I worked in Texas for several years a while ago and was always amazed by the vast difference in BBQ between Texas and Michigan. Since then, there have been several restaurants that have vastly improved the Detroit BBQ Landscape ... In my opinion the best is bad brats. read more

Wow... time sure does fly! I's been almost 15 years since I first reviewed this one... Bad Brad's quality is still top notch, and they must have great management as their servers have been over the top good at each location year after year. It's hard to not complain about pricing in 2026... Brisket (or "premium meats") being added to meals is $3.25 ABOVE the normal price, and they now have "premium sides", which are also served with an upcharge on top of the menu price... I get that there a lot of complexities at the moment, and I'm hopeful that prices will come down in short order as it's really hard to justify ALL of these extra costs. I figured it was a better value this time around to get the 1/2 Chicken and add sliced brisket; sides were mac & cheese and BBQ chowder. Despite my gripes about pricing, this was an exceptional meal!!! The brisket was great as always; not too fatty, not too dry and tender, with a great smoke flavor! Sides were great as always... that BBQ chowder gets me each time and the mac & cheese was HOT, very flavorful and just hit the spot as a perfect comfort food. I took the chicken home with some of the sauces and it was just great as well... Even after being reheated in the air fryer, it was tender and juicy with zero toughness/stringiness. It was a really nice smoked bird! GOOD BBQ is hard to find, but Bad Brad's is still doing it right, even after all of these years! read more

Very helpful the food was fantastic the manager came with the recipe book to make sure I don't order anything that might have allergens since I mentioned that I have many different food allergies they were extra cautious so I would definitely recommend the place for people who have allergies read more

Our server, Alyssa, was personable , efficient, and very knowledgeable. The food was excellent, as always. The manager checked in with us to make sure that our food and service was satisfactory. We visit the Bad Brads location a couple of times a month. The atmosphere is pleasant also. read more

Love this location, patio is a wonderful place to sit in the summer, always service with a smile. Food is always picture worthy and definitely delicious. read more

Ordered carry out, as ALWAYS food is delicious. Ribs were flavored and cooked to perfection. I haven't decided what bbq sauce I like the most yet though. The bbq nachos are what I absolutely love the most. Cooke perfectly and I always reheat it up the next day and it is still so good. read more

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Been coming here for years and I'm a huge fan! The staff is amazing, food is good and a large variety and it's always clean in the restaurant. Highly recommend if you're looking for somewhere quick with amazing options and convenient location. read more

Bad Brads BBQ - BBQ Nacho - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

Amazing as always. Service was over the top incredible, I just wish I remembered servers name. We were stuffed and all have left overs!!! Bravo Bad Brads!!! read more

Very causal place but pretty nice. Our server did an excellent job keeping us happy. We ordered burgers which were wonderful. Mine came with a huge order of fries which were also very good. It was a pleasant dining experience. read more

Amazing BBQ!! Taste is Smokey and mouthwatering for the pit beans and it pairs nicely with the sweet hot cornbread!! My husband enjoys the large Mac and Cheese dinner with white cheese. I eat the sides and he eats the pasta and we're out of there with to go food for $15 dollars!! We visit almost every week!! The servers are nice and so is the kitchen help!! Dimly lighted and comfortable inside!! read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

Extremely disappointed in Bad Brads BBQ. Tonight was our first time having it, and it was recommended by several people so we assumed it would be delicious. We got takeout and ordered the big pig gig- so we had a lot of things. Pulled chicken, pulled pork, beef brisket chopped, ribs, Mac and cheese, corn bread, collared greens, garlic broccoli, and pit beans. The only things worth eating were the ribs and the beans. The other meats were disgusting- like throwing into the garbage bad. Even the Mac and cheese was bad and that's hard to screw up. Really disappointing to spend $116 and have every single person agree the food is trash. Needless to say we unfortunately won't be back read more

We went out for some BBQ and everything was delicious as usual! We got the BBQ nachos and they were great and also the burnt ends pizza which was outstanding!! The service was great and the atmosphere was amazing. We love this place! read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Pizza oven - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

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Food was great and a must try is the candy bacon and the banana cream pie. The service was very good and friendly read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Ribs - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

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We've been going to bad Brad's for 20 years in Shelby Township. Great service. Best barbecue in town love this place during the summer. You can sit outside if you haven't tried it yet put it on your priority list. read more

Bad brads has a decent flavor profile. Like many BBQ restaurants they are over priced. Difficult to take a family out for a nice dinner. Most items I have tried are very good for Michigan BBQ. I understand they just changed their menu and I am excited to try some new items. read more

Best bbq nachos. I'm bummed to see they don't make their chips anymore. The Growler sandwich has pulled chicken, candied bacon, avocado & onion and is my go to. 40 min wait on a Friday night at 6p. No call ahead or reservations. Staff is friendly and attentive. Awesome industrial decor and artwork. read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Growler - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

Would be 5 stars but our group order 3 pizzas and they were all way under cooked.... The service was friendly and accommodating. The nachos were out of this world. Way too much seasoning in the potato salad. Overall, a great spot with good food other than the pizzas - stay away! Loved the outdoor patio. Great place to eat and converse. read more

This place was cool! The food was so good! And the service was great! It wasn't too busy but our waitress was very attentive and nice! My husband is on a work trip out here and his coworkers recommended this spot. It did not disappoint. Usually sides at bbq places are lacking but every single side here was so good. I love the meat and the sauce as well! I would definitely come back here if I'm ever in Michigan again!! We tried almost all the sides the potato salad was SO good and collard greens were so flavorful also the sweet potato was super tasty! The Mac n cheese was very good as well! I loved my drink as well the cider mimosa with a sugar rim! We left very happy and full with a lot of left overs! Can't wait to eat them for dinner lol read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

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Lots of gluten free options, especially their cornbread that is gluten free. Yum And their sweet & 321 sauce is the best!

Bad Brads (more like bad breath), ridiculous for them to price the ribs at 'market price', what do they think they're serving, lobster? Ribs are NOT a premium meat and it's their excuse to overprice their unpalatable feature. To say the least, their portion of a serving for 2 was hardly enough for 1 person and the sides were only for 1 rather than 2 which is another rip-off right there. Their french fries were anything but french - cold and looked something like a science experiment gone bad. Ambience was rustic, unbecoming of the prices they charge. All in all, ribs were terrible along with the rest of our other 3 orders. Would NOT go there again. Sidenote: nothing compared to the BRASS POINT, (unfortunately closed) except, maybe, Nikola's came close. read more

A review not specific to a particular visit to this location, but rather overall: we always like BB's and it a preferred option for our family. The food is always very good, good portions, and good atmosphere. The appetizers, great. Brisket tacos, great. 2 or 3 meat platters, always good. And don't sleep on the sandwiches, I have ordered those a couple of times and they were great. Good drink options, as well, and staff service has always been good. Definitely recommend. read more

Pretty disappointed in Bad Brads today. We stopped in for Mother's Day lunch. We've been patronizing BB for quite a long time, and stopped at the request of my wife. I ordered the BBQ burger... pretty much my goto when we're there. I ordered a side of fries, but then realized how good your "homemade" BBQ chips are, so I went with the chips. Even our waitress said the chips are homemade. Our order came out and there on my tray sat a bag Great Lakes chips... a far cry from "homemade"! I was truly disappointed! My wife ordered the Campfire Nachos, her goto. We couldn't help but notice that the portion size got cut, but the price of course didn't. Patronizing this establishment again is up in the air. It's not the Bad Brad's of days gone by... read more

so I ordered 2 sandwhiches(1 was chicken and the other was brisket) loaded fries and a large Mac n cheese yesterday. it came to $52. Prices are extremely high, smaller portions and still had to wait for carry out after I was told it would be ready in 15 minutes. Time to move on. read more

I had never been inside this establishment before, and it was my nephews pick for a dinner out on a Tuesday night while I was staying with him. It had kind've an up north, off the beaten path look to it on the outside-which I found cool. They have a patio to enjoy when it's warmer out. Would like to go back in the summertime for that. Seemed to be a good amount of cars in the parking lot so couldn't wait to get inside. I have never been to any Bad Brad's before, so was looking forward to trying it out. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures....was having good conversation with my nephew so I didn't bother. Will definitely do that next time! I love BBQ-so when I saw "the Hammer" ($12.95)was a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on it, I was in. The side you get is just a bag of kettle chips....so I had to order fries($3.95) to go with it. A bit disappointed in the amount of fries, but they were very good so it made up for it. I also ordered a beer-that was $5.50 if I remember correctly. My nephew got a pop($2.00), the Smoked Fried Wings(normally $11.95) and he was told he got 2 sides....so he did the fries and the small Mac & cheese....but looking back now on the receipt, it said I was charged for the small Mac & cheese side that was $5.45, and I think it was supposed to be a deal of "pick three house made sides" and it was cheaper that way. This is why I'm giving only 4 star review...the food was perfectly fine, but my nephew wasn't going to get the extra side until he was told he got to pick 2. Overall good atmosphere, nice server. Good food. I think $17 was a bit pricey for my sandwich & fries ....but others may be fine with it. read more

Delicious food and nice staff. I agree that the food is among the best in the area. The desserts are over the top. Great atmosphere.

Their sides are amazing, salads and soups as well! Not crazy about the pulled pork being void of the classic 'bark' and inner pink ring so I still make that myself at home. The ribs are perfect but the brisket is always dry. Once they stopped serving smoked Turkey and took it off the menu I haven't been back. read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Smoked Turkey (no longer on the menu), ribs, brisket. - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

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I travel a lot and one thing I can't do is not try the local best bbq spots. Tucked away in a small town its worth making a drive for not only for the food but the interior design as well. A must see in my eyes. The Nachos were by far the best I have had in the US..period!! Variety of sauces for everyone's taste..wings were really good especially with their blue cheese sauce. Don't forget to order the dripping sweet bacon... read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Beautiful interior bar...one of a kind! - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

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I've had my fair share of BBQ and this place is pretty darn good. Growing up, I've always passed by Bad Brads but was always curious to try it. Well, the day has come (last week) and I ended up going with my family members. For Appetizer, we had the BBQ nachos which was super good and a great amount to share between three folks. For Dinner, I had the pulled pork with two sides of chili with grits and sweet potato mash. I've never had chili with grits. I must say it was amazing and super comforting (great for when you're having a bad day). The dish was flavorful with chzy creamy grits! I loved the sweet potato mash they were not too sweet but had a great hint of cinnamon, pretty light and refreshing. I picked at the pinto beans and Mac & Chz, those are amazing sides. I loved the pinto beans, I can eat those day and night. Sweet, Sour, and Smokey! I totally recommend this place to all those visiting or live in MI. I will be back! read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

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They have a text number by their parking spot to call ahead. Text the number in your party and they will text when a table or ready. Not a bad setup We sent our text at 5:34pm to indicate we planned to dine-in, my name and party size. No confirmation that your text was received, just have to hope they got it then. We received a text after 4 minutes to "come on in." The exterior of this place looks dilapidated and run-down, but that is the purpose. If it wasn't a BBQ place I would probably have turned around after driving by this place, it looks like it belongs down south or in a not so desirable area. Our waitress is nice enough. We started off with the campfire nachos with pulled chicken added, street tacos with pulled chicken with salt and vinegar potato chips, BBQ platter with Turkey, side of jalapeño cornbread, potato salad, coleslaw. Their collard greens and the bad Brad's pit beans both have pork in it. They have a short plastic divider between booths as they are seating people back to back in here. It doesn't seem like this place is half capacity, based on seating, but maybe half capacity of the overall building size. The pizza oven is right by the dining area, it's fun watching the pizza man roll and shape the dough. There are 6 guys by the bar and one guy is less than 3 feet away and none of them are wearing masks and I can even hear them all talking about just arriving and dropping their bags off at their hotel and having layovers in Chicago on their way here. They are talking about more people joining their party. These guys just came from the airport and are leaning against the wall backing up to the wall right next to us. A staff member asked the party to move so we could comfortably eat our nachos placed at our table. They did stay more or less by the bar but I felt more comfortable after they were gone and finally seated. I think it would be good if there was some plexi glass between the booths and the bar. I get this large group of guys were catching up and weren't thinking about social distancing within the group or by others either, especially since they came from the airport. The Nachos came out and had a really good generous covering of stuff, every chip was nicely covered, just the way I like it too. The nachos were yummy, some of the better ones I have had in ages too. I could have eaten the campfire nacho alone, it was that good and filling, but today was a share day. ;) The cornbread is nice and moist and super sweet. It has a nice crunch to the crust and outside as well. The butter is sweet as well as the corn bread itself. The turkey slices are not too dry and has a decent amount of flavor. They're even better with the spicy barbecue sauce. Every so often I can really taste the smokiness of the Turkey meat. The street tacos are super yummy. I like the crunchiness of the corn taco. The tortillas a little bit thicker than normal, but it's good. The chips, coleslaw and potato salad came in silicon ramekins. They were both okay, but not outstanding. The salt and vinegar chips were quite salty. I couldn't taste much of the vinegar. We were both sated. The food and service were all good. read more

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Per usual, the food was great. Other than my drink that was spilling and not properly put together the rest of the carryout was packed very nicely included napkins, plasticware ...great storage so no food spilled. If it was only the drink spill I would have gave five stars still however the online ordering experience was less than good.It kept glitching out and would not allow me to add the barbecue sauce, even though it prompted me to select one, even after closing out and going back in. It took me longer than it should have to place my carry out order. Maybe do some testing on the app for an update. Also, I got the lunch special so for a total of $19 including the tip and a drink that's not bad for quality barbecue (these days) . It's nice to see that Bad Brads is not taking advantage of inflation.thank you ! read more

We LOVE Bad Brad's! Our recent visit was the first time we have been here since the COVID reopenings. They have a great system in place! When you arrive for dine-in, all of the parking spaces have signs directing you to text your name, number in group, and they will text you back with a wait time. We received a text back right away letting us know to come in. We went for a late lunch/early dinner, so there wasn't a wait (But the parking lot was full of carry out orders!). We sat on the patio, so it was pretty easy to see the tables spaced apart properly. There was a tag letting us know that the table had been sanitized. While we were waiting for our meal, we noticed a young guy sanitizing the tables. He was very through, and when he was done added the tag showing it was completed, so servers knew it could be used. We've never been disappointed with the food here. The southern fried chicken sandwich is hard for me to pass up. Knowing this great seating system and seeing things being cleaned correctly, I have no hesitations on coming back soon! read more

Great food and service! Why do I need to comment more than that!! lol try the candied bacon

Wow... not the place it once was 2 years ago. Small paper dishes for the sides. Brisket is $3.95 more? Allot of the sides are extra now. We had a party of 8, everyone dishes were like warm at best, not hot. Went to the men's room and saw all kinds of dirty trays, plastic bins full with dirty dishes and garbage. Wet towels on the floor, looked like a flood in the kitchen? Went there at 8:30 Saturday night. We will not be back. It's crazy how restaurants that were so good, can go downhill, sad, good luck bad brads. read more

Had another outstanding dining experience at Bad Brad's. The Cobb salad and carrot cake were delicious! Service including at the bar was very professional and friendly. Prices were reasonable Will definitely be back again read more

They have multiple locations. Same food. Check those reviews as well. The Shelby location is the nicest ambience. I am a regular at this one and Baltimore location. I prefer actually the new Baltimore location overall. First the prices. Not a huge fan of the post Covid price hike. But this is the reality of us dealing with the mask mandates and all of the Covid mandates. We are paying the price for our negligence and not fighting back. Bad Brads changed their seasoning recently on the chicken and particularly I can tell. I really preferred the previous seasoning much better. Everything now currently seems to be, including the brisket, over peppercorned. It is so highly peppercorned that it's overpowering. Overall though the quality is still very good. I enjoy it quite a bit. I probably won't come as often because of this hike in peppercorn and change of seasoning. read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Chicken - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

It pains me to update this review of my once favorite restaurant to a three-star rating. After three visits within the past year, an updated review is warranted. As much as I would like to continue to leave a five-star review, this place has definitely gone downhill. Over the past year, likely due to covid, we found that Bad Brad's BBQ has made changes that are not for the better. They now offer a limited menu, with only three entree options. One of the three options is actually listed under another category on the menu, so more like two and a half. There are plenty of sandwich and burger options though. Our favorite appetizer, the campfire nachos, has significantly decreased in quality and portion size. What once was offered as a large portion of chips, covered in delectable toppings and melted cheese, is now a much smaller portion with semi melted cheese and lacking in quantity of toppings. At my most recent trip to Bad Brad's, I ordered the grilled chicken. I anticipated receiving a grilled chicken breast that I could then add barbecue sauce to. What I received was a very oily, vinegary chicken breast. It was as if it was drenched in a Greek style dressing. The chicken was sitting in a pool of oil and vinegar. I've included a picture with my review. The chicken actually was really good, but not at all what I thought I would get. Adding barbecue sauce to this just made it gross. It wasn't at all what I thought it would be and while good, wasn't really barbecue food either. The barbecue chicken salad wasn't a $13 salad. Small portions of chicken topped a mediocre salad. We also ordered a kids meal but were told that they had no drinks other than pop (out of milk and no juice options). Service was okay, and I would never take away stars due to poor service. I realized that there aren't as many service employees working right now. We will likely return to Bad Brad's in the future, but it has definitely gone down in quality and I likely wouldn't recommend it to those looking for barbecue. read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Grilled chicken breast - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

I love this place there pulled pork is always on point and there wait staff are always very helpful with the menu and refilling drinks read more

Bad Brads BBQ - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan

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Great BBQ at Bad Brads. We have been using the Carry-Out location on Groesbeck Hwy in Clinton Twp. The food and service are always excellent. The staff is courteous and friendly. read more

I'm not the biggest fan of bbq, but this place is good. I love their side dishes. They have pulled pork tacos that are really good and you assemble them yourself based on the ingredients you choose. The patio is a great spot anytime it's open and not raining read more

The BBQ nachos are the best! That's all I've tried but sheeesh are they insane. Mmmmmm read more

Bad Brads BBQ - BBQ Chicken Nachos - Pizza Near Me - Shelby Township, Michigan