Ralph's Barbecue — Restaurant in Weldon

I did the buffet option. I was meeting someone halfway at 7:30pm and there wasn't many options on food at this halfway point, so we found ralphs online. It was rated pretty good over 4 stars & has been open since 1952.. should be alright? NO. There was ONE item I was able to take more than one bite of on their WHOLE BUFFET menu. The employees sat around in a circle laughing, most were young, maybe a little stoned, I'm sure its an entry level position, which is fine, of course. I never even got a refill of my water which I needed immedietly. The register might be from 1952 when the place opened or something; it was so slow and the girl at the register ,instead of acknowledging us as we checked out, ignored us typing away slowly from the PREVIOUS takeout order. I said HI. And she just said hi and kept typing. hahaha. The one food item to get ? It's like a pulled pork or brisket with a reddish sauce..couldn't tell because none of the items at the buffet were labeled. I asked the guy behind the counter and he said he couldnt think of the name of the item I asked about. LOL. So I asked what's in it instead & he couldn't think of that either & asked another coworker who finally had a little more of an answer. But don't get it confused with the other pulled pork next to it because THAT ONE seems as if it just marinates in pure VINEGAR as a seasoning. But don't worry, if you don't like seasoning - ALL of the other food there is also NOT seasoned whatsoever, and this is coming from a white girl from the NORTH. I was really hoping something would be good about this place as I drove 2 hours to it, but I paid $18 a meal and not one part of the restaurant was good besides MY company. I wasted the plates in WHOLE (such a waste💔) and they didn't even question it either. I'm so sorry to leave a bad review but people need to know ahead of time so they don't drive 2 hours here; go another 20 minutes out of your way for...

2 months ago........

Buyer beware. This was my first time visiting Ralph's Barbecue . I work way too hard to waste my money on bad food if I can help it. So I'm doing this review so that you won't have to go through this. My suggestion is that you order from the menu. I say that because I noticed what I believe were some of the locals coming in and they all ask for a menu and they seem pretty happy eating . But some of the people around me from the buffet had something to say about it . The buffet was , ,,I don't have a word for it, just wasn't a good day for a buffet. I tried a little bit of everything just in small amounts to taste. The white beans were scorched and the black eyed peas were not good. The cabbage had a hint of white vinegar in the broth not used to that taste I'm sure it's okay with other people this is just not my liking. The hush puppies tasted like somebody had dropped the box of salt in it by mistake couldn't eat one just took a bite off of it and that was that. The rolls were good the green beans were okay the banana pudding was okay the salad was okay the fried chicken was crunchy in a different way never had chicken fried like that before not bad. The potato salad was a mashed potato salad I guess that's okay for some but not really seasoned up real good the mashed potatoes had an odd taste to him the okra was fried but it was soft and Squishy. The baked chicken was just baked chicken sitting in a gravy with cornbread dressing next to it definitely straight out of a box was just weird taste. My waiter was excellent he was very attentive he kept asking me was everything good and I said no and just laughed it off but he was worth the trip I appreciate his attentiveness he was worth...

Great little private owned spot for a quick bite or a buffet. Seated myself, and it took about 5 minutes for the waitress to show up and ask for my drink order. Diet Pepsi/coke. Went up to the buffet and they didn't have much out. Looked like 1 whole bar was still empty and remained that way until I left. They only have 3 bars. The food was amazing though. The fried chicken was the best I've had, and I'm from Maryland where royal farms is king. The beans were tasty and not full of salt, and there was 2 kinds of BBQ. Pulled and minced. The pulled had BBQ sauce already mixed with it but the minced was plain. Tried both and was very happy with the flavor. They have a bottle of BBQ sauce on the table which to my taste buds was just vinegar. It did bring out the flavor even more on the minced though. Waitress asked if I wanted a refill, yes Diet. Luckily I was paying attention, because she gave me regular soda, not diet. If I would have drank that, it could have put me in a coma. I was pretty angry about that. Finished up after sampling all the goodies and asked for the bill. 18$ plus 3$ for the drink for a lunch buffet. That was IMO high for the small selection and almost drinking 74 grams of sugar.

Would I recommend Ralphs? Hell yes. In fact when my father drove up to visit me in MD from the Charlotte area, I told him about it. He made the same comments I did. Food excellent but the servers are a tad slow. Now I think that's because of how friendly they are. They talked to most every person at a table lol. I believe I even saw the owner come out and sit with a table and talk to them. I really liked that. I will see you again on my...