Sam Jones BBQ — Restaurant in Greenville

My husband an I stopped in on a whim while we were in the area. We had our two year old and our 6month old with us. So upon walking in you have to order your food before being seated which can be a bit much coming to a place with small children and also if you never been there before. We chose the two meat plate with ribs and turkey it was an extra $5 to get a pound of ribs our sides was greens and Mac we also ordered the pork skin nachos with chopped bbq. We chose to sit at a booth which was very uncomfortable being that the table and seats were close and couldn’t be moved also the backs of the booths were so upright it was uncomfortable. The food came out quickly we barely had enough time to get situated. There was a nice amount of food plenty for us to share. The food looked nice but was a disappointment. The ribs were a bit tough and lacked flavor. They leave the membrane on the back of their ribs which is not the best idea when you’re smoking them because it turns out chewy and tough. The turkey was nice but again lacked flavor. The smoke on the meat is very mild. It’s so mild that if I knew nothing about bbq I wouldn’t have thought it was smoked. The sides were a let down as well. The Mac n cheese was hideous. Walmart serves better Mac in their deli department. My toddler refused to eat it. The greens had a vinegary taste they weren’t cut up enough. They were so big it was messy to eat. I was trying to cut them up but that wasn’t working out being that I was holding a baby. They did have a decent flavor if you like vinegar. The sweet potato muffin was nasty it literally tasted like a boiled sweet potato with no flavor. The pork skin nachos were decent. They just put to much seasoning on them so they were salty. They seasoned the wrong thing lol. I’m a person who does not like North Carolina “bbq” pulled pork or whatever you want to call it. So to my surprise the meat that was on the nachos was actually very juicy and good. I actually at a few bites. The pork skin nachos didn’t put me in the mindset of nachos. There was cheese sauce but it didn’t taste like nothing. There was no sour cream, guac , or anything that said this is nachos. It was like pork skins with chopped meat and bacon bits that’s it that’s all. If you don’t like gummy chewy textures then the pork skin nachos aren’t for you . More than likely we will not return. They need some help from a person that really knows bbq. And they need to taste what they are serving for the day. Make sure it’s up to par. I’d help them out but I’m a full time housewife, my hands are full to say the least. Wish them...

One star for bad customer service: I hate to write this review about our favorite BBQ restaurant, but the service was so bad that I wanted to let the owner know. My husband and I have eaten at SAM JONES BBQ in Winterville, NC many, many times and this is the first time we have had a bad experience. We have traveled all over eastern and western NC trying different barbecue establishments and SAM JONES barbecue is by far our favorite, so our last visit was a disappointment for sure. When we arrived at the restaurant there was no one in line but the girl at the register was on the phone taking a large order. It could have been a catering order because she was giving descriptions of the food and how many it would serve. So we waited patiently, and waited, and waited some more, I estimate we stood there for about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, six more people came in as we were in line. I suppose someone took notice that the line was getting long and we were still waiting to give our order. A customer should never have to stand and wait that long for someone to wait on them. Finally, another girl came out from the back to wait on us. We could tell she was new and learning to key in our order. We found a table and waited for our food. We noticed that the people that came in behind us already had their food. So we continued to wait. We also noticed a server carrying around two plates of food seemingly lost. She passed us by multiple times. After about 15 minutes, another girl came over and asked us what we ordered. Apparently the first girl that took our order entered the wrong number down on the ticket. So we asked for new plates of hot food, because by now the food was cold. So we continued to wait, and wait for another 8 minutes for new plates of hot food. We both were losing our patience at this point, but finally another server brought our two plates of not hot or cold, but lukewarm food. The food was good but would have been better hot. After dealing with 4 separate servers/wait staff we were very displeased that they were that unorganized and it took so long for them to figure out what was wrong. We have always had prompt service and hot food, but not on this day. I hope the manager of the store will take note of this so hopefully this won't happen to anyone else. The wait staff need to be trained to be more attentive to prevent miscommunication and follow through to make sure a problem with an order is corrected right at the moment a problem...

No doubt 5 Stars PLUS, Recently engaged Sam Jones to cater a rehearsal dinner for our son's wedding. Could not have made a better choice. The food was outstanding; ribs so tender and seasoned just right, chopped BBQ unlike any other taste and so reflective of the East Carolina legendary BBQ just outstanding, the chicken was really moist and so flavorful. Sides were again made right and completed the experience for the out-of-area quests who were just astounded by the taste.

All was made possible through the professional management and assistance of the Sam Jones staff. Nick the catering manager and Tyler the onsite manager were a great team to work with to ensure success. Nick ensured the right amount of food was made available in the planning for the event and addressed a wide range of possible options and concerns about the event. Tyler's professional management of the set-up and service at the event was outstanding. Simply, they knew what to do and how to make it happen to ensure a premium event.

I recommend, without reservation, Sam Jones as the best choice when Eastern NC BBQ is to be offered. Actually if they had stores elsewhere in the country, I can't see how those would not become the area choice for BBQ. If, either engaging them to cater an event or dining in with them SAM JONES is the obvious choice. Best BBQ and service...