Not sure why this place only has 3 stars. I had a Baja style lager (delicious) and combo #4 which is 4 baby backs and one beef rib. For sides I got Cole slaw, bbq beans, and street corn. Everything was delicious. If you like meaty ribs order the beef ribs and if you want fall off the bone tender, order the baby backs (my pref). All 3 sides were good too. The bbq sauce is less sweet than Phil's which I like. read more

Mike's BBQ - 1 Beef Rib, 4 1/3 Rack Baby Back Ribs, Sm COLE SLAW, Sm BBQ BEANS, Street Corn, TEXAS TOAST - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

A sports bar this is. Good food too. This was my first time experiencing a full-house championship game (Padres v Dodgers game 4, 2024) in any sports bar. Full surround sound with huge televisions projecting the game viewable from every corner. Crowds cheering in the stadium and inside the bar itself. Really kinda impressive. An exceptional experience! Good job Mike (we saw you walking around), you've really created a great experience for your customers. The food here is always personal and we usually always get the same stuff, just for the leftovers. Mike, you will always be our local go-to sports bar. Thanks for supporting your community. Dicks read more

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Mikes is a very unique location. The food is delicious here. I have tried the pulled pork sandwich, ribs (best rack in town), nachos, burgers, and everything has been great so far. Beers are huge if you get the mug, and it's a great price. Violet is the bartender whenever I'm here. She has a great attitude and is very attentive. This place is pretty low key, except when it's a fight night it gets really lively. Overall I really enjoy this location and think it's a great place to have a couple drinks and have some good food. read more

Mike's BBQ - The bar - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

Came here to watch the nba playoffs. They have TVs everywhere! Every seat is a perfect seat ! If you like meaty beef ribs this is the spot for you !! Big beef ribs tasted so yummy. You can taste it's cooked with mesquite wood. So juicy and yummy. Their brisket has amazing flavor ! Buffalo fries were so yummy. If you like chicken, the bbq sauce on top was so yummy. I also had a peach cobbler for the first time and it was fire !! Definitely coming back here to try the rest of the menu ! read more

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Came to try the food out & I was very disappointed. Ordered the combo #2 two beef ribs, 1/4 bbq chicken w/2 small sides Texas toast and 2 sliders. The bread for the sliders was dry as hell (tasted old) and the sides were a nightmare I got the bbq beans which were ok I guess. And the other side was a very overcooked wanna be Mac &cheese. Not to mention the Mac had old ass cheese it's on top (very gross) other than the nasty ass food, our waitress Denise was amazing and very sweet. DO NOT RECOMMEND this place to anyone who has taste buds. read more

We supported Mikes during the pandemic while all our neighbors were going to the food trucks that trolled our neighborhood. I was of the belief that brick and mortar is more important than a food truck that could relocate anywhere, anytime. I'd like to think people like me and our family helped Mikes stay afloat during that dismal time. It was our go-to for family dinners, great BBQ and all around good food. Sadly, something happened to service and quality of food recently. Last week we ordered take-out, two full Mike's Cobb Salads with their incredible blue cheese dressing on the side. Sad to say, upon arriving home we noted neither salad had the dressing included and going back wasn't an option for this cancer patient. This is the second time take out has been less that it should have been. Regrettably we won't be returning anytime soon. read more

Mike's BBQ - Disappointing Experience, Never Again If I could give zero stars, I would. My brothers and I took our dad to Mike's BBQ for a birthday lunch on a Wednesday at noon. When we arrived, we were the only ones there, so we expected quick service. That was far from what we got. After placing our orders, half the table received their food in about 15 minutes, while the rest of us (including myself) waited another 15 minutes. Eventually, everyone at my table got their meals--except me. Keep in mind, I only ordered a hamburger, while others had beef ribs and tri-tip. The waitress finally noticed I was still waiting and gave the excuse that my burger was well-done (wrong--I ordered it medium). After another 10 minutes of waiting, I went up to the front desk to ask where my food was. More excuses: "We're really busy, sorry." I reminded them that no one was there when we arrived, so my food should have been done long before the others. Then they hit me with another excuse: "Our cooks are new." At that point, I'd had enough. I told them not to bother making my food anymore. By then, everyone else had finished eating, and I would've been left eating alone. To top it all off, it took them another 15 minutes just to bring the check. Terrible service. The food that actually came out wasn't good--the meat wasn't smoked like they claim; it tasted boiled. They completely ruined what was supposed to be a special birthday lunch. We will never be coming back. Avoid this place. read more

I've been coming to Mikes bbq for years and it never fails to impress! If you're in the area and want some good food, great service and amazing drinks stop by! Worth every penny read more

Mike's BBQ - FULL- BUFFALO CHICKEN FRIES - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

Inflation... is such a vibe killer. We came here not too long ago and prices have raised significantly. With that being said... Let's talk about the quality of the food, the drinks and the service. Service: we were greeted right away, everything looked clean and smelled clean. We came on a Sunday around 3pm. We ordered: DRINKS 2 Mikes Dirty Martinis 10/10 Their blue cheese olives are delicious FOOD -Combo #5 2 Beef Ribs, Tri-tip, Mac n cheese, bbq beans -Brisket Sandwich w/ coleslaw RATING Beef Ribs 9/10 Brisket Sandwich 10/10 Tri-tip 8/10 Mac n cheese 9/10 Bbq Beans 10/10 Coleslaw 8/10 (needed salt) Toast 10/10 Food was incredible, yes the prices are steep, but honestly... it was worth it. We even had some leftovers to take home. Will we be coming back? Yes, but maybe just on special occasions. read more

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Good food great service and so many screens to watch The fights, and basketball at the same time! Kind of loud but we're pretty much at the fights at this point. read more

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We came here as it was recommended by the hotel front desk staff. The food was not great, we ordered pork ribs and were served beef ribs. The mac and cheese was watery. Rhe mashed potatoes were dry. The staff was friendly and they easily accommodated a big group, just wished the food was a lot better. read more

Mike's has a great selection of appetizers and entrees and has a multitude of large tv screens for watching sports games.

Gave this place a try today. Food was moist and tasty. I ordered pulled pork and brisket sliders with potato salad and mashed potatoes and gravy. Hubby had beef ribs with brisket and street corn. All of it was fresh, moist, good flavor and filling. Paul gave us excellent customer service. I was worried with the mixed reviews. We went right when they opened and we will be back. read more

Got an old-fashioned, a ginger ale to mix it with because I didn't realize that's what I ordered LMAO hot wings, pulled pork slider street corn and a huge beef patty for my Doggo! Everything was really good! The wings were really good! I was not expecting them to be. The street corn was really nice. Messy but nice the drink was great and slider was good but nothing special. It taste good though. I really really really enjoyed my waitress Teddy! She was so fun to chat with and the hostess Sara was also very cool! Both of them were extremely accommodating! Which was huge because I had just spent so much time in traffic and I just needed some really great service and good food and they delivered! I really enjoyed my time even though I had to sit outside because I had my dog with me. So you get a little bit of the riffraff walking by but they were very protective of who was anywhere near the front of the location. read more

Mike's BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

Got the food as takeout. If you were to do so online it said 30 minutes. From the actual restaurant it said 20 and they gave you a pager for when it's ready. I got the tri tip with street corn and potato salad sides. The tri tip I found to be good but dry. The potato salad was kind of meh. The street corn was good. My friend got the buffalo chicken fries and he said that was really good. Also for the Mac and cheese bites that I didn't think was that good either. read more

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The food and service were five star here. Huge menu, busy open dining room. LOTS of TVs for sports...we will be back for some football. Our meals came out quickly and were fresh and delicious. I had the bbq pulled pork sandwich with a side of fries. Sauce was sweet and tangy and the meat was flavored to smoky perfection. We will be back. read more

Mike's BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

Meat was dry. Took forever, TVs were great. Talked to the manager... she was a joke and was dressed sloppy! Over all rating... total failure! Go to phyls! read more

The low rating is probably based on the ambiance, but we always take away, so this review is based solely on the food and kitchen. I appreciate how the kitchen staff is typically very attentive to read all order notes. The ribs are amazing...only had sub par ribs once in three years and that was over a year ago. Certain items are a rollercoaster on if they are gonna be great, like when the Mac and cheese bites are well formed and crisp they are killer, but occasionally they are mushy with limited filling. Buffalo fries are a favorite and the half order is huge! Overall, we will continue to enjoy ordering from Mike's monthly. read more

Great food. Way better than Phil's or other Bbq places. Highly recommend... If you want the beat Bbq, go to Mike's instead. You will be glad you did! read more

I had a catered event for 50 folks with Mike's delivering their great BBQ. Very easy communication back and forth to arrange food, service, and delivery with plenty of options. Offered several times to make payment in advance but they insisted on not taking payment. We'd visited the restaurant previously to taste the various options and settled on Ribs, Tri-Tip, Quarter Chicken, Pulled Pork, Coleslaw, and BBQ Beans. Delivery was on-time, easy, and once we pointed out where to setup, they did everything such that it was ready for folks to dig in! Super happy with the delivery experience. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the setup, but it was well laid out, with serving trays & utensils, utensil rests, everything you need to serve without a mess! Yes, we paid for the disposable serving pieces, and we're glad we did; it really made it look much better and professional. The food was fantastic and the talk not only during the party but for days afterwards. Everyone raved about the food, but they couldn't get enough of the fall off the bone tender and tasty ribs! I'm always nervous about chicken but it was tender, juicy (it's often dry) and full of BBQ flavor! Seriously every item they delivered I was proud to serve at the party. During the initial quoting and defining the final menu Mike's admitted a small mistake in pricing and I want to thank them for holding the price they initially gave us. Stand up job for sure, thank you. My only suggestion is to insist they take the payment well in advance of the event. The only real disappointment was that as we had 50 co-workers, friends, family, and neighbors streaming through the door Mike's called for payment. Very frustrating as we felt we gave our guests a less than deserving welcome to our home. So, please insist on paying in advance to avoid that situation. Lesson learned, and everything else FAR outweighed this inconvenience. We'll of course be back for more and based on feedback I suspect locals will also pay Mike's a visit! Thank you Mike's!! read more

Coming from Texas to a BBQ place in Cali and trying their Briskets... we'll not what you're looking for but at the less good side dishes. Amazing coleslaw, Fire Cornbread, and okay Mac & Cheese. Great sports bar to watch sports but the BBQ is dry and not moist enough. Only if you like watching sports this is the place, not the BBQ. read more

Mike's BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

The ambience is perfect. It's a great space to hang out with the family and friends. The food was mediocre, but we still ate it anyways the service was fantastic so overall I would come back. read more

This place has seriously gone down hill. Prices of skyrocketed quality of food has diminished services worse than it's ever been, and even though the venue is smaller than it used to be, the service is still horrible . You got charged $15 for a Long Island iced tea last night that tasted like crap Time to hang up the apron Mike !! read more

I had food delivered from Mike's BBQ and I was sadly disappointed. I've had food at Mike's before and I remembered it as being really good. This time around it was awful. I ordered their nachos with their signature BBQ chicken. Plus, I ordered the chicken soup. The only two things that were good were the chicken (although it was cold) and the mom's beans ( what few beans I could find). The tortilla chips were stale, the cheese sauce was tasteless and the chicken soup tasted metallic which I assume was because they had it in a metal pot too long. Unfortunately I won't be ordering from them again. read more

Mike's BBQ - Chicken soup tasted metallic. - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

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Mike's BBQ just upgraded their menu. Their beef ribs and rib tips are so delicious!! I never had beef ribs before and these were great to try for my first ones, and they're so good and huge. The fries are well seasoned and crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. Their homemade ranch is the best ranch I've ever had, I dipped everything in it! The corn bread with their homemade butter is really good too, it's moist and flavorful! The service is good, and the ambiance is a casual spots bar vibe. read more

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We were willing to try a new place. Ordered delivery and was very disappointed. I ordered a quarter chicken and added brisket. The brisket was good and tender. The chicken was awful. It was so dry I could not eat any of it because it was like jerky. The potato salad was good but the mac and cheese sauce was super runny. read more

Love, love the service and the fantastic food. We have been coming here for years!. We get rewards for coming and the service is so good. We saw the downsizing of the restaurant and it only made it stronger. The food selection and the wine and beer selection is far and beyond! You want a specific sport on TV....you got it. The ambiance is a must go to sports bar!! read more

Food was ok. Tasted like Boxed Mac and cheese The greens were a 8/10 Cat fish combo 8/10 Rib tips/fries 4/10 Tri tip sandwich 2/10 (sauce was to sweet) bread was gross Corn bread 10/10 read more

We keep giving this place chances, and everytime is the same. The people that work there are all very nice, and the food is delicious, but there is something fundamentally wrong with the dine-in operations. Without fail, the service is slow (even when the restaurant is empty) and there is almost always an order that either never comes or comes so laughably late that it may as well have been forgotten. This has been going on now for years, so I guess it's just sort of part of the business. Again, the food is really good and everyone that works there is really nice and genuinely wants you to have a good experience. I just wish they would fix the service issues. If you dine in, consider sitting at the bar. The bartenders always seem to be "on it" and are touching tables even in the restaurant area. Otherwise, consider maybe just getting your food to go. read more

We came here to try it out since Phil's bbq in San Marcos was closed and thought it was pretty average overall. We had a turkey burger, which was $9.99 during games and we happened to come in during a Padres game. You can build your own burger, which I liked since they had a lot of options. Their sides were huge, but their mac & cheese had a weird consistency and chalky texture. The people I was with got the ribs, which they said was pretty good, but one ordered the tri tip that was so dry and salty, it was almost like beef jerky. They also had sides of beans, mac & cheese, and garlic bread, which was 4 whole slices. Their sides were definitely huge portions, and what they took home were mostly sides. It's also really dark inside, but they have huge projector screens and tv screens basically 360 around the restaurant, so if you're coming for any game, I'm sure they've got you covered. Great for watching multiple Olympic games too! read more

Mike's BBQ - Turkey Burger and Mac & Cheese - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

Have come to Mike's twice in the last year and both times received exactly the same experience. Slow service that seems very unorganized and food that is mediocre at best. The first time the restaurant was mostly empty and everything still took forever. Ordering, food, drinks, bill. Everything took forever. Both times I had a view of the kitchen window and would watch as food was finished and then sat for 5+ minutes waiting to be brought to a table. The food itself is just incredibly ok. Have tried the beef ribs, pulled pork, tri tip, pork ribs, baked beans, mac and cheese and onion rings. Mac and Cheese I actually really like and was probably the best item I had there. Onion rings might be the worst i've even had. Way to big with too much batter and very oily. They were like onion ring donuts in the worst possible way. All the meats ranged from poor to average. Atmosphere is pretty good with lots of big projectors and sports on. Prices are a little high, but not crazy. Overall its an average at best experience, but that could be better if the service was ever improved. read more

This is diabolical. 79° in a place of business. By the time the beer gets to your table it is sweating and warm. That's all you need to know. Plus automatic 18% tip. read more

Mike's BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

I was just there last night, sat at the bar since I am working in town alone. I've been here a few times over the last 8 years. The bartender was very nice and hospitable, guys at the bar were locals and Purdy cool, had some conversation. Oh! The food, I had a mix of sliders and a garden salad, all was very good and the different BBQ sauces were tasty. I just might go back again tonight, TV's have all the sports. Good job Mike!! read more

So many reasons why we love Mike's! Straight to the food, so delicious and fresh. Comforting like homemade and feels so good. We got the brisket, baked potato, and fried zucchini. All bomb!! The TVs are everywhere with every game possible. The vibe is so fun inside with positive energy. The staff seems happy to be there and proud to be on the team, like they're a family. And here's an experience I'll never forget and we weren't even there to eat... my son and I were a couple doors down at Staples at 8pm working on a book report in the printing center when my boy needed to go potty. Staples had just that week closed the bathroom to customers; employees only going forward. The host at Mike's was so gracious to allow us to use their bathroom even though we weren't paying customers on this particular visit. I had to go back to Staples while I waited since my laptop and all of our stuff was waiting for us on a table and I didn't want it to be taken. I went back to Mike's to check on my kid (I'd asked him to wait for me since it was dark) and there the host was walking my son back to Staples asking him about his book report. Seriously the sweetest and coolest and kindest experience. I am so grateful to have Mike's and their staff in our community. read more

Had a work event here last Friday evening and had a great experience! Food is in my opinion better than Phil's BBQ. Service was excellent and attentive. Ambiance was lively and fun. Drinks were solid and beer selections is excellent. Don't hesitate to give this place a try. The baked beans are 10/10! read more

Mike's BBQ - Full Rack of Beef Ribs with coleslaw and baked beans - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California

So we did go back and try it again dining there this time. It didn't help. The meat is just dry. The service was flighty. And it's so dark in there. I get it's a bar too but if you're gonna have tables for people to sit and have dinner you can't forget about them. Just not our kinda place. read more

Food was great and so was the service. Peach cobbler was fantastic, bbq sauce, brisket and sausage links were the star of the show for sure. Amazing cole slaw as well. read more

If you haven't been to Mike's BBQ in Escondido, your missing out!!! It's better than Phil's . That's all I have to say I had half pork ribs & half beef along with potato salad & the best side of greens I've had in a long time the service was also outstanding !!! Steve, I wanted to thank you for making my dinner so finger licking good!!! On this Mother's Day!!! read more

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What a disappointing experience. This was our last time here. I understand we visited on a busy night, but our last few experiences were not satisfactory either. Food was cold and had obviously been sitting around for a long time. I know it's a family run business, but they can and should do better. read more

Wow, what a lucky find! I dint live in the area Lea so not aware this place even exists. I was driving by looking for a place to eat and saw the usual corporate chain type restaurants, don't have to name them you know who they are and at Valley rd in Escondido you have them all. Then, out of the corner of my eye I spied a sign for Mike's BBQ, not the most captivating name for a restaurant but it spoke to me. Said, hey man give me a try, I'm local and maybe I'm good.....you never know. With the intent to support local business I parked in the crowded parking lot and made my way through the front door and.....amazing! The ambiance captured me right away, immediately I wanted to sit down and have a cold beer. I was intent on ordering "to-go" because I was pressed for time so hung a right to the take out window and loved the way it was organized - with three ordering areas they are obviously set up to handle large crowds, sign of a good place! Next was my server, Mari, super personable and accommodating, service with a smile and a touch of grace. Oh yeh, and the pulled pork sandwich with Cole slaw was amazing, clearly made with love and a talented pit master. That's it for now, definitely coming back for that cold beer! read more

Mike's BBQ - Take out area - Barbeque Near Me - Escondido, California