Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q

Stopped by with coworkers, including one person using a wheelchair, for lunch at 12:30 on a Friday. Parking was hard to find, but they were able to seat us fairly quickly.
Service was a bit slow, but they were very busy. Everyone ordered different things, and it all came about the same time.
I ordered the pulled pork plate with mac & cheese and greens. The pork was good, and the white bbq sauce was a change of pace. I though the greens were excellent, and the mac and cheese was better than average. Over all, I’d come back.

So, I had it fresh and it was quite good, as I suspected. On a different note, I really liked their peanut butter pie.

One of the best bbq experiences ever! The turkey was great, the brisket was amazing, the mac n cheese was excellent and the price was the most reasonable part imaginable… in fact I would have paid more. No sauce needed even though the sauce was very good. Super good food!

«Melts in your mouth» BBQ! Don’t leave without the coconut cream pie!

BBQ pork sandwich from Gibson’s was a little dry, flavor is always good and the sides were excellent (baked beans, green beans and Mac and cheese). Their pies are excellent as well, order ahead to pick up a whole pie.

I definitely see why it is continually rated as one of the best BBQ restaurants in America. Truly. And the fact that it’s just a few miles off the interstate makes it an easy get. And even if you’re not hungry, get a drive-​thru for later.
My one complaint — it’s a small sandwich, in my opinion. But the fact that it’s so cheap, it’s really hard to complain.
The chicken was phenomenal. The white BBQ sauce is crazy good. The mac n’ cheese is ridiculously good (I could eat a gallon of it). The baked beans are freaking excellent. This is odd for me to say, because usually mac n’ cheese and baked beans are pretty basic. But they make their’s in houses, and they crush it.
The sweet tea has the perfect amount of diabeetus.
The coconut pie and the chocolate pie are great.
So that’s two platters, two drinks, and two pieces of pie for $ 27. And it’s all delicious. You can’t beat that anywhere.
This place is so good, I would even tell you that you need to drive out of your way to visit.

It pains me to have to write this review, because Big Bob Gibsons was once among the best BBQ places I’ve experienced. I don’t know if they just got lazy or started to believe their own press, but the last two times I’ve been to this restaurant the food has ranged from poor to mediocre.
The best BBQ restaurants manage their food supply so that the meat doesn’t sit around for too long after it has cooked and rested. I’m pretty sure my meal Thursday night (April 7^th) had been cooked the day before if not earlier, was reheated, and sat around in a warming tray or something similar until I wandered into the restaurant. There is no other explanation for how dry everything was. I got the sampler with St. Louis style ribs and two meats… brisket and pulled pork. The ribs were dry as sawdust and had been WAY overcooked. The brisket was tough and dry, and the pork was just… well…dry. Also very little in the way of real smoke flavor on any of the meats. I used a half bottle of sauce just to make the meal edible.
I find myself in Huntsville on business about once a year, and I have always made the 30 mile trip out to Decatur to visit Big Bob’s. This was the last time.

2.5 stars
The service was friendly and the place was great, but the BBQ was just ok. I hate to say it but it’s true. I had the brisket and ribs plate with potato salad and green beans. The brisket was a tiny bit dry and it took a little more effort than it should have cutting it with a fork, but the rub and smoke were good. Overall I wasn’t crazy about the flavor of the ribs and I got a funky bite on my second bone, so that was it for me. I will say they were cooked perfectly and the meat came off the bone nicely without falling off. The sides were fine. All in all, next time I’m in the area I’ll probably go elsewhere.

When we moved to Alabama, we were told to visit Big Bob Gibson’s. We were not disappointed. Down home BBQ at its best. Everything is very good. The peanut butter pie is a favorite! And the Mac and Cheese is delicious!

I’m not sure if anything that I can say hasn’t already been said before, but I’m going to try. This place is everything I have heard and more. This is by far some of the best Q that I have had the pleasure of eating. I had the St Louis spare ribs and smoked turkey with Mac & Cheese. The ribs were dry rubbed and finished with a light coating of sauce. They had a perfect bite and were very tender. The rub wasn’t to sweet with just a hint of heat. As for the turkey, it was some of the best smoked turkey I have had. It was tender and moist with a very nice smoke flavor. Not over powered at all which is easy to do with turkey. The Mac & Cheese was creamy with perfect pasta. If I ever get the chance to come back to NASA MSFC you can bet that I will be back. Fantastic BBQ.

Saw on Food Network that this place ranked super high amongst BBQ joints in the US, so we had a date lunch a week ago to give it a try. I had the chicken as food network suggested and my wife had the brisket. The chicken is what it is supposed to be, just plain great. Nothing fancy, just good chicken. I got the half chicken and wanted more.
She got the brisket and said it was good, mind you she is from Austin TX so brisket to her is different than to most of us. Texans have high standards when it comes to BBQ beef.
We were able to be seated quickly and had a great server. Food came lightening fast.
If you are in the area, this is worth a try.

I’m from North Alabama, so this is painful to write!
4 of us were taking a trip to Huntsville, n stopped in to Big Bob’s for a meal. 3 of us got the smoked chicken sandwiches, and one got brisket. The 3 of us wished we had gotten the brisket, after our chicken sandwiches came!
They were so dry, we called them «Choke Chicken» Sandwiches! We could barely choke a few bites down. Even with slaw and white sauce :(Like trying to eat a cotton ball sandwich!
I’ve had better sandwiches at a Gas Station. Sorry Bobs, but it was terrible.
Signed, Choked in Alabama

The best brisket, BAR NONE, in the southeast. Tender, fall-​off-​the-​bone chicken. Juicy, flavorful pork. Award winning homemade pies. yum, Yum, YUm, YUM!
The quality is the same at either store. Call ahead as you get near Decatur and they’ll have it ready to go. Don’t forget their one-​of-​a-​kind white sauce.

So everyone has always told me if I ever wanted to get some good BBQ in the North Alabama area to try out Gibsons in Decatur. I decided to come on a Tuesday afternoon with my grandfather. I was shocked to see how open the floor plan of the building. Service was great the entire time as well. I got the Pork Dinner with Fries and Mac n Cheese. The pork was very tender and fresh tasting and it was complimented with their famous sauces as well. The fries were good and too much considering I had the best ever Macaroni and Cheese in a restaurant and that says a lot for me to say that. I think I see myself coming back in the future.

I had heard so much about this legendary BBQ place in Alabama for years and finally got around to it. So after hearing so much about this legend, I had to have a legendary meal with chicken, pork, brisket, potato salad, and beans. Let’s start with the chicken… some of the best chicken I’ve ever had from a BBQ place. It was more like a rotisserie chicken in my opinion, braised with their white BBQ sauce. Chicken just fell off the bone. The pork was also moist, tender, and had its own seasoning to it. The brisket tasted just like roast to me. It was ok and not as good as the chicken or pork. The beans were some of the best I’ve ever had with a smoky BBQ taste. Potato salad was made from red potatoes with a mustard base. It was easy on the stomach with no overpowering taste of one ingredient. It was real smooth. There were 4 sauces even though I didn’t get to try the mustard one. There is a vinegar one and I didn’t like it… not enough substance or taste. There is a sweet ketchup base that goes well with it all. Then, there is the white sauce. I’ve had white BBQ sauce from other places and I have to say, I was a little disappointed with this one. It tasted a lot like the white gravy you put on biscuits for breakfast or country fried steak but more runny. It did go well with the chicken though. Sweet tea was satisfactory. I think I had my expectations a little too high for Bob Gibson. Don’t get me wrong… it is very good, but I’m not buying into the stock of legendary anymore.

Amazing BBQ. Was in Decatur this past weekend with my son and decided to pay Big Bob Gibson’s a visit for lunch on the way to the airport. We are glad we did. While it was only one meal, and there was so much on the menu we wanted to try, we ordered the quintessential, the pork BBQ.
It was chopped, not pulled. Cooked just right, on a plate. They served bread on the side.
We both tasted several of the sauces available and decided the Red BBQ sauce. It was sweet and hit the spot.
Sides, we had Mac & cheese, baked beans, fries, corn on the cob and cole slaw. All were excellent.
We will definitely go back if ever in town again.

Had the half rack of ribs. Tasty and perfectly cooked. Fries were very good, if lukewarm. Slaw was different. At first I didn’t like it. Then, it grew on me. I ended up eating all of it. LOL!
Half rack platter with diet pepsi: 17.41 with tax. I guess when you are on food network, you command a good price. Will try Smokey Cs next time — very inexpensive according to Unilocal.I recommend Big Bobs, however.

Would have been 5 stars but service was lacking on a Saturday. The food here is phenomenal. Honestly, the smoked turkey is the reason I come and keep coming back. Also the homemade pies are to die for. The prices are good for what you get. Regular turkey plate with two sides, pie, and a drink was 20 $ with tip. All of the BBQ sauces are great too. I love it here.

If I could give Big Bob Gibson Bar-​B-​Q more than a 5 Star Unilocal rating, I would. I’ve had a hankering for a baked potato with Pulled Pork on it for some time now. Well, Big Bob Gibson satisfied that craving today for me at lunch, I was very happy with my «overstuffed masterpiece» (as appropriately described in their menu). But I felt the combo platter that my fiancée ordered for her lunch was even better than my potato.
She went with the Big Bob Gibson Combo — 4 St Louis style ribs and a ¼ piece of chicken. Chicken was very good, but the ribs were Out-​of-​this-​World Awesome, extremely tasty. A thicker cut rib, fall of the bone meat, some of the best ribs I’ve ever had. Her collard greens on the plate were very good too. I also had ordered a side dish of Mac & Cheese which I had a hard time finishing because of the generous portion of my potato and the couple of ribs I eaten off my fiancée’s plate. But it was excellent also.
The best part was yet to come, we decided to order a slice of pie to share for dessert, a piece of coconut custard pie. WOW, you would be hard pressed to find a better slice of pie, extremely tasty. Merengue topping instead of whipped cream, a nice change for a cream pie, we throughly enjoyed it.
Also, Crystal, our server was very friendly and attentive. I highly recommend Big Bob Gibson Bar-​B-​Q, it’s a must stop when in Decatur.

I will not return here. I have no idea how this has won any awards. I was not impressed and I rarely give bad reviews. I met some friends here who heard this was the best of the best so we scoured the menu and made our selections. I heard the smoked turkey was awesome so I got that. They have very few side options, not even fries, so I opted for baked beans and potato salad. When our food arrived, I immediately snapped up the award winning sauce to dunk the turkey in. Fail. That stuff is nasty! All in all, the turkey was very delicious. The sides were not. They weren’t even classic flavors, they were just not good. Sorry Big Bob’s but I won’t be returning. Of all the things on my plate, the turkey was the only thing I did enjoy. And the service. The gal was very on top of things.
Andy P. from Hanover (reviewed earlier) said it perfectly:
Overall, Big Bob’s is a local favorite but both of us wondered if that was more for the service and ambiance rather than for the food itself. Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t bad BBQ. It just didn’t live up to the hype.