Pat’s Barbecue — Restaurant in South Salt Lake

Originally tried emailing this issue directly to Pat's after a really bad experience instead of posting publicly, but the email on their website came back undeliverable... so I tried, and here we are....

"Friend and I came in to eat and watch some music during the Grid City Festival on Sunday, and it was a pretty frustrating experience all around.

The two young people at the front seemed really bothered by us even arriving, enough so that we thought we were in the wrong place. Not a huge deal, but both my friend and I immediately mentioned to each other how weird it felt after we'd been sat. And if I'd seen that behavior as a manager, I'd have been LIVID!!

Things were fine for a bit. We ordered drinks, entrees for each of us, and an appetizer. And then we waited.... and waited and waited...

After at least 30-35 minutes, all the food comes out at once and was COLD!! The chips were soggy, the brisket was chilly, and sides were below room temperature. It felt pretty obvious that our food had been ready for quite some time but just sitting there waiting, and despite it being cold, was brought out to us in hopes we'd be OK with it. So we got both of the long wait AND the cold food.

To go along with it all, flies were EVERYWHERE!!! We get that mother nature can be wild, but we were getting annihilated by bugs while trying to eat our already cold food. If the bug situation is THAT bad, then somebody along the way either isn't trying to fix it, or just doesn't care.

Nobody likes to have to be the person to complain to a server in the middle of their work day, and it sucks to be put in that spot as a customer with such a disappointing experience. But this was pretty much a nightmare visit, and a bummer way to get introduced to a local BBQ place we'd wanted to try.

Would rather not post anything publicly on an online review, because that doesn't help anyone at this point.

Very frustrated though. Felt like a failure on several levels for us. " Tried to just send that directly, but that didn't work out either. Just an overall embarrassing experience, and an expensive one too. Wanted to try and keep this awful visit less known, but got thwarted there too. Just overall shocking how...

If I could give a -5 star rating I would. Went last night becuse I heard how good it was. I should have known when we went in and it was practically empty on a Friday night. While in line to order noticed the roof was leaking and leaking onto tables in other areas. Ordered the two meat platter of ribs and chicken with sides of mac and cheese and baked beans. A brisket sandwich with fries. While waiting for our food we were watching the workers that were less than sanitary. The cashier was friendly. One of the workers had their kids there that were running around behind the counter. I get it sometimes you have to take your kids to work. The chicken was inedible. Super dry, cold and funky taste. The ribs were okay? The cashier recommended the Mac and cheese. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong with them but like the chicken had a funky taste. The beans were a really strange color but weren't awful. Just not appetizing to look at. Basically I left my meal at the table. The brisket sandwich was 90% fat which I understand brisket is fatty but literally not much to the sandwich but the bun by the time he pulled all the fat off. Fries were good if the oil had not been old. The cashier gave us our drinks for free at the counter saying she was being nice so there was that. Another couple came in when we were leaving and were waiting for friends. I told them to reconsider eating there and recommended a differant BBQ place nearby that I know is amazing. Hopefully they listened as they paid attention to the unsanitary conditions. Basically a total waste of money and it didn't sit well from what little I did taste. If you know what I mean....

EDIT*

Its very sad that the owner spends all their time telling these reviews that they are wrong. Perhaps you'd have a thriving business again if you took the feedback instead of telling everyone they are wrong. Honestly ask yourself why would so many people list bad experiences if it were not true

Almost didn't post this because 1 star is more than this "restaurant" deserves.

First red flag this place didn't smell like smoke (my son said it smells like Grandpa's house). I'm fairly certain they do not smoke the food daily here.

2nd red flag we were the only table seated at 630 pm. Until the server had friends or family come in. She sat with them and ate some food while we were there.

3rd red flag Gnats in the water, probably in the tea and Dr. Pepper too but, you know couldn't see them in there

4th red flag, everything that wasn't fried was cold. Brisket (also dry with no smoke ring) cold and tough, pulled pork was cold, and bland (the BBQ sauce was actually good and saved the day). Chili, mashed potatoes, and baked beans all seemed like they were microwaved (unfortunately just not long enough).

5th red flag the waiter yelling "hey you new guy" while flipping him off in the view of my kids.

It was our first and last time here. This place may have been great at some point, but whatever drove the greatness is long gone. This restaurant was by a mile the worst BBQ I've ever had, the worst service I've ever had and had all the ambience of a waiting room at a funeral home.

Avoid...