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    Blues On Franklin

    3.6 (125 reviews)

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    BLUES ON FRANKLIN ATMOSPHERE

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    Pulled pork meal
    Shane S.

    Service was nice. Didn't meet the owner or GM though. This place seems to be run backwards. Everything was bland. Meat did not taste smoked at all. Beans probably came from a can. Slaw tasted almost like vomit - initially couldn't tell if it was pickled onions or what, so I had to ask. I am nowhere near a picky eater, but the slaw was BAD. Originally went in looking to eat ribs, but they are SO expensive. $4 a bone? And that's the only option - not cheaper for half or full racks. I asked the server if it was weird to get two to try. She said "it's not weird, but the owner doesn't suggest I order ribs until dinner because they aren't fresh." Huh? This owner needs to step this place up. No wonder I was the only person eating there at peak lunch time. Meanwhile, several restaurants on the same street had lines out the door. It's a shame, because the building is really fun looking, and in a nice location.

    Pulled Pork Sandwich
    Zach H.

    I might be a little spoiled when it comes to BBQ being from Houston, but I was sadly not impressed by the food tonight at Blues on Franklin. I've had North Carolina BBQ before as well and this didn't quite live up to it. The staff was friendly which is why I am not giving out 2 stars.... Pulled Pork Sandwich comes cold and without any flavor. Had to ASK for BBQ sauce which made it better. Collared greens were very plain... no flavor. Hush puppies and their fries were both good though! Some of the other people I went with had better luck with their mains. Maybe worth checking out again one day.

    Kaitlin L.

    I had a wonderful lunch today with my son. We met the owner Andrew, he was wonderful and had some great stories! The food was delicious and had lots of flavor! We can't wait to go back for more

    John F.

    Blues on Franklin is an awesome place for authentic smoked meat. On my first visit, we met the owner, Andrew, and he showed us the smoker. The smell was amazing but we smelled like smoke by the time we left the restaurant. He sent out some burnt tips for us to try and then I just told him to bring us whatever he recommended. We ended up having some pulled pork, deep fried okra, fantastic curly fries, and other delicious items. We had to go back and on our second visit we got the burnt smoke gifts and baby back ribs. They were fantastic! As we were leaving, there was a DJ setting up music and I was told it was karaoke night. I was going to start it off with the first song of the night but he wasn't quite ready. I think this place would be an awesome place for late night but we were there around 5 p.m. before it got busy. Definitely check it out. Our waitresses, Savannah, was very knowledgeable and friendly. Strongly recommended!

    Rack of Smoked Baby Back Ribs
    MH N.

    Fiancé and I were craving BBQ during our day trip to Chapel Hill, NC. We decided to stop here after spending a pretty afternoon walking around UNC's campus! We split a rack of ribs, some baked beans, mac and cheese, and hush puppies. The ribs were meaty, smoky, and juicy! Definitely "fall of the bone" kind of ribs! My only criticism was the BBQ sauce. I was hoping for a more vinegar-based sauce as we were in North Carolina. The BBQ sauce was good otherwise, but nothing spectacular. The sides were good, but nothing to rave home about. Wonderful and quick service.

    My wife and I enjoying the meal
    Josiah P.

    My wife and I came here 3 years ago on our first date. We have now been married a year and came back to revisit the spot. Delicious BBQ with incredible service. Andrew (the owner) and the team treat you like family and deliver a great dining experience. Would highly recommend their BBQ sandwiches and the BBQ nachos appetizer. Blues on Franklin has a special place in our hearts!

    What BBQ should be like.
    David M.

    I had the pork tips, collards, and hush puppies. I've lived all over the country as well as in Europe and the Pacific. That's some of the best - if not the best - BBQ I've ever tasted. Very cool atmosphere too. The owner and staff were all very friendly. Recommend.

    Kids chicken tenders and fries
    Jenni L.

    Pros: The burger was pretty good. Smoked corn is highly recommended. Decor is Carolina themed with lots of TVs for sports. Cons: Smoke is everywhere. To avoid it, you have to eat outside in the heat. There doesn't seem to be good ventilation inside. Kids chicken tenders and fries, just look at the picture. Dead flies in the windowsill. Live flies all over inside. Hot with fans everywhere. The walls look like they need cleaned. Pulled pork was dry and unappetizing. Overall, I gave them a 2 star review for the decor and the burger. I'll pass on eating there again. It's a great idea with execution in progress.

    Blues on Franklin's dry bbq sandwich, onion rings and a small bbq sauce.

    It's very infuriating to drive all the way back home, sit down to eat and find out that the order is WRONG! I repeated my order several time a barbeque sandwich with SLAW and bbq sauce. The place wasn't busy and I patiently waited outside sipping on a lousy cup of ice tea. I should have known better to open the container, but I didn't...trusting the staff. I only tried Blues on Franklin because it's a restaurant on my mileageplus dining membership. But, NEVER AGAIN. Wasted $19.08 on food I threw away.

    Inside looking out.
    Gene G.

    Went with my wife for dinner. We were in a BBQ mood. Started of with burnt tips and smoked wings as appetizers. Burnt tips were served with a BBQ sauce and a choice of blue cheese or ranch dressing. Wife wanted ranch. I didn't care. Enjoyed the tips with and without the BBQ sauce. Had 6 smoked wings with the Dook sticks hot sauce. Great taste. Wings were smoked four hours so you got the smoky flavor without it being overpowering. Ordered the BBQ plate with sides. We had baked beans, Mac and cheese, corn on the cob and sautéed onions and mushrooms with white cheese. All was good. Particularly liked the sautéed mushrooms and onions with cheese as a side. The pulled pork had a nice smoky taste. Finished of the dinner with cinnamon dusted donut holes. Warm and tasty. Took the leftovers home. Or server was pleasant and freely have recommendations when we asked. They also serve burgers, but we were in a BBQ State of mind. Would I recommend Blues to family and friends? Yes. Would I go back? Yes.

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    1 year ago

    Great place nice people and phenomenal BBQ. Sad they are closing but still doing catering.

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    2 years ago

    Real down to earth place with great BBQ and wonderful, friendly folks from North Carolina providing outstanding service

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    3 years ago

    Great food. Side dishes are great and love the outdoor bar under the carport. Service is fast and friendly.

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    Page 1 of 4

    Ask the Community - Blues On Franklin

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    The Pig

    4.0(462 reviews)
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    We stopped by The Pig and ended up really enjoying it. I got the pulled pork sandwich and my…read morehusband ordered the fried bologna sandwich. We also shared a plate of three sides, originally wanted the fried green tomatoes, but they were sold out, so we swapped for hushpuppies along with collard greens and baked beans. I'll be honest, when my sandwich came out I was a little nervous because the slaw is BRIGHT yellow. I was expecting a strong yellow mustard flavor (which I'm not a fan of), but it actually wasn't like that at all and worked really well. My husband's bologna sandwich had a super thick cut piece of bologna and was fried perfectly. Everything we had was delicious, but I seriously could not stop eating the pickles, they were that good! The staff was friendly and happy to answer all our questions. It did fill up pretty quickly while we were there, but they've got a big outdoor seating area with plenty of space too. Definitely worth a visit!

    A small clean little place in a tiny shopping center with on site parking. Good service. The food…read moreis average. I ordered a barbecue plate which comes with hush puppies that came out of an extruder, sliced pickled cucumbers and a yellow slaw. I don't know what causes the slaw to be yellow whether it's a spice or mustard. If it's mustard, there's not much mustard flavor, and it was chopped into oblivion. More of a mush. The BBQ tasted pretty good although it was already sauced. The collard greens I got instead of the pickles was a generous portion even given that substitute sides are $3 extra. The collards didn't taste that good, but adding some of their vinegar sauce helped. The thicker sauce taste better, imo. It's OK, don't know if I'll be back, probably not, but maybe worth a try for you.

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    Acme Food & Beverage Co - Peach and blueberry cobbler (3/5)

    Acme Food & Beverage Co

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    This dinner had a full emotional arc…read more Let me start by saying this was one of the best meals I've had in the last 2-3 years. The star of the show in my opinion were the hush puppies and the corn and wild mushroom risotto. There were sooo many different flavors that perfectly complemented each other. I was blown away. And the pig cheek on top was incredible. 500/10. Our server made great recommendations! Then-- chaos and heartbreak ensued in the form of a fire alarm. We were forced to evacuate the restaurant as the fire department arrived , leaving about half our meal on the table. After 30 or so minutes of waiting out in the cold (we were apparently the only guests who hadn't paid out yet) our server came to find us. He asked us if we wanted to just give him our credit card information and he would ring us up later, when the fire department gave them the ok, as he understood not wanting to wait around. It broke our heart to leave our leftovers, but we agreed and went to go get the car. Thankfully we are stubborn.. and optimistic to a fault. And by the third time we circled around the block, the fire truck was pulling away. I ran in and asked if there was any chance our food hadn't been thrown away yet, and it hadn't! The staff was happy we had been able to come back, and they packed everything up for us, even taking the hush puppies off the bill and sneaking in a complimentary piece of key lime pie. I'm so glad we were able to tip our server appropriately for his great service-- and rescue our leftovers. Happy ending. All was well. (And the fire ended up being something innocuous in the unit above the restaurant)

    Pretty great spot to eat! Service was amazing, one of the best around the area. Our waiter was so…read morekind, thoughtful, and knew his stuff about the menu. He kept refilling our waters which is a gesture that doesn't go unnoticed. Their menu is quite confusing. They have a hot section, cold section, and "classics" section. I assumed the classics were their mains and the "hot" and "cold" were just appetizers due to the difference in pricing. I opted for the blackened salmon, and my friend got the watermelon salad and tomato plate to share. The wait for food wasn't that long, but once they arrived, they were beautiful. Vibrant, full of color, plates of food that I was dying to dig into. The salmon was a pretty small piece (I was expecting a larger portion) and was on top of black beans and cheese grits. The salmon had a green sauce on top which complemented each aspect of the dish very well. I loved eating a bite of everything together. The tomato plate special was also good, but nothing sensational. It's literally just tomatoes with oil on them, but I guess they tasted fresh. I probably wouldn't come back, but this was a good meal nonetheless.

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    Acme Food & Beverage Co - The gumbo was also super tasty, with a little bit of a kick. Better with even more shrimp ! 9.5/10

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    The gumbo was also super tasty, with a little bit of a kick. Better with even more shrimp ! 9.5/10

    Time-Out Restaurant

    Time-Out Restaurant

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    Last night I was out in Chapel Hill visiting my cousin who invited me over to watch the Duke vs…read moreChapel Hill basketball game. After the game we went out and went around the different places on campus. At some point we decided that we were hungry. She told me there was a great fried chicken place near by and we ended up at Time-Out. Once we got to the place it was packed. The line was a little scary to look at, but we got to the front very quickly which was very impressive as I only saw 2 workers taking care of the register and putting the orders together. I ended up ordering Combo #2 which is chicken thighs and a side. I ordered mac and cheese as my side. Luckily we were able to find an open booth in the packed restaurant. When it came time to eat, I would say that the portion of the side was pretty generous. The mac and cheese was also really good and was up to my standards. The chicken was nice and crispy, and was very delicious as well. At one point it did feel like it was a little too salty, but I was able to look past that. I asked for some hot sauce on the side and it kicked it up a little and made it even better. For my first time here, I would say that I was very impressed not only with the food but also with the service. This place is open 24/7 which is a huge plus! I'll definitely be going back next time I am in town.

    Don't let the low rating fool you--this place is a gem! Delicious!!! I'm honestly not sure why the…read moreratings here are so low. I almost skipped this spot because of the rating, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance! I stopped by on a Saturday morning and it was nice and quiet--only a few other people were there. I ordered the fried chicken, cabbage, and mac n cheese, and every bite was southern-style perfection. Also, if you like Bojangles sweet tea, you'll love it here! Get one of those square biscuits and the cinnamon roll! Must try! The biscuit was buttery and melt in your mouth and cinnamon roll had perfect amount of icing. The location is perfect--right on Franklin Street and super convenient if you're out hitting the shops. Definitely give them a try!

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    Pure Soul - Chkn Strips plate with Kale Caesar & Soul Mac

    Pure Soul

    4.9(268 reviews)
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    Seriously one of the best restaurants I've eaten at, EVER. In my life! As a lifelong vegetarian, it…read morewas overwhelming to look at a menu and be able to order literally anything I wanted. I was also happy to see that, on top of that, there are lots of gluten free options--it can be kinda hard to find vegetarian AND gf at a restaurant, so that's a big bonus! I was with a group, so we tried a lot of different menu items, and everything we ordered was, like, the best thing we'd ever eaten. I dream of the soul rolls! And wouldn't be right not to order sweet tea. Andrew and his staff treated our table like we were royalty, so not only was the food incredible, we had an amazing experience, too. You can really tell the love and care that has been put into curating such an authentic, cool spot. Impeccable vibes.

    "Delicious Vegan Food by South Square in Durham"…read more (Yay, this is my 500th review!) I was surprised to see I hadn't already reviewed this place even though I've eaten there multiple times. (Someone else said the same, so I wonder if their entry got reset.) Sitting near the Target, this place isn't much to look at from the outside, but the food is a gem. I came on a Saturday evening at 6pm, and it was hopping, but there were still tables available. It was a beautiful day, so a lot of people chose to sit in the outdoor bench seating areas, making more total available. One can order with a person at the counter, online, or via a tablet at the counter. I opted for the Baked Chkn poppers plate: Seven baked Chkn (fake chicken) bites served over yellow rice, topped with green onions and served with your choice of two sides (I went for mac & cheese and collards). My dining partner got the chkn sandwich plate with the same two sides. We got a number and found a table. The wait felt a little long-- it was over 20 minutes to get the food. But it was SOOOOO good when we got it! The server also brought us our drinks so we wouldn't have to wait the full time for those, which was nice. My plate was delicious. The chkn bites and rice had a curry flavor to them that was SO tasty. The texture of the chkn was pretty close to some sort of meat, albeit maybe not identical to chicken. I did wish there were more bites, but they did advertise is properly. It also came with a homemade honey mustard that I used as a dip and drizzle. I really liked the mac & cheese, too- it had some heat/ kick to it. My dining partner loved her chkn sandwich too. It was also the "right" amount of food-- not so much that we had leftovers but enough that we weren't hungry when we finished. Parking is sometimes a bit tight, but I've always found a spot. And the price is decent-- the plates hover around $20 each, which is not bad for top-tier vegan foods with two sides. Overall, really like this place, and happy to come back, even though I'm not vegan (or even vegetarian)!

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    Blues On Franklin - bbq - Updated May 2026

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