Grillin' Dave-Style — Restaurant in Zanesville

Unfortunately the quality of Dave’s continues to decline with every visit. The food is mostly good minus a few things I have tried like the shredded chicken sandwich and some of it taste too sweet. The service is awful. I know you aren’t “fast food” but there should still be a sense of urgency from the staff. I always call my orders in so I can just come and pick them up rather than waiting in line but it makes no difference. It does not make getting your food any faster as you still have to wait in line. They also seemingly have no manager which would explain the lack of urgency and enthusiasm of the staff. I had a major complaint once and wanted to speak to a manager and the worker told me that there isn’t a manager and I would have to call the next day and speak to the owner, Dave. As someone that has been in upper management in restaurants for most of my professional life I have to say there are a ton of things I would go in and change and improve to make the overall experience better....

I will preface my review with this: I have been griling and smoking meats, seriously, for 15 years. Very few BBQ restaurants measure up to my exacting standards. For reference, Rodney Scott's in Charleston is one of the few. He is a Beard award winner.

We were hungry with limited to time to find someplace to eat. Knew nothing of the food options in Zanesville. As we drove by, I smelled the smoke. I love the smell of smoking meat.

A decision was made.

I ordered the brisket sandwich with fries. My partner ordered the pulled pork. It was not the best BBQ we've ever had.

The pulled pork was flavorless. No smoke flavor. No rub. Just sorta bland pork.

The brisket did contain a nice smokey flavor, however it was served with some weird sauce. Still not sure what it was.

The fries and onion rings were nothing to write home about either.

Again, I realize I'm a harsh judge of BBQ but the smell of the smoke did not live up to the...

Im guessing based on most of the reviews here that most people don’t know what good BBQ tastes like. I stopped in from out of town as a family member said this BBQ is the best.

I got the brisket, pulled pork, smoked sausage to try a little of everything.

The brisket is dry. Maybe an off day or something but it lacked smoke flavor and there was barely any seasoning.

The pulled pork was undercooked for pulled pork. You have to cook it until an internal temp of 200 degrees. Otherwise, it’s tough and chewy and doesn’t pull apart easily. The pork also sits in some grease or something to keep it moist. Again, no smoke flavor.

The smoked sausage was just a hotdog. Not sure who told them this is sausage.

The girl at the counter was nice as was the gentleman who brought out the food.

I don’t mind the hole in the wall type place. Those usually have some great food. This wasn’t...