K & L Barbecue — Restaurant in Hopewell

Quick review, K & L Barbecue is a family owned small town feel restaurant in Hopewell. As a family, we have been dining there for at least 20 years (no exaggeration). For the better part of all those years, we have had impeccable service with delicious food!

Tonight, a very large group of us gathered to celebrate and honor my Aunt as she was celebrating her 65th Birthday. There were 21 of us ordering food and drinks. The server is an experienced server and I was sure we would have a great time.

I ordered a grilled chicken salad and plain baked potato. The server promptly explained they were out of ranch dressing. I asked for blue cheese instead. We waited for a while and our food was delivered. Everyone was chatty and excited to eat. The server had delivered 3 cups with the "blue cheese dressing" and I began to try to pour it on. I couldn't get it to pour so I used my fork to scrape it over my salad. I picked up the second cup, tried to get it to pour and when it wouldn't, did the same thing as with the first cup. About half way through the second cup, someone mentioned that it didn't look like dressing.

I tasted it and realized that she had accidentally brought me mayonnaise. EXCEPT SHE HADN'T 😡 When I told the server that she had accidentally brought mayonnaise, she exclaimed that, "That's the way we make our blue cheese in house, mayonnaise and chunks of blue cheese!"

Two other people spoke up in our group and tried to explain that it was only mayonnaise and she should bring a new salad. She shot them down very rudely.

I learned two valuable lessons tonight-

Taste the sauce or dressing BEFORE you pour it or SCRAPE it all over your meal.

Mayonnaise with supposed chunks of blue cheese in it is GROSS 🤮

K & L, not that my few dollars every now and again matter in your Barbecue kingdom, but you lost a customer (and my family) tonight because your server was rude and unapologetic regarding your "home-made blue...

I came here for a late lunch on a weekday and knew I'd picked the right place when the parking lot was busy at almost 3 in the afternoon. My server was very pleasant and got to my table almost almost as soon as I did, and my order came quickly.

I ordered their steak & cheese sub sandwich with a side of fries, a small salad, and a lemonade. Like many other places, they serve their version of the Philly cheesesteak with lettuce, tomato, and mayo (don't tell Dad, but I prefer that to the sautéed onions and peppers that a traditional cheesesteak is supposed to have). Portion sizes were excellent and appropriate to their prices. Sure, the fries were precut crinkle fries, but that's to be expected. My server brought me a second lemonade before I'd finished the first and checked on me several times.

Real barbecue places like K & L Barbecue tend to lean heavily into the Americana decor, so much that it's almost a sign that you're about to get the real thing. K & L goes relatively light on the Americana - an American flag, a POW/MIA one, a "God, guns, and guts" flag, and a few smaller signs or pieces of artwork in a similar theme. If the decor lines up with your politics, you'll appreciate seeing it. If it doesn't line up with your politics, you should be able...

First thing you notice when you walk in is the smell. I have no idea how they successfully recreated a smell from my childhood, but it took me back to visiting grandma in the dementia care unit of the nursing home. On this particular day, which was warm outside, the interior of the restaurant was inexplicably freezing. I prefer cold usually, but I found it hard to focus on conversation or food because of how cold it was. The service was alright, and our server was friendly. That said, the food was questionable at best. I got the barbecue beef sandwich and fries, and the beef looked and tasted like it had been frozen and microwaved 10 minutes before. Fries were okay. Long story short - if you want a local barbecue joint, find one that's ten minutes further away and enjoy yourself.

P.S. I get it that the owners wanna be politically engaged, and folks with shared beliefs need a space to come together. However, I can see how my own work quality would slip too, if people were only coming to see their beliefs validated and not because they were excited for good...