Dickey's Barbecue Pit — Restaurant in Wildwood

After reading the reviews on here, I was a little hesitant. But it wasn't as bad as some people made it out to be. I cook a LOT of BBQ myself personally and quite frankly, I've had worse at many other places. I don't know if I would say Dickie's is the best, but they definitely weren't bad. I am probably a little biased in that I think I put out pretty good BBQ myself so it really takes a lot for something to stand out and grab my attention. I snuck a peek in their cooler and the briskets and meat selection was pretty impressive overall. There was nothing cheap or subpar in the meat selection. I had the brisket/turkey/jalapeno sausage combo plate with the cabbage slaw and Jalapeno beans. The brisket was pretty good but needed a little something to make it pop, the turkey was definitely juicy and the sausage was very good, not overly spicy and tasted good with the cheese mixed in which honestly I wasn't expecting that. Brisket could have been a little more juicy for my taste, but it wasn't bad. The sauce selection was ok, nothing overly hot or sweet, but a welcome compliment to my meat choices. I didn't particularly care for the texture of the beans, as they seemed a little hard and not cooked long enough to be tender for my taste, but they wasn't horrible. The slaw was actually pretty good, crispy and not drenched in sauce to a liquid like state..just a nice flavorable and crunchy consistency. Might have used a bit more tanginess for my taste but was very good. The wife had the okra and it was on point..crispy on the outside , tender and tasty on the inside. Her turkey was same as mine, moist and tender. Overall, the place was clean and small seating but was nice. The girls serving were very nice and answered any questions I had, showed me food choices I asked about and were very polite. Now the cost...for portion size, I would say it's a tad expensive, but certainly it wasn't the most expensive, I've actually paid more at Zaxby's for way less. For the $40 we spent, I would like to see the portion size increased a tad, at least make it a meal. I left still feeling a little hungry and I am not a huge eater by any means.

As a side note, looking at reviews on here, I think the man responding to reviews should become a little more invested, as his response to almost every negative review might as well be rubber stamped, it is literally word for word the same response everytime. As a consumer, that would make me even more angry if I felt I had a bad experience. I know my customers want a personal response when they have an issue and take it to heart when I respond to them personally addressing their specific concerns...

We ate at Dickey's in Wildwood, Florida (The Villages). What my wife and I liked about Dickey's was the brisket. It was absolutely tender and delicious. Unfortunately, it was the only item we really liked. The St. Louis style ribs were very dry and tough (burnt) and there was not much meat on the bones. The mac n cheese was just okay. We've had better. The coleslaw was okay. We both liked that, but we've had better. The rolls we got were very hard to chew even after nuking them in the microwave for about 10 seconds. The cookies were okay. They were soft and chewy. Our total bill for a couple two meat plates and two cookies came out to about $37. We were not impressed and will not return to Dickey's.

Cameron, Dickey's Barbeque Pit Social Team Rep... You left no way for me to answer your reply, so here it is as an edit to my original review...

You asked how Dickey's Barbeque Pit could do better to earn an additional two stars? If you really want to know, you could work on the information I shared in my review. Here it is the next day after our visit, and my wife and I are again talking about the awful experience we had with our take out meal. We really wanted our 1st experience with Dickey's to be a good one. We both love barbeque.

I'm going to repeat what I originally wrote in my review: 1) The brisket was great. Actually, as good or better than other "quality" BBQ places we have visited. 2) The mac 'n cheese and coleslaw were okay. A little skimpy on the mac 'n cheese. 3) The chocolate chip cookies were good. 4) The roll was hard as a rock. We had to throw them in the trash. But hey, it was just a roll. 5) The biggest disappointment... The meat on the two St. Louis style ribs, were dry, burnt and literally had to be knife carved off the bone. There was very little edible meat left. I'm guessing the ribs were meatier before they were over cooked. Meat on ribs that are smoked correctly, should be moist, almost fall off the bone and easy to chew. I have to be honest with you. Giving 3 stars is more than generous considering the little food we received for $37. The reason I gave 3 stars was because I thought maybe it was an off day, I don't know?

Cameron, I wish we could have had this dialogue privately, but you did not give me your email address or any way I could contact you.

Thank you for the quick reply,...

Did Inflation kill the cow, or was it crushed by Covid? If you had asked me several years ago about my favorite BBQ joint, I would have been telling you tales of taste from Dickey's BBQ. That is not the case today, and based upon today’s experience, it won't be in the future. We stopped into Dickey's today for lunch. The prices were noticeably more expensive but that is the case everywhere in this environment. I ordered the two-meat special, including "Lean" brisket and Jalapeno sausage. My first denial was being told they were out of Waffle Fries by an older woman scowling from the back of the kitchen. It happens, no big deal, I thought. Next, I noticed the sausage had a light hint of color, appearing as if it had been in the warmer for "aging"? I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to the employee helping us, she worked diligently to cut some lean brisket from the cantaloupe side ball of meat, she claimed was all the Brisket she had available. Her kindness drew a froggy look from the older woman in the kitchen. Hopefully, she won’t be reprimanded for doing her best to please a customer. After paying for our meal, including $2.95 for a drink I found that the Coca-Cola freestyle machine was out of soda. We tried Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Dr. Pepper, and Root Beer-all out! 3 bucks for charged water, I mentioned it to the staff, who claimed it was a broken machine. No offer of a refund or the potential truth that the cartridges inside the machine were empty. Lastly, we went to wrap up the petite dejeuner with a delicious Dickey’s staple, the complementary Ice Cream. Having sought out a cone from the register, I was greeted by a splash of milk from the machine. Apparently, it was in energy saving mode and not cooling the Ice Cream. So let’s recap, no waffle fries, meat was eh?, no drinks and no dessert, if it were not for the effort of the kinder of the two employees this would be a single star review. Hopefully, somebody does some ordering around...