Papa Jack's BBQ — Restaurant in Waco

I say a heartfelt yes to all of the other great reviews about this amazing food, amazing customer service, amazing hospitality, amazing owners and amazing staff!! You can absolutely believe the best of all the reviews, because it is so true! We stopped in as we traveled through Waco for the night and we feel like we landed in a little paradise of soulfood heaven!!! It was all just that good and we nearly sampled the whole menu!!! The price was very reasonable and so worth it! This has got to be the best secret in TX! We will recommend this lovely little spot to our friends, family and everyone who is looking for an unforgettable soulfood experience that will leave them very satisfied! The owners were right there working hard with beautiful smiles, and the hostess/waitress, Shay, provided a great first impression and great customer service! They all treated us like family and we would have just loved to stay and come back for more visits but we had to keep moving after our amazing lunch! The smoked chicken and brisket were simply mouthwatering, amazing! The pork ribs were quite good, too, and very tender! The sausage was yummy, too! All of the sides were great! Our favorites were the sweet potatoes, pinto beans, smoked cabbage, collard greens, and bbq sauce. I would like bbq sauce a bit spicier which they may have also had available. The smoked mac and cheese was good, too, and provided a nice twist on the traditional mac and cheese. Of course, the potato salad was good, too. Heck, they get an A on everything!!! The establishment is small, cozy and very clean! The vibe was great and the music playing was very nice. We loved eating in! We really enjoyed that they took time to talk with us and showed great pride in their food! We could tell they were passionate and loved what they do! They create love on a plate!! We absolutely felt the love! We were here for it all and they did not disappoint! We appreciated the extra condiments such as pickles and onions that were provided comp, too. Cornbread was yummy, too. Lastly, the desserts...amazing!! They have a great selection of soulfood items and desserts for every taste!! This must be soulfood heaven cause we felt like we were touched by Angels! We will plan to make special trips back to Waco just to eat here again as often as we can! We hope to catch one of those special monthly Sunday dinner feasts!!! This was the best food we've had while traveling on our roadtrip through TX! May God bless them and their amazing family for sharing such love, and joy with the world!!! They deserve a cooking show or a spot on the big screen, for sure!! They are such interesting people with a great legacy and amazing history!! Black owned business shoutout!! Thank you so much for being our...

Welcome Home! That is the feeling I had from the moment I walked in the door. I saw the reviews and had to go see for myself. As many reviewers have said... You want to give more than 5.

The owners made us feel like we were honored guests when we arrived and by the time we left we had laughed...( i almost cried with Joy).. shared some life....oh and have I mentioned the food.? ....we had a lot of food!!!

Some of the best brisket ever....not dry hard tack over smoked brisket...but properly prepared, juicy and popping with flavor.... The greens ....THE GREENS...THE BEST GREENS I HAVE EVER HAD!!!!! Everything I tried (and it was a lot) was fantastic...so don't choose between the sides...order them all!!!! You can send me a thank you note later... and get the greens.... The smoked cabbage will not disappoint either....

Now I would like to say after eating close to my body weight in brisket, fall off the bone ribs and sides that I was done... but I am not one to back down from home made pie....Desserts ranked in this order from my most favorite down to my favorite!!!....1) Key Lime (Key west has been challenged!) 2) Cobbler (on point) 3) Buttermilk Pie (first time trying and will try again!) 4) Sweet Potato Pie (also will try again) .... again recommend not choosing one but choose them all!

This will not be my last trip to Papa Jack's. The owners Gerald and Kim have a friend for life in me! Even as I write this review my heart is full of joy knowing that their desire is to pay the blessings in their lives forward. If we could all have the level of gratitude they have, this world would be a better place. My life is now better for just stopping here... I will be back... and will want to share this experience with others..

Thank you Papa Jack's family for adopting us in today. Thanks for the hugs, laughs, friendship and the food. May God Bless you with great abundance and high favor....and may you continue to bless...

Amazing food. The Big Red BBQ sauce was unique and definitely carried the Big Red flavor through but honestly the meat was so good on its own I barely dipped any of it in the sauce. Dark 1/4 chicken isn’t written on the menu but Miss Kim assured me it’s available all the time. Glad to hear it too. It was super juicy with a good amount of smoke flavor penetrated into the meat. The ribs were the perfect texture. Not too chewy but still holds together when you pick the rib up. “Fall off the bone” is a no-no in Texas style barbecue. You can tell the cook knows their way around a smoker.

As good as the meat was, the sides were even better. You could bring a vegetarian here and feed them the smoked cabbage and smoked Mac and cheese it would be a tastier meal than most places that cater to vegetarians. The collard greens were so good we ordered an extra large order to go. Those might have some meat so ask before you feed it to a vegetarian but if you’re reading this you’re probably a meat eater and you should absolutely pick the greens as one of your sides. Sweet potato casserole was good too. They use a bunch of Christmas spices like allspice and nutmeg so they feel like holiday dinner.

Miss Kim loves her food and if you eat in you’ll get to taste a bunch of stuff because she’s just friendly and wants to show off what they work so hard on. They really made us feel like we were eating at our cousins house instead of a restaurant. We were just passing though Waco on the way to Dallas from Lockhart but we will be back and just so we can eat at Papa Jacks again. Absolutely the highlight of this trip.

Don’t have any pictures for the review because the food smelled so good we both just...