I'm giving 2 stars, which might be generous. Family member placed a to-go order via Toast for a Family Meal Deal, selecting 1lb Brisket (+$10), 1lb Pulled Pork & 1lb Pork Ribs, Family Sides of Green Beans, BBQ Baked Beans & Horseradish Coleslaw, 8 Biscuits, Classic BBQ Sauce & Kim Bobs Mustard Sauce + 2 orders of Fries. $131 Subtotal + 9% taxes + $7 mandatory Gratuity = $149.79 Total.
Food was quickly ready; within 20min we opened our packed to-go bags... only to find our brisket was missing! After a phone call I drove back to get the brisket they acknowledged had been forgotten to be packed.
The parking lot is off Guilford; the driveway is only wide enough for a single vehicle to enter/exit at once. Parking spaces are wide with plenty of room for egress, but there are only a few.
Inside, lighting is low. One person was paying for a to-go order, but otherwise the restaurant appeared surprisingly empty on a Saturday. The 3 waitstaff appear quite young -- think high school, not old enough to shave young. A man (30s-40s, owner or manager?) was sitting right next to the door just monitoring the waitstaff; I didn't realize he was working until he called to one of the teens after I had been standing there being ignored for a few minutes -- the kid got a "deer in headlights look" until directed to greet me. First day on the job? No idea, but the energy was chaotic & VERY green.
I stated I was picking-up missing brisket, & the man directed the teen to a bag on the counter. The man was very apologetic, explaining they also gave us a free banana pudding as an apology, for which I thanked them, accepted the bag... & everything inside started falling over immediately because it hadn't been secured like the previous bags. I tried to rearrange things, but gave up & made sure to hold the bag while driving home to avoid making a mess.
As others have mentioned, the meats are packaged on top of a slice of white bread. Perhaps to absorb grease? It's just a bit strange, & it makes it tough when trying to serve pulled pork, which likes to stick to the bread. We also had only 1 2oz cup each of BBQ & mustard sauces in the initial bags -- nowhere near enough for a family meal to feed 6-8, as stated. 2 more 2oz cups of BBQ sauce had also been included in the last bag, so that was good.
How did everything taste? Unfortunately, the brisket was lukewarm at best; it truly had been just sitting on a counter for 30+min. I also found it to be a bit dry & completely flavorless, requiring BBQ sauce for any discernible flavor. Pulled pork was better & somehow retained more of its heat -- still not much seasoning, but at least its texture was moist! Pork ribs were a disaster, though -- cold, old & had the texture of next-day leftovers. The outside of the rack had a dark caramelization suggesting it had been sauced, but that was just a flavorless, rubbery skin that only served as an unappealing, unwanted texture.
What about the sides? The Horseradish Coleslaw was quite good! Not too spicy, but nicely flavorful, & still pretty crunchy! Recommended. BBQ Baked Beans were made with bits of meat in them, which was a nice surprise, but the meat adds more texture than flavor; the sauce did all the heavy lifting in terms of flavor. There also seemed to be some red bell pepper or maybe pimiento, too? This is clearly from-scratch, & also recommended. Green Beans, however, were a total salt bomb. Also made with either red bell pepper or pimiento, these would have been solid had they not been way oversalted.
I did not try any fries or biscuits, but the other 4 adults+3 small kids only ate a few bites, if any, & half the fries weren't eaten.
Unfortunately, the Banana Pudding was a runny, soupy mess. I tried a spoonful of it anyway; while the "pudding" flavor was decent, it was a failed broken custard & not at all anything that should have been served to customers. My mother had a bite, quickly concurred, & emptied the rest down the garbage disposal.
THIS was what we got for $150?? Totally not worth it. I debated giving only 1 star, but 2 sides were good, the other had clear potential, & I appreciated the attempt to remedy the forgotten brisket with a free dessert even if said dessert was a failure (of execution, not flavor). That said, this is 317 BBQ, not 317 Side Dishes, so perhaps this is a 1.5 star review? Or maybe I'm just trying to be generous.
NOT RECOMMENDED read more