Dickey’s has been open for over a year, so it’s about time that I got there to eat.
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is a franchise of a national chain with restaurants in 29 states. Their Danville restaurant is located at 1555 Meadowview Drive, just west of the Danville city limits. It’s in a small strip center that intersects with Berry Hill Rd. I’ve always wondered why they picked a location that was out by itself, but we’ll get to that later. I decided to give the place a try for lunch on Friday, getting there around 12:30 PM. I was quite surprised to see only 5 other people eating there at the lunch hour. I took some time to inspect their menu and it all looked good (as expected).
I picked the beef brisket sandwich and chose the “Fried Onion Tanglers” & “Baked Potato Casserole” as my side items. The beef brisket was served without any BBQ sauce (their two signature sauces are available (heated) at the drink bar). Based on the other BBQ restaurants around here, I was surprised at this method of serving. That being said, it worked out well as I was able to choose what I wanted. The beef brisket was very dry, but that was easily remedied by the choice of BBQ sauces. The side items came in very ample portions and the entire platter was more than I could eat at one serving. The “Baked Potato Casserole” side item had came highly recommended by a former co-worker and she was right. It was mashed potatoes with lots of bacon bits throughout, topped off with shredded cheese and sliced green onions. The “Fried Onion Tanglers” were bits of chopped onions lightly breaded in a slightly-spicy batter then quickly fried.
Let’s get to the ratings…
Service: I got a warm greeting when I got to the counter and felt comfortable taking my time to examine the menu. Bonus points for having two different employees walk around to make sure everything was good. I had a nice conversation with the manager after my meal and she was very nice. Score: 95 (A)
Food: I could easily make a meal off of their side items and they impressed me more than the BBQ sandwich did. That being said, the sandwich was also very good. You were able to clearly take the smokehouse flavor in the meat. I look forward to trying more of their choices. Score: 92 (A)
Atmosphere: There’s plenty of open space to walk around the tables. All of the decorations are the typical type found in franchise restaurants with nothing original to set it out from any other BBQ place, but that’s not a bad thing. The kitchen area was visible to the public and was very clean. Speaking of cleanliness, the rest of the place was also very clean. Two large-screen LCD televisions were good additions to the place. Score: 85 (B)
Intangibles: They leave the TV remote controls out for customers to watch what they want… nice touch. I still have serious doubts about the location of the restaurant because it’s so far away from any other business, but it’s been working for them so far. Pricing is an issue, with my lunch meal approaching the $9 mark. I got my money’s worth out of it because it was enough food for two meals, but the price points are on the higher end of BBQ restaurants in this area. The pricing issues are the main complaint that I’ve heard from others, as well. There’s plenty of parking, but that’s also a by-product of the restaurant being the only business in the strip center. They’ve also got a party room with plenty of seating for large groups and they offer a big catering menu. Finally, they offer an interesting choice of free add-on foods to your meal… whole dill pickles and soft-serve ice cream. Lots of pros and cons in this category, but it’s all worth of a good score. Score: 82 (B)
Overall: Dickey’s is a place that I’d like to go to more, but it’s just hard to choose them over any of the other places around town because of their location. That’s one big reason on why I hadn’t tried it until now. Now that I have eaten there, it’s a place I will want to try again. I have some doubts on whether this restaurant can survive with such limited customer traffic (but that doesn’t affect the rating score at all), but I do plan on eating there more often.
Overall Grade: 89 (B) – SouthsideCentral recommends Dickey’s for a “different kind” of BBQ restaurant and we think it’s worth the drive to go there and have a meal.
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Yep, Plenty of parking. For that price i can see why. Pigs R Us or Checkered Pig here i come.
Kids eat for free on Sunday.
Sounds like a place I would like to try on one of our “feel like taking a ride” nights. Thanks for the tip SC
I have ate there many times and it has always been good. When they first opened they were really busy until Checkered Pig opened up. The location has really hurt the place.
The husband and wife team split up not long after the place opened too.
Does anyone know what happen to Big Daddy’s on North Main?? I have been by several times and a closed sign was on the door. They always had good burgers.
My family went there last month and the food was terrible. My husband and I got BBQ ribs and the meat was tough and just not good. Sorry that we drove that far for a poor meal. They did not have any business to speak of when we went and that should have told us something. On a 1-10 scale they are at the bottom. We will not be going back.
I love BBQ. Went to the location in Lynchburg and was very impressed. Wanted to try the location in Danville thinking it would be closer (not by much). I was very disappointed with the Danville store as (1) the two meat combo (very small portion) that I ordered was room temperature or cooler and the smoked hot links were burned to a crisp. (2)Having spent over 20 years selling Soft Serve Machines, their machine had not been cleaned in some time and they are using a “powdered” soft serve mix (very low quality – but it is included in the price of the meal). Someone could become ill eating this product. As long as mix is cycling through the machine at a good volume, the lack of breaking down the machine and cleaning is less noticeable. The lack of care with their soft serve machine made it worth what they charge – nothing. The soft serve in Lynchburg was fresh and was a very pleasant ending to a good meal. (3) The cost of the meal I received was not a good value. Almost $11 for about 5 oz. of meat, two sides, and a drink. The drink option was not offered but automatically rung up – this I realized after paying and being seated. Very friendly people and the store is clean. I don’t see myself becoming motivated to visit them again and had I visited this location first, there would not have likely been a visit to the Lynchburg location. Most of their short comings as I think about it are most likely due to their lack of volume. The Lynchburg location was packed and the portions more plentiful, warm, and fresh.
I worked there from the day they opened up and was getting 60 hours a week working my buns off. Soon after when business died down, hours were cut down to 40, that was fine…I was promised an asst manager position if I stayed because the owners’ knew people would be leaving for the new BBQ place coming to town. As customers dwindled, so did my hours, sometimes only 4 hours a week!!!! Scott promised, kept saying, just stick with me, just stick with me…Guess who got stuck in the end with children to feed??Me! Glad they shut down, “serves” them right after what they did to us….
Funny read form back then. I went there once for supper. There were two other customers there at about 5:30 PM. That told me they were in trouble. I ordered the brisket, it was dry and the meat itself had no flavor at all. The sauce gives whatever flavor is delivered. Dickey’s is big in Texas, but Texas barbecue does not make it in this part of the world. Give me Eastern North Carolina style (pork) any day. Even Lexington style is better than Texas style. It was a nice effort though.