Hoot's BBQ & Steaks — Restaurant in McGehee

Fantastic BBQ a must stop! My family has stopped here numerous times over the past six years for lunch and dinner while passing through McGehee. This time we stopped on Wednesday. We were walk-ins and arrived at 8pm. What was odd to me is that they take reservations for weekdays. The hostesses said they fill up during the evening normally by six pm. I would suggest to call ahead and get a spot. We did not have a reservation but they squeezed us in to a packed house.

The restaurant is very well maintained and decorated to the nines. The parking lot is mostly gravel and can hold large RVs, Semi-Trucks and Busses. I believe the building is a repurposed barn. The restaurant has a very nice lobby, bar, private banquet room and two large dinners rooms. It has a very southern vibe with worn doors, windows, and a rusted tin ceiling. The walls are decorated with authentic vintage signs from early 1900s. They have three TVs playing sports. The restaurant is very modern with orders done via iPad and printed receipt tickets for the kitchen.

My family ordered the sampler (chicken quarter, pulled pork, sliced beef) side salad and ranch, and coleslaw. Hoot’s Cheeseburger (Hooted up egg of choosing on top) with chips. Chopped chicken sandwich with sweet potatoes fries, and catfish dinner, coleslaw, sweet potato fries and two hush puppies. The sweet tea was very sweet and tasted excellent and not bitter.

The BBQ was fantastic! It was fresh and really shined. The brisket still had the smoke ring, very moist and seasoned very well. I could tell it was fresh and not soaked in beef stock. The chicken quarter was super moist. The skin was soft, well rendered, and amazing. The chopped chicken sandwich was white meat and had a wonderful smoke flavor and it too was very moist. The catfish was whole filets cooked to protection no hard edges and not under done in the center. The hush puppies were amazing with a little heat. The sweet potatoes fries were salted and very well. The burgers comes as you want (rare, medium rare, medium, or well done). We ordered it well done and it was still juicy and the egg put it over the top. The coleslaw was good slightly sweet with very little vinegar. It was great just not amazing. It was hand cut cabbage. I would order again.

We took cake to go. We took German Chocolate and Carrots cake and both of them were completely homemade and only cost $4 per slice. The also had four other cakes strawberry, chocolate, and classic white cakes. They also had banana pudding, and chocolate moose as well.

Overall if this restaurant was in my town my family would go three days a week.

I post a video of one of their staff singing happy birthday. Probably the best birthday song at a...

My son and I traveling through. I was so excited to stop here because I had stopped here years ago and it was awesome. Not so this time. Won't stop again. So it started when we walked in. There was a lady at the receptionist desk who looked right at us and started to grab some menus. I thought she was grabbing them for us but she didn't say anything she turned and walked away. I realized at that point that it was 4:55 and there was a sign that said before 5:00 go to the counter to order. Okay, no big deal, even though the lady didn't bother to greet us. I ordered a half chicken with salad with ranch. We went and sat down and waited. Many servers passed by but none of them greeted us. We got our own drinks. Then our food came and my salad never did. I went to the counter and they couldn't "find" my order. They asked me what my ticket number was 3 times. Then they asked me what I ordered 3 times. On the third time I finally said "for the 3rd time I ordered..." They finally brought the salad after I already had the food. Since I prepaid I already left a 20% tip, however we never had a single server help us, not even greet us. We got up and got our own drinks several times. So disappointed!! Won't come back, won't recommend. We are from Arkansas too. Food...smoked chicken had rubbery skin, chicken was luke warm. This place was a total let down. Also I forgot to mention we had to get silverware off of another table because we didn't have any. When I spoke to the manager, very politely, stressing that I just wanted him to know our experience, he acted like he didn't want to listen, turned away before I was done explaining to him...

Okay I am from McGehee but I haven’t lived here for many years. This place is always full b/c it is one of the very few spots to eat in the area. Here is my recommendation, on the weekend, make a reservation. If not, you may not be able to get in until after 8 or at all. I stopped by while in town and ordered food to go for a family member. The take out was slow even after I showed up 30 minutes after ordering. I checked with the hostess to see about coming in later. I was told if I could eat now she could seat me but I had to be done in 45 min for another party’s reservation . I declined and was told she was booked until 8pm. She told me to just come back and she would “figure something out.” I did and she was able to seat my party of two. However I saw others who walked in only to be told it would be later before any availability.

It took a while for the waitress to come over but she was kind and tried to answer our questions. I ordered the 3 meat sampler and my cousin had the bacon cheeseburger. Our food came quickly. My salad had fresh ingredients. The chicken was dry. My cousin had the burger and enjoyed it. Every time I have tried the ribs they had been good. This time they were fine but a bit greasy. The brisket was lacking flavor b-c salt is not flavor. I tried to the German chocolate cale. It tasted like box cake mix and the frosting was too sweet for my taste. Overall it was a decent experience and given the area, I give it 4 stars. However it could use some healthier options on the menu, but from what I see people who come here are not...