Woody's Backyard Grill — Restaurant in Miami Springs

I blame ME FOR my timing (3:45pm) for getting a meal I couldn’t eat. The brisket reviews got my attention and brought me to the trough!

Being from Oklahoma and with distant family members celebrating 80 years in the BBQ business in Shawnee, OK-I know brisket. What I received on a slice of bread, sliced 1/4” thick brisket hidden in a slurry of sauce to hide the drying shadow of lunchtime freshness, BUT with a beautiful bark and a modest hint of damage-possibly from a microwave. The meat was dry and needed a knife to cut. From reading reviews, I know Woody’s knows his brisket and how to cook it. My recommendation is NOT TO SELL IT if you can’t reheat with steam. Anyone NOT knowing brisket and the BBQ business certainly wouldn’t return for this $35 plate that I left uneaten. On that note, I was somewhat surprised I wasn’t questioned as to why I didn’t eat it. The bartender was super friendly and attentive for the most part but missed a plate of brisket as she scraped it clean. The Southern style Potato Salad was super good and even the baked beans had a nice finish. I hope you see my comments for what they are, my opinion. If I am wrong about the reheat, my bad. However, as good as your reviews of the brisket are, leaving it on the counter overnight or over a weekend OR a microwave reheat is the only things I’ve ever seen ruin a great brisket as I am sure this was at lunch. My review is not personal or intended to be taken in a bad way. When they sell left-over brisket in Oklahoma. it’s always sold as “left-overs-order at your own risk or be here at lunch or dinner-time” (I’ve seen it done successfully); ESPECIALLY at 3:45 in the afternoon. You met my expectations when you could have blown me away. The place has a cool vibe, it’s super clean, as mentioned earlier-the bartender is a joy, and the prices are spot-on for the cost of today’s food supplies, labor, taxes, utilities, wood, rent, insurance, workers comp, advertising, and licensing.

If you truly enjoy Smoked Brisket, GIVE Woody’s Backyard Grill a shot at Lunch-time or Dinner, NOT in the middle of the afternoon as I did. There are waaaay too many GREAT reviews of Woody’s brisket for it not to be AMAZING when it’s fresh!

UPDATED: 2/14 Management requested I email so we could “dive in to the details of my review”. I will update once the dialogue...

Went for lunch on Friday... I have mixed feelings about this place. First the PROS: Nice comfortable outdoor seating enough for our party of 10. The Brisket tacos I had were delicious, the dirty burger was delicious, the ribs I think are better than Flannigan's fall off the bone ribs .. I Would say these just barely hang on to the bone they are so tender... And they use a mustard base sauce over them that gives them a very good flavor. Fish dip was ok, not that memorable.. Now for the CONS: Service while friendly and courteous was EXTREMELY SLOW... We only have 1 hour for lunch, and if service is typically this slow, we will never be able to come back here. The waitress kept telling us they only had her and 1 cook working on a FRIDAY... The only people we saw in the entire restaurant were 2 guys and us 10... No one else until later on when we were finishing up. The pulled pork sandwiches and pulled pork nachos were COLD ... But everyone was so hungry and tired of waiting that they ate the food... But I definitely have to post the review here... Since all pulled pork items were cold we all thought that's how it was supposed to be .. We were told later on when they were cleaning up the table (because we asked) that no it was supposed to be hot .. So big issue with that cold food... Luckily it was cooked, it was just COLD... Not even warm... We would have appreciated an apology and possibly credit for next time but nothing was offered... Just simply a statement that yes it was supposed to be hot.. The nachos pulled pork were also cold .. At least the chips were really good. Overall we may come back again, but I have mixed feelings here. If the service is going to be as slow as it was, then we will never be able to come back. Another thing is you need to pay attention to the item pricing on the menu. Some items are ridiculously pricey while others are decent, like the brisket tacos. The brisket was I think $28 dollars with 2 sides and I think that's on the pricey side for brisket. So, if service gets better next time we come, maybe we will make it a regular lunch outing in the office. Give them a try, you might have better luck than us... They do seem to have an outdoor area for...

TLDR: Do NOT come here!!! DO NOT waste your time!!! If you want to be treated with respect, go anywhere else.

After a long day of family flying out to Miami we wanted to grab a quick, no frills bite to eat close to the Miami airport, and ended up at Woody’s Backyard Grill. We would like to preface the next portion with this: we do not like to throw accusations of racism around lightly so we'll call this an observation; however as a group of 11 who were mostly Asian, we were thoroughly ignored multiple times while other parties of non-minorities got served regardless of their later arrival time. Call it what you want but no matter the reason, the service was horrendous, the manners were unprofessional, and the energy was impolite. It left a very sour taste in our mouths.

We were seated outside and requested menus (who even has to REQUEST menus??) and for the TV to be switched over to a specific playoff bball game. We were told to head outside and someone would be right there. It took over 10 minutes to have someone come out with menus and that was after multiple attempts at asking for service. The TV was never changed to the game we requested. We watched as multiple parties were serviced before us and as workers came out and walked right by us. The final straw was when we finally got menus (they only brought them out after we grabbed some from inside after 10-15 minutes of waiting) and they took another 10 minutes to bring out water. On top of that, the waitress was unfriendly. We left before we spent the whole night waiting for someone to take our order. All around a terrible experience and we will...