I was in Durham for a convention and wanted to find a good local place for barbecue. The reviews…read morefor The Original Q looked great, so I decided to stop in for lunch. I absolutely made the right choice. Parking was a little tricky when I arrived because there was an ambulance in the lot, but there were still plenty of nearby options, so it really wasn't a problem. When you walk inside, you're greeted by a line, but don't let that scare you off because it moved surprisingly fast. The staff was friendly from the start, and I really liked being able to watch the food being prepared as I moved down the line. The atmosphere was exactly what I want from a barbecue restaurant. Everything was clean, the staff was welcoming, and the inside had that classic local barbecue-joint feel. I even ended up sitting underneath the moose head, which only added to the experience. I ordered the pork barbecue plate with a baked potato and a Sun Drop. And if you're eating barbecue in North Carolina, you pretty much have to get a Sun Drop with it. The barbecue was excellent. It was tender, flavorful, and cooked perfectly. They had several sauce choices, and the one I tried paired really well with the pork. Normally, I like to take some of my barbecue and stuff it inside my baked potato, but the pork was so good that I didn't even want to slow myself down. I demolished the hush puppies first and then showed absolutely no mercy to the barbecue. The baked potato was also excellent--fresh, soft, moist, and loaded with all of my favorite toppings. This was one of those places where everything just came together: great food, friendly service, a fun atmosphere, and exactly the kind of barbecue experience I was hoping for. I honestly wish I lived closer because I could see myself eating here all the time. One thing is for sure: anytime I'm back in Durham, The Original Q will be on my list.

While visiting Durham, we stopped in for dinner!! So happy we did. I decided to try their Brisket…read moreplatter for just around $25. A VERY nice portion of brisket, onions, pickles and 2 sides (fries & side salad). The vibe is fun, a local BBQ place definitely everyone should give a try if you want some yummy BBQ while in NC! The staff is so friendly and "visitor" friendly, they were patient and answered my questions without hesitance! Thanks for a lovely experience!

We came on a Monday during a very quiet time. Since it was our first time, we appreciated the very…read morefriendly staff. The Pulled Pork and Burnt Ends were fresh and uniquely flavorful. But the Collard Greens were exceptional with a nice spicy touch. The only flaw was the potato soufflé side which was too creamy and mushy for our tastes. We really appreciated that the cook asked our opinion of our choices. We would definitely recommend a stop here.

Was walking around Durham with my girlfriend and decided to get some food. It was really good!…read moreWould come here again.

This place does barbecue right. It's no frills on the outside or the inside, but that's because…read moreit's the food that shines. The collards might be some of the best in the state.

My son and I stopped in for some dinner, clean lots of parking. Stood at the counter for a few…read moreminutes before we were acknowledged, seemed a bit unorganized but we placed our order. Rib tip dinner, with Baked beans and collard greens. The ribs were pretty good, the beans and collard also good. The star was the hush puppies. My son had the wings which was pretty generic, nothing much to write about, he wanted chicken but they were out! Overall it was decent but not sure I'd come back if in the area.

All of the BBQ is awesome, Smash Burger is superior though! All of the sides are good but nothing…read morebeats the seasoned fries. Service is friendly and always happy to give you recommendations. It can get a little loud inside with a full crowd but they have plenty of seating outside. Place deserves ALL THE STARS on food, service, and ambiance but I would give it a FATTY ZERO on parking. Go with the mindset of walking a block or two, parking is very limited. if you're handicap-there's two at the front

Best brisket I've ever had in my life. The owner is cool af…read more The chef is amazing. 10/10

TLDR: fried food done well…read more BBQ joint that has tons of variety on the sides front. From a BBQ standpoint it's brisket, chicken and pork. The sides though you can get fried green tomatoes, okra, oysters, a bunch of other fun things.

We had dinner last night and really enjoyed it! The barbecue is NC style Barbecue- the sauce on…read morethe table, perfect vinegar based. The barbecue plate comes with 2 sides, we shared all 4: green beans, collards, fried okra and cucumbers with onions. The cucumbers were the star! Everything was very good- the weakest vegetable were the collards. They could use more seasoning- we used the barbecue sauce as the vinegar for them which was perfect. The service was excellent! Our server was Peter and he was prompt, polite and really personable. The only negative is parking. There is overflow parking across the street allowed by the Masons.

This is a decent four-star Southern bar near the Duke campus. We were driving through town, and we…read morestopped here before visiting the local botanical garden. There's plenty of paid street parking in the area. The interior is a bit dark inside, minimal ambient light from the outside, TVs around the bar. Lunch arrived quickly, I had the patty melt which was a bit over salted, but not too bad. Service from Makena was overall decent, nothing exceptionally bad or good. Pricing for lunch averaged just over $20 per person, including the "included gratuity." It's a fine Place to get standard bar food.

We were driving from Columbia, South Carolina to Richmond, Virginia today and decided to stop in…read moreDurham for some lunch around noon. This place is located in the downtown area of Durham on the second floor of a red brick building. There is plenty of patio, bar and dining room seating. It was a little hot for the patio so we sat at one of the tables in the dining room. The menu offers a handful of appetizers and salads, as well as about twenty lunch entrees. I went with the NC pulled pork sandwich. It also had coleslaw on the sandwich. Side options included fries, salad, Brussel sprouts, or onion rings. I went with the brussel sprouts and they were very tasty. My husband had the patty melt with French fries. The fries were a generous and tasty portion. His patty melt was very salty, though. Service was pretty quick.

Their food and service has always been the best. We go out of our way to get their BBQ at their…read morePhillips Farm food truck. Of BBQ near me theirs is by far the best. Can't wait for their brick and mortar location, only wish it was closer!

Two buddies of mine talked about this place and I've been itching to go, Today 8/29/26 I came up…read moreand ordered their Carolina Trinity with the smoked Mac n cheese, jalapeño cream corn and butchers block beans, two polish sausages and an order of brisket... my gosh this food did not disappoint, EVERYTHING was immaculate, this spot is hands down THE BEST Bbq around! Worth every penny, definitely will be coming back to get more!

Hunter was awesome with helping us with our order!!!!! Very helpful!!!!…read more Thankyou We will definitely be back again

We've been coming here since day one and the quality of service and their food is still top notch!!…read more We usually make a point to come here on Tuesday's when it rib day, but tonight we felt like their pork sandwiches. I got the Lolo's pulled pork. The sandwich is so big. I swear it's at least a half pound of delicious pork. I also got the corn casserole and my spouse got a side salad that she enjoyed. Bottom line, they knock it out of the park every time.

We stopped in at 7pm on a Friday night and it was dead inside the food was pretty good though and…read moreservice was quick due to us being the literal only patrons there. Over all it was reminiscent of places we have in Texas but we had a great dinner so no complaints from us. I got the Fergie burger and husband got the brisket sandwich

This was our first trip to North Carolina and we wanted to try North Carolina BBQ. So, we ordered…read moretakeout while visiting Durham. I'm leaving 2 stars in case this may have been an off night, and for this review not to be dismissed as one of those "I only left one star because I couldn't leave zero" posts that even I usually ignore. But with the amount of issues, this could easily be justified as a one-star review. When I arrived around 6:45-7:00 p.m. on a weeknight, the restaurant was completely empty. I didn't think much of it at the time, but afterward this seemed unusual for a barbecue restaurant in a state known for its BBQ. The first real issue was that one of our two-meat dinners was missing one of the meats. Next was that the brisket was extremely dry, even when soaked in barbecue sauce by them, and even more sauce added by me. The ribs had an acrid smoke flavor and a smell that resembled the odor more of cigarette smoke than even liquid smoke. I'm not accusing the cooks of smoking in the kitchen. In fact, research tells me, "An unpleasant, ashtray-like smell can come from dirty smoke (a poorly managed fire), excessive creosote, or meat that sat too long." With how empty the restaurant was, it could very well have been the latter. Sides: My son's fries were also missing. The sweet potato fries were significantly undercooked. The hush puppies' outer layer was a bit more solid than I'm used to, and several of us could not take more than one bite. However, this could have been due to personal taste. The potato salad and mac and cheese were just okay, but that could also be personal taste. We're the type of people that try to convince ourselves something is better than it actually is, which is why I sat on writing this until the day after. This is also why I'm not even going to attempt to ask for a refund. I don't see us ever going back to that area, nor that restaurant. I'm generally not a picky eater, but this was one of the few times where I could not take more than a few bites of anything. We were really looking forward to trying NC BBQ in NC, so this was a disappointing experience.

A good video…read more Stopped by on a Tuesday. Arrived around 6:30- early enough to get a parking spot and any table I wanted. Half rack of ribs were solid and French fries. Nothing crazy. I came thru for the music and had a great time. Will be back soon

Stopped here for lunch on our way to Charlotte. Plenty of street parking right out front…read more The front during the day looks like it's closed. We were welcomed as we entered and shown to a small table in the main seating area. Fairly large place with a large bar and a stage for all the live music they have. At this time we were the only customers. Our server brought us the menus and glasses of water. After a little extra time, son needed extra time. We ordered the 1/2 rack of baby back ribs with coleslaw and Mac-n-cheese. I ordered the brisket bowl. We had a short wait before everything came out. Everything looked great. The meat literally slid off the bones and the ribs were very tasty. I sampled everything. The slaw was good and even the Mac-n-cheese was good. My brisket bowl was delicious. Brisket over a bed of rice, black beans, blue cheese crumbles, tortilla chips, and a sauce. All the flavors played well together and satisfied my taste buds. It was just enough food. First time here and we both enjoyed the experience. We would definitely eat here again. Recommend giving this place a try.