Dickey’s Barbecue celebrates 71st anniversary with free food, giveaways, and Mr. Dickey’s Cookbook signing

AdrianKimberly, anonymous:

Dickie's is one of the worst places in the entire Dallas area at which to get barbecue! It reminds me of what Hell's version of a BBQ restaurant would look like and feel like. And, no, I am not kidding.

If I was in a real generous mood, I'd say meat is of the cheapest "quality" they can find and the sauce a couple of levels below pedestrian. Unfortunately, it's much worse than even that. This place induces not eager hunger but tears of disappointment and rage for bedraggling the good name of Texas BBQ! Shame, shame on them!

What REALLY frosts my bippy is the insanely poor level of service, the clear lack of any effective management, and the sneering, disaffected attitude of employees. They quite literally could NOT care less about you, your order, your satisfaction level, the taste of the food, the lack of cleanliness of the dining area, the cramped and sanitarily-questionable cafeteria line, or anything else except quitting time.

The dishes and plastic "glassware" is chipped and sometimes even cracked. (Note: They don't care!) The glassware has the drab appearance of having been put through high-powered commercial dishwashers far, far too many times. (Again, they don't care!)

Even the side dishes are terrible, terrible, terrible. Mac & Cheese is nothing but watery "cheese sauce" (imitation Velveta?) which serves to drown over-cooked macaroni. The creamed potatoes were cubes of VERY undercooked spuds gasping for air and more cooking from under an ocean of poorly-seasoned "sauce." The pinto beans are dumped from a store-brand can, warmed and then slopped onto the cafeteria line. And, believe it or not, those were the best choices on the line when I was there.

The one fascinating thing I noticed at the Northwest Highway location is how many super-fat folks were LITERALLY occupying two chairs EACH in the "dining room." I counted eight such gigantic people in the brief time I endured the place recently for lunch. It was hard not to (discreetly) stare at the 800-pound man in the double-wide wheelchair who blocked the double-doors of the place while trying to exit. He even stood up, turned around and FOLDED his chair to make it fit through the WIDE doorway! Then he re-opened it, sat down again and rolled to his nearby van.

I've lived in Dallas since 1984 and I promise you this: I will NEVER be darkening the door of another Dickie's as long as there are Sonny Bryant's, Spring Creek Barbeque, and all the others. Every single other BBQ place in the Dallas area is BETTER than Dickie's.

Sorry this review couldn't be more positive, but they gave me so little to work with... OH, before I forget, the tattooed young lady behind the cash register was actually charming and friendly. The ONLY bright spot in this joint.