Big Rascal BBQ & Grille (BR BBQ) — Restaurant in Ocala

This was probably our worst experience ever with a restaurant. We will never return. While in Ocala, we decided before heading back to Jax to stop and have BBQ which is a favorite of both mine and my wives. We walked in and seated ourselves. The waitress did not speak clearly to us, seemed almost afraid to be sociable. We ordered corn nuggets, glass of water and a sprite. Appetizer and drinks. We also placed our order for me a double bbq turkey plate with potato salad and veg. melody. My wife ordered beef brisket and greens with mac n cheese. When this was brought to us, we said our blessing and thought we were going to get to eat, we did eat some of the corn nuggets, but when my wife tasted her beef brisket it was dried out and black without taste. We asked the waitress at that time to replace the brisket with a different meat for my wife. She told us we would have to talk to the Mgr. to get approval. I do not eat alone with my wife sitting next to me so we sat there together waiting for the Mgr. After a very long wait, I got out of my seat and went to the front desk looking for her.. The Mgr. I was not able to locate here so I returned to my seat. Approximately 10 minutes later the Mgr. Ms.???? approach our table and allowed us to express our dislike for the food they had served and asked for a replacement meat. We were told that we could order another meat but we would have to pay for it. We then explained to her that we had never heard of a restaurant that would not satisfy the customers wish to get something more to their liking. We told the Mgr. that we did not want any of the food then and we would be happy to pay for the corn nuggets that we had eaten and the $2.29 glass of Sprite that my wife took one drink of but nothing more. She (the mgr then began to threaten us that we WOULD pay for this food, and that our other choices were to have the food boxed up to go, or the Law would be called on us. We got out of our seats and gladly invited her to call the local police, which she did. She began to badger us about how good her food was once again and how much she serves and how much she liked it. We told her that her taste did not constitute us eating over cooked and dried out food. Other customers gave us atta boys for standing our ground. One customer wanted to sample some greens for sugar content due to the fact that he was diabetic. He was told they don''t give samples but they would bring him some of their greens, but... if he didn't like them he would have to pay for them. We walked to the front door and continued to listen to the lady Mgr. rave about how good her food was and how much she liked it and that we should also like it, but either way we were paying for it.... A few short minutes later the Ocala Police arrived on scene, They listened to me and let me tell them exactly what had happened in the BIG Rascal BBQ in Ocala. They asked us many questions and then went to look at the food on our table and determined that we had not eaten anything but the corn nuggets that we had ordered, and the drink of the Sprite, which mind you we had offered many times to pay for. The Police determined and I agreed to pay the $7.29 for the drink and nuggets. The Mgr. decided that she did not want the money that was offered and stated that in front of the Officers. She did however have the good men of the Ocala police dept. serve us with a trespassing citation????? Believe me when I tell you that they did not want to do this. They new that we had been in the right all along. I take my hat of to the gentlemen of the Ocala, Fl. Police Dept. They know and listen to the truth when they hear it and make good judgement calls. Never again will we refer, or return to this low class establishment for any reason. Look at these...

Great barbecue: APPALLINGLY BAD service.

Big Rascal's on US 27/NW 27th Street/Bonnie Heath Parkway/NW Blichton Road/NW Old Blichton Road/NW 10th Street/SR500 (I'm not making this up: this street actually has SEVEN DIFFERENT NAMES, all referring to the same road and there is no consistency to how the road is marked from intersection to intersection!) has some of the most amazing barbecue to be found -- if you can get the staff to wait on you. Their pulled pork is a unique combination of sweet, sour and spicy and I wanted to bring back two quart containers of the stuff to Austin, under ice. I walked into the restaurant, which was empty (save for two tables) and waited for 15 minutes to be served. The waitress finally showed up and asked what I'd like to have to drink. I ordered ice tea. I waited another 15 minutes for the tea, which was served lukewarm. I asked for ice in my tea, so she took my drink and returned with a glass full of ice and very little tea.

Now she was ready to take my order. I explained that I was driving back to Austin, Texas and wanted to take some pulled pork with me, and that I had brought two quart-sized containers for the barbecue. She looked at me imperiously and declared, "We don't allow open containers in this store." I responded, "I'm sure you don't allow open containers of alcohol or other drinks, or food which has been bought elsewhere in your store, but these are empty containers and I'd like to take the barbecue back to Austin with me, under ice; and I'd like to order enough pulled pork to fill these two empty containers."

She responded that she'd have to talk to her manager; and I asked if I could have some tea to go with my ice. She brought back a cup of lukewarm tea - I guess so that I could pour it into the ice she had previous delivered -- and disappeared again.

Ten minutes later, she returned and said that they could give me a pound of pulled pork, but they slow-cooked their barbecue and they needed to leave enough FOR PAYING CUSTOMERS (as though I wasn't a "paying customer"?) and I could get my order at the counter. She then reached over and took my containers, saying, "You won't need these, now!" -- and I grabbed the containers out of her hand, saying, "Like hell I won't need these!"

I went up to the counter to pay, where I received my Styrofoam container of what I thought was pulled pork. I paid, leaving no tip. When I got out to my car, I opened the container and saw I had been given brisket, not pulled pork.

I have been here when the barbecue was absolutely out of this world, and taken containers of pulled pork back to Austin, and Austinites (who are incredibly snobbish about barbecue — we are the barbecue capital of North America) absolutely raved about it.

I’m willing to give Rascal’s one more chance: but if you blow the next...

We're sooo glad we stopped here! We were just passing through and needed a place to have dinner. We like BBQ because like who doesn't? I kind of chuckled at the pizza flag and thought 🙄 "oh boy." Walked in and they greeted us warmly. We were seated and our server - I forgot her name but she has a pretty "Always Love" tattoo on her right forearm - welcomed us. She told us about the menu and what we would like and not like. We are ranch and French fries connoisseurs. 😉 I was really impressed with the variety of their menu. It offered legacy bbq items as well as creative fusion that you don't see at most bbq joints. So we landed on ordering lemon herb wings, the turkey bacon 'dilla, the smoked chicken chimmichanga, and for giggles, the brisket pizza because it did actually sound good. The sides we ordered were fries, sausage jalapeño mac&cheese, and green beans. 99% of it did not disappoint! We dug into the pizza when the food hit the table and then we realized we forgot to take pics!! So please forgive the presentation of the pizza. It was delish. The wings were smoked to perfectetion and well dusted with lemon herbs. The 'dilla was 'dilla'icious! The 'changa was so flavorful! In my heart I know I would have liked it more crispy. But it was smothered in beautiful sauces so I understand. The fries were meh. But you don't come to a BBQ/grill for their fries so it's ok. Dipping them in their delectable ranch made up for it. And their sauces! We used the fries to try them all! Sweet, spicy, mustard, white, you name it, they have it! 😁 The green beans were savory, tasty, and my husband wanted to drink the juice from the bowl! Last and definitely least, they have no business calling what they served mac&cheese. Where was the cheese? They might be able to rebrand that dish as maybe a pasta with sausage and jalapeños but it was hard to distinguish what the little brown flecks in the pasta was. Overall, it has now became a must stop at place when we are passing through. Run, don't walk, into this place to check it out because when you leave you will need to...