This evening I’d like you to come along with us to Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ in Waynesville, NC. Now a lot of you will probably ask, “Where’s Waynesville, NC?” Good question. I’m sure you’ve heard of Maggie Valley. Waynesville is their neighbor to the East just off of Highway 74. And as it turns out, Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ is in a shopping center just off of 74 on Russ Ave. Not too hard to find. They also have a location in Franklin, NC. This review is about the Waynesville location.
The Restaurant and Staff:
Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ has a large dining area with a lot of NASCAR décor. The overhead lights were made from tire rims. It was really cool looking in there. We visited on a Monday evening and figured things would be pretty slow. Wrong. They were jamming. They were also well staffed to handle the crowd. I was impressed with that.
Jerry was our waiter. How lucky can he get? Well this young man was awesome. He was as good a waiter as any we’ve ever had. Jerry was very helpful with the menu and really friendly. He kept up with us to be sure everything was good throughout the whole evening. It was a pleasure to have him as our waiter. Everyone we met working there was very friendly. They all just seemed to enjoy their job and the people they were serving.
Even the other customers were fun. We met 3 ladies who were sitting next to us. We had a blast talking to them. Each of them had their own theories on the best Q. They were from Ayden, NC to the east and one thing they all agreed on was whole hog cooking and Eastern NC Sauce cooked into the pig was king. I must say I like their taste. The ladies talked about Eastern NC spots which they were surprised to hear we had already been to a lot of the places on their list
A couple on our other side was great to talk to also. They were locals. They eat here often and love it. We talked to all of them about other restaurants. The couple told us of more local spots. As I’ve said before, you meet some great people at some of these bbq joints.
Tammy’s Choices at Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ:
Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ.
Sliced Brisket and Smoked Turkey Breast.
Now for the food. Today Tammy ordered a Lunch Combo Platter with Sliced Beef and Smoked Turkey Breast, sliced also. Her sides were Slaw and Sweet Potatoes. The sweet potatoes were cooked in some type of sauce with maybe some butter and/or honey. I didn’t try them but Tammy loved them. The slaw was good. Had a little vinegar taste and would be excellent with pork also.
The Beef was wonderful. Great smoke ring and smoke flavor, sliced thin. It had a great flavor. The Smoked Turkey Breast was sliced thin also. I’d have to admit that it was really good also. No I’m not being converted to smoked birds but this one at Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ deserves credit.
And My Choices
Brunswick Stew Starter.
I started out with some Brunswick Stew which was wonderful. It was loaded with chicken, beef and pork with lots of veggies. The stew was nice and thick. It also had a delicious broth which had a little pepper bite. I loved it.
For dinner I chose the 1/2 Rack of Baby Back Ribs and 1/4 Pound of Pulled Pork Platter. I had Fried Okra and Baked Beans for sides. The okra was very good, fried up perfectly. It was a good choice to go with my meal. The baked beans were killer. Cooked in a sweet bbq sauce and just had a great taste.
Pulled Pork and Ribs with Baked Beans and Okra.
The ribs were awesome. Great smoke flavor, basted with a sweet bbq sauce and just fall off the bone tender. Most readers know that I prefer ribs without sauce but these were great. Once I started on them there was no stopping till I reached the last bone. And that half rack sure seemed like a whole rack. Lots of ribs make me one happy camper. The pork had an excellent smoke flavor, mild smoke, a nice smoke ring and some bark. It was moist and delicious. Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ did an excellent job on all of our food.
Final Thoughts:
Our stop today at Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ was a wonderful stop for Patrick’s BBQ Trail. We met some great people dining with us and several super employees. The food was excellent, no complaints at all and the décor was fun. All this wrapped into a clean well run restaurant, how can it be bad? I really love it when Tammy and I find a place like this one. It’s a larger restaurant which means they have to keep up with higher demands and tonight they came through with flying colors. So glad we stopped in.
Now For Your Thoughts:
Well now it’s your turn to tell us about your visit to Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ. Have you stopped in to check them out? How did you like it? Did your visit go as well as ours? Drop some comments off and I’ll post them with this review.
What do you regulars think?
How about you regulars out there? As I said, the place was jamming on a Monday evening. That takes a lot of strong local support. Tell us what keeps bringing you back to Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ. What else on the menu should people try? Now is your chance to show support for your local restaurant by letting all of us know more about them. Get some comments in here so I can post them. Tell everyone about your bbq restaurant.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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You can check out their website at: http://fatbuddiesribsandbbq.com/
You can also find them on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Fat-Buddies-Ribs-And-BBQ-Franklin-Waynesville-NC-138179526194882/
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