Murky Waters BBQ - Ocean Springs — Restaurant in Ocean Springs

Murky Waters has a special history for my little family. It was one of the first places we ate when we bought our home, and almost 10 years later it was the first restaurant we took our newborn out to. It's the restaurant we take family to when they're in town. It was even the first restaurant I breastfed in! We usually get take out since we have an infant now, but tonight we decided to dine in. We've never had one complaint about Murky Waters; it always hits the spot perfectly.

But tonight was different. I ordered the bbq brisket nachos. I usually get the pork but the nachos + ranch is a match made in heaven, even moreso with the brisket! Tonight there was white cheese instead of the regular cheese and the chips were kind of scant. I ordered a small and there was a decent amount of meat on it so I wasn't about to complain. (Especially since when we first sat down, it got super busy!) As my nachos cooled off more and more, the cheese got grainy and eventually it was just inedible. My husband ordered his regular dish, smoked sausage with fries, and kept biting into things that didn't seem like meat and they weren't gristle either. We aren't sure what it was but despite the special place Murky Waters holds with us, we made the decision tonight to not go anymore.

The quality has obviously gone down and the prices have gone up. We understand inflation and all of those things, and it was a real bummer to make that decision, but we can't spend another $40 to have food that's inedible.

We've been to the new building twice before tonight but it was at lunch and not as busy. Tonight it got loud (with just basic conversation happening, not anyone being unruly) and it was a lot of echoing and just very raucous.

On the other hand, our server was so sweet! She interacted with our son, checked on us many times, and got our food to us piping hot, even if we didn't like it. She was kind and patient as well. I hope one day we are able to give it another shot because the servers are...

I first visited this eatery on Thursday evening for dinner. Our server Shannon was great. The wings we ordered was smoked and seasoned to perfection. The chicken nachos was good too. Everyone was nice and friendly. Only problem I encountered was feathers on the wings. Shannon apologized. Fast forward to Sunday I was in the mood for wings again. We headed back to Murky Waters again. We ordered 18 piece wings to go and I asked the bartender to make sure no feathers would be on the wings & he assured me he would let the cook know. He bagged the order up and I checked it out and I pointed out that the wings still had feathers on it. He said I'll ask the cook to redo them. He stated that the cook refused because all the wings have feathers on them. Rick said he would refund our money back and speak to the owner or manager about the situation. My friend said no so we took the feathered and partially burned wings. I'll call tomorrow and speak with someone. I think the cook could have done a better job of handling this. I don't know if I'll visit this eatery whenever I come back in the area or recommend to family or friends. On Monday June 13th I called to speak to a manager about the situation on Sunday. I spoke with Iris the general manager and she was already aware of the incident per Rick. She apologized and agreed that noone would want feathers on their wings. She had already spoke with cook and kichen manager. Iris asked if I could come by for lunch and we said yes. Iris treated us to lunch and everything was GREAT!!! Our server Esther was on point and attentive. The food was good just seeing feathers is a big turnoff for me.The cook was the problem everyone else was fabulous. I can now give an extra star and recommend this eatery to family...

This location is not what they used to be and is apparent that management and owners are desperate. They are cutting corners any chance they can with their product and it is noticeable in the quality of food they serve today. The most obvious cost cutting is the buns. They used to buy Sheila Partin’s buns from Sweet Mesquite Bakery in Texas that provide a soft and fluffy texture. Now they use cheap and low quality walmart buns…. Also, portion sizes on sides and meats on sandwiches have dramatically decreased from what they used to be. They also use canned spray butter for their Texas Toast and now walmart buns instead of the liquid butter they used to use. The smoked sausage comes pre-bought frozen and cut up. Hamburger patties are bought in bulk and then frozen. They use liquid smoke to prepare their smoked tuna dip. Ribs and brisket are rarely fresh and reheated using the microwave. Thats only scratching the surface— and on top of that menu prices have increased with the poor justification of “inflation”. Just imagine what other products and ingredients they cut corners with…

They are also known to pay off the health inspector as their previous location struggled for years with a roach infestation, but never shutdown or received lower than an A— as any infestation would result in immediate failure. Hence why the owners rarely appeared at the old restaurant and their slight eagerness to open a new one.

This LLC continues to use shady and unethical business practices, don’t let their new...