Beast Barbecue — Restaurant in Minneapolis

My husband and I are severely disappointed and shocked at the way we were treated this past week with this business and will be filing a complaint with the BBB due to the lack of ethics practiced by this store's owner. We had a very good experience overall on our first time dining in with them. Our server was lovely and the food was tasty, so much so in fact that we decided to invite our brother and sister-in-law to join us for dinner there to celebrate my brother-in-law's recent birthday. On 7/26/2024, we dined in together and had some strange interactions with our server. She kept messing with the things on our table and re-arranging where our things were placed there, lingered at our table for far too long, and in general was just odd to interact with. When we split the check between us two couples, we checked the receipts and made sure our cards were on the correct receipts to pay for our meals. When we got our cards back, however, we noticed that the server had somehow flip flopped the cards and it appeared she had charged my husband and I for our brother/sister-in-law's meal and vice versa. We told the server we could figure out the difference between ourselves since we were family and there was only a 10 dollar difference in pricing.

However, after leaving the restaurant I noticed in my bank account that the server had somehow swiped one card (my husband and I's card) for BOTH meals, charging us for food we did not order or eat. We waited until the next day and drove back 20 minutes to the restaurant and spoke with a different server than the one we had before who reassured us that this was 'not okay' and that she would make sure the owner voided the charge for meals we did not eat from our account that day (Saturday 7/27). The server also promised us that the owner would call us back to let us know when the charges were voided and took my husband's name and number down to do so. When we did not hear from them all of Saturday or Sunday, my husband called Sunday afternoon to ask about the status of the refund. The same server answered and assured us the owner would be in that night (7/28) and would do it right away. We heard nothing the rest of Sunday or Monday the 29th (although they are closed on Mondays), so we decided my husband would go in again on Tuesday 7/30 to resolve the issue.

My husband went inside and asked if the owner was available. He was and walked my husband to the to-go area, pulled up our order while my husband AGAIN explained the charge error that the server made, and he looked at my husband and said "Oh, I'm not reversing that". My husband (in a calm voice) said, "Are you f*ing serious?" to which the owner said "OH, so this is how we're gonna play this?? You're gonna swear at me? I have a business and need to make money, so no, I'm not reversing the charge".My husband (who has managed restaurants before) brought up that when mistakes happen like this, it is voided and/or comp'd, to which the owner replied "Well, times have changed". At this point my husband walked out and told him to have a good day.

All this to say - we will be following up and filing reports with the Better Business Bureau and the police for withholding money from us for food we did not order. I understand that comping meals for a server's error sucks, but it is the right thing to do and IS standard practice across the food service industry. While we had enjoyed this place in the past, we were highly disappointed in how we were treated and needless to say, we won't be returning ever. Steer clear of this business and read all the other reviews showing that this place has a pattern of promising refunds/voids and not following through. Yikes. EDIT (8/9) - a co-owner called us back on 7/30 and said he would “make things right”, but only after our reviews were left and now 8 business days later we have still not seen a refund, so I guess he just called and lied about it? couldn’t not recommend them more...

I heard good things about this place and thought I'd give it a try. I love barbeque food and it is pretty tough to find a good place around here. I am being pretty generous about giving a two star. The atmosphere was really nice. They did a really good job about renovating this from a dive bar. It definitely fits the area and very hip and new. The atmosphere fit the theme for a barbeque place. The service was decent and friendly, but kind of slow for a place that was not that busy. We ordered and the food came out in about five minutes or so. I was surprised at how fast the food came out, but also curious as to why it came out so quick. We ordered the half and half. Half chicken and half ribs. The chicken had a dry run and had decent flavor, but the chicken was dry and did not have enough flavor. The ribs had decent flavor, but again it was dry. We waited for the rest of our party to show up and we ordered another round of ribs. The second order of ribs were less dry and same flavor. It was good, but did not fall off the bone. We ordered a few different sides with each order. We had the creamy coleslaw which was a bust. It lacked flavor and was not very creamy in my opinion. Other sides were the JoJo chips, which was a hit. That was my favorite thing we ordered. The Minnesota white, ranch, was homemade, but really there was nothing to scream about. It just tasted like watery ranch. Couple of the people ordered brisket. The first order was very dry and the second looked more juicy. I did not eat it, but could tell by the looks of it. I would not recommend coming here and would not come back. Sorry, I was very...

Update. How does a place go from great (see below) to why the f did I just spend that much for that? Today we drove the 35 minutes for my birthday dinner to go to Beast. We got ribs, potato salad and Brussel sprouts. The ribs were over cooked and dry. The potato salad was okay and the Brussel sprouts were gross. And I love brussel sprouts. They brought us some mac n cheese and to be honest it was the best part of the meal. Had a Jack n Coke and even that did not taste too good. Really disappointing. I need my smoker back... Eating out in MN sucks.

Our first bbq joint in MN. Really solid. Just down the road from us since we're in Fridley. Service was great. Our server even suggested we get the rib platter vs the 3 meat platter since we were just getting ribs. We had ribs... They were tender with a decent smoke ring. Very much more competition style than fall of the bone. They put a good rub on them so they taste pretty good all on their own. Their sauce are good. I preferred the Sassy Beast, then the Beast. I'm not a fan of mustard sauce so the Cackalacky was not for me. We also had the creamy slaw, potato salad, mac and cheese and some pretty good garlic toast. I liked them all. They even had some pretty good bread and butter pickles on the side. There was enough to feed 2 adults and our 15 year old hockey player son. In fact we couldn't even eat it all and brought some back. This is our litmus for bbq in MN now. All others will be judged...