Chester’s Barbecue

Beloved, ten year veteran BBQ joint opens a second location and nails it! Get: burnt ends, pulled pork, collard greens, baked beans, beans and rice, sandwiches. Skip: Mac and cheese, cornbread.
Burnt ends are so decadent. Smokey flavor that enhances the meat without overwhelming it. The texture was simultaniously «burnt end chewy» but still super moist with lovely carmelized fatty bits. Sandwich comes on unusually wonderful thick white bread. I’m normally not a fan, but this sliced white bread did a rare thing. It exposed me to a delicious version of a food I had completely written off.
Back To the meat, because, well, MEAT!!! Light on the sauce, which was brilliant since it made the flavor of the meat shine, not masked. There is a sign that says «it’s not the sauce, it’s what you put the sauce on.» Or… Something close to that. So true.
Sides: Collard greens had a generous amount of pork and a nice vinegary flavor. Baked beans were spiced nicely and much less sweet than I usually expect. Cornbread was much less sweet than most, but, for ME still too sweet. Did I eat it? Yes! Would I eat it again as part of the combos? Yes. Would I go out of my way to order it? Nope.
We had a tasty down to earth Valentines dinner. Byob, counter service, no pretense! Perfection.
PS: looks like a few bad reviews come from people with bad taste. Tiffany and Barney’s get 5* but not true, earthy unpretentious fare? That shows a lack of real taste.

Wildly overpriced for mediocre food. NC pulled pork was mushy slop with no flavor. Tastes like they bbq’ed meat with no spices. Brisket was OK but nothing special. Cornbread was dry and tasted more like some sort of pound cake. Would try again if it didn’t cost $ 19.00 for 2 meat, 1 side dinner. Threw NC pork and cornbread in the trash, uneatable.

Epic disaster. Like a Bruce Willis movie called «Eat Poorly, Pay a Fortune» I’m not going to go into the location (a mistake) the décor (fantastic, garage quality fluorescent lighting) at all. It’s a tough location and everyone knows that. If you are in a bad location or part of town your business will have to live, thrive and survive on the quality of the food.
Chester’s is DOA. Mushy, ridiculously priced, over cooked slop. The ribs — unseasoned, dry as an Arizona terrarium. The burnt ends — burnt (to a crisp) and slathered in sauce that seemed to be mostly made of ketchup and watery hot sauce. The un-​burned parts were fatty. The brisket — overcooked to the point of mush. Every time I put my fork into a piece it disintegrated. This too was covered in an awful «sauce» In my experience if y’all are saucing everything y’all are HIDING something. The cornbread was dry (sense a theme here?), the collard greens were unremarkable and the highlight of the meal — the beans were ok — and that is a supreme compliment at this price point.
The whole family left their meals unfinished and we walked out into the cold January night hungry and with a significantly lighter wallet. I’m guessing that by spring this place will be long gone. Wanted to like it. That did not happen.

A few people mentioned that Clinton won’t be able to support a restaurant like Chester’s…this is untrue. For years Aqua has been busy, the Upper Deck has been busy, Bill’s Seafood has been busy, and that is just to name three… not to mention several others. The reason Chester’s isn’t going to make it in Clinton is simply, THE FOOD.
My family went here tonight hoping for some delicious BBQ. I got the burnt ends and ribs with sweet potatoes and cinnamon apples on the side. The ribs were all dried out, and the sweet potatoes tasted like they had added a bunch of extra brown sugar — they were way too sweet. The burnt ends were buried in sauce and an even mix of really fatty or dried up/​beef jerky-​ish.
My husband got the brisket, burnt ends and ribs. The brisket and burnt ends were over sauced (probably to hide the overcooked mess underneath). He abandoned his collard greens and threw away 2/​3rds of his beans and all of his ribs.
My 6’2″, 17-​year old son, (aka «constantly starving/​must have a hollow leg») got a full rack of baby back ribs which he REFUSED TO EAT or even take home for later, because (he said) they weren’t juicy, and the sauce was «nasty».
I guess this will teach us 1. not to eat BBQ out north of Memphis; 2. just go to the restaurant depot, buy ribs and dry rub and make them here at home; and 3. stop buying awful BBQ and lackluster sides.
We were so disappointed. We paid close to $ 90 with the tip and left most of it behind to be thrown away. I will be surprised if this makes it through the spring.

Clinton location. We love barbecue, so I am not sure why it took us so long to get to Chesters. We met Chester and his brother our first evening there. They we so helpful, in walking us through the menu and even sent out a «taste» of the Carolina pork that we had asked about. My husband had the burnt ends and I had the brisket, both were excellent!!! we went back a few days later for lunch, hoping for a burnt end sandwich, but they were out, due to large preorders, however they managed to scrape up a few pieces to add to my brisket sandwich – very thoughtful and much appreciated. This place has fabulous food if you are into barbecue. We are very much looking forward to another wonderful meal at Chesters.

Had the brisket it was awesome! The place is also really cozy and welcoming will return!

Same great food as Groton; some of the best brisket and collards and always consistent.

Real Bbq and real good. Had the burnt end sandwich– amazing. Chili is very good a smokey baked bean style. The sweet tea maybe a little too sweet. Overall very good.

Delicious bbq-​fall off the bone ribs and chicken. Super friendly owner and staff and reasonable prices. I stopped here after the outlets and will definitely be coming back!

Had lunch there. The brisket and hot sausage was very good. Baked beans and coleslaw was excellent. Will definitely return.

Where do I begin. First I will say I grew up down south. I KNOW good BBQ. I know it is a labor of love and doesn’t come from frozen pre-​made product. I live in Clinton and for some unknown reason never tried this restaurant until it was suggested to my husband and I when we were eating out one night.
OMG– what an AH-​MAZE-​INGly unexpected treat! Literally a culinary adventure! The menu is expansive but don’t let that intimidate you. Each one of the selections has been meticulously created. The Carolina style pulled pork was unbelievable. I have eaten at 5 Star restaurants in Nashville– as recent as the summer Kayne Prime, and I thought that that pulled pork was amazing this pulled pork, hands down, rival that! The ribs– the baby backs were fabulous. Meat fell off, the dry rub was delicious and the variety of sauces to chose from only complimented the dish (didn’t thing that was possible). The ½ chicken was juicy, skin was crisp and mouth watering.
The corn bread?! Omg — meal in itself light, moist and just fantastic. I LOVED the cole slaw! Cold, crisp delicious!
I couldn’t tell the manager how much I enjoyed the meal because I was emotional and tearing up! Literally! Because the food was so good and it reminded me of my home down south and eating with my dad. It literally brought me back! Thank you for a masterful and unexpected evening! Can’t wait to come back! There is defiantly passion in the cooking. It shows!

I was looking for a place to eat lunch while in Clinton and saw all of the great reviews for Chester’s. I was not disappointed at all. The owner was very friendly and helped me decide what to get. I had the brisket and it was delicious! I will definitely return here the next time that I’m in the area and would recommend it to everyone else. Great food, great service, and a very nice and clean restaurant!

Stopped in on the way back from Mystic. Was told to try the brisket by a lovely patron near the counter. 5 minutes later I demanded that my boyfriend inquire about buying it by the pound so we could bring more home. It was that insanely good. Like fall apart in your mouth, eyes closed, level good. Plus lunch for 2 people (beef ribs and brisket sandwich) was really well priced. Everything was. You get a ton of amazing food for a great price with friendly staff. Honestly it would be worth the hour + drive to go back just for more brisket.

Exceptional barbque. Very happy with the food and the atmosphere. Very accommodating to little ones!

Great food, fun atmosphere. Need to get the menu posted online somewhere (perhaps here). Couple suggestions :
— do something with your corn &a green beans. Feel as though they are only boiled in butter, which is good, but some extra umph could go a long way. There were several good BBQ joints in Texas (where I’m from), one had this Jalapeño corn, which consisted of cream cheese, milk, corn, diced jalapeños and some seasoning (chili powder works great). They also had green beans, which were boiled with red potatoes and bacon pieces. Like I said, yours are good, but I think they could be better.
Keep up the good work!!!

Not bad. .but not great. The ribs where over cooked. The brisket was very good, but a tad dry. The chicken was tasty. this was an average bbq… but above average since there are few good bbq places in the New England. The restaurant was clean.. nice bathroom, and the staff was very friendly. Worth a try.

This place just opened up recently. I’m a bit puzzled why they decided to set up shop here, since it’s right next to the Meat Hut across the street in Clinton. There is also a BBQ food truck open nearby in Madison as well, so they’re going to have a LOT of competition during summer.
That said, this place has really good Burnt Ends and tasty Brisket. I like the Ribs better at the place across the street, though, since they use a really good spice rub. It’s also a pretty large restaurant by downtown Clinton standards, with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.
I’m hoping that these guys stick around, so I can feed my BBQ craving in the middle of Winter!

You’ve got to try this new place!
Fantastic barbecue has come to Clinton. Stopped by for lunch today and was thrilled with the quality of the food and the flavors that were out of this world. If you like good barbecue, do yourself a favor and give this place a try. Nice friendly staff. Very clean.
Plenty of seating inside and a nice patio for outside dining.
The owner Chet introduced himself to me today and seemed like a great guy who really wants his customers to be happy with their food. You can see he has a real passion for good BBQ.
After my lunch today, I will be going back soon!
Give them a chance and see for yourself.

Just ate for the first time at the new place in town called Chester’s. This is exactly what downtown Clinton needs, this place is east to get to, clean, staff was friendly, hopefully all the makings of a successful establishment.
The food: It was great, I had the Rib Sandwich with onions, Mac & Cheese and Soda, came out to 11 bucks, I tried two of the three BBQ sauces, both excellent. Very hopeful this place does well, they have GREAT hours for Clinton, which traditionally gets very quiet at night.

Two men enter.
One man leave.
That was the saying in the movie Mad Max 3 Beyond Thunderdome, and now we’re about to see that mantra played out in the town of Clinton. For the past couple years the Meat Hut served pulled pork and brisket sandwiches from their tiny shack at the town’s most busy intersection. Now Chesters BBQ, a much bigger player with a tried and true history, comes to town. My guess is Clinton isn’t big enough to have two BBQ joints co-​exist, particularly right across the street from one another. They truly are a stone’s throw from each other.
So who will stay and who will leave? I don’t know, but Chester’s has a lot going for it.
First, they’re a fully complete BBQ joint with about 6 different meats, 3 different sauces, authentic southern sides (yup they have collard greens), and every table has a roll of towel paper sitting on it. Oh, and I can’t forget about the paper wrapper with elastic band around every sandwich. That’s a very southern thing.
Secondly, their hours are terrific because they’re open late. Granted they just opened recently and are probably testing the waters, but today they were open until 9:00 PM.
Thirdly, the interior of this place was done right. You can tell it was newly renovated but it has a nice rustic charm to it. It’s big, airy, open, and they have plenty of tables.
Some of the items on the menu seem pricey but, just like their Groton location, I feel their best bang for your buck meal is the «sandwich combo». You receive one plump meaty sandwich (either brisket, pulled pork, burnt ends, etc.), one choice of side, and one fountain drink for $ 10.25.
The only thing it doesn’t have going for it is a big customer base to pull from. What I mean is the town of Clinton might not have enough people to keep this place in business. The town is a family focused town and gets very quiet at night.
Time will tell how this business plays out, but for now, I’m a fan and I got to say Chesters packs a serious punch inside the Thunderdome.