything else was excellent, including the authentic Kraft macaroni and cheese. I hate to say it, being a fan of fine dining, but there’s nothing more satisfying than real Kraft macaroni and cheese straight out of a cardboard box.

Well, this place checked all the boxes that I would’ve had for a barbecue joint, but what really set it over the top was the service. Our guy, Sam, was so damn much fun! What a great guy. We were thoroughly entertained at his attempts to sell us a mason jar of their barbecue sauce, nd though I had made a decision to purchase some as soon as I found out it was available, I let him keep going with the sales pitch for the entire evening just to see how he would segue into it. He really made our evening!

Other than the ribs, not much here could have been approved on. We had a great time, and I would definitely return...

The atmosphere here is great and the staff is very friendly. The restrooms and dining area were clean. All good there. Unfortunately the overall experience was poor though. We were sat quickly and our server said hello and dished out waters for us but it took her over 25 minutes to come back for our food order. I have small kids so time is important. The server should not be faulted. She was running food and obviously very busy, so I was asking myself where was her support? Why couldn’t other people run her food or help refill her drinks. She was obviously over sat while there were TWO cashiers both playing on their phones. Finally we ordered. The only thing we enjoyed were the fried pickles and French fries. The pork is not pulled, it’s shredded. It was also extremely fatty. The green beans were full of stems. The chicken tenders were rock solid and the other sides were cold :( We are visiting and were very excited to try this restaurant after reading reviews but I’m honestly not sure who wrote them and what they are used to eating because my pork platter came to the table and the pork was floating in water. Honestly we wasted $70, but again… everyone was nice and...