BBQ2U — Restaurant in Gig Harbor

I’m not a Southern gal but after eating in Memphis and Houston, I stopped trying BBQ spots in Washington. But I decided to break my own rule when I saw this place along with the owner featured on 253 magazine. It said he was from Texas so I thought it was safe to assume it would be delicious, or close to it.

My young son and I made an afternoon of driving out to give it a try. We ordered a little of each meat menu item…spent $70. We love mac and cheese so I ordered that along with banana pudding, also a fave. When we saw Blue Bell ice cream on the menu, I couldn’t believe it. I had been hearing about that ice cream for a decade from my Texan mother-in-law. This place was checking all the boxes of what I thought would be great BBQ finally making it to The Evergreen State.

That was until I saw the young man doing our order open the container to dish out the mac and cheese and I saw bright orange. I pushed out of my mind what I was almost sure of. “Couldn’t be. There’s no way”, I thought. “This is supposed to be authentic.” We took the food the car to eat. Now to be sure and so the owner knows this is a constructive, albeit passionate, review: Brisket was really good. BBQ sauce is best I have tried

Then came the mac and cheese. I open the lid and I got a whiff of that familiar smell and not the good one. One bite and yes, it was the taste of that cheese powder that comes with pasta in a blue box. I was so stunned, like seriously confused. Couldn’t believe it. So we moved on to the banana pudding. Geez people. The bananas were brown and wafers soggy. I check the date and it was made about 3 days before, not to mention it tasted like instant pudding.

As I read through these reviews I still don’t understand. Yes, the meat is pretty good with excellent sauce but I see no mention of the awful sides. Seriously just plain awful. When Corina Bakery in Tacoma first opened, their banana pudding was to die for. Metropolitan Market makes a delicious mac and cheese in their prepared deli! BBQ2U, why not team up with them to complete the meal?

My whole life I never understood why Washington couldn’t get at least one amazing BBQ place and now I know why. When the reviews on here say that the banana pudding is amazing and no one mentions offensive “mac and cheese”, it makes sense. There isn’t good BBQ here because Washingtonians don’t know what good BBQ, mac and cheese, banana pudding etc tastes like! Lol

Not saying I don’t recommend this place, but just order the meat and sauce if you go. Grab your sides...

I came across this place on TikTok, and as a Texas native who loves good BBQ, I had to give it a try. I arrived around 1:30 PM on a Friday. Since it's in a strip mall there was plenty of parking.

The first thing that caught my attention was the authentic presentation--they serve your meal on paper with a metal tray, which I really appreciated.

I ordered the Monster Brisket Sandwich, 1/2 lb of chicken, mac and cheese, fries, and a drink. The total came to $30, which seemed reasonable given the generous portions. The sandwich alone could be a meal, and the one meat, two sides option was definitely filling.

The mac and cheese was decent--nothing exceptional, but not bad. It lacked that rich, cheesy flavor but was still enjoyable. The bread on the sandwich was particularly good. The fries were made fresh to order, arriving piping hot and perfectly seasoned. They were easily the highlight of the meal. The BBQ sauce also stood out with its balanced tangy sweetness and a hint of Dijon mustard.

Unfortunately, everything else was disappointing. Both the brisket and chicken were shockingly bland with minimal smoke flavor. The chicken, despite being served from a pan of broth, was so dry it was almost inedible. It seemed old, lacking any real flavor, and required a heavy dousing of sauce just to be tolerable. The brisket, though it had a nice char, was even worse--completely devoid of seasoning and tasted far from fresh. If you have to drown your meat in sauce just to make it halfway enjoyable, something is seriously wrong. Despite my best efforts, I ended up tossing half of the chicken and nearly all of the brisket. Both were utterly flavorless and not worth the struggle to choke down.

I actually started eating before they brought out my fries, and the blandness and dryness of the meat made me consider asking for a refund. The fries arriving later were the only saving grace of the meal.

The restaurant was almost empty, but it was clean and cool, a nice change since BBQ joints can sometimes be smoky or stuffy. Everything was organized, with sauces and utensils easily accessible. However, the customer service left much to be desired--the staff seemed more interested in chatting with each other than engaging with customers.

It's a real shame because I had high hopes based on the reviews, but I can't recommend this place. Despite a couple of bright spots, the overall experience was underwhelming, especially for someone who loves BBQ as...

Lucky for me I ran across a random Nextdoor post from an individual highly recommending this place and boasted it's better then Memphis style which they grew up on. A chef myself, I noted it. On the way home from the airport we happened to stop @ met market which was closing up shop for the day and spotted BBQ2U on the way out in the parking lot. There was no second guessing we were going to get food from them right then lol we were a little nervous heading in, as it was about 30 mins to close, but the nice chefs behind the counter welcomed us! Just forewarning unfortunately they were 86d on ribs, but that they still had brisket! What a sandwich man! (Also the sliced thickness of the meat was perfect imo- they r def giving you what u paid for!) Their brisket didn't even need the bbq sauce the meat was so well cared for. Very distinct flavor profile and you can tell these pit masters are working hard. The Mac and cheese was delightful as well! We will be heading back, looking forward to giving the chili, corn bread and ribs a try! The only 2 things I can sort out here would be this place is a bit small and out of sight! But I don't think they lack customers bc of this, I think they might be pretty packed at times within their dining area if people are smart anyway. Lol second, my boyfriend was sorely disappointed there weren't any pickle spears, but he quickly got over that - he's a sandwich guy so it's to be expected. But the sliced pickle chips for me! Alongside the added onions were chefs kiss on that brisket. Kind staff, did a great job guiding and fielding questions, very tasty bbq. My parents r regular fans of, Joes real BBQ & Waldo's in AZ - this will blow it out of the water. I do think we are lucky out here bc good food is far and few between in these parts. Happy they set up shop here and looking forward to many days of bbq ahead with this establishment. Keep it smoky guys - ur killing it and love the chill vibe. Hats off to the cooks...