A Little BBQ Joint — Restaurant in Independence

Visiting Worlds of Fun from out of state for a father/son weekend & decided to try this place on Father's Day due to proximity & favorable reviews. Bad decision.

The internet said the place was open until 9 pm, yet upon entering around 7:45 pm we were told (rather rudely by one staff person) that it was to-go only after 7 pm. There were tables outside so I asked if we could sit & eat out there. A different, more helpful, staff person said yes. While walking out to grab a table outside, food came out for other tables seated inside. There were about 5 tables seated inside, but we weren't allowed to do so.

My son ordered onion rings & ribs. I ordered brisket & sausage, which came with 2 sides so I chose potato salad & Cole slaw. The food came out in to-go containers (fine), but no utensils. I had to go inside to ask for utensils. Only 1 napkin each. For BBQ. Whatever, we'll make do.

The onion rings barely had any batter/coating & what little there was was falling off. I only ate 2 & my son had maybe 5.

The ribs were decent. Nothing to rave about. No smoke ring, not much smoke flavor. I thought this was supposed to be BBQ? Between my son & me, we ate 5 of 7 ribs.

The sausage is supposedly homemade & it appeared to be. It was good, but not great (for my personal taste & in my personal opinion). Again, no smoke ring. I ate about half.

The brisket was terrible! No smoke ring, no flavor, gray, dry, tough, & cut with the grain (a Cardinal sin for anyone in the food industry). The plastic utensils could barely get through it & then it occurred to me that the slices looked like they had been sitting in a serving tray for hours, if not all day. Why not just slice it fresh/to order? I ate 2 of the 5 slices & gave up.

Potato salad & Cole slaw were lukewarm (not cold) & just OK. Nothing to rave about. I ate about 2 forkfuls of each.

Overall, a very disappointing experience. We threw away about half of the food, which cost almost...

We went on Saturday before the band started so the outside was not busy. Our server was slow, we always had to ask for a refill until we just stopped asking and went without, the brisket wontons were soggy and the meat was mushy, no bell peppers or onions like the menu states, the sauce they serve was as thin as water. I felt sick after eating only a couple, no server to say anything to, finally stopped the waitress to let her know we were ready to order main course, finally after 20 min. I flagged her down and she asked if I needed something, I said we need to order, she said she would be right back, 10 minutes later she's taking another order next to us, 10 minutes later let her know can she take our order. Still no cold drinks, we ordered 1 Saturday special as I was feeling grossed out after the brisket wontons. 30 minutes later the chicken came out ice cold in the center. Waitress said the kitchen was trying to hurry to get all orders out. She asked if she could get us a new one, I said of course this is not up to temp at all, my husband was starving at this point and started eating the beans and fries, she started to take the whole basket, I said no he is hunger and we want a whole new piece of chicken because I knew the were going to put in a microwave to heat just by the over all standards they are presenting. She then said she will get a manager I said great! The manager came over asked if she could help us and asked if we wanted a new one. Then repeated, so your wanting a new one. I just stared it not my job to help her figure out her manager skills. She begin to take the basket as my husband was taking bites of the beans because again we waited over a hour just to be able to get the main order in due to service. At this point I said we are done, take it and take it off the check we are ready to just leave. The manager was sarcastic and laughed with a smile. We are never ever going back there. That place can...

After reading much of the hype and positive reviews I decided to check out Little BBQ Joint in a Saturday after. My first red flag, was when showing up at 12:00 on a weekend the restaurant was pretty dead. I let this pass and took in the atmosphere, which was unique and fantastic. My waiter was quick to check on me, but didn’t bother to mention the specials. I ordered the torpedo with fries and beans. First the fries, sadly the best part of my dish. The fries where delicious and fried perfectly. The beans were acceptable, though uninspired and felt similar to something you’d get in a can. Finally the sandwich itself, a mountain of either flavorless or bland half warm meat. The sausage was the only meat with flavor, and at that it was very forgettable, the brisket was probably the worst brisket I’ve ever had, and finally the ham, which was just a big slice of rubbery ham making the sandwich even more a mess. The whole sandwich was dull and at sometimes tasteless, especially the brisket. Half way through I decided to just buckle down and soak it in sauce, but still couldn’t finish. Maybe I visited on a off day? I wish they’d focus more on the food and less on the decorations. Wouldn’t recommend, and for independence locals I’d recommend leaving your comfort zone, much better options outside of...