Bodacious Bar-B-Q — Restaurant in Longview

I have the time today to be crystal clear.

Go. Somewhere. Else. While I have no complaints about the food, I am terribly disappointed with the catering service provided to us. Absolutely let down.

This Bodacious location catered our wedding reception. When it was over, we were told that our food was packed up and taken away by the Bodacious employees working our event. While this is not a practice I’ve ever experienced with any catering company prior to this incident, I had faith that we would easily get it back the next day before getting on the road to head back home to Louisiana, and that there had to have been some kind of misunderstanding. However, doing anything the next day proved problematic due to the fact that the restaurant is closed on Sundays.

I was very displeased about the fact that the food that we paid cash for—OUR food, not theirs—was packed up and taken away without one word being spoken to us about it. We had to go home on Sunday, but I wasn’t very concerned because I foolishly thought that Bodacious, being a reputable restaurant, would make this situation right.

My husband spoke to the owner on Monday and told her that we would call back together so I could speak to her, since no solution was offered. When I was able to get in touch with someone on Monday, it was with the worker who served at our event. She professionally apologized (much appreciated) and explained that they typically leave with left over food and store it in their freezer, but she should have asked us what we wanted to do, specifically. She also explained I would have to talk to the owner about any type of refund.

When the owner got back with me, she was only focused on was the potentiality of someone from east TX to pick up the food for us. She was impatient, rude, rushed our conversation, and did not listen. There was no apology, and she assumed NO responsibility for the fact that we are 4 hours away from the food that we paid for. She said she would put a refund in the mail...today I got the refund.

The refund was $65.

That’s SIX-FIVE, in case you didn’t read that correctly. I was told by several guests that we had enough food to feed at least 15-20 more people. The biggest problem, though is that I, myself, have no clue how much remained, because I didn’t see the food before it left the building. When speaking with Shannon (the owner), there was not the slightest effort to explain how much food was left. Instead, she hurriedly told me I’d get a refund. When I asked if she would let me know the refunded amount would be before she put it in the mail, she hastily replied no.

Poor communication and terrible attitude by the owner was so disappointing, but it was a rookie mistake on our part to not pay with a check opposed to cash. If you must do Bodacious, it is with all my energy that I advise you to pick...

To start off, if you are looking for the Bodacious BBQ on the Texas Monthly list, this is not that location - you want to go to the original Mobberly Avenue location.

I grew up coming here for either a sit down or takeout, and it was the go-to place for BBQ. Coming back to Longview a few times per year, my parents usually want to eat here. On this visit, as well as the last two times, it was just average and is not the same quality it used to be. On this last visit, I had sliced beef with two sides - the brisket was very dry and didn't have much flavor, which is consistent with my last several visits. I got pinto beans and mac and cheese as my sides and they were very good.

Chopped beef is good for a take-home and serve if you want to liberally apply their sauce, but for true sliced brisket it was very...

Food is great. Service was not as much. This was our first time at this location. We usually go to the one on the loop. They didn't explain that you served the sides yourself. We didn't even know where the bbq sauce was for my husband's ribs. They seemed a bit irritated and we were slightly embarrassed. We ordered Mac n cheese for our son's meal. I scraped the bottom of the container and there still wasn't enough to fill the size cup we purchased. At first, they were just saying they were out of Mac n cheese. That's it. The end. I was in shock that all 3 present employees acted as if we should be ok with a 2/3 filled cup. Finally, as we stood there in shock, one employee, possibly the manager or owner, offered us a refund of which I was very grateful. Unfortunately, we will not be back to...