Arkins Sweet BBQ Pit — Restaurant in Southfield

Basically what I have to say is regarding the experience I just had about 15 to 20 minutes ago but began Friday. On Friday October 30th somewhere between 4 and 5:30 I went to Arkins and ordered two combination plates both with brisket and rib tips one with double baked beans and the other with mac and cheese and greens we waited for our order, came home...one order wrong, they gave us one with chicken/ ribs with double baked beans, we called back they said come back next time your order is on us. I decided to take them up on their offer today when I went there the guy Arkin was less than pleased and asked if we brought the food back I told him no they didn't tell us to bring the food back (which they hadn't) he tells me we tell everyone to bring the food back. ( This may be protocol but we were not told to bring food back, nor would I have made the trip to come back that eve.) basically what I'm saying is he didn't want to honor what was told to me over the phone although after a few moments going back n forth they ended up honoring what we were told and fulfilled the order, he wasn't pleased about it and seemed like he tried to give me the run around by say it'll be 30-45 min to get my order, needless to say I sat outside and waited about 10 minutes the order was ready and already sat to the side. It just was not the best experience. I'm sure I'll go back there but from now on I just would advise anyone to always check your order...

Service: I don't usually have an issue with bad service, perhaps they're having a bad day but man the lady who took my order was having a really bad day then. I legit almost wanted to leave due to her negative vibe. The woman who served my food however was pleasent, though it was super brief she had a better attitude by far Food: I tried brisket, smokies Mac n cheese and jalapeno cheddar cornbread. The smokies were tasty but generic, they could use a little more smoke taste but by no means did they taste bad nor were they dry. The brisket which is one of my favorite types of BBQ was tender and had a decent bark. However it also could have benefited from more of a smoke ring. Also though without question it was tender it tasted more like a roast rater then BBQ. The sides were decent, the Mac n cheese was loaded with cheese it just wasn't a creamy Mac n cheese which is fine. The cornbread was actually the surprise winner. Honestly I didn't have much expectations but it was sweet moist and really had a nice punch of jalapeno. The meal also came with a peice of Texas toast. Price: For my meal I paid right around $21 which included purchasing a pop. I think it was a bit on the expensive side for what I got for my money but not an outrageous price. Final Thoughts: I would be interested in trying this place again but only if I was in the area. This might be just the place you're looking for but for me it was not what I hope for when I go...

Good In the heart of Arkansas, amidst the gentle undulations of a region steeped in smoke and oak, lies a barbecue establishment so thoroughly immersed in the semiotics of meatcraft that to partake in its offerings is to encounter a gustatory dialectic — a conversation not merely between tongue and texture, but between heritage and hedonism. The brisket, lacquered in a bark reminiscent of ancient parchment, disintegrates not with haste, but with reverent deliberation, as though yielding to the authority of time itself. Each bite, an ontological affirmation of fire’s supremacy over flesh.

The ribs, meanwhile, defy their utilitarian nomenclature, presenting instead as structural poems — bone-in stanzas where smoke acts not as seasoning but as narrative arc. The rub, applied with ecclesiastical restraint, neither eclipses nor submits to the innate character of the meat, but harmonizes with it in a manner that suggests a Platonic ideal of balance. Sauces are available, yes, but their role is ornamental — a courtier’s gesture to the sovereign essence of the protein, not its raison d’être.

Service, atmospheric sensibility, and the subtle choreography of plate-to-palate mechanics complete the tableau. It is a rare and incandescent pleasure to discover a locale where culinary labor transcends the transactional and becomes, instead, a metaphysical endeavor — one where barbecue is not a meal, but a modality of remembering, of...