This was so good we want to move to Buttonwillow. I mean even side salads delicious. We shared a rack of ribs and still had to take half home. Coming back tomorrow for the Plowboy and the cobbler read more

Met up with my dad for breakfast and we loved this place. Great coffee. I had the steak and eggs. He had the western omelet. Delicious. The portion were rights on. I have to go back and try their lunch and dinner. read more

Traveling through the area did not see very many options decided to eat here the service was excellent the food is really good got to love it when you find a good place to eat when you're traveling on the road. read more

Food poisoning. The waitress took a gamble by serving us the chocolate silk pie with whipped cream, and by midnight I threw up everything I ate for dinner. Its kind of unfortunate because everyone else seems to enjoy the food. Their ribs looked good. I got the Cali chicken Burger which I don't recommend because it tasted like the frozen chicken I microwave for myself at home. I say you can come here for safely-cooked, large portioned meals, but be careful with potentially spoiled food. read more

Real value for money. The quality is high, the prices are low, what else is there to say?

This is the one and only place worth going and eating in Buttonwillow. We enjoy the food and the atmosphere.

Friendly, clean and unbelievably good BBQ. Not the fastest service in the world, but man o man WORTH THE WAIT. Excellent children's menu, my daughter had her first ribs here today. If you are looking for good homemade food on the road, this is the place to stop. read more

Yummy. Had the BBQ pork and the BBQ tri tip hot sandwiches. Both excellent. Great, friendly service and clean. Obvious pride taken with food prep. Huge serving sizes. Nice stop right off the 5 if you're looking for a sit down restaurant alternative to fast food. read more

I really enjoyed this restaurant. I was coming back up to NorCal with my parents from UCLA and, as anyone who makes this drive frequently knows, there are some chain restaurants, mostly fast food, and essentially nothing with any character and good food that is also reasonable. I took a chance on this restaurant and it will be a standard when we go back and forth now. I got the country fried steak with mashed potatoes and baked beans (which admittedly needed seasoning but were good), and it was delicious. My mom raved about her pork loin chops, and whatever it was my Dad got he really enjoyed too. The family that owns it is very very sweet and attentive, and just overall it was a very good experience. read more

The perfect stop between Blythe and San Jose! Really good homemade food which reminds of the Midwest stops. We had a Hot Roast Beef and a Hot Turkey Sandwich which included bacon tomato green beans and a salad. Everything was from scratch with loads of flavor, served by a friendly staff! We will be back! read more

The only reason I didn't give this place 5 stars is lets face it, their service is not the greatest, however it is adequate. The food however is fantastic. I've eaten here 3 times and intend to go back. We originally ate here because of the signs for the Indian restaurant on the freeway, but it has closed. Not wanting fast food we gave them a chance and pleased that we did. The ribs are amazing, and the brisket was perfect. These people came up with a winning formula and care about the food they serve and it shows. If you ever find yourself anywhere near this place, stop and EAT, you will be happy you did. I'm picky when it comes to food and this place rocks. In addition their prices are more than fair for what you get in return. read more

We stopped here for lunch two days ago. We were on our way to Cambria CA to attend a wedding on Saturday. Seeing a billboard ad along northbound I-5, my interest was peaked. Exiting the freeway at off ramp 257, the restaurant was easy to find. The parking lot was fairly empty but when we entered, the place was a beehive of activity. The menus available included breakfast through dinner. We chose to imbibe in anything BBQ and we're not disappointed!! My wife had a shredded pork sandwich and I had a hogue roll filled with beef, avocado, sliced red onion and shredded lettuce with homemade BBQ sauce on the side. Both sandwiches were marvelous! We were impressed and will certainly stop there again!! read more

We were hesitant to stop. We decided to after all and the four of us were very happy we did. It was delicious BBQ . Everyone who drives on I 5 should stop!!! DELICIOUS !!!!! Great service. Thank u read more

Excellent roadside diner. Our party had bbq chicken, salad, veggie burger, sweet potato fries. All excellent. Fries best ever had.

Not good! Service is awful! Do not get the baby back ribs! They are really spareribs passed off as baby backs! Very fatty and not meaty at all! I cannot believe people rated these guys 3 and 4 stars! You would be better off going to Taco Bell or Carl's Jr. read more

Very solid food, good selection, great service, and a good value. Have stopped here twice and enjoyed a number of sandwiches, burgers, etc. The pulled pork sandwich is our favorite so far and the cobblers and pies are good for dessert. read more

Best plow boy sandwich I have ever tried. The BBQ sauce was so good I had to take one home. The server was very friendly and on top of service. We were seated as soon as we walked in. A+++ in my book. read more

Very friendly!! Fast service! Very clean, set up like a chain restaraunt as far as decor! Best place in buttonwillow to eat! Must stop here!

I stopped to get fuel at the shell and couldn't help but smell the BBQ pit wafting in from the east. I was about ready to grab lunch anyway and when I noticed all the muddy and dusty pickup trucks I knew this was going to be a good idea. We were greeted by the very friendly staff that offered their suggestions before we settled on the shredded pork sandwich and tri tip sandwich. Our food was brought out after about 15 minuets and all I can say is I will be back! I couldnt help but notice that most of the people there were on first name basis with the staff, lots of locals means good food. Best sauce I have had in a long time! read more

The staff was friendly and welcomed us. We were seated right away. My husband and I both had salads. We had half a salad and they were the size of a large dinner salad. Large glasses of ice tea. It was a good choice versus the chain restaurants in the same area. read more

I am going to agree with the other reviews regarding mismatch between price and amount of food. I enjoyed the tri tip salad where the tri tip was moist and tender but it came with two pieces of torn lettuce, some banana peppers, seven slices of olives, six slivers of carrots...okay that is pretty dramatic and not totally truthful because I didn't really count it! For 10.99, I would expect some more lettuce to make it less dinner salad sized and more of a meal. I wonder if locals get bigger portions because there was lots of food on other peoples tables! Just okay! read more

As many trips as I have taken up and down the 5 freeway, I have never stopped at Buttonwillow. Willow Ranch was recommended by my boss as having the best BBQ. He was so totally right. This is a family owned place that was pretty crowded in the middle of the day on a Friday. The sides were fine - just like average side dishes (beans, salad, etc) but the meat was outstanding. We ordered a combo plate and were able to pick 3 things. We chose the chicken, brisket and the "deep pit" beef. They were all good but that BBQ brisket was some of the best meat I have ever eaten. Their homemade BBQ sauce is out of this world. We bought some bottles to take with us. read more

My husband and I stopped here for lunch, while on a road trip, trying to avoid fast food, and we both feel we hit the jackpot! We were greeted and seated promptly and with a smile. My husband ordered the pulled pork sandwich and a strawberry lemonade, I had a pit salad with chicken and water to drink. We were both licking the plate! The meats, specifically, were fantastic, and the BBQ sauce just yummy! Service was terrific! We'll be back when on this route again! read more

What a hidden gem. Guy that served us was hot and offered a great service. Had the ribeye steak with baked potato, soup, corn and chili.. Steak was charred and cooked to perfection, unbelievable. I would rate service 5, food quality 4.5 because of my hubby's chicken wings who were a bit dry and overall experience 5. Will come back! read more

One of the worst dining experiences ever. OKay, when I read reviews that start like that I make one of two basic assumptions... One - This person is snooty, its BBQ for crying out loud, OR two- This person is probably difficult to please because with all of these good reviews, it can't be that bad. All I can tell you is what I experienced. I am sure that in another time and place in a galaxy far far away, some other people truly enjoyed eating here. I unfortunately am not among them. Here we go... After 4 hours of driving on the 5 and 4 days of eating every type of junk food that the fast food industry has to offer, the bf and I were pretty excited to stop at a real sit down restaurant and have some delicious meat that didn't come with an allowable amount of rat poop in it. We were even more excited when we saw that the place was PACKED translating to us that this place was GOOD. This was mistake #1! We should have realized that PACKED meant we would be waiting a LOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG time for anything we did still want to get back to LA before the world ends in 2012. LESSON POINT: Don't eat here if you are in a hurry We waited 10 min to be seated (no there was not a line and there were plenty of empty tables), we waited 15 min for someone to come take our drink order, and another 10 to get our drinks. When our drinks were empty, which happened well before our food came out despite the drinks being the size of buckets, we waited another 10 to 15 min for anyone to even notice (don't try flagging anyone down... it will just hurt your feelings when they look right at you and ignore you). All of this, I still probably wouldn't have dinged the place too much. It wasn't their fault that we were in a hurry. But the kicker was the food. We saw our food come up under those heating lamps. The bf got the french dip with fries and I got the 3 beef ribs with mashed potatoes. We could tell which was ours so we decided to time how long it took. Our food sat up on the counter, under the tiniest, least effective heat light bulb produced in the US or Canada (I think its listed in Guinness). It sat there for 26 minutes (that's not an exaggeration, we decided to time it). We watched as the steam slowly vanished from our food. I would have been okay with just going and getting it myself! We also watched as our server walked past our food 9 times and did nothing about it. After 26 mins of "aging" our food was brought to our table with no other mention of whether we needed ketchup (which we did) or more BBQ sauce (which we also would have liked) or whether our food was good. So I would like to give it more stars because I can tell that in a perfect world, the food is actually tasty. But since my ribs, mashed potatoes, corn, and beans were all stone cold (not luke warm, just straight cold), I ended up just eating what I could gut to get by and then taking the rest home to heat up later. The ribs were grisly and very fatty. There was very little meat on them, and the bf's sandwich was flavorless. The fries would have been excellent warm. LESSON POINT: Only order things you want served COLD Another minor offense included getting the wrong drinks which no one ever corrected. Finally we also had to wait for 20 min to pay. You have to go up to the counter and while there were only 2 people in front of us, the nice lady running the counter was likely using her confusion and sloth like pace to make her personal argument for early retirement. LESSON POINT: Bring Cash and leave it on the table So to summarize, this place is possibly tolerable if you are not in a hurry, you order cold food, and you bring cash. In any other circumstances you will most likely walk away, like we did, with an experience you can complain about the whole rest of your way down the 5. read more

Was here about a year ago & ordered their best steak. Big mistake. Poor quality & prep, plus both my son & I got a case of gastroenteritis. I didn't check the health rating. read more

Tri tip was delicious. Soup was home made and tasty. Service was fast and friendly. Not a 5 star restaurant but good road food. I would definayely stop by here again when I pass back thru read more

Hope your staff enjoys those tenders, I sure didn't. Pretty sad that you can't get an order out considering what a ghost town it was when I came in. F- read more

We absolutely love this place.. We often cater willow ranch at family functions and never go wrong with our choice. Food and service is awesome!! read more

stopped here on our road trip to washington state and I was pretty impressed by their BBQ. I ended up sharing their 3 meat plate. can't really go wrong with anything smoked and then smotheedr with sweet bbq sauce. My body was going into food coma. overall great pit stop for any roadtrip. read more

On a road trip, tired of fast food and luckily found this on a Yelp Search for lunch places nearby. Cute decor, very clean, nice size, great customer service (very friendly), clean restrooms and good food. Menu was a good size with options for deli sandwiches, salads and BBQ. For adults, there were both beer and cocktail options. Since I wasn't driving, I had the refreshing Stubborn Mule and was very pleased. Both adults had the Tri-tip Salad which was very good. Child got the Mac n'cheese which is homemade and not out of a box. I wish we had been here for dinner because the tri-tip was so good, I just know I would have loved one of their BBQ dinners. Unfortunately, we had too many snacks in the car and didn't have room for dessert but they had good options on the menu including a daily cobbler. Still bummed that I missed out on the Peach Cobbler. Bottom line, if you're in the area or just driving through, plan on making stop. You'll be happy you did. Thanks again Willow Ranch! read more

Oh yeah, this s a great place for a home cooked meal. Love the salad, they also serve delicious meat dishes. Staff is friendly and food is served quickly to your order. Prices are reasonable, Motels are close by, so stop in and enjoy this fine restaurant. read more

I've hear good things about this place. 1st time here ,took forever to get seated. I asked a waitress if I could place my order she said to "hold on I'll get your waitress ". Took 25 minutes for the "my waitress " to come take my order (been at this place for almost an hour already and have in mind the place was not busy) I order the homemade chili when I got it, it was Cold not warm cold! I asked her to warm it up she wasn't happy about that. I could keep going with this bad experience I had but just so y'all know service was very poor food quality not as great. read more

Willow Ranch is probably the best restaurant in Buttonwillow, which isn't saying much. However, the steaks and BBQ sauce are pretty good, which is what most of the race car drivers at this particular event we attended ordered. The serving staff were all really nice and seemed to know a lot of our guys from years past. This is pretty much the best I can say about the place. The guys drank a lot of beer to help wash all the food down. You have to ignore the overboiled corn-on-the-cob, the cheap iceberg lettuce salad, and the canned green beans; they just come with the territory -- the territory including the funny painting on the back wall of a bunch of cowboys sitting on a fence with their denim-clad bottoms facing you... read more

I feel this place was just decent. I saw the reviews but wanted to give it a try anyways but unfortunately the reviews are accurate. The food wasn't that great. Very small portions and somewhat overpriced and the service wasn't the best. The staff didn't seem happy there :/ even tho I wasn't a fan of the food, it definitely was better than a drive thru place. read more

Great food, fair price, friendly atmosphere. We had the tri tip and the brisket. Both about 13.00. We had the blue cheese salad (with crumbles) great homemade potato salad good chili beens a roll and the brisket was melt in your mouth tender and the tri tip was very flavorful. Its a hidden gem. read more

Not good, but the best you can expect from a bbq place off I-5 in Bakersfield.

Whenever my family road trips to LA from Norcal, we always make sure to stop by Willow Ranch on the drive back - just one little thing to look forward to as we end our mini vacay. We first discovered Willow Ranch driving back on I-5 late one night. We were all starving but really didn't want to stuff our faces with fast food. So instead we pulled off in Buttonwillow, saw a barrage of cop cars at this quaint little barbecue joint, and decided that's where we were going to eat. Always, ALWAYS trust the cops. My sister and I shared the appetizer sampler, which was really just a medley of fried delicious goodness (arguably not any healthier than fast food...) and my dad had ribs, which he said were really good. I honestly have no recollection of how the food was; I just remember being really hungry and really satisfied. But on my most recent LA adventure, my mom and I dropped in again and this time seriously chowed down on some barbecue. We shared the 2 item platter and got pork ribs and brisket. Honestly, I could've just had the brisket alone and been happy. I love Willow Ranch's barbecue sauce. It's sweet and not overly tangy and it's thick but not too sticky. The ribs were really tasty and the brisket was perfectly tender and lusciously fatty. SO GOOD. Did I mention you also get a side (mashed potatoes, fries, or coleslaw), corn on the cob, a cup of chili, and soup or salad all for $19.99? Steal! The only downside to this place is that when you have to leave to make the drive back home you are unbelievably food-coma'd out of your mind. read more

Skip Harris Ranch and hit Willow Ranch. A little more down home but high on grub! Grab the Plow Boy, slaw and potato salad to introduce this joint to your new I5 habit. Been here twice in as many months. Get to Willow Ranch and enjoy food you can enjoy! read more

Definitely the best completion of our road trip experience. The pitstop was precisely in the middle of our LA-SF drive, we arrived hot and tired. The food portions were plentiful and service was friendly. You could tell it is a local's favorite as many ppl dining there knew each other and kept the friendly conversation going. Definitely recommended, we'd make that stop again next time too! read more