Daddy D's BBQ — Restaurant in Fuquay-Varina

Although Daddy D's has been around for years, we never managed to get the opportunity to stop by for a variety of reasons. As an aside, I was aware that in the beginning, Danny's BBQ of Cary provided assistance to Daddy D's with suggestions on BBQ menu ideas. We always loved Danny's which featured a Texas/Florida style of smoked barbecue. At that time (1990's and early 2000's), the predominant (perhaps only) BBQ style in this area was the eastern NC vinegar-based variety. So, it didn't take long for Danny's to began spreading the word that other styles of BBQ were as good or better (subjective, I know).

It was around 3 PM on a Tuesday when we happened to drive past Daddy D's, and we finally decided to stop in, and I'm glad we did.

First of all, our family have really grown to favor the Texas/Florida/Kansas City/Tennessee styles of BBQ. We just personally never grew fond of the vinegar-based Eastern Carolina style of BBQ, but that's subjective of course. Well, Daddy D's has both, with their main focus being on the former. Their menu shows some Eastern-style BBQ offerings, so they cater to everyone.

They were still serving lunch when we came - and by the way - they give a 10% military/law enforcement discount, which is nice.

I wound up ordering the Burnt Ends platter, and you get two sides - I chose the baked beans and coleslaw. Along with that, we ordered a separate 1/2 lb of pulled pork so all of us could dig into that if we were still hungry. My wife ordered a brisket sandwich, and my son had their steak sandwich offering - but theirs was made from brisket.

The interior of the restaurant has a nice barbecue vibe to it - lots of wood. The waitress was very friendly and accommodating, and the overall vibe was inviting.

My burnt ends platter was absolutely scrumptuous. The meat was super tender - like butter, and I also love what they do with their baked beans. They add a bit of vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, some pork bits, etc. The beans had a slightly tangy taste, but boy were they good. Coleslaw was just as we prefer ours - that is, finely chopped. Needless to say, I devoured my Burnt Ends platter. And for lunch, the portions were just right - enough to fill you up, to be sure.

Now as for the pulled pork, we were a little disappointed. You see, they served us the pork that must have been sitting out all day in their kitchen warmer, and it was totally dried out. It looked as if they left it out all day in the kitchen. We had to add barbecue sauce to get some moisture in there, and when we did, it tasted fairly good. We can only imagine how it would taste after first being made. My recommendation would be to come during normal lunch-time hours if you are going to order the pulled pork.

My wife and son enjoyed their meals to be sure. So, the bottom line is that we were looking for a barbecue place like this because Fuquay-Varina is sorely lacking of BBQ restaurants. I wish a "City Barbecue" chain would come to Fuquay as they have some excellent offerings. But right now, as far as BBQ establishments go, Daddy D's is it (for both Fuquay and Varina), unless there is something else that we're not aware of.

Will we come back? Why yes we will (looking forward to it), and other than the dried-out pulled pork - which I can't imagine they would serve like that every day - their menu offers quite a bit of variety that should please most folks.

We're only giving it 4 stars because of the dried-out pork. But everything else was perfect! I can change my review the next time we go and try to order the pulled pork again. If all is well then, changing it to 5 stars will be easy to do. Looks like we found our...

I can't believe that I've been here three years and I haven't eaten here until now! So thankful I decided to give this place a try last night. I had trouble getting through to our usual BBQ restaurant so I decided to try something new. Very happy that we did. I ordered online ahead of time. I arrived at the restaurant pleasantly surprised to see that they also had a drive-through and plenty of parking. I walked into the restaurant which smelled amazing from the parking lot by the way and was very pleased to see that they had an adequate amount of staff working, a pretty full restaurant for dinner time and it was in impeccably clean! I was also surprised but but very pleasantly pleased to see the young crew of workers working so well together. It was very refreshing to see a team of people working together to accomplish the goal Without the drama or the child like behavior I frequently see in other establishments. Once I arrived home I quickly passed out the orders and waited for everybody's reaction. We all felt the same way it was absolutely delicious! The only thing that I was missing was a little dipping sauce or butter or something for the hush puppies. As a child we never had anything to dip it in but recently since I've moved here the place we order from frequently gives us some Butter or something that we enjoy with our hush puppies, I would've loved to have that with These hush puppies but quite honestly they were delicious without it. The brisket was absolutely fantastic, so is the turkey and the pork and the burnt ends, we did order a variety so that we could try out a little bit of everything oh and I love the wings as well they were fantastic and prepared exactly how I had ordered them with the sauce on the side and requested as extra crispy. I guess you can tell based on the length of this review that I take customer service and good food very seriously and unfortunately they don't always seem to go hand-in-hand but I can say with 100% certainty that this establishment has it figured out! I can only accredit that to excellent management. Way to go guys thanks for a lovely meal it really hit the spot and I look forward to coming back very soon . I regret that I did not think to take pictures of the delicious food as we were so hungry we just dove right in. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the macaroni and cheese was delicious! I was so happy to have just plain mac & cheese and not with the jalapeño which I don't mind but I do prefer a plain mac & cheese and this...

I would probably give Daddy D's 3.75 if that were an option, but I have no issue giving them a 4. First let me say the vegetable may have been the star of our dining experience. The greens and green beans were delicious. They were right up there with grandma's, but I'll not be kicked out the family for going any further. Vegetarians would be able to eat here but definitely not vegans. When it comes to the meats we were pleased though not thrilled. The star of the meats we ordered was the brisket. As someone who believes in their skills as a pit-master in training I look for smoke rings, elasticity (stretch and snap), and the taste of meat. Daddy D's did not disappoint in this regard. They applied no sauce, maybe a mop, and a perfect amount of salt and pepper. This tasted like a true Texas brisket. Unfortunately I can't give the same compliments to the ribs or chopped chicken. Both seemed dry and bland though the moisture of the chicken send to depend on the bite which is not uncommon. The ribs lacked flavor as though there was no rub. The bark was there as was a smoke ring, but there was no salt, heat or savory flavor. They did have several BBQ sauce options that appeared to be home made. I believe I added a light amount of the sweet ketchup based to the rib. It wasn't a bad rib just not what I was hoping for. Also for the two meat plate I would have expected 4 or 5 bones as opposed to 3 or 4. The chicken I'll have to try again at some point. I suspect they make their meat a little more bland to appease more taste buds and to allow people to add salt or sauce as they desire. Finally I'll say the staff and environment was cool. I really liked our waitress and a couple people working there who happened to speak to us and make recommendations. A clean restaurant and friendly people can make or break a dining experience. Daddy D's earned a mulligan based on those trip and the brisket. I'll definitely be back for the turkey and chopped bbq.

Oh the hush puppies were amazing. If you like them sweet, crispy on the outside and soft in the inside you'll love them too. I'd skip the mac n cheese and the banana pudding unless you really love pudding. The banana pudding was more like a banana split with pudding and crumbled nilla wafers on top. It wasn't bad, just not my preference. They have other options to include rotating home made pies options which I'll...