Wiley's Championship BBQ — Restaurant in Wilmington Island

I had not eaten here for about two months. I chose Monday, what a mistake that was. I was seated. Then asked for my order, I selected ..then was told they were out of baked beans. What BBQ place “EVER” runs out of baked beans? Beans are cheap! Well I should have just left. But no I ordered. I rec’d a pulled pork plate… the pork was chopped… not pulled. It was stringy not any of it was bunched together. It was tough! . Snd I didn’t have baked beans to cover to make it more moist! Hint: they chop BBQ meat when it’s tough! It also looked like a half order from my last meal there. I wondered if it was leftovers? There was one other table of customers, and it was 5:40 pm. So that told me … not a popular place any longer. And I found out why…. Poor food quality. I asked for some different pork.. the server said that was all they had. ( this restaurant runs out of food daily) you would think they could learn how to figure how much food to prepare each day to be able to sell food! Well… they offered me a 15% discount… I gave the server 20% … so… my $25.00 meal for one was a bust! I wrote a note to the owner. I called the next day … the manager was rude. She was very challenging. At one point she said… “what is it you want a free meal”? I told her I lived locally, and this was a place I had eaten at for over 20 years. I would hate to see it fold up too! Her and the “pit master” tried to convenience me that my pork was pulled not chopped. I had taken my pork that I had from Monday into the restaurant on Tuesday and showed them. I also commented on how they had increased their prices. The manager told me meat prices had increased. I told her… not everyone has to raise prices. You can make money if you serve good food .. good food will sell!!! People find it!!! You can go in the hole by raising prices and serving poor quality of food! Happens everyday! I felt I was charged more for less quality and less amount of food. Instead of a thank you and admitting things do go wrong from time to time, and making it worth my money and time, They both continued to try and challenge me, and question me! They tried to blame me for the bad food … and that I was the problem! The manager tried to belittle my comments by telling me I was the “only one” that complained from Monday. She also added.. they got straight 5 star ratings on Monday.she also slipped up once and told me “ do you know how many complaints I have to deal with on a daily basis? “ so I have to wonder… is it truly five star ratings?

So.. let me clarify… it’s not my judgement.. it’s my comparison of “their food” from my last visit to this current visit! Not the same at at all. It was like I had gone to an entirely different restaurant! The quality of food had been compromised! The treatment of customers has declined. I looked through the reviews. There are several reviews conceiving their poor food quality. There is a reason for a review… not to be mean.. not to complain… but to offer feedback about when things go right, and when they don’t. Some will simply not take the time to log in and use a password.. to speak up about a good or bad experience… instead.. if bad… they just never come back! I tried to speak up not once, but twice. So… here is my note ..the restaurant I used to love, I am sorry has been changed.the food is not good quality food, as it used to be! I would like for the owner of this restaurant to know how disrespected I felt after trying to support my community, and the local restaurants on the islands. I chose to eat at their restaurant based on my past experiences over the last 15 yrs. To wind up.. I was given a portion of pork on Tuesday and sent on my way. No …I’m sorry.. just a smirky grin … like we won! If they treat visitors that way, I am embarrassed for them. Savannah business owners would never support their staff to act in...

After a quick Google search for BBQ while on vacation, it seemed only right to visit Wiley's. I was excited walking in after reading all the great reviews. Now lemme start with this experience...after walking in we were immediately greeted and seated by what was very apparently the owner. We were then kindly greeted by the bartender who took our drink and food order. This place started off on the wrong foot with me. It was fairly dead, and my meal took a very long time to arrive considering what we were eating... And don't get me I wrong I was a cook for a long time i know how these places work, all the food is in hot wells ready to be plated. But anywho, it took a bit to get my order but whatever... Were in the south, it's expected. When it arrived the portions looked very off. I was left a bit confused as to if I was being messed with cause I clearly wasn't a local, or what the deal was ..but I dived in. Then I realized my food was cold. Now I'm really confused... I ordered a 30$ hot plate and there was maybe 10$ worth of cold food on my tray. I asked to have it sent back. At this point the owner heard of the issue and came and apologized. Our new order was to us in less than 5 min and was much larger in portions than previously.

Man...now THIS is what I was expecting. this food was amaaaazing, and absolutely nixed every previous opinion I was forming about this restaurant. Beyond that the biggest thing I admired about this place was the absolute care and dedication the owner took with his establishment. From checking with every table to see if everything was fine, to cleaning messes under kitchen mats, to cutting lemons for the bartender because she became to busy to do it herself. This man did it all and I absolutely admired the hustle and care he displayed. I left full and happy with not a single bad thing to say anymore.

Ps ...the banana pudding is otherworldly.

Cheers... The 2 guys from Boston. Keep up the good...

I thought we give a try for the first time as we visit Savannah the second time and the food was ok, not up to par with the hype. Came here with my daughter at 5pm when they just opened for dinner. There were a few couples that were waiting also before they opened. We thought we would get the BBQ sampler with the ribs and share it. We decided that if we didn't finish we would take it back and have it for later. But as soon as the plate came out we both looked at each other and said, that's it. "I guess we can finish it here" and just smiled. For the price of the plate sampler there were not much on the plate. The food is about a three star, because the pulled pork was on the dry side (no shinny glimmer to it, don't let the picture fool you) and the pork ribs was also on the dry side (even though there was a lot of sauce on it). You had to put more BBQ sauce on it so it won't seem dry. As for the brisket, it was moist and tender, as well as the chicken and the corn on the cob was good and sweet. As for the mac and cheese , the mac was dry and hard (like it was sitting for a while). Other than that the servers were polite and friendly and very attentive to you, I give them a five star. Would we come back,...