New Moon BBQ — Restaurant in Lebanon

We visited blue moon for the first time today and have mixed feelings. I got the smoked chicken, Mac and cheese, broccoli casserole, cornbread and sweet tea. Pros: -the chicken was DELICIOUS! Very moist and great flavor. the portions were generous. I left with half my meal in a to-go box. -the cornbread (flapjack style) had a good texture the decor was great. Loved the small town feel. Cons: the Mac and cheese was obviously not homemade; it tasted like canned cheese sauce. it wasn't the cleanest place. Dust was caked on the air vent above my seat, the glass above the buffet was splashed with dried on food, and the trash cans right at the front door were gross. They should be cleaning during down time instead of hanging out talking to each other behind the register. there were flies ALL over, even in the buffet area on the food. There were no fans to keep them away. -for the price I paid, I would've expected better service. The girl behind the buffet was nice, but reserved. Ordering was the only time we were greeted. They saw us leave but didn't say "thanks for visiting". I would've liked for someone to come to the table and ask if we needed anything. There were to-go boxes out on the table, which made it feel very hands-off. After you get your food, forget ever being approached by an employee. In my opinion, if you ask for a tip (made sure to let us know that was an option), provide more service than just making the food. it was super quiet (we went at an off time). Not a huge deal, but it would've been nice to have a little music. I felt like the family across the room could hear everything my table was saying.

Overall, great meat, average sides, well-decorated but dirty dining room,...

Not very good all around. My wife and I visited this place for the first time and were not impressed at all. We ordered the nachos on the menu, which were suppose to be loaded with pork, nacho cheese, beans, jalapeños, bbq sauce and sour cream... I did ask for no beans, but when we got the nachos it was pulled pork on the chips topped with a white queso cheese and nothing else on it. I had to go back to the counter and ask for the jalapeños and sour cream that were suppose to be on it. And even then, it was a small side of about 5-6 peppers in the cup. Nacho cheese (the yellow cheddar) would have been much better on the nachos. Now to the sides... the Mac n cheese my wife got was like warm at best, partly cold. We even watched her put a freshly opened tray of Mac n cheese into the line when we walked up. Well, there was nothing fresh about that pan. I also ordered wings and a side of fries... well I got the wings and was told she needed to make the fries and they would be brought out to me when ready, ok great! Well, we paid at 7:21 PM and at 7:50 PM I had to walk up to the counter and try and get someone’s attention in the back to tell them I still hadn’t received my fries. She turned around, looked at the fryer where the fries are sitting in the basket done and proceeded to drop them back down into the fryer to “recook them, to heat them up” and brought them to me after. Needless to say, they weren’t very good and definitely not the “fresh cut fries” listed on the menu. And as reviewed by other patrons, the bottles of bbq sauce on the tables were not very clean, sticky and gooey on the outsides. We are from out of town and wanted to try a local place, but now regret...

New Moon Barbecue formerly Blue Moon Barbeque

We hoped this place would be great as it's local. So we ate here about half a dozen times.  Unfortunately it's a 4 on a scale with 10 being the highest.  We've tried the ribs, brisket, sausage, pulled pork, turkey legs, and sides.

The Ribs:  The ribs are strange with a texture we've experienced from places that boil and then bake their ribs.  They definitely don't have that classic low and slow smoked texture or flavor.  They are bland and the bark was so hard it was inedible.   Drive the extra 30 minutes to Murfreesboro to The Slick Pig to get ribs smoked on competition style smokers.  In fact their entire menu of barbeque is 10/10.

The Brisket: was tender and moist, but tasted baked rather than smoked.  The flavor was a bit bland as well.

The Sausage: Is a kielbasa style that is smoked and a but spicy. It was pretty good.

The Turkey Legs are popular and often sell out.

The pulled pork is okay when soaked with sauce.

The mac and cheese:  Restaurants have got to stop being lazy with sides. You can't take food service pre made mac and cheese and sprinkle cheese on top and expect it to be good.  It's standard Bob Evans deli style pre made taste and texture. It literally takes 30 minutes to make 5 gallons of homemade mac and cheese that will knock your socks off without using commercial cheese sauce.

The green beans are good with seasoning and onions.

The flat hot water style cornbread is good, but get it if you're eating in.  Skip it on to go orders as it gets soggy.

Unfortunately we'll have to make that drive to Murfreesboro to get consistently...