Exit 87 BBQ & Catering — Restaurant in Tennessee

I pass by often and I've eaten here atleast 5-6 times over the past couple years. It comes in handy as far as getting food that's not the usual truck stop food. The meats seem to be on the dry side and whatever they season the meat with is lacking in flavor or they don't put enough on it. The bbq nachos are a good choice. The spicy BBQ sauce is also a winner and can be purchased in a bottle also. The customer service is not lacking at all although I hate when they ask if you want to leave a tip before you've had a chance to get your food. The biggest thing I'm confused about is how is there never any smoke coming from the building or the grills they have in back. Like I've passed through here all times of the days and have eaten several times and I never see smoke or smell food actively being grilled which makes me wonder is it baked in the oven and finished on the grill and maybe that's the reason the taste seems lacking and no signs of smoke rings and dry. The sauce makes the food way better but I can't see myself not getting the sauce every single time although I like bbq without sauce. They get a lot of business through truckers and locals seemingly. I'm from Mississippi but I've eaten bbq from all over. I make it a point to try it if I can find somewhere near to park my truck as I travel throughout the country. Thus far Mississippi and Texas has the best I've eaten with Texas with the edge because when I had Terry Black's in Austin, TX my opinion and critique went to a whole new lever when it comes to bbq and it's safe to say in comparison this place is miles apart from that type of bbq and I'm not just talkin distance. But, if you're in the area and don't want the normal restaurant chains this place will get you through. Prices are a little high but what isn't these days 🤦🏿‍♂️. There's parking for 18wheelers and cars. There's a Love's truck stop also directly across the street. I'd definitely eat here before eating at the love's every time tbh. They have a good Google rating so as you can see they have enough people who thinks differently about bbq based on their experiences here compared to other places I'm assuming. Stop by and give them a shot and form your...

My husband and I had Exit 87 BBQ cater our wedding. We paid for 85 guests to have dinner. When it came to dinner, by the time the wedding party, my husband and I got dinner, the food was basically gone. My husband had to step out of our wedding for a long period of time trying to call the owner but he would not answer his phone. Hours later when we FINALLY heard back from Exit 87 BBQ, they said they would bring food, but all our guests had either left early due to hunger or did not want to eat anymore (being too late). The next day, I called and got very upset telling him this was unacceptable and very unprofessional, the owner then hung up on me and refused to talk to me. The next few days my husband tried getting ahold of him, they were incredibly rude and told my husband he needed to “control his women.” They were incredibly unprofessional during our wedding and I would not recommend them to anyone. They would not do anything to make it right and eventually ignored my husband’s and I phone calls. I would have rather not had any food than waist almost $2,000 on food we did not get.

We had our wedding on September 9, 2023. Look it up if you don’t believe me!! Josh Wadley, the owner, was our contact for the whole process. Don’t tell me I am wrong or we did not have your company cater our wedding. I know clearly your terrible business is the one that catered our wedding and ruined dinner for 85 people! Sincerely, a pissed...

I’ve stopped here 2-3x in the past. While I never thought the food was much better than average, I most certainly never got the impression that it wasn’t good and I shouldn’t come back. That might have changed today. I got a 1/3 rack plate with beans, and a 1/2 pound of pulled pork.

Pulled Pork 0/5 - it really was terrible. Flavorless, barely a hint of any smoke flavor. It was probably cooked right, but by late afternoon it was plenty dried out. I made one sandwich with it, took 2 bites and threw the rest away.

Ribs 2/5. They were cooked well, maybe a little too long as they were falling off of the bone. I like my ribs to have a little more chew. Like the pulled pork, mostly devoid of any flavor, it’s like they were barely seasoned with any rub, only a slight hint of any smoke flavor.

Beans 2/5 tasted straight out of the can.

BBQ sauce - I remembered not being a big fan of it before, and had some of my own so I didn’t use theirs.

The current rating of 4.6/5 does not match what they’re serving today at all. Saying that this is average BBQ would be quite generous. It’s not.

This is some low effort BBQ, and while it might satisfy the truckers who have few other options, it most certainly won’t inspire return visits for more discerning BBQ consumers.

At least it’s not expensive - no complaints...