Waldo's BBQ — Restaurant in Mesa

Tonight was the absolute WORST experience I've had in over 50 years, living in several major cities on the continent! Manager / server Scotty, the tall anorexic guy with glasses looks like he is always ANGRY during take out but tonight we ate in, and unfortunately got him as a server.

He had the WORST attitude, yelled at us like he had some serious infantile mental condition. We placed a simple order.

My husband is a LEO, 12 hour hard work day serving and helping the public, and our anniversary, we decided to go to Waldo's to relax and enjoy our dinner. But manager SCOTTY totally ruined it! We were repulsed and lost our appetite so got up and took our food to go. Actually I felt like throwing up, my heart was racing - he treated us like we were less than roaches, arguing and yelling. He has ZERO brains for intelligence, this is probably his highest level of achievement in life, acts like he is the Gestapo and ruler of society. He should be removed from the customer service field - maybe work in a prison since he breathes and expels deranged ANGER. All he did was dish out a venomous attitude while yelling like he was about to have an anyeurism. Disgusting! This was my last meal at what used to be one of my favorite BBQ places in town. Thank God for competition.... there are many OTHER fantastic 1st class BBQ restaurants in the valley and will return to my other favorites which never fail to bend over backwards to accomodate and provide customers with a satisfying and enjoyable dining experience.

In the restaursnt business, besides the quality of food, customer service is of the utmost importance, so I will frequent establishments who treat their customers with common human decency, politeness, respect and appreciation. No one should tolerate this kind of customer verbal abuse. It was completely off the charts psycho!

After 18 years, what a shame one person can completely ruin your experience and make you a fan of the past! Just sickening and unbelievable this despicable treatment we were subjected to!

We should have gotten up and left the food on the table. Honestly - how would manager Scotty feel if the tables were turned and HE was treated lower than a cockroach as a loyal, paying customer after 18 years?

This is the most polite review I can provide without going into detail. Lost two more local customers and will never recommend to anyone anymore. Shame on you Scotty! Sure hope you don't treat any heart patients this way, there would be some awful lawsuits that would keep you awake at night. The Universe sees all, what goes around, comes around... KARMA!!!

All other servers were polite, two even apologized. Scotty stood out like a sore thumb. All it takes is ONE incompetent and deranged worker to serve as an appalling reflection on an establishment. Congratulations Scotty for showing your true colors, causing the loss of customers for the owner, and providing a nightmare reflection on the restaurant. Class act. NOT. Farewell to the famous Waldo's I...

Wow, a lot of 4-5 star reviews…a little surprising to be honest, but I wanted to add my two cents nevertheless…Granted, went on a Monday for lunch with a guest for the sake of trying a new place. Going on a Monday may have made a difference rather than going on the weekend, but really, if a place is “good” it should be good 24/7. Had the meat sampler with ‘jerked’ chicken, brisket, ham, also a pulled pork sandwich, bbq chicken salad, mac n cheese, beans, okra, and root beer. Figured, leftovers for later so took the rest home. The food was nothing to write home about, sadly. Was hoping for better. Tried it again at home but verdict was in…Okra was awful. Mac n cheese was not very good. Beans meh. Chicken was dry and flavorless. Brisket was uninspiring and dry. Ham was just ok and nothing special. So, wanted to have another bite at home before tossing the rest, and boom!? found a roach crawling along in the to-go meat sampler container. Yeah. Kinda did it for me. This place is certainly kitsch and has that AZ desert vibe and all, with the store next door etc (closed) but if the food was great (and no roach) then all can be forgiven. But it is what it is. Chalk it up to experience. Service was mediocre at best. ‘Get them in, get them out, just a job mentality’. I get it but I still tipped fairly. Maybe to fairly. Again, Monday, but still. If a place is good, it’s always good. I’ve had better bbq around the valley. Wish I could give a better review about this place. I wanted to. Actually it’s...

Outside Waldo's on a poster it says "Waldo's BBQ, Almost Famous". I should have heeded the warning. Service was terrible.

Upon entering I smelled the most wonderful barbecue smell I've ever smelt. It was perfect BBQ to a T. While waiting for a while that turned into to be a considerable wait, we watch our waitress flirt with our adjacent table.

Amongst my group we joked about how that waitress better get all of her tips from the other table because we were not going to tip her at all. We all watched our food sit waiting, visible to us, from our seats , for what verged on seven minutes (we had line of sight into the kitchen) while said waitress handled cash then went out back, returning in a different shirt, then returning to deliver our food. I have no confidence in this establishment's food safety record, despite the "A" rating they hang on the wall.

At least my Beef Brisket Reuben was delicious, and the sweet potato chips quite literally melted in my mouth. Amazing.

But also I did ask the waitress for advice on which side to order, and she glowingly recommended the Hatch Chili Mac n Cheese. Said Mac stunk of microwave. Some of Waldo's is Fantastic Food, but as the sign out front implied, Waldo's is "Almost Famous," because they totally...