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.

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.

I ordered the brisket plate with a side of rib tips. Sides were Mac & cheese with collards. The…read morebrisket tasted like it's been dehydrated and thrown gravy on top to mask it. It was not tender all throughout. The ribs tips, almost the same texture. The only thing I thought was yummy was the collards. I didn't have hush puppies so they pulled out a loaf of bread placed it on top of the counter and replaced it with the hush puppies. So lame! Throw in an extra side if you ran out of hush puppies. So lame! Atmosphere is hot with no fans or AC running. Don't let the 4 star fool you and don't let me say...I told you so!

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.

To us, it was incredibly underwhelming. The Mac and cheese was mediocre, at best. What they did to…read morethe fried chicken might be considered criminal. The fries were frozen crinkle cut and very blah. The okra was good. And the burger was good. Very unusual for me to say that food is under-seasoned, but very under-seasoned. They put sea salt in a regular shaker, and you couldn't coax it out. My curiosity is satisfied and I have no need to eat there again. If you are really hungry, and don't have another option, you can fill your belly. I just doubt you will actually ENJOY the experience.

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.

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!

This BBQ food truck in Cary, NC serves up some seriously bold, mouthwatering BBQ flavors! Their…read moreUSDA Prime beef brisket is smoked for 15 hours over oak wood, and you can also get huge Dino beef ribs, smoked turkey breast, and more. I tried the Big Dampf Sandwich--sliced brisket topped with pulled pork, served with a side of mac & cheese. Holy moley! The smoky, bold BBQ flavors were absolutely incredible! I loved it so much that I had to make a second trip to try the brisket sandwich with a side of beans, and once again, it did NOT disappoint. Both sandwiches were fresh, flavorful, and packed with that delicious smoky BBQ taste. Try the banana pudding...so good! They're also currently taking Thanksgiving pre-orders, and the menu looks AMAZING!!!! A few tips: ORDER ONLINE! The line can get super long, and you may be waiting quite a while. Even with an online order, expect about 10-15 minutes at pickup because they literally slice the meat fresh right there for your order, which I absolutely love! They also sell merchandise, and keep in mind that they can sell out online pretty quickly. Orders open in the morning for same-day pickup, and once they're sold out, that's it for the day! Definitely worth making a stop if you're in Cary and craving some seriously good BBQ!

Today was all about service and Brian did not disappoint. He greeted me with a smile and was very…read morehelpful with an issue I was experiencing with a free cobbler offer. After solving the problem, I got my cobbler and didn't quite make it home before I had to taste it....crusty and flavorful. I'll return on tomorrow for "rib bone Tuesday". Looking forward to meeting my former co-workers for a great lunch of good food and good friends. City BBQ is the best place for both.

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

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.

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

I'm a little biased because I live down the way from Byrd's and I am not ashamed to say that when…read morelooking for a house in the area I decided to buy our house because Byrd's was down the street after trying their BBQ. I love watching this business grow since we have been in the neighborhood. The owners James and Kim and the nicest people you will ever meet. All of the staff are consistently friendly, and I have never had a bad interaction - even when they are packed... which is most of the time. When I moved to North Carolina, I was excited to explore the BBQ scene. Unfortunately, several places I tried were disappointing. I'm not going to get into the Eastern NC versus Texas-style debate because I enjoy them both. Simply some of the barbecue I tried was just not very good. Then I found Byrd's. I don't know what James is doing back there in the kitchen, but the brisket is excellent. The ribs are my other favorite, and, as an added bonus, they serve breakfast! I had the brisket omelet, and it was amazing. They have great food, genuinely kind people, and a neighborhood business worth supporting. Go check them out, you won't regret it.

Excellent BBQ spot. If you're in the area or traveling along I-85, it's a quick and easy stop just…read moreoff the highway. The restaurant has a modern fast-casual vibe, both inside and out, and the staff was friendly and welcoming. The food is what really steals the show. We ordered a burger with fries, a pork sandwich with fries, pulled pork with green beans and potato salad, and brisket with coleslaw and every single item was delicious. The standout was definitely the brisket. It had an incredible peppery rub and perfectly smoked flavor that kept you going back for bite after bite. Easily some of the best brisket we've had.