Is it really "As Tender as a Mother's Love?" I guess that depends on your mom, but I that might be a bit of a hyperbole from Uncle Dan's advertising staff. Uncle Dan does make some truly excellent vittles though. I've had brisket ($6) every time; I liked it so well I never branched out. The bbq baked potatoes and potato salad are great, too. This place is pretty casual; you go through a line and order your food, take it to your seat, and enjoy. Entrees with side items and bread run $7-10, sandwiches $3-5 Strangely, WiFi is available at Uncle Dan's. You wouldn't expect it here, but sure enough, they've got it at both locations now. read more

Uncle Dan's BBQ Ribhouse - from their website - Barbeque Near Me - Waco, Texas

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This is the worst BBQ in Waco. Sloppy over cooked old bake potato. Meat is not cooked BBQ at all. Sauce is terrible. I got ulcer a bit on my lip from it. Left the sloppy nasty BBQ food there. read more

Need to speak up. I am originally from Kansas City. We have many fine BBQ restaurants. Gates to the Smoke Stack. Plus home of KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce. Sweet and smokey. Also lived in Asheville. Home of 12 Bones and Luwellend. Both Excellent. So indeed I search out good BBQ. Uncle Dan's has great hot French Fries. The white bread was fresh. The sauces both on the vinegar side. Dan needs a sweet smokey sauce. Now the ribs. I ordered 1/2 slab of ribs. I stood there as the ribs were cut in half and I was given the short end. Yikes. The first three expensive ribs were tuff and not chewable. Wasted money. I think I had three ribs that were ok but since the gentleman cutting the ribs keep the long end for his favourite returning customers, I shall continue my search for Texas style ribs. read more

Love ordering thanksgiving dinner here for our family. We support our local businesses

There is a great variety for all taste buds. BBQ, burgers, chicken fried steak, baked potatoes, deserts and everything in between. The portions are big and the customer service is over the top - from everyone we encountered. We even got to talk with one of the family members of the owner. It was a very nice personal touch that you can only experience with family owned and operated businesses. This was our first time @ Uncle Dan's while we were visiting Waco. I had the pork ribs plate and 1/2 lb jalapeno sausage. Rib meat was tender and very flavorful, ranch beans had a slight kick to it, but very good. My wife had the smoked turkey and yellow potato salad. The turkey was very moist and tender. I would have taken pictures of our food, but I was very hungry at the time and it did not sit idle on my plate too long after I sat down. Overall, we walked out very full and we will be returning next time we are in Waco. read more

Place really didn't fit a BBQ restaurant. Is a nice place friendly place. Atmosphere was good. I got a two meat plate. Brisket really good nice & tender. Ham was lunch meat style. I was asked what type of sauce I asked for spicy however instead of a little cup. My plate add at least a cup of sauce covered all the meat. (why they do that). You can get all the pickles, peppers,onions & refills you need. Would I go back ? Hummm. Not sure. Didn't impress me enough. read more

I have eaten at this place for decades. The food has always been pretty good taste wise. The issue I seem to have the last number of years is the price vs to portions. I ordered yet again another turkey sandwich on a white bun tonight. There must be 1 or 2 ounces of meat on the sandwich. My wife and i were going to split it but it was so paltry. This for 12 bucks. For Waco places that have been here a long while they need to wake up and give people their moneys worth. Like that whizzbang pace, you cant live off of history forever. There are too many choices now compared to the 80s and 90s. I can get a heap load more on a sandwich for 12 bucks at most places today and it isn't like U Dan's is so stupendously better as to pay 12 dollars for 5 bucks worth of a sandwich. We all seem to have to pay more these days for eating out. Most of us are willing to do it from time to time but there still has to be value relative to the price. U Dans has either a training issue or thinks that a child size turkey sandwich is really worth 12 bucks. It isn't. Not sure it will matter posting this. Tying to help others but looking at other reviews, U Dans shows their arrogance by not responding to the negative things about their restaurants. Again we are not in the 90s anymore. Do they even read these? read more

Picked up an order thru the drive thru order #139 at 3:24pm. Bionca was very nice, now about the food - lean brisket was so dry and hard it actually crumbled. No smoky taste!! My favorite has always been the white potato salad- recipe was been altered, it's bland. The mac&cheese awful!! Uncle Dans use be be my favorite, after today any money spent here is wasted! read more

LOVED IT!! Met Dan himself, came by and introduced himself. Food was EXCELLENT! Will definitely be back!!

I can some this place up with a simple "meh". Pros: The chicken was good and moist. Their spicy BBQ sauce was the right amount of spicy. The pricing is phenomenal, our party of 8 only cost 49 dollars. The dinner rolls were good and fluffy. The mashed potatoes were also good. Cons: I ordered the Texas tater, but it was drenched in the BBQ sauce so it was hard to pick up on any other flavors. I'm not a fan of the texture of the BBQ sauce, the texture reminded me of apple sauce. The baked beans were also a bit bland and a bit runny. My biggest dislike of this place is the atmosphere. There was just a lot of fluorescent lighting, Fox News on the TV, plenty of kitchen noise, and the dinning area looks in need of some major updating. This place is also a cafeteria style place so you go up, grab a tray and walk around the place looking for the straws. read more

If the girl in the drive-through was that rude Im just waiting to see how bad the food is

I recommend this place. I enjoyed the brisket and the ribs. I really wasn't a fan of the BBQ sauce it seemed a little too salty however the seasoning of the meat was so good. The staff seemed really friendly and the facility was clean. If you are in Waco try it out. read more

I ate at Uncle Dan's Barbeque for the first time a couple of days ago. It was fantastic. The sliced brisket was tender and full of flavor. I did not even need a knife to cut it. The green beans and pinto beans were also delicious. The staff was all very friendly and helpful. I am from Dallas and was in town for a chess tournament being held at the restaurant. Before I headed home, I had to have another plate of that wonderful beef. I will definitely be back any time I am in the area. read more

Average bar b q. Nothing special. Ive had so much better but waco is not a good bar b q mecca.

Came into the Waco area to visit everything Magnolia and Chip and Joanna. However when we were done with our visits to all of those places we asked the locals where the best barbecue around was and they told us about Dan's place. They did not disappoint! Not only should Waco be known for The Silo's and The Gaines family but also Dan's brisket, ribs, and pulled pork! An honorable mention goes out to the chicken, which we did not end up ordering but he let us try it and it was also smokey and delicious. Do not pass up this place when you visit Waco! read more

This place is the standard by which I judge all other barbecues. Falling off the bone ribs, moist brisket that slips through your fork and a spicy sauce that compliments the meat perfectly. The sides are NOT just an afterthought. The coleslaw is dressed well and never dry, very yellow potato salad where they take the time to mash the potatoes and crunchy bits mixed in, and very generous portions on everything. On Wednesdays, they have an all-you-can-eat special that leaves me comatose. The interior is a little dated, but at this writing they are undergoing renovations inside that look promising. read more

The BEST barbeque that I have ever had and hands down my favorite restaurant in Waco. If you're looking for a good bite to eat at a pretty good price, you can't beat Uncle Dan's. read more

Place is just awful. Over cooked meats in a cafeteria setting. I'm shocked this place is still in business.

Before moving to Texas we lived in Seattle and were deprived good bbq for years. If Uncle Dan's had opened a location up there we still would have felt deprived of good bbq! The brisket tastes greasy, fatty and like it was cooked in a crock pot all day. The sausage was lacking and seemed more like bland kielbasa. The ribs were tough, the beans bland, and the coleslaw soggy. The potato salad was ok. For the life of me I can't understand how this place stays in business when there are so many other great places like Tony Demaria's, Vitek's and even Rudy's. Definitely a must miss. read more

"Concealed Weapons Class Next Sat at Uncle Dan's Rib House". This is the first thing you see when you reach for the door to open Uncle Dan's Rib House. It's a sign you are deep in the heart of TX. If you aren't ok with that, just turn around now - You're in the wrong state and Texas doesn't want you anyways. I ordered up the 3 meat plate with mashed potatoes and corn and a sample of both the regular and spicy sauces. Brisket - Good flavor, their best meat, wasn't super moist but didn't bother mer, made for a great sandwich in their home cooked rolls. Turkey - good flavor and moisture combo, not bad at all. Ribs - sadly I felt the sample I got wasn't so great. Little on the chewy / over done side, thinking I got them on an off day. The sauces weren't to my liking. What I did like was the size of this place and watching a group of 6 old timers who looked like they'd been coming here for decades talk about politcs around a table deep in the restaurant. Also the service is great, warm friendly family type help here that is eager to tell you about each dish. This is a good stop if you are in need of a BBQ fixing, they have a large menu and lots to pick from. It's your typical good BBQ that you find in the area, but I couldn't find anything that really set it apart from so many that I've tried, it's not a destination BBQ place, but a good place to get your Q' on at a great price. read more

I don't understand. I am relatively new to Waco and most everyone pointed to this place to get the best BBQ in Waco. Been a couple times and not sure why anyone would recommend this place let alone almost everyone I know. Everyone is friendly that's for sure but their personality doesn't make up for trying to call their meat BBQ. Everything is chewy. Brisket was really chewy and had no smokiness at all. Rib was chewy and stuck to the bone way too much. When I was done chewing the rib, there was no bone visible as it was covered in meat still. Sides were nothing memorable. With all the choices in Waco for BBQ (I won't drop any names because all of them are better) there's no reason for me to ever return here. read more

My grandpa told me about this place - he used to eat here when it was on his sales route 30+ years ago (seriously). I am a huge fan of the ultimate bbq sandwich. Lean brisket, provolone, onion rings on a toasted kaiser - yummmmmmmmmm. I usually get it with a side of Okra and a sweet tea. The food is great (and incredibly consistent - same quality every time), and the service is too. Everyone that works there seems to be enjoying themselves to some degree, and they are all extremely friendly. Uncle Dan also makes a surprise appearance every now and again. read more

Oh my gosh this place is delicious. I finished ALL of my food, at the expense of feeling a little nauseous. Chopped brisket. Fried okra. Baked beans. Yes. As soon as you walk in, you are greeted with a giant 10-foot American flag (wrong country, in my opinion-- I live in Texas, thanks). The walls have autographed pictures from Baylor football players of olde and probably some other important Texans I missed as I was sprinting in to stuff myself with meat. The inside reminded me a little of the cafeteria-style restaurant I went to as a kid, and I'm okay with that. The staff was very friendly even though we looked like total out-of-towners staring at the extensive menu for 5 minutes in awe. The only setbacks were a.) my sandwich didn't have enough sauce for my taste (which is easily remedied by requesting more sauce-- no, more than that) and b.) the bathrooms were not super clean, but I'll cut them some slack because I've only visited once. Everyone has off days. Uncle Dan, I'll be back to see you next time I'm around. read more

This place was different and good. I have never had a Texas Tator and really enjoyed it. My husband has been talking about going back to Texas just to take me here and have one. The place had a good variety of side items and the food was very tasty. If I lived near here I would go again. read more

Hotel services recommended this place when we asked for. BBQ place. It is a dive too built out inside an old cafeteria stay restaurant we think. Ordered. 3 meat plate, smoked sausage was ok, ribs were very good, asked for brisket and was offered a premium for extra cost to get trimmed brisket. It was good nothing outstanding. Advertised homemade Mac and cheese but it was dry and terrible. Potato salad ... the yellow one was good. If this is the best, I wonder about Waco. read more

Oh Texas, your supposed to know bbq. This place sucked big time. Brisket, flavorless. Bbq sauce , Sweet Baby Ray sold at Super market's is better. Ribs, meh. Sausage, wife hated and but said it's a notch above a Costco dog. Place was dirty. Glad we were just passing thru. read more

Went to Uncle Dan's and met Uncle Dan himself. Cafeteria style service. I like the sliced beef brisket better than the chopped. The chopped has more edges making it a little dry. Spicy bbq sauce was amazing. Sliced beef was very tender. Chicken was great. Potato salad, mac and cheese, banana pudding, rolls, and sweet tea were all good. Mashed potatoes were salty. read more

Worst place I've ever eaten! Dirty! Ordered babyback ribs but they were spare ribs and had lots of fat! Small portions of brisket that lacked any kind of flavor side dishes were horrible! Kids usually love Mac and cheese but not at this place! Recommend you all find a real barbeque place cuz this was a waste of money!! I should have ask for my money back and I've never done that! read more

Uncle Dans has gone bad.... The last time I was there the Bar-B-Que was tough and the beans tasted like they just came out of the can, so much for home style Texas cooking. I will never eat there again read more

prices went way up, and even though i ordered extra lean sliced bbq, 90% of my meat was fat!!! so basically, i paid $47, for fat, a bit of beans, potato salad, hard bread, nasty onions and pickles, and quite a tiny bit of bbq sauce!!!! read more

Do not eat at Uncle Dans! This place has horrible bbq which is dry and not full of flavor. I did like how many options there were for sides. I had the all you can eat so I was able to try all of the meats. This is not worth the price and probably should close down. read more

What could be the best barbeque in Waco falls short in a few critical areas. Dan's has some of the best sides of any in central Texas. Very good potato salad, wonderful slaw, and good beans. Unfrozen fried potatoes would be a welcome addition. The brisket is usually a bit dry but very lean, the spareribs can be very good but a Dan's you need to specify center cut to avoid the dry ends or fatty big ends. Lots of gristle on top. These are not baby back or St. Louis cuts. The baked potatoes stuffed with various meats are a reliable menu choice and a good value. The sauce is some of the best commercial grocers can supply by the gallon. The salt content is off the chart. DO NOT allow the server to drown your meat order in this stuff. It would be so much better to make a commitment to quality by making your own sauce. Dan's also has some very good hamburgers on the menu. The green chile burger I had recently was excellent. On occasion, I have had catered steaks cooked on-site by Dan's crew. Given the level of competition in Waco, Dan should be offering steaks on his evening menu. This is a good place for a barbeque lunch. With a few changes, this could be a top notch place. read more

This place was host to all the primary McLennan Co. for Obama rallies. It was super accommodating for the party's size and the food was ridiculous. The Texas Tater is by far the benchmark upon which all other BBQ baked potatoes should be judged. On a side note: the building that Uncle Dan's moved into on Lake Air has a few remnants of Texas' sad history. You'll notice that there is a front counter and a back/side to-go counter; and well there's probably a story behind that. read more

Cafeteria style, was slow when we got there, only people in line and we had to repeat our order to the staff 3 times , they wrote it in their computer and then the person on the line asked us again what we wanted. The food sits out in cafeteria containers and they just make your plate. Was looking forward to Texas bbq, the hipped brisket sandwich had no flavor. The ribs were moist but a lot of it was fat and again no flavor. The bbq sauce is a thick ketchup consistency with not a lot of flavor either. The handmade mashed potatoes taste just like someone mashed a potato, no butter or cream added to them for flavoring or creaminess. Whole meal was disappointing. The "roll" with dinner was pretty stale, it's probably been sitting out all day, due to its hardness and texture I didn't even taste it since it was obviously stale. The meat was edible but would not go back. read more

Uncle Dan's BBQ Ribhouse - Ribs - Barbeque Near Me - Waco, Texas

I am personally not a huge fan of this place. I have tried to love it, I really have. There are better bbq joints to be found in Waco....Mama and Papa B's, for one. Just saying. I would describe the food here as decent, but bland. If you drench your plate in bbq sauce, then you won't notice a difference between bland and non-bland but I care about what the meat tastes like and I have not been impressed by the brisket, sausage, potato salad or beans. However, the redeeming quality is the chicken and if you ARE someone who drenches in bbq sauce, their sauce is pretty good. My advice: order some chicken here and some brisket and sausage elsewhere if you're not a fan of the bland. read more

While on a R&R with my wife we wanted to try some local food. Read this place on Yelp and thought we would try it. What a mistake! We got a 3 meat plate with 2 sides. Spare ribs, sliced sausage and sliced brisket. The 2 sides were potato salad and coleslaw. The rib was tough and not much flavor. The brisket was easy to cut but no flavor or smoke taste. The sausage was nothing at all for a bbq place. No flavor or taste with the potato salad, the coleslaw was the only thing that was half ways good. So if you want really good BBQ this isn't the place. I will not recommend this place at all! read more

2 Words: Fantastic BBQ. If you're looking for BBQ, this is a great place to visit. I had the Texas tater with pulled pork. It was smothered in butter, sour cream, cheese, and tangy barbecue sauce. It was FANTASTIC! (See photo). Was also visiting with family and our entire group gave it a thumbs up. read more

Uncle Dan's BBQ Ribhouse - Texas tater with pulled pork. All the fixings with tender pulled pork. - Barbeque Near Me - Waco, Texas

Great food... lots of sides, very fast and very flavorful. love the ambiance. Would definitely go back.

Umm, YES, I rather enjoyed Uncle Dan's. The food was great! Came out here with family and we really enjoyed ourselves. Can't believe I've never had them before :( But yeah, good tasty food, was filling, and yummy enough that I felt sad cuz my cousin seemed to have bigger portions than I did. NOT FAIR. I had the sausage and brisket plate, both very great. Mother and sister had a burger, liked it. Cousins had random plates. Would definitely come back for some good ol' food again! read more

I grew up eating at Uncle Dan's BBQ back when they were still located on Wooded Acres behind Jack-in-the-Box & next door to Tiny Ages Children's Shop.. where most of my clothes were bought. Yes, they have excellent BBQ. I love their white potato salad. I love to look at the memorabillia and the huge American Flag that flew on the 4th of July in Sweden when Uncle Dan himself catered the 4th of July picnic at the embassy. BUT... what many people don't know, or don't read the menu enough to notice... is that UncleDan's has SmokeHouse Burgers. Heart Attack on a plate, but worth every artery clogging bite. Try "The Works" which is a double meat burger with chili & hickory sauce, onions & mounds of shredded cheddar cheese. Oh My Gravy! PS... My recently widowed grandfather has actually requested to eat here more than once in the past couple of months. I think restaurants with more expansive menus confuse him. And he loves their sausage. read more