Dixie Belle’s Smokehouse

They were very good prevously but must of had new owners since then has gone down hill. Now they have closed.

Place is closed. Dark inside.
Food was ok (²⁄₅ stars) anyhow. Not surprised they closed.

CLOSED. As of 12÷29÷13 their website is gone & phone disconnected.
This was never one of our favorite BBQ places but on a good night you could get a decent sandwich & hushpuppies for a few bucks.
Looks like the change of ownership a couple years ago wasn’t enough to satisfy the locals though, the place is closed up tight.

I have eaten here a few times. My mom never liked it but I found it to be OK at best. The last time I went my BBQ plate seemed it had been sitting around for 24 hours and warmed up in the microwave. My BBQ, fries, and cole slaw were all the same temperature. It tasted bad. Basically no flavor but maybe they have a can of smoke they spray on it. I was sick for 24 hours afterwards and had to postpone a trip for one day. I hope no visitors ever eat here and think that it is NC BBQ. I never intend to eat here again.

Nothing to write home about
First of all, I really appreciate the small, independent guy making a go of it and can only imagine what it takes to keep afloat. Those sentiments aside, I’ve had better, both from independent spots, and chains. Had their ribs and pork recently and found the ribs to be tough, fatty, and not enough meat, with a sauce that was, ehh, just okay. The pulled pork, just nothing that «wowed» me about it. Came plain, and I was less than impressed with the all of two sauces they had on the table. The hush puppies and fries were good.

Yeah, mediocre at best. Stopped in for lunch. Service friendly and fairly fast. Our plates were served on plastic plates, drinks in plastic cups, giving an at-​home feel.
We had:
PULLED PORK — a little dry, no sauce, but great smoked flavor. Their vinegar-​based sauce was very bland. Tomato-​based sauce tasted pretty generic. The meat did the job, though, as we were craving pulled pork.
FRIES — just the right texture and seasoning for my taste. Daughter thought was too salty.
CREAMY SLAW — heavy on the mayonaisse, but it’s supposed to be creamy, right? Flavor ok. Could certainly use more umph though.
RIBS — not too bad. Moist and tender. Seasoning and smokiness came out fine.
BRISKET — definitely agree with the other negative reviews. Bland and dry.
POTATO SALAD — at first, I enjoyed the unique, tangy flavor. However, after what happened after lunch, I’m wondering if the tanginess was unintended :-/​
COLLARD GREENS — bland, bland, bland. Had to add a bunch of vinegar to salvage them.
HUSH PUPPIES — flavor ok, good texture and consistency.
I left feeling like the place wasn’t too bad. But about 20 mins later, started feeling crampy and gassy, followed by the runs. NO BUENO! My daughter was ok. I immediately suspected either the brisket or the potato salad since she didn’t have either of those. After seeing all the mixed reviews of this place and watching a fair share of «Restaurant Impossible,» I would strongly advise watching out for any unusual flavor profiles if you decide to visit.

I couldn’t wait to finish my dinner — so I could jump on Unilocal and write this review while the terribleness was fresh in my mind. Here’s what my husband and I ordered tonight:
Beef brisket — the meat itself was somehow the consistency and texture of fat. It was like a slice of meat-​fat-​loaf. Flavorless. Lukewarm.
Loaded potato salad — not loaded with anything but mayonnaise. Also flavorless except for the salt I liberally applied. Also lukewarm, which was disturbing given the quantity of mayo. Not sure if it started out cold and warmed up, or hot and cooled off.
Green bean casserole — not really a casserole, was just (canned?) green beans with some French’s onions sprinkled in. Again, flavored with my liberal application of salt and pepper. And again, lukewarm.
Texas toast — this was really just a couple slices of thin, cheap white bread, buttered and griddled.
I ordered the one meat plate for $ 8; my husband ordered the three meat plate for $ 12. Apparently the additional cost is just to have a variety of meat because the total quantity appeared the same as my single-​meat plate.
We will never eat at Dixie Belle’s again.

Good price. However the hushpuppies had a metallic taste. The sweet potato fries were ok. The barbecue was dry, and I didn’t care for the sauce. The tomato based sauce was the best option. The sandwich was big, though. If I go again, I’ll try the brisket or other items.

Was there last week and I am going back again. We tried the chicken, brisket and ribs.
All excellent. Especially the brisket. Really tender. And can’t beat the price. Wish it wasn’t so far from Raleigh.

Its open now, but should close.

The brisket — tasted rancid. Like it was several days old, sitting out. Vinegary and hardly edible.
The macaroni and cheese had ZERO flavor to it, not even salt. Horrible. Even boxed Kraft dinner tastes better than this, and that’s saying something. The potato salad and mashed potatoes and gravy were the only two things that I enjoyed because they at least had some flavor to them without tasting rotten.
I will say that the hush puppies are good and the fried chicken is okay. But that doesn’t really make up for it.

Revolting. Don’t waste your time or money. This business has changed owners and it is awful now. Dixie Bell use to be my favorite, but we ate there tonight and will never go back. It’s been on a steady decline and tonight was the WORST! Huge hunks of fat in the pulled pork that was sitting in probably an inch of grease in the bottom of the container. The brisket tasted like it was marinated in vinegar and then rinsed with water… flavorless with a vinegar after taste. I hope we don’t all get sick. The pork and beans were bland and more juice than anything else. The coleslaw use to be amazing! Not anymore, absolutely inedible.

I tried out Dixie Belle’s because I figured for our family, we’d each have something we could find that we’d like there. I was in the mood for ribs, my husband just wants plain ol’ meat (he’s still on that Keto diet), and my son likes hot dogs. It’s a bit difficult to see exactly what’s available at Dixie Belle’s, as the menus are a bit scattered all around the front. We were done ordering before I noticed the kid’s menu taped to the counter, and changed my son’s order of a hot dog to a corn dog.
I ordered a ¹⁄₃ rack of ribs, with coleslaw and cinnamon apples on the side (it also comes with hush puppies or toast), my son got the hot dog with sweet potato fries (which also comes with hush puppies), but he changed it to a corn dog at the last second, and my husband got a ½ pound of shredded BBQ pork. It all came out to only $ 20, including drinks, and I wasn’t sure whether or not to tip since it wasn’t a traditional waiter type service. I tipped $ 3 just to be on the safe side. We were given a number, got our drinks and utensils, and picked out a table.
The wait wasn’t too long. We got our food in little plastic baskets with a wax paper liner. The meat came in a little Styrofoam cup. My husband spread his BBQ pork out on a paper plate, used some of the vinegar BBQ sauce on it, and he said it was pretty good. Not as good as The Pig or The Pit, but for $ 5 it was decent.
My ribs were pretty tough to eat with plastic utensils. I ended up just using my hands. It was a bit dried out, and pretty fatty and gristly, so I was wishing I had ordered the shredded pork my husband got. The coleslaw and hush puppies were better though. I also split the cinnamon apples with my son, as they made for a good dessert.
My son didn’t like his corn dog much, but he ate nearly all his sweet potato fries and hush puppies. Normally he doesn’t eat any food from restaurants, so it was an improvement for him.
I usually prefer table service restaurants, and I know the Pig and Pit are a lot better. But this place is close, so I think if I get a craving for some shredded pork takeout, I’d be willing to come back again and pick some up.

This place is very different from the Dixie Belle’s I visited a number of years ago — new location (relatively new strip shopping center, not generally a good sign for BBQ), new owners (always potentially problematical), somewhat different menu (see previous), and yet the service is still somewhat unfocused — the young lady had to be told by the kitchen staff that our order was up, and had been for a while.
This is a place that offers a variety of menu items, smoked meats & otherwise — often this is a challenge difficult to pull off at a high level of quality. They have Pork BBQ, Ribs, Brisket, Chicken, a variety of «Signature Sandwiches» including brisket, chicken & turkey, and they have burgers and hot dogs.
The Pork BBQ is pulled, not chopped, and comes unsauced from the kitchen, and is thus somewhat dry — sauce is definitely needed. They have 3 made in house sauces — NC Eastern, NC Western (tomato is present), and a SC Mustard based sauce. The Eastern NC is a very mild version.
The pork is not bad, once sauced, and the sandwich size is huge — and you can get it on a bun, or on Texas Toast (why someone would want it on TT is beyond me). They only sell their sandwiches with a side (you get a few hushpuppies, as well), at an increased price — $ 4.99 here. I don’t care for this practice — I would rather forego the side for a lesser price — or at least let the option be mine. And I don’t need the hushpuppies (too sweet for my taste) with a sandwich, I already have bread. Our side was FF, and they were only so-​so.
The Chili Dog here is pretty good, and with the mandatory side, the price is $ 2.99. we chose Onion Rings here, and these also were just so-​so. All in all, this is not bad food, it is just not typically NC BBQ — it will appeal to some more than others — those into quantity will approve, those into quality, not so much.

Nothing spectacular, but not horrible either.
The pulled pork had good flavor and was not fatty, but the mac & cheese was mushy and horrible. The cole slaw was finely chopped which is how I prefer it so bonus point there.

Dixie Belles Smokehouse is lackadaisical at best. The food is on the brink of being something amazing but sadly it just doesn’t quite have the «oomph» that it needs. The food here is overshadowed by other BBQ places in the area. Firstly, I tried the BBQ, Fried Chicken, and Brunswick Stew. The BBQ was decent and worth going back to get again. The Fried Chicken was just plain and the Brunswick Stew was more like a vegetable beef soup than a stew. As stated earlier, the food is lacking the zest it needs to stand out from the crowd. The fact that the business is positioned right near a gas station doesn’t help its appeal either… no joke, the front door opens to the wonderful view of gas pumps about thirty feet straight out. Dixie Belles is about par for its prices compared to its competitors as well.
I may return to Dixie Belles in the future, but it will be way into the future.

This place is not good. It’s one of those few places where I leave thinking, «I never want to come back here.»
The checkout girls seem really down. The wait for the food was long even though there were only a few people there. The food was not yummy. We had ribs and beef brisket. Both were really dry. We also had the BBQ pork. It was blah. Next time we want BBQ, we’re going to Dickey’s.

I was so sad when they closed, since I became addicted to their Beef Brisket. They recently changed owners and reopened. Luckily the food did not change! I have to agree with Karen S. and Melodie S. the «Beef Brisket Sandwich» is the best! I could not give them a 5 star rating just for the sandwich, since I have tried their ribs and beef brisket meal and found it to be too dry and tasteless and stingy for the price. So I’ve gone back to ordering their Beef Brisket on Texas Toast. I really should try something else on the menu, but I have loved this from the first time I tried it and I can’t order anything else! They have a special if you order between 3 and 5 pm which includes a sandwich, side, hushpuppies and drink.
The beef brisket is slow roasted and piled on in slices, the meat is about a ¼ inch thick and lightly basted and charred with the red sweet bbq sauce. The beef has just the right amount of fat and is so soft and tender and tucked between 2 slices of toast. It is the best ever! I love this sandwich!!! I have not tried their other food since they changed ownership. I used to order their chopped pork bbq, and fried chicken family packs for gatherings. A little more expensive than Smithfields, and so much better!
oh cool, like the new descriptions!

I recently moved away from NC, and I decided to make my last barbeque experience as a North Carolinian a DIxie Belle’s experience. I’ve had their food many times. I love everything that they make. It’s all delicious — except for one thing.
The banana pudding tastes like Jello pudding. It doesn’t taste like real homemade pudding. It’s got to be just Jello pudding substituted for real pudding, and it ruined my banana pudding experience. Sorry, guys. Everything else you do is great, but stop using Jello in your banana pudding!

Dixie Bells is located in an unlikely location but has all the std BBQ fare. In my only venture here, I tried the big Dixie sandwich– advertised as your choice of meat on texas toast or bun with fries, slaw, tomato, and one side. What the chalkboard menu said wasn’t really what I got. Turns out there’s no tomato and no fries; just the side and slaw. On the plus side, it does come with hush puppies. I didn’t try them though, there was really too much of the main course. In this instance, having the menu not match the food served worked out pretty well.
The meat was tender and fell apart the minute I put a fork to it or picked it up. The sauces were the standard in any BBQ place — the NC, the smokey and the spicy. The sweet potato fries were cooked perfectly. They were served hot and without any added sugar sprinkled on top. Perfect.
From reading other reviews of Dixie Bells when they were at a nearby location, it seems the brisket is the best. Next time I’m in the neighborhood I may have to give that a try.