Dead End BBQ — Restaurant in Knoxville

During our trip to Knoxville for business we wanted to try the best BBQ in the city. After searching for the highest rated restaurants in the area we settled on Dead End BBQ.

Let me tell you, I thank God we did. It was some of the most incredibly flavorful and juicy BBQ I have ever had, anywhere, let alone in the great state of Tennessee.

We decided to order a sampling of everything including Smoked Pulled Chicken, Pulled Pork, Ribs, Competition Chicken Thighs, Smoked Sausage, Smoked Bologna, along with Mixed greens (Mustard and Turnip), Beans and Smoked Sausage, and Mac and Cheese. We also opted for both jalapeño and regular cornbread.

Honestly it was all incredible, but the big standouts were the Burnt Ends, those heavenly morsels melted in your mouth into a literal puddle of deliciousness. Next up I want to mention 2 things that were nothing short of amazing, the Competition Chicken Thighs and the Smoked Bologna. The chicken was literal perfection, juicy, sweet and bursting with flavor.

The Smoked Bologna is award winning, I mean out of this world good. Even world champion competitive eater Joey Chestnut consumed 14lbs of it (that's right Fourteen Pounds) for his win at the 2024 Bologna Eating Championship! You have to order it it's friggin incredible!

The Mac and Cheese, Beans and Smoked Sausage and Greens need their own mention they literally tasted as close to homemade as you can possibly imagine. They are serious with a serious portion size.

We were quite pleased with our whole meal and experience, our service was fantastic, the bartender was fun and knowledgeable, we loved engaging in some insightful conversation while sitting at the bar with a few folks, one of those great people was Dave, he even treated us to servings of Dead End BBQ's World Famous Banana Pudding and Peanut Butter Pie. OMG stop what you're doing and get some of the Banana Pudding it's outstanding, one of the best iterations I've ever had, smooth and full of real banana flavor with a really nice twist!

After we finished we opted for the $5 Wheelbarrow Roll Out to our vehicle so we didn't have to struggle to walk back to the parking lot!...

It's okay. Just Okay. The service was great. The food was a little off to me. I do like how they have the different customizable sauces on the table. The food is average. I was surprised that they didn't have "pulled pork Mac n cheese." That's like a southern CLASSIC. Also, everything is pimento cheese. INCLUDING the Mac n cheese. I don't know the flavor was kind of off. I was a bit disappointed with the Mac and cheese to be honest. To rule out the pimento flavor I had to order a side of pulled pork barbecue, and then drizzle it with the sauce on the table. (To create a pulled pork mac & cheese.) I was expecting so wild, blown away BBQ experience, but it wasn't really like that. The Cheese balls were a great Appetizer. I would recommend getting the mixed. The Food came out Hot. They do have Kid Options and High Chairs. It is Kid friendly. Very busy when we went. The restaurant was clean and so were the bathrooms so that was a plus. I do feel as if it's a little overhyped a bit. I don't know if I would go back. I think I would try other BBQ joints before I go back. Also it is a little bit pricey. To be honest, in my opinion, it's not really worth what we paid. We paid $80.00+ for Two Meals, Appetizer and a PB&J sandwich for the little guy.... My Husband said it wasn't that great and the food was kind of dry.

My recommendations: park more towards the back, parking in the front can be kind of sketchy with all the people coming in and out. -get a variety of flavors for the cheeseballs if you're doing that as an appetizer.

Pros: -Good Service Parking -clean bathrooms -sauces on the table

Cons: -loud and crowded -pimento cheese kind of ruins everything! -meat is not flavored -kind of expensive -my Husband said the food...

I had been eagerly anticipating some lip-smacking barbecue after three long years of not having it, and my excitement led me to Dead End Barbecue. Sadly, what I encountered was a culinary catastrophe that left me craving my BBQ-free years.

The meat, oh, the meat. It was as if the concept of tenderness had completely eluded the cooks. Each bite felt like a workout for my jaw, and I couldn't help but wonder if I had accidentally ordered a plate of rubber bands. The cornbread, supposedly a simple delight, was a far cry from its reputation. Cardboard might actually be more flavorful and tender.

And then the sides. Or should I say, the side-show? They were an ensemble of blandness that left my taste buds begging for mercy. It's like they went out of their way to ensure that no ingredient with actual flavor had even a remote chance of making it onto my plate.

Let's not forget the banana pudding – or what they called banana pudding, at least. It tasted as if someone had taken a perfectly good dessert and whipped it into butter. The absence of bananas was ironic, considering it was supposed to be the star of the show.

Now, let's discuss the price tag – a true testament to the phrase "adding insult to injury." I don't mind paying for quality, but what I encountered was highway robbery disguised as culinary expertise.

Save yourself the disappointment and your hard-earned money. Dead End Barbecue is a destination for those who enjoy disappointment. If you're looking for an experience that's as exciting as watching paint dry, this is the place for you. But if you're after genuine barbecue bliss, steer clear of this...