Pokey's — Restaurant in Gillette

My wife and I got the BBQ Sampler for 2. It must be for 2 giants because it was about 2lbs of meat, 2 delicious sides, 4 cheddar biscuits, and 2 salads. The meat was tender and smokey. The ribs were almost fall off the bone tender. You could cut the pulled pork with a spoon. Beef brisket that would make you wanna slap yo momma. But the turkey was meh and still looked pink inside. The BBQ beans had tons of flavor and little bits of cooked onion and beef that sent my taste buds over the top in joy. The Brisket Mac n Cheese was more brisket than cheese. Sounds like a bad thing, but it's not. You won't be disappointed. They use penne pasta instead of elbow which is easier to stick with your fork so you can shovel it in faster while your family eyes your plate. The salads were decent. It's a BBQ joint, not a soup and salad place... My wife had a garden salad and I had a ceasar romaine and both were decently dressed and crisp. The cheddar biscuits came with whipped butter and were better than I expected. You have little cubes that don't melt and bits of herb scattered through out the dough. I would go back for the biscuits alone. The 3 BBQ sauces were labeled HOT, MED, and HONEY. Honey had a little kick to it. Med is what I'm generally used to being from the south. Hot would make you want something to drink and leave that tingle on the back of your tongue and down your throat long after you're done eating. I wouldn't say it's too hot, but bearable and done right if you like spicy food. And I almost forgot about the bag of freshly fried chips! They were slightly thicker than normal bagged chips and borderline kettle cooked quality. You could taste the grease on them but they too were seasoned with an amazing seasoning blend powder. I dipped one in the MED sauce and was addicted. Since they are thicker, the have more crunch and are very tasty. Overall... my experience here was amazing. My 10 month old baby was dual wielding the ribs and gnawing the tops to get the little bits of meat with the 2 teeth she has. When my wife and I tried to take them away, she cried. She's never cried when we took food away before so I'm guessing that was her way of saying it was good and she wanted to keep them. My whole family enjoyed the food and I know I will be back at least monthly for more. Amazing service, great staff, and the best BBQ I've had in...

First off, the place has a great atmosphere. It has a bar, nice decor, fun lighting styles, etc. It is fun to be inside. The waitstaff is knowledgeable, kind, courteous, and positive. I enjoyed my time there.

The downsides are the food and experience of the waitstaff. The food is very well advertised and is talked of very highly. But there is a serious lack of flavor with almost everything. I ordered the brisket burger. Each flavor was present (beef, bacon, brisket, etc) but it was lacking. The beef was bland, the brisket was meh, the bacon was bacon, and the use of toppings was a bit strange. A full slice of an onion? Seriously? The flavor profile was very unbalanced and I wasn’t a huge fan. The buns were pretty good though.

The sides I ordered were mixed. The main turnoff for me was the confusing menu. With a burger, you get 2 sides. Each burger listing says that house fries are included. A relatively quick look over the menu leaves one thinking that the burgers come with a side of fries and that’s it. That wasn’t the case I learned when the waitress had to explain such. For my sides, I ordered onion rings apart from the fries. Those were quite good but the fries didn’t come out with the burger and the waitress didn’t notify me of their delayed delivery. Upon asking was I notified. Other than that, it was a smooth night.

Also, the brisket Mac n cheese tastes bland and has the texture and consistency of...

YES!!! Of all places, this one gets the burnt ends right!! I know I know, “I don’t see burnt ends on the menu” and you won’t because it’s not there, but if you get the right waitress, ask for them!! What are they you might ask? I believe all BBQ should be crispy bark on the outside and tender smoked pink in the middle (maybe hard to see in the photo but look for the blackish bark where all the flavor is and tender in the middle). It gets a lot more technical (especially around Kansas City) but basically a section of brisket cubed up like this is a burnt end!! More people need to experience burnt ends done correctly!! I think good BBQ is hard to be consistent with so it probably even depends on the day and the time of day you arrive... But what I asked for was one of their sandwiches with cheese on it and the meat switched out for burnt ends (and a pineapple ring with it with fried green tomatoes as the side, also awesome), and I’m telling you, if I had eaten that in Kansas City, I would’ve been really happy. The fact that I ate it in Gillette, WY... out of my mind!! I bet their pork belly bahn mi is good and some of the wild things might be good too! If in Casper go to HQ BBQ and get the dry rub ribs!! Wyoming can...