Jackson's Big Oak Barbecue — Restaurant in Wilmington

I always make sure I make a stop at Jackson's Big Oak Barbecue. When I want a quaint and quiet place with a menu that is hard to choose from it is always there that I go. There is one precious waitress named Tammy who goes out of her way to make sure you have that sweet welcome feeling. If you want southern food and the best barbecue, then you need to look no further. They have been around for many years and it is not hard to wonder why.

This is an update that was posted on July 3, 2025**

I had just moved back into the area and decided to visit Jackson’s Barbecue. I had heard there had been some changes that were not so good. I was pleased to find the food was still good, but not the service and the conditions of the restaurant itself. There was only one waitress who seemed not too pleased to be there. When my food arrived and the waitress walked away, I noticed I had no utensils. I got up and walked to the front to ask for some and saw a bucket to the side with dirty utensils in water. I guess the waitress didn’t want to bother to look for me some clean ones because I was handed a carry out set. I noticed that the table in front of me had food that was still sitting there when I arrived and after a hour not only did that table remain uncleared, but other tables started following being left uncleared. Employees were behind the desk chatting as the tables were sitting nasty. When I went to pay my bill, I mentioned it to someone behind the counter that there seemed to be many tables left with food still sitting on them. She said we are working on them. Did she not know I was there around one hour watching the tables left uncleared and was she not aware that I was watching as they seemed uncaring and the waitress continued walking around the nasty tables and not caring. As they seemed uncaring about the dining area, I will say the food was good but the nastiness that surrounded it took away from my...

First time at this restaurant. I love my BBQ and read reviews about this restaurant. The service was impeccable and could not ask for better. The decor felt like a southern nice rib shack. The BEST hush puppies and fried okra, that I have tasted in a long while. Fried okra is usually over-dry. The baked beans were made with green peppers and is not your typical sweet baked beans. The coleslaw tasted like it was made with horseradish and they chopped the slaw into tiny bits, like in a food processor. It was a very yellow coleslaw with a very horse-radishy flavor. I love coleslaw but this is the first in my life from a restaurant that I could not eat it. The mac-n-cheese were also ok not great but edible. The country fries were very good, steak fries.

Now to their BBQ. My fiance ordered the pulled pork. I ordered the 1/4 BBQ chicken and BBQ ribs. I also love all sorts of BBQ sauces but again the first time I did not like this BBQ sauce. It has a hot sauce undertone flavor along with vinegar.

The pulled pork was edible but more-so on the chewy side. The chicken was overcooked then doused in their BBQ sauce. The ribs, oh my, were the worst ribs I've had from a restaurant. They were fall-off-the-bone ribs. But the meat was so soft that each bite of ribs you took, it felt like you were eating baby food. The ribs were so tender that it was mush in your mouth. Not appetizing. I did not eat a full rib-bone of meat. I could not, it was almost like cafeteria non-meat by-product ribs. The chicken could not be saved either. I tried dipping it more into the sauce (but again the sauce not good) had no resurrection.

Take my review as it is. But to conclude, the atmosphere was small but wonderful. All their staff were so upbeat and friendly. Great service, clean dining area,...

I have read a lot of the good reviews and heard people say Jackson’s is the best BBQ in Wilmington. I am from NC and have gone all over the state trying BBQ. The BBQ comp across the state is ridiculous so the standard is set really high. So here is the deal in my opinion based on what I had today. Jackson’s is one of only 3 restaurants that serve “eastern style” BBQ in Wilmington that I know of other than the franchise that starts with a S and the other place has a buffet.

With that said I think Jackson’s comes in 3rd place out of those 3 when just talking about the BBQ. There is no taste of the BBQ having been cooked on a smoker which is not a deal breaker because there are many I like that are not but it is what I prefer. The slaw today was so over powering of mustard it was hard to eat. I like that style slaw with eastern NC BBQ but this was too strong. My green beans had a very salty taste. My dad said his Okra was cooked perfect and my mom said her baked beans were very good so some positive there. The restaurant was clean and the staff were all very nice but today at-least it was not that good. I will go back and try it again because they have other stuff I want to try plus give the slaw and BBQ another shot but for now it is what it is. I see a possibility of why people give it good reviews in that there really is nothing else like it in Wilmington. Its not a buffet and it is not corp. It has all the staples of an Eastern NC BBQ restaurant but today was not their day. It is worth trying. I saw when leaving they have an early bird special from 3-5. That would be a great time to go try it. I will update this review after...