Barrel House BBQ II — Restaurant in Tennessee

This is just a warning rating, we didn’t actually eat there. We tried. As recommended by next door Nearest Green Distillery we called ahead to let them know we had a large group coming, there were 17 of us and that our tour would end around 5 pm. Since it was only an hour until they closed at 6 I thought that was a good idea too. During the phone call two weeks in advance I explained all of the above information. The lady on the phone said ok that’s fine. I asked do you want any information from me so you know our group name and how many , she said sure. I give her that information, and a phone number. I will admit I didn’t feel 100% confident that she wrote anything down , but at the end of the conversation she said she would let them know. When we showed up with a party of 17 yesterday we were told by Amanda at the front door that orders are an hour out and they are not taking anymore orders. I explained everything above to her and she simply replied we don’t do call aheads. That’s great, except it would have been even better to have been told that when I actually did “call ahead” as was recommended by the distillery next door who you would have thought knew that about them as well. Amanda had nothing to say other than we don’t do call aheads so I asked for a manager. She went somewhere for a couple of minutes and came back and stood at her post by the door. When I noticed her back over there I said I was waiting to talk to your manager- she said I don’t know where she is I’m sorry, yet she had no intentions of telling me that?? I explained to her she must understand my frustrations and how upset I am because I did all my due diligence to assure they had a heads up for a large party, I’ve got a hungry group with me to celebrate a birthday and no one seems to care which is just poor business. She said I do remember “her” saying something about that when you called but we don’t take call ahead. That was it for me. Now Amanda has just admitted that she did indeed know about the call ahead, knew they didn’t take those but failed to mention that to “her” or once she heard about it call me back! Completely unprofessional. Very disappointed. Warning to others if it’s a busy day, don’t bother wasting your time...

Went to give Barrel House BBQ II a try at their Shelbyville location today. When we arrived (@1:30pm) the place was empty, and was still empty even after we left. The folks serving up your food are very nice and friendly and the portions are pretty large. I bit was disappointed at the limited beer options, only 3 taps and no bottles/cans so the beer drinkers went with water. I was stunned when I was told no brisket was available until later this afternoon…mind you we dined at 1:30. Overall the food was just “OK”…and was more akin to a cafeteria offering of BBQ. If the meat was smoked, then it was difficult to tell. The chicken was bland and a little dry, the pulled pork was moist and tender but no real smoked flavor so it needed BBQ sauce help, the ribs were tasty but slightly overcooked, and the sausage was just OK. Of the sides only the beans stood out as very good. The food was decent but nowhere near what we had read about...

Unfortunately our experience at Barrel House BBQ wasn’t memorable. I hope it was just a fluke and a combination of unfortunate timing. Started by having to wait it a long slow moving line. Then we waited so long for our food that another couple that was in front of us ate and had left the restaurant before our food arrived. My wife’s food was cold. Overall the food was ok. Seating was an issue. There were booths available but we were told they weren’t in use at the time. We got lucky and another group left a table. The only other option was outdoor seating but it was not covered and no fans. It was very hot and humid and no one sat outside for an understandable reason. Like I said I hope our experience wasn’t the norm. Give them a try and share...