Big Fatty's BBQ — Restaurant in Hartford

Tried based on King Arthur staff recommendation with high hopes. Packed on a Friday night at 7pm, despite no AC and swampy heat inside. Waited 30 min for a seat to open, no wait list, very uncomfortable as you vie for a seat with all the other diners waiting, chaotic as you’re told to stand anywhere and no line to keep people from jumping in front of you.

Ordered burnt ends and pulled pork with Mac n cheese for $20. Mac n cheese was fantastic with great local cheese used. Burnt ends came as 3 hockey puck sized hunks that were devoid of moisture and as tough as shoe leather. I could not even cut through them with the fork and knife provided. Tough as beef jerky and twice as dry. Pulled pork was also very dry (no braising juices?) and totally flavorless. The house bbq sauce was really good, but not able to salvage the meal. I left 80-90% of the meat on my plate and server never asked how things came out or offered another beverage (coke delivered in a can, no ice despite the 85 degree room). In fact, she never returned to the table after food was dropped at all, even for the check after my wallet was out for 15 minutes, eventually went to the take-out register to pay. All the staff were preoccupied with getting out by the 8:00 closing and openly discussing it and warning customers before 7:30 that the kitchen was closing. Guy at register removed the self-serve water vessel with the spicket wide open, pouring water all over the floor across the whole front area through to the kitchen. He then continued breaking down his station without putting a sign up or mopping the huge mess. This was a main traffic area and people just sloshed through it. Didn’t seem like there was a manager present, unless he was the manager. Overall a really bad experience, unfortunately. I would...

For Northern BBQ, this isn’t bad. I’ve sampled just about everything at this point from many visits, and can’t say that it’s been amazing, but it is good.

The pulled pork is what you would expect and it is a good portion. Recommended.

The brisket has a little bit of smoke but I’ve had it overly fatty and extremely dried out. Ask maybe how it looks before ordering.

The ribs were cooked well but lacked any real smoke flavor and the sauce honestly didn’t make up for it. These could use a little work but they were still decent.

Burnt ends are not really burnt ends, but I knew that going in. They had decent flavor and were a little fatty, but overall not bad.

The burger was perfect. What was delivered was just perfect and cooked to temp.

Cuban sandwich was good. I would order it again at some point.

Likely not great for large parties without giving them a heads up. Decent for families and certainly kid friendly. Dog friendly on the outside seating area. Bathrooms are clean. Servers are friendly and attentive.

The highlight of this restaurant is the beer list and the live music. This is a great place to grab a nice beer and a bite, while listening to...

Pros: great & friendly service, good food Cons: limited parking, "family-style" seating, BUSY Best items: pulled pork, baked beans, fries, cheesecake Least best item: cornbread

Overall, the food was delicious. We tried the burnt ends, pulled pork, brisket, ribs, baked beans, fries, coleslaw, cornbread, and blueberry cheesecake. The meat was a bit underseasoned and relied on BBQ sauce for flavor. The pulled pork was very moist, even without sauce. The ribs were tender but still had a good chew. The homemade baked beans had a little sweetness, which was welcomed with all the savory items. The blueberry cheesecake was by far the most delicious thing I ate. We did not like the cornbread. It had whole kernels of corn that gave it a strange texture, and though we were given butter for it, we couldn't use it because both the cornbread and butter were cold. I am not a huge fan of the family style seating but we went right after opening for lunch in a Saturday and it was fine. We have tried going on a Saturday evening for dinner and it was very overwhelming/chaotic and we could barely even step in the door. The parking is less than ideal and...