Baylee Jo's Barbecue — Restaurant in Ironton

Spring Break 2021, my daughter and I had spent the day hiking, and had worked up quite an appetite. Driving into town we noticed the sign for Seafood and BBQ so we stopped in to see what it was all about. We were greeted with a smiling face immediately and told to sit anywhere we liked. The hostess brought us giant ice cold waters in Glass Mason Jars, such a nice touch. We were starving and didn’t have to wait at all to take a nibble. The hostess brought BBQ Pork Rinds along with the water, no charge, like chips at a Mexican Restaurant. I’ve never been a fan of pork rinds, but a thoughtful touch indeed. I went ahead and tried one, they weren’t anything like I’d had out of a bag from the store. These were super light, fluffy, and crisp. Something about that BBQ seasoning made those Pork Rinds addictive — the pair of us ate half the basket. Before we could get tired of the Pork Rinds, our Crab Cake Appetizer arrived. WOW, what a treat! The cakes were huge, perfectly crisp, and loaded with real shredded crab meat. I have no idea what the sauce was made of, but it was fantastic. If I had to guess, there was some sort of smoked pepper powder in it because it had a touch of heat, but nothing overwhelming. The sauce was “honey sweet” with a tangy zing so the moderate heat was a pleasant surprise. Plates were cleared promptly and the crab legs arrived in perfect time. The quality of food is clearly most important, but the friendliness and timing of the food delivery makes the experience. The Bucket of Crabs did not disappoint — 4-generous clusters with plenty of warm butter. This is a great place to eat crab legs — they keep a roll of paper towels right on the table! We were too full to eat our sides or try any desserts. We boxed up the sides and had them later that evening. I had a baked potato and my daughter had the loaded fries. I would go there for the loaded fries alone. Tons of crispy bacon crumbles on top of the cheese sauce. This isn’t the place to count your calories, but who cares after a day of hiking the Shut-Ins. On the way out, we took a Strawberry Lemonade — what a treat. They put whole, real strawberries in it. We highly recommend Baylee Jo’s — sparkling clean bathrooms, attentive service, and FANTASTIC FOOD at a reasonable price. I will definitely return when I’m...

One star lost because of the cold ribs.....total bummer because despite them being cold, they were still moist and tasty. I can only imagine how awesome they would've been had they been hot. I did tell our cheerful and friendly server when she asked and she offered to take them back to be reheated. We started with the fried Portobello mushrooms as an app and boy were they good! They were slices of Portobello mushrooms in a killer crust and yummy horseradish sauce. For our dinner, we ordered two rib plates, my husband had corn and fries which were both came hot and I had coleslaw which was vinegar based and outstanding baked beans with plenty of chunks of meat. We each received two tiny little cheddar cheese biscuits, they were delicious but very small...what gives? Biscuits are cheap and easy to make, no reason to be so stingy. The BEST part of my meal was the fried shrimp. I ordered the shrimp and rib dinner and our server told me that the owner had just brought in some Royal Red shrimp. She told me that they were bigger than the shrimp that came with the meal and those were already fair sized. I asked her if I could substitute the Royal Reds for the shrimp that usually came with the meal and she asked the boss who was sitting at the bar. They only charged me a $1 more which made my meal $18.99....I would've gladly paid that much for just shrimp but to have them with four little ribs was a total score. The ribs came first and the server told me that the shrimp would come later...a few minutes later the owner himself brought out my shrimp and told me that he had cooked them himself. Honestly? Those were THE most amazing shrimp I've had on either coast and we're from San Diego, I've had great shrimp in many places. He fried them in a light tasty batter which did not hide the taste of the shrimp, they were like little chunks of lobster! A+++++ We ordered a slice of chocolate pie for dessert and the server said it was on the house because of the ribs....nice move :-) The place was busy as heck at about 630pm on Saturday evening but all the servers were literally running full speed the entire time we were there as were the cooks, we could see them through the window. I am very willing to forgive the cold ribs and will definitely visit the next time...

The service was just okay. There were about 10 tables with people while we were there. Our waitress seemed to have 7 of them, while the other 2 waitresses didn't seem to be helping out much. For instance, we ordered the mushroom appetizer. Another waitress brought them to us and said, "she'll bring your sauce," meaning our waitress; she went back to stand by the bar. 5 minutes later our waitress came by, looked at our table, and said, "they didn't bring your sauce," and immediately went to get it. Our waitress was doing the nest she could with the situation.

The issue is the food. Their sauces are good, but nothing special. Not good enough to purchase a bottle, but fine for use in the restaurant. The sides and, what I would consider "bar foods" were very good. The fried portabella were great. I really liked their horseradish sauce, it was mild with a good flavor. The ranch was very good as well. The fries and brussel sprouts that came with my pork were very good too. My wife ordered the potato skins, the potato portion was very good.

The issue is the meat, which is inexcusable for a barbecue restaurant. They have no clue how to smoke or barbecue. We only had pulled pork, but it had no more flavor than a hunk of pork baked in the oven. The menu says its smoked for 12 hours. The meat had no smoke ring, no smokey flavor, and was very dry. Definitely the worst barbecue I've ever had in the Midwest.

The prices were...