Danny’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Q

If you plan on eating here, just hit yourself in the head with a hammer and go to McDonald’s for a McRib. You’ll be more satisfied.
The food here was very bad. Only thing decent was the price, cheesy broccoli, and mac & cheese.
My father and I both ordered a plate of brisket and ribs. First thing we noticed was that the meat was wrapped in cellophane before one of the three «pitmasters» cut our Bbq for us. As an experienced pitmaster, I know that that’s something that you just don’t do. There are other products (waxpaper, etc) to wrap meat that is to be served.
The brisket was very bland. They sacrificed flavor for tenderness. Don’t do that. I can see sacrificing tenderness for flavor, but never the other way around. What made it tolerable was the mediocre Bbq sauce available, and the butter lathered toast.
The ribs were by far the worst I have ever had. I’ve had good ribs, and I’ve had bad ribs. The ribs here were flat out HORRIBLE. I could only stomach to eat one bite. As could my father. Had to scarf down all of my mac & cheese just to try to get the terrible taste out of my mouth.
My father did say something to the «pitmaster» who apologized and offered to refund our money. My father refused, and walked out.

I keep forgetting about this place, even though it’s a great classic Texas BBQ restaurant. I came here with my family several times long before we moved to Athens. The eating area is kinda small, if they get really busy. And the restrooms are one-​seaters, meaning that if it’s busy enough, you’ll end up waiting just to wash your hands.
I’m also the only vegetarian (ovo-​lacto) in my family, but there is a veggie plate on the menu. The rest of my family will eat anything offered, & they have a lot of meat BBQ choices.
The veggie plate was great today. It comes with a slice of Texas toast (as do all the platters). They have 2 choices of beans (pinto & sweet), broccoli & cheese, mac & cheese, among a few others on the «heated» side. On the «cool» side, there was cole slaw & potato salad. For dessert, they have cobbler (peach?), chocolate cake, & self-​serve scoop-​able ice cream (classic Neapolitan flavors – vanilla, strawberry, & chocolate).
My «surprise of this visit» was that the broccoli (in the broccoli & cheese dish) had been cooked PERFECTLY – not too overdone that it was limp & rubbery, nor too underdone that it was a workout for my jaw to chew it. I usually get one extreme or the other, but I rarely ever find broccoli that was just awesome, like they were able to cook it here today. Great job on the broccoli today!

Don’t forget to get the icecream it’s part of the meal. Been going since i was to young to remember with mom and dad and now with my wife. it’s a little out of the way but well worth the 45 min drive from our house if you have something to do in the area.

Last weekend I was visiting friends who live near Frankston, Tx. and on my way back to Dallas stopped in at this establishment at random. Since it was after 5:00p.m. and nearing the «dinner hour», I expected that my timing would be great to taste their BBQ at it’s best. With only two cars in the parking lot, I guessed that I was ahead of the «dinner rush» and walked inside.
To the right of the front door is a short little «cafeteria style» serving line with a menu letterboard overhead. I was given a friendly greeting and welcome and eagerly asked what I would like for dinner before I had a chance to even glance over the board ! lol. After a few moments of surprise at how reasonable all the prices seemed, I ordered the two meat combo of brisket and ribs with beans and french fries. Sadly I must report that the french fries were the best part of my meal.
I was given a generous portion of brisket and more ribs than I expected for the modest price of the meal, and I really dislike having to tell you that both were very, very dry tasting, room temperature and tough. After a few bites of both meats, I realized that once again, our two dogs at home would have a «bonus» mixed into their dinner that night. I quickly wrapped the leftovers into a few napkins and stuck them in the deep pocket of my overalls. As I headed for the front door, the young couple behind the counter energetically waved and said «Thank you for coming in, come back and see us and tell your friends about us ! «I smiled and waved back at them, sorry that I knew I would not be back and that I WOULD «tell my friends» — well — at least all of you guys at Unilocal anyway.
I think that economic necessity will dictate that either someone steps in soon and teaches those young folks how to make GOOD BBQ or this establishment will be out of business before too long. Then again, they may have a lot of friends & family in the area to help support this small place and keep it struggling along for awhile. It is a nice, clean, small, little brick building on the main road (highway) through town & should have decent traffic count. Unfortuneately, even the best location in the world can’t overcome bland, tough, chewy & tasteless BBQ !

By far the best BBQ in Athens. Love the brisket sandwich. I think the sauce is similar to dickeys. The best part about this place is that for BBQ it is very cheap.
The owners/​cashier were all very friendly!

Good and not so good at this place. I ordered a full slab of bbq ribs.
Good: a ton of ribs, very meaty.
Needs work: the meat was smoked, but had NO SAUCE ON IT, and was NOT FINISHED ON A GRILL. So, it was like steamed ribs with the wood flavor.
Good: very nice people.
Needs work: clean the place up. Doesn’t give you that spic’n span feel. The side dishes looked a bit, uh, crusty.
Good: good prices and the brisket looked awesome.
Needs work: the barbecue sauce. I know this is subjective, so take it for what it’s worth. It was a) watery and b) vinegary, and c) had a hint of pickle smell. They gave me a lot, about a cup, in a styro container. Fortunately, I had bbq sauce leftover from Applebee’s (I like their sauce, but not their ribs, which I had the nite before).
Bottom line: if I went back, I wouldn’t get ribs, I’d get brisket… but maybe they have options on the sauce. You think?

When I travel around Texas I pick my places to eat by the number of trucks parked out front. Men with ladder racks know their food. And Danny’s parking lot was full’o’trucks at noon.
I liked Danny’s. I really did. The sausage was better than most places in Dallas. I like to think of myself as a sausage snob… not like that gutter head. The chopped brisket was okay, nice and smokey. Of course they smoke meats on site.
And while my potato casserole was a honey brown color, it tasted nice and cheesy. We’re gonna pretend the russet potatoes did that to the color. Mac and cheese was good, but kinda like Kraft premium boxed stuff. The potato salad was not up to par. My pickle was limp. The sauce was good though, thick and sweet. They make that on-​site as well.
That being said, it wasn’t better than Sammy’s in Dallas, which is right by my work and has a line out the door every day. That is the standard to which all BBQ must be held. Danny’s was truly A-​OK. If I find myself in Athens again and in need of BBQ, I’ll go to Danny’s.