Buck's Naked BBQ & Studio Bar — Restaurant in Freeport

This is based on one of our last experiences eating here a few years ago. We haven’t been back due to COVID and we live in New Hampshire.

PROS

1. located less than two minutes from the hotel we were staying at so you can't beat the location
2. while busy, the restaurant wasn't overly noisy and the booths gave a sense of privacy
3. the lemonade was very good. It wasn't tart (we thought it was house made but were told it was Minute Maid)
4. we got seated immediately
5. free wifi
6. food came quickly
7. service was really good
8. a variety of BBQ sauces are available at the table as well as paper towels
9. the food was very good

CONS

1. the only sweet BBQ sauce provided is a blueberry one and it wasn't that sweet so I wish a sweet BBQ sauce was provided
2. the ribs I got were both tender and dry

I got the baby back ribs to try with a baked potato and baked beans along with a lemonade. The lemonade was on the sweeter side but wasn't tart so it was quite nice and refreshing. The ribs were tasty but don't include a sauce. I found them to be both on the tender side but also a little drier in spots. I like the idea of multiple BBQ sauces being available at the table to try out. The cornbread was very good with butter added and the baked beans were awesome.

My husband got the big bucket combo with brisket, pulled pork, pit chicken, and smoked sausage. He thought everything was good but he loved the pulled pork and the brisket. The corn niblets were watery.

———————

During our next visit, I tried the fried catfish with sweet potato fries and baked beans. Again, the lemonade was delicious as were the beans. This meal was preferred over my first (the ribs). The catfish was tender and cooked perfectly. Despite being fried, the fish didn't taste oily or greasy. I would have preferred without the sweet potato fries but overall, I would order...

It would be zero if it was an option. The place was a zoo! Unruly kids running around the place pushing Tonka trucks..banging into stuff...it was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think! The parents just sitting there completely ignoring the commotion. Ridiculous!! My husband and I had come here many times in the past when we lived in the area. We haven't been here in a couple years so we figured we would have a lunch on the way home. First off I'm 63 years old and the first thing the waitress said as she ran up to our table was "Hey Mama Can I get you something to drink? MAMA?? Unbelievable! Then when she brought the food I went from Mama to Honey. Then to babe! Really?? This is the unprofessional wait staff you have now??? My Husband is the only one that has the right to call me Babe. From a waitress it is extremely unprofessional and disrespectful. The food was terrible. I was presented the pastrami and Swiss sandwich and sweet potato fries I ordered and the sandwich was all askew on the plate and the fries were so soggy and greasy I couldn't eat them. We ordered fried pickle chips and they were not like any we had ever had before. They were heavy with some kind or cornmeal dough and gross! My husband got the pick two and couldn't eat it as the brisket was stone cold and the sausage tasteless...nothing like it had been before. But by the time we got the food we were already thinking of getting out fast just from the disruption that was going on with out of control kids and noise. Between the noise, clammer and bad food we will never come back. We will stick to the Riverfront BBQ in Augusta where the food is superb, awesome polite and respectful waitstaff...and you can carry on a conversation without having to resort to raising your voice. I will never recommend this...

If you’re looking for the most fun locally owned barbecue experience of your life, stop scrolling and get yourself to Bucks Naked BBQ right now. This place is like stepping into BBQ heaven—if heaven had wooden tables & chairs, and smoky flavors in the air, and a bar that can mix a mean “Bucks Punch!”

First, the food. I’ve had good meat, but the Burnt Ends are my favorite kind of meat candy that melts in your mouth. The wings? Tender enough to make you question every finger licking experience you’ve ever had. And don’t get me started on the sauces—they’ve got options ranging from their house made bbq to a Maine blueberry bbq that is so good with a hint of sweetness that hypnotizes you to leave that 20% tip. Don’t forget to order the fried pickles! I promise they’ll be the hottest & tastiest pickle you ever put in your mouth.

Then there’s the downstairs Studio Bar. It’s like your best friend created a well decorated bar in their basement & hired all their awesome best friends to mix you drinks and cook you food. Don’t miss out on the specials! I always look forward to the way the “Mouth Jammer” drips down my fingers as I eat it, and If you see the “BFC Bowl” on the menu don’t skip it. I don’t know what’s in that homemade gravy, but I might’ve heard angels singing after the first bite.

In short: come for the barbecue, stay for the drinks in the basement Studio Bar, and leave with a lifelong appreciation of great drinks and hot meat. 10/10...