Tender Smokehouse Whitesboro — Restaurant in Whitesboro

We returned to Tenders for a second try. We were not disappointed at all. I ordered exactly what I had the first time. My husband tried something different. The ribs fell apart and were flavorful. Portion sizes were plentiful yet not too much. I don't mind taking food home but sometimes I just want enough to enjoy. We got that! Once again, the service was excellent. The restaurant is casual family atmosphere inside and out. We left satisfied! Thank you, Tender!

3 months ago My husband and I ate at the Whitesboro location last night at about 6 pm. It was getting busy but we moved through quickly. The restaurant is great for families and there is plentiful seating inside and outside on the porch. There is a self-serve drink station. The menu is posted on a large chalkboard and there is, in my opinion, a good selection of foods for this type of restaurant. The service is superb. The prices seems to be the going rate of meat restaurants these days. Everything is costly, unfortunately, no matter where you go. We ordered our meals, got our drink cups, sat down and were served quickly within ten minutes.

I ordered short rack of ribs and an serving of coleslaw. The coleslaw: the cabbage is a medium shred, crisp and less sweet than others, but just right. The ribs, unfortunately, required a great bit of effort to eat. The meat was gristly. I am accustomed to ribs falling apart! I would not order them again. Maybe this was a bad batch. The BBQ sauce that I used to pour on top had a smoky flavor, not too sweet. I'd give it a 7 on a scale of 0-10, 10 being the best.

My husband ordered green beans, fries, sausage, and brisket. The green beans are so good! The brisket, however, was a bit oily. The cashier asked us if we wanted it moist, and we said yes, expecting it to be naturally moist from preparation. I think they just poured some oil over the meat. The sausage tasty.

Would we go back? Yes, but I would not order the same thing unless I knew there was a change. I was able to see other plates and the meals...

Today was my 6th experience here (3 inside, 3 drive thru). The interior is great, especially if you went to the DQ this place used to be. Impressively, they serve Dublin glass bottles off ice so hell ya on that. Food is okay compared to the price. It's bbq so it is what it is. In my 6 trips I only had one where the brisket couldn't even be torn by hand. Idk what happened there. Plenty of parking and the facilities are clean-ish.

However, my review seems to be the only one experiencing repeatedly bad service. Going inside will get a bit more engagement but the vibe stays "what are you doing here?". In the drive thru, I don't think I've been greeted kindly once. They'll start throwing snarls and side-eyes the moment you pull to the window. Just a bizarre vibe. They'll throw that window open, half-toss the bag at you, and mutter "thanks" and slam it back closed. I mean DAUM girl. It's a brand new bbq joint, not a dive bar. I can tell you got the mental space to lighten up. As i said, today was my 6th try and was definitely the worst it's been. I think I'll pass on this place at this point. Has everything it needs to be amazing. But they need to do something to set any service standard. Why put non-morning people on the morning shift? There's plenty of small places around that will most appreciate the business. Jaz's, Bayou, Robbys, Clark's, (RIP Backroad).

TLDR: I came for my day-off breakfast in the rain, not your lil sad Regina George bit in an emtpy drive thru. Again, for the 6th time with like the 4th different girl🤦‍♂️ christ almighty, ya try to...

First off the food here is amazing, and by amazing I mean it never disappoints. Brisket is always juicy, smokey, and melts in your mouth, the pork ribs are the best I've ever had and I never leave without ordering a frito pie.

The folks here are something else. They take serving their customers to the next level. From the servers to the cooks everyone is friendly as all get out and the management is absolutely outstanding and down to earth.

A meaningful example of how Tender's treats their customers like family is how they did not throw away my daughters favorite teddy bear that we looked for for a week after she forgot it at the restaurant. We called the day after it happened but they said they couldnt find it. They ended up finding it however they couldnt find our phone number so they decided to hold onto it until we called them back a week later to double check. After travelling half an hour to retrieve him, he was safe and sound, waiting for...