Tried Big Dans a few months ago and this is down right good . I got the BBQ pork sandwich to go and it was tasty . Very nice sized meal with plenty of pork . You also can get a choice of homemade sauces . Nice atmosphere inside as well . Another fine local establishment in Elizabethton . read more

IN AWE!!! Obsessed with everything! We had the fried mushrooms, okra and a mixture of meats. I am such a fan of the service and love we could eat by the taphouse as well. I have to say some of the BEST bbq I have ever had! read more

Service was good. We really enjoyed our sandwiches and the sides. My husband had the pulled pork and I had pulled chicken. Both were delicious, lots of meat and it was fun to try the different sauces. We both had beans for a side and my husband had the baked potato salad. The sides were really good, and a slightly different twist on your normal sides. We would definitely recommend and will be going back! read more

Stopped in for a lunch after a sectional hike on the AT. A great choice for BBQ. The food was great , lots of selection for bbq sauces, tried out all of those. Everything was home made. The pulled pork and the briskets were great. Along w the Oakra and the chips. Shout out to the super friendly hostess / waitress. Got to enjoy live music. A few local folks get together there Sat mornings. read more

Big Dan's - Local music group - Barbeque Near Me - Elizabethton, Tennessee

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Waited about 40 minutes for a to-go brisket platter during the late afternoon with barely any customers in the dining room. The brisket was coated in sweet sauce, sliced thin, and the collards weren't the worst I've had. Even though the brisket was coated in sweet sauce, it was tough and dry. The staff I interacted with were friendly. But I'd like my money and time back. I hate publishing bad reviews. But I work hard for my money and I know others do too. This food and service today was sheer incompetence and I wish someone had kept me away. read more

I am so glad I stopped here. I'm trying to stay away from pork and beef (so why go to a bbq joint?) so I had the smoked chicken with white sauce, what a great choice. It was the first time I've had collared greens so I couldn't tell if they were good or not but I will rave about the baked potato salad it was so good. And the staff was super helpful read more

Big Dan's - a man standing at the counter - Barbeque Near Me - Elizabethton, Tennessee

I guess comparing this barbecue to Texas barbecue is expecting way too much. While the interior of this place isn't too bad, the food is by no means near Texas barbecue. When I ordered my beef brisket, and specifically asked for MOIST beef. The young lady taking my order told me that all their beef was cooked in sauce. Apparently they have no clue what moist brisket is. What I ended up with was very thinly sliced beef that was about as moist as sawdust. They offer several different sauces, but none of them could hide the dryness of the meat. The beans were eatable, and how can you screw up toast? I was offered a taste of the burnt ends from a fellow diner, but it was as tuff as an old shoe. I guess folks from around here don't know really good barbecue. Sorry Big Dan, but you really need a new pit master. My first and last visit here. read more

Service was excellent. Pulled pork below average, brisket below average both covered in sauce I prefer tasting the meat Pub chips excellent. Bbq beans I didn't finish them read more

Hands down the best BBQ in Elizabethton! Can't wait to go back for Dan's ribs real soon.

Great food and service! We visited the restaurant 6 months ago. Stop by and see for yourself!

Some of the best BBQ I have ever eaten. You don't want to miss this. Waiting to go back next time I am in town visiting family...

We were driving from Boone to the Tri- Cities Airport and saw Big Dan's on Yelp, and we were glad that we stopped. Great BBQ and service. We tried the Burnt Ends Platter and the Pulled Pork sandwich. Both were great, but our group liked the pork the most. Trying the 6 different sauces was also a unique experience. Be sure to try the raspberry cheese cake for dessert. Overall, it was a great place for lunch and worth the stop. Highly recommend. read more

The meat was phenomenal by itself and their BBQ sauces they offer just really drive home how good this place is. The key lime pie was great as well. Highly recommend! read more

Easily some of the best BBQ I have ever eaten. The family got the BBQ pulled pork to take home, and the portions were no joke. The pork was smoky, but not overwhelming, and paired well with the sweet barbecue sauce. I will definitely be coming by again to explore the rest of the menu. read more

Visiting from Pennsylvania and glad I took the chance. Brisket and pulled pork first rate. Best pork and beans I've ever eaten. Hands down Oh yeah, wonderful service read more

Great food! Great service. We usually carry out but looks great inside. We call in and is always hot.

First off, Elizabethton is quite a fun little town. Plenty to do and plenty of great places to eat. Big Dan's is definitely one of those great places to eat. The restaurant is clean and the employee was really friendly. As for food, we ordered the pork BBQ sandwich, brisket sandwich, fries, and Mac n Cheese. Everything was excellent. The serving sizes are generous and the pricing is quite reasonable. If you ever find yourself in Elizabethton (and you definitely should if you can), do yourself a favor and eat at Big Dan's! read more

My husband & myself ate here the other day. We choose to eat in..I wish we would have taken it home. It was snuffy and a bunch of old men playing instruments just setting around. It was a bit loud.. You order your food at the front. The lady that took our order was sweet & friendly. We received our food in no time. It's a bit expensive for what you get but guess that's the name of the game these days. I got burnt ends, beans, fries and toast. Burnt ends was good when you got fatty pieces, the others was a bit dry. The sauce on the ends tasted good and was sticky goodness..... The beans were ok.. I had to put some bbq sauce to make them to make them better. They said the fries were hand cut but to me they didn't look or taste like they were... it was good. My husband got the pork sandwich. Good portion of meat. He got fries as well. They have several sauces to choose from. My husband likes a more vinegar. I like the sweet.. I'd go back. We both drank water & the cost almost $40 bucks! I did see on Wednesday they have BOGO Pork Sandwiches!! We didn't get any pictures... read more

Tonight we stopped in with 3 friends who had never been there before. The restaurant had several customers, but wasn't full - we had no trouble finding a table. It took one hour and 10 minutes for our food to be prepared, by which time we were running late to an appointment so had to take it to-go. All that was necessary was to scoop barbecue on a bun and put the 3 side dishes ordered in a bowl - nothing even had to be cooked! If you were out of something & had to prepare it, just informing us of that and giving us the opportunity to order something else would have been helpful The food was delicious, as always, but the service was totally unacceptable. You made a real bad impression on 3 potentially new customers, and really made me think again about returning. read more

Excellent service, decent bbq. Got the lunch special with a sandwich and fries. Good sized and the fries were on point. Toasted buns were an added touch. Had to try a hot dog while here and it was good as well. read more

This is it East TN!! I love BBQ I have tried it everywhere, and honestly this lil place has figured out the key to Greatnesses!! We stopped in on a Saturday for lunch Hubby got the burnt ends platter with slaw and greens, I got the pulled pork platter with greens and BBQ beans. We sat outside on a cute sidewalk and the food was as amazing as the views! The pulled pork was a HUGE portion, could not be better so tender perfectly sauced the beans were perfect not too sweet just right! The Greens were Amazing!!! Burnt ends were perfect, slaw was great!! It was the best BBQ I have had in a very long time!!! No Joke! A must try for any BBQ lovers out in that area! read more

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This place is amazing.and clean unlike other bbq places here and get great reviews but food nasty and not just the tast.big Dan's is the real deal. 10 stars. read more

Great food w an awesome atmosphere. Brisket is terrific. Saturday morning blue grass music

Excellent service with great food. Nice location as well. Some of the best BBQ I have had

Dinner Friday night which I hope will be the first of many visits. Very delicious pulled pork sandwich & beans, good coleslaw, great sweet sauce & sweet tea. Super nice staff read more

The best BBQ around. We ordered Pulled Pork, Ribs, Slaw and Beans for our employees. Everyone loved it. I called it in and they had it ready when I arrived to pick it up. They have great burnt ends and Smoked Bologna. read more

My wife and I both had the pork platter and we were not disappointed. The portion were large and the staff was very friendly.

First time place is old school clean simple chairs n tables the lady tacking order friendly to the food got the large pork bbq sandwich nice size sandwich for 7 bucks this is great bbq the flavor was outstanding and they griddle the bun so the bun doesn't get soggy definitely going back highly recommend read more

This is one of the toughest reviews I've ever had to write. Why? Well Big Dan is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. He's big all right and you'll often see him in overalls chatting with customers. He's happy to share stories with you and listen to yours, and of course he's the owner. The atmosphere couldn't have better southern hospitality. Unfortunately, after having visited several hundred BBQ places in the south the food falls short the bill. Big Dan's is a local joint. Sure you'll find plenty of people here that are driving by to enjoy fishing or life in the mountains. Also many people compare this place to nearby Ridgeway which isn't a great comparison because Ridgeway's meats are on another level. Why come to Big Dan's? Maybe because they give you a lot of food? Other than that I'm not sure. Let's start with the meats. We tried more than half of them and struggled to get them down. All of them were overcooked and extremely dry. The turkey was like leather and the chicken tasted like it was three day old chicken. The pulled pork was tasteless although other rib tips we're fairly tender. I was excited to try to slice brisket but unfortunately it wasn't very tender which fell in line with the other meats. You can put the ribs in this category too. This is the first place I've ever seen a pig's wing on the menu. Personally, I didn't have the guts to try it but my buddy took one bite and that was enough. So it didn't look like we didn't eat our meat we tried to scarf down as much of the sides as we could. Most of them are made on site and I was excited to try the homemade potato chips but unfortunately they they didn't have any flavor or any seasoning on them at all which is very common at all BBQ places that make their own. Most poor their own rub on it. The collard greens we're average at best. Wealthy fries are hand-cut on site my buddy took a few bites and said they didn't taste fresh at all, which was interesting to me considering they were made here. He also said the macaroni and cheese was well below average. What was most impressive was as I mentioned before the huge portions but also that there are many sauces to choose from which is good news because it helps masks the lack of flavor in the meats. They do a wonderful job providing an array of different sauces that caters to everyone's individual choices. You'll find a mustard sauce on over to a vinegar sauce and even sweet and spicy sausage and a few very hot ones. To give credit where credit is due the sauces are good. We wish we could say the same thing for the sides and meats. No I'm sure if you live nearby and one of the small towns you'll probably love this place. It's close to home, many other local people will be there and you can get a lot of food that you and your wife can share all for one great price but if you're comparing it to real good barbecue in the south it falls well short. I hate having to write reviews like this but it's important for me to always tell the truth otherwise people do not respect you and keep in mind I'm comparing this two over 400 other barbecue places in America that we have eaten at. I'm not comparing it to just places in this county rather the entire country so please consider that when you read this review. read more

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The service makes this place. The lady that initially took our order, brought our food & checked up on us was so friendly and inviting. I wanted to LOVE the food but some of it fell a little short for me. I can recommend the burnt ends, potato salad, fries and peanut butter pie. They also make perfect southern sweet tea and have a nice variety of great sauces. The East TN vinegar is excellent! All in all it was a good experience. The restaurant is clean, the folks are lovely and the food is good. Will definitely return to try out some of their other offerings! read more

Very friendly staff, but the barbecue is dry for my taste, the brisket was extremely dry and tough

Went here during the week with a family member visiting from out of town. As new residents ourselves, we should have checked this place out beforehand. You order at the counter and food is brought out. Went in before 1pm and they were out of chicken because of the lunch rush. Two of us had the brisket and unfortunately it was pretty fatty, half the sandwich was fat, and the meat wasn't tender. I've had plenty of good brisket so I know what it should be. The pulled pork however was delicious. Service was very pleasant and drink refills came regularly which was great. I just don't get all of the high reviews. Give it a try if you're in the area, maybe we hit on a bad day. Eat local, support small business, I'll be back for another try with more realistic expectations. read more

Their bbq pork is awesome crispy. and bbq sauce is delicious. Every Wednesday all day BOGO sandwich with one side. I will come again read more

Big Dan's - Bbq pork sandwich and fries - Barbeque Near Me - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Delish! I ordered take out and it was ready super fast. We ordered 3 meals but had enough for the next two days! Definitely worth it. If you're in the area you need to give this place a try. Oh and the peanut butter pie was ahhhhhmaZing! read more

Stopped for lunch while passing through to Banner Elk, NC. Our party had the burnt ends, pulled pork, and pulled chicken with greens, beans, and mac-n-cheese. It was all fantastic. The sauces were all home made and delicious. And the staff was friendly and welcoming. Outstanding experience. Do yourself a favor and frequent this place! read more

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The restaurant has a musty smell to it which should have been enough to leave. The old floor carpeting looks dirty. The menu showed sliced pork but they were out of it at 12:15 lunchtime. Food was not very tasty. Fries were the frozen type. We won't be back. read more

One of the best barbecue places I've been hands down. Great staff, great food, fair pricing.

First thing is I'm from out of town.... had a heck of a time finding the place. Try this address on your device "Cherokee National Forest 248-252 Highway 91 Elizabethton, TN 37643 United States" This should get you there. The staff tried to help me find my way, but they are inexperienced with directions. Food is worth the hunt to find! read more

Big Dan's - Front of restaurants from highway. On south side of street - Barbeque Near Me - Elizabethton, Tennessee

Stopped there on Wednesday this week, while on a little road trip. While it is kind of a plain location, with somewhat limited parking, the food MORE that makes up for any challenges. We had the BOGO, medium barbecue sandwich, with fries, potato salad, and a bit of cole slaw. My wife got the fried green tomatoes, as we DO like those quite a bit. The sandwich was HUGE...and had a thick filling of excellent barbecue pork packed between two, very good bun halves. It was a lot larger than I had expected, so, I was kind of glad I did not order the LARGE sandwich! The other sides were quite tasty and also served in generous proportions. My ONLY minor complaint about the meal was that the same spices in the potato salad - specifically, Cumin, were a big part of the breading on the tomatoes. It was, to my taste, a tad overwhelming. Still, I did end up wrestling my wife for the last slice. We had a leisurely dinner, in pleasant, if, somewhat generic surroundings, that was tasty, filling and inexpensive. I strongly recommend that if y'all are in the Elizabethton area, you make it a point to stop at Big Dan's and enjoy a good meal! read more

Big Dan's East TN BBQ Company does a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong. But for the most part, it was good enough to convince me to return sometime in the future. I decided to try them out on an extended lunch break. The first thing that I noticed was a jam packed parking lot. I thought with this many people coming to eat at 4pm, the food must be crazy good! Inside, it was more of the same with a line of people waiting to order that extended almost all the way back to the front door. And that is where the problems began to unfold. I remained in that line for about 15 minutes. At first, this wasn't a problem. It gave me a good opportunity to look over the menu and decide on what to order. But as I got closer to the register, I started to realize that most of the people sitting at the tables up front were people waiting on their to go orders. They kept looking at their watches and were noticeably growing impatient. There was even a lady with a "can I speak to the manager" haircut complaining out loud about how long she had been waiting. Everyone just ignored her. Because that's what you do when a middle aged woman with a soccer bob haircut complains out loud about literally everything. You clinch your lips, make sure to avoid eye contact, and secretly hope that they mess up her order so that she explodes into a swarm of angry bees and lays down upon Big Dan a firestorm of awkward insults that will haunt Big Dan's dreams for 27 years. But that didn't happen. She got her food and gave the high school kid at the counter a quick, "Well it's about time" before walking out all dramatic-like. I didn't like her. Oh, wait! BBQ... I ended up ordering the half rack of ribs. I was going to sit and eat there, but after seeing how long it was taking, I decided to get it to go. The high school kid at the counter, still licking his wounds from the savage "well it's about time," handed me a ticket and told me to sit anywhere and wait. 45 minutes later, I noticed that there were 4 brown bags sitting on the counter next to high school kid. 10 minutes later, one of the other people waiting walked up and asked if their order was ready. "Yes, it's right here," said the kid, as he handed the person one of the bags. So I walked up and asked the same question. Sure enough, mine had been sitting there for God knows how long. I swear, if someone had handed me a pair of scissors, I would have grabbed my hair and cut a "can I speak with a manager" haircut right there on the spot. So I get back to work and open up my bag. Big Dan was very generous with his portion size but unfortunately, every item was cold. The ribs were kind of tough but had a great sauce on them. The greens were delicious and the beans would probably come in 3rd place behind Ridgewood and Pardner's. Big Dan, if you are reading this, please get someone to expedite the orders. And make sure that when food is ready, it is called out. I can tell that this place has the potential to be really good. But after an hour of confused high schoolers, smug whiny housewives, and tough meats, it's going to keep you at a "Meh, it was ok" level indefinitely. read more