Searching for Quality BBQ in East Tennessee

Laurie and I really enjoy BBQ!  We’ve eaten at some great BBQ joints or restaurants in Kansas City, Memphis and a few other spots…most recently Ocean Springs Mississippi.  While traveling for business, I’ve also had some great BBQ in Oklahoma and Texas. 

However, the search for good BBQ in East Tennessee has been an ongoing effort…

This is the second location for Dead End BBQ in the Knoxville area.  It’s a fairly new spot in Maryville Tennessee.

The original location is on a dead end street in Knoxville.  As per their website, “Dead End Barbeque was born at the end of a dead-end street where neighbors gathered to barbeque.  For more than a decade the Dead End Society honed their barbequing skills in the dead end and in professional barbeque competitions where they achieved national recognition.

To paraphrase…”Dead End BBQ restaurants have been created to take you there. To the smells, the sounds, and the homemade tastes of an exceptional American neighborhood barbeque in East Tennessee.”

The Maryville location for Dead End BBQ is large, bright and clean.

We’d eaten at the original location about 4 years ago…and while we weren’t impressed with the food at that time, I hadn’t begun blogging yet so I didn’t note our impressions…good or bad.

The Dead End BBQ team regularly engages in BBQ competitions and they’ve won quite a few awards.  In 2014, as per 2 different polls, Knoxville area residents voted Dead End BBQ as the best BBQ in the area…

Laurie decided to go for the Half Rack St. Louis Cut Rib Plate with French Fries, the Mayors Baked Beans and Corn Bread. ($16.00) 

She wasn’t impressed… The French Fries were OK, the beans were bland and the corn bread muffin was good.  She wasn’t crazy about the BBQ sauce selection and she didn’t think that the ribs were very ‘meaty’.  Also, our personal if not the popular preference is that we like it best when the ribs have to be ‘worked’ a little to get the meat off the bones.  The meat cooked to the point that it was falling off the bone…

I ordered the Beef Rib Tips with the Mayors Baked Beans, Red White and Bleu Slaw and a Jalapeno Corn Muffin. ($16.00)

I know that the price of beef has skyrocketed…but I still have to ask the question…Where’s the beef?!  The meat was OK although I didn’t care for the selection of BBQ sauces, the beans were bland, the muffin was good and in my opinion the coleslaw with bleu cheese was a bad idea altogether…

I will admit that BBQ is a matter of personal preference and Dead End BBQ is definitely popular in the area.  However, in comparison with some of the quality BBQ that we’ve enjoyed over the years, in our opinion, this just didn’t measure up. 

This location for Dead End BBQ is located at 527 West Broadway in Maryville Tennessee.  Phone: 423-773-2969.  The company’s website can be found at www.deadendbbq.com.

Our search continues for a quality BBQ restaurant in East Tennessee…

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave