Outlaw BBQ Smokehouse & Catering — Restaurant in Hampstead

Came in town to visit from North Carolina and my parents raved about this place so me and my wife decided to try it. We were excited about it because we love BBQ and being from NC we have a lot of experience with good quality meats. With that, I'll say my experience was less than pleasurable. I walked in and there were no other customers in line in front of me so I walked right up to the counter and said "hello" but got no response. There were 2 younger women at the register talking amongst each other so I assumed maybe there were busy or finishing up an order or something and would get to me in a moment. Not even a minute later and someone else walks in the door behind me and both the ladies perk up and yell past me over my shoulder "Hello sir welcome to outlaw, how may we help you!". To say I felt pushed aside and ignored is an understatement. I'm not going to get into demographics or make claims that I don't know to be true about this establishment, but I will say, I did not feel welcomed by those 2 young women and indeed felt uncomfortable with the way I was just ignored and pushed aside for another young man and literally the only reason I can think of is the most obvious difference between him and me. Eventually another young lady came from toward the back and called to me that she could help me over here if I wished. She was very nice and her customer service was warm and welcoming. I picked up my almost $60 order that I had called in and left a tip for that young lady and left.

Beyond that, the food was average at best. The Brisket was overcooked and dry. My wife and family told me there pulled pork was also dry so we all smothered our food with the BBQ sauce (which was VERY good). That was some of the best BBQ sauce I've had outside of NC. The sides were really good. We had the baked apples, mac and cheese and sweet potatoe casserole. Im not sure if it was just a bad meat day for them, because we've heard great things, but today wasn't their best. I would have given the food 3.5 stars but the experience brought that down.

I did call and speak to one of the owners (a female but I didn't catch a name) to share with them my experience. She offered a gift card and apologized which would have been ok but then she kept making excuses for why they could have done that. "Oh its been a hectic day and the phone were really busy, but I agree that isn't our policy". I understand being busy but those two WEREN'T. They purposely ignored me and then pushed me aside to greet the next customer coming in behind me. They weren't answering phones nor taking anyone else's order. They were simply choosing the customer they wanted to deal with.

My family will not be supporting this business anymore. It may not seem like a big deal to some and that's ok. Until you experience it you...

My husband and I are always traveling on the weekends to find new bbq restaurants to try. It is one of the things we enjoy doing with our two small boys. We frequent Little Everett’s in Hanover, PA and also make the drive from Gettysburg to Andy Nelson’s bbq a few times a month. The travel time doesn’t bother us as long as the food is good. Today we decided to try your bbq and thought if we liked it we may add it to our list of bbq places we recommend to others. After a 55minute drive and getting the kids/stroller/bags out of the car parked along the busy street all I wanted was to use the bathroom. To my shock when I asked if there was a bathroom, I was told I could walk up the hill to the gas station which was on the other side of the street and a busy intersection. So moms think about this ...walking your children, pushing a stroller up to the gas station and into the bathroom (which reminded me of one at a run down station along route 81 south) and then walk them back down to order bbq. For the record I did not make that walk. We ordered and ate our food (which we shoved in so fast we could barely taste it because I had to go so bad I stood to eat. I walked back the sidewalk and to the back of the building to check for a restroom before asking and let me tell you there is plenty of room back there for a portable restroom ( I am not too proud to use one). As far as the food is concerned we ordered the Pitt ham grilled cheese, which he loved, my children enjoyed their macaroni and cheese and grilled cheese. I ordered the old bay wings and Pitt beef. Both were good enough for me to want to return again for the food. However, I am not sure I will return because to me there are some basic necessities that every restaurant especially a bbq joint needs and one of those is a bathroom. Another thing to mention is no place to wash your hands and no wet naps provided when the food was brought out. Anyone who has children knows that there are unexpected things that come up and you depend on bathrooms to save you. Thank god today was not one of “those” days. If you don’t t need a bathroom then I would recommend this establishment, but if you are like me and that is an expectation then I would consider...

11-20-21 - we were very excited to try this place. Walked in on a whim around 3:30 p.m.. Ordered the triple meat plate with brisket, turkey and pork with a side of bacon mac n cheese. Took it home to warm up for dinner. Meats are pretty good - portions small for $18.00 but it's expected w/price of things. Mac n cheese a big disappointment. No bacon to be found, small noodles and the cheese sauce is very mild with not much flavor. (like Kraft boxed) I called to ask about the Mac n cheese, did I perhaps get a bad batch, wondering about the bacon. Was switched to a manager. He was condescendingly friendly, took offense that I criticized the Mac n cheese, makes it himself. I tried to explain that it had no bacon flavor and was disappointed. He apologized, told me he didn't know what to say otherwise, "god bless you m'aam" - - as I tried to just explain I wanted him to know that it had no bacon flavor and it was a disappointment he just hung up on me while I was talking. If I had been allowed to finish I was going to tell him I'd like to come in and try something else on the menu and perhaps try the Mac n cheese again too. Looks like a popular place. I want to support local businesses but don't appreciate being hung up on. As a business owner you need to listen to comments - not hang up on people. Just rude and disappointing. He's probably having a bad day. UPDATE: Also disappointing to note that instead of being open-minded and willing to listen to contructive comments the owner comes on here to say the customer was rude and wouldn't stop talking which is why he hung up on me. Really shouldn't be so defensive and thin-skinned. Obviously doesn't really care about what customers think. Was not trying to get anything for free - no way I'd go back there now though. Not worth the time or aggravation. Plenty of other very good placed here in Hampstead. As I said, he's probably just having...