Uncle Wendell’s BBQ Catering, and Bakery

Great food and served hot! Mom loved the ribs. Ingersoll sandwich was tasty. Will return!

We stopped by for lunch couple months ago. Ordered a pull pork and chicken sandwiches. Both sandwiches were huge and had lots of meat in the middle. The chicken meat was perfectly tender and juicy. The pull pork sandwich was also great. Excellent side dishes, especially Cole slaw. On top of that, the staffs were nice and friendly.
Good food and reasonable prices, we will definitely come back again!

First stop on Chicago to KC BBQ Tour 2015
Corn bread — 5 (couldn’t be better)
Fire and ice — 4
Potato salad — 4
Cream soda — 5 (Millstream o tap)
Beans — 3.5 (lots of meat)
Sauces — 3
Pulled pork — 3
Brisket — 3
Ribs — 2.5
Chili — 2.5
Sold out of Dutch letter pasties.
Stop here for the sides

Uncle Wendell’s is my hands down favorite for BBQ in Des Moines. The ribs are absolutely amazing and the pulled pork is excellent. I love their spicy BBQ sauce and they have a nice selection of hot sauces available as well.
The staff is courteous and friendly and the service is solid. Uncle Wendell’s is very much a word of mouth kind of place, so when anyone asks me about a good place for BBQ in Des Moines, they’re always my first suggestion.
I highly recommend them, especially if you find yourself craving ribs. They are slow smoked and then sauced and heated to order to provide the ideal experience.

By far one of best hole in the wall bbq joints. All sandwiches are on homemade bread. Asked them if they could make me a sandwich with brisket and pulled pork and they were more than willing to do so.

Get the ribs. Not sure what else to write.
Kidding, ribs are perfectly cooked and fall off the bone. I will be back to get them… full rack next time.

This is by far my favorite Q joint in town. They have a small menu, but everything they make is AWESOME. Their full pulled pork sandwich is HUGE and enough for 2 – 3 meals (with sides). The jalapeño corn bread is heavenly, and arrive early for their Mac and cheese. Love their beans, the fire and ice cucumber salad and coleslaw as well. Their staff is always friendly and great.

If you love GOOD bbq do not go here. We moved to the Ingersoll area and thought we would give it a go. After KC BBQ and Flying Mango, this is not remotely appealing. Extremely disappointing and the food is over seasoned and dry. Would never ever go back.

I’ve dined at Uncle Wendell’s three times now. I’ve also lived in Kansas City, which doesn’t mean I know more about BBQ than you, it just means my cholesterol is probably higher than yours. (Oklahoma Joe’s was my favorite.)
IMPRESSIONS: Next to a hip hair salon, a classic dive bar, gift shop and French style bistro on Ingersoll. The interior is a long hall with the kitchen on the left and seating on the right. Painted flames on the walls. There are Uncle Wendell’s family photos on the wall, but oddly nothing to show who Uncle Wendell is. Two friendly young guys who’s vibe is more Denver hippie than BBQ joint, music playlist to match.
THE FOOD: You order at the counter. The menu is simple, just like BBQ should be (I’m looking at you 60 page Jethro’s.) I’ve had the Sliced Beef Brisket, Pulled Pork and the Ingersoll Sandwich. The classic sides I’ve had are their potato salad that includes a liberal sprinkling of rub on top to give flavor and color and the baked beans. The baked beans sauce is perfect for dipping left over sandwich Texas toast in to. I’ve also had their special Millstream Cream Soda glazed carrots around Thanksgiving — creative and awesome tasting.
TASTE: LIke I mentioned above the sides are absolutely fantastic. $ 10 will get an empty stomach a meaty sandwich on two slices of Texas toast and two sides. The sandwiches come wrapped in foil so taking the leftovers home is easy.
THE MEAT and here’s my rub (get it?): The meat arrives way over seasoned. I’d rather see less black pepper and rub BECAUSE the customer should be able to sauce it up with the many sauces at the «sauce station» for lack of a better term. Some may find the meat to be too spicy before adding any sauce. The pulled pork is my favorite.
POST: I like supporting locally owned businesses. Uncle Wendell’s BBQ is doing it right. I’d like to see the meat more naked. I’d like to see a few local beers that pair well with BBQ on tap in addition to Millstream Soda. Friendly employees. Great food.
CHANCE OF RETURN: ³⁄₁₀

The food is wonderful, but I suggest making sure you do not arrive close to closing time. We did once and felt rushed, they put all the chairs up around us and took the garbage out.

Take your average delicious pulled pork sandwich at a bbq joint and kick it up two notches — — - Notch one: spicy and flavor-​packed rub and Notch Two: made in-​house cool pickled cucumbers and onions to offer contrast to the warm meat and bread. Meet The Ingersoll Sandwich. One of the tastiest sandwiches I have ever had. I’m not a big sandwich person but this beast was well worth breaking my standard bbq order of beef brisket and/​or pulled pork. Yet again, my fellow Unilocalers pointed me in the right direction. The second tip I had to follow during my visit was ordering the jalapeño cornbread (I loved the rustic look of their bread — not like the standard bright yellow cornbread you see everywhere else).
Space: I would not be doing this review justice if I didn’t mention the cozy space in which Wendell’s is housed. Picture political-​esque stickers, bright neon lights, fellas in Carhartts and cozy cooking quarters. Ah! Perfection if you ask me.

Amazing pork. The. pumpkin bread is also on the amazing level. They had a stand at the farmers market, we had some little slider type sandwhiches there then had to have a full sandwhich from their actual restaurant.
It was a bit small inside but it wasn’t crowded and the service was great.

This place should not be kept a secret. The Ingersoll sandwich is phenomenal great sauces and great meat home made bread. I even get a half slab of ribs to go with. No fountain pop is a let down but other than that it’s great!

Great corn bread. I really didn’t think I would like it but man it was like corn bread cake. The pulled pork sandwich was flavorful and the baked beans were dead on. I mixed in a bunch of bbq sauce in my pulled pork sandwich and really enjoyed it. Root beer on tap that was ice cold with no ice, sign me up and fill me up. The guys behind the counter were very nice as well.

Wendell’s is the best BBQ in Des Moines for reasons beyond the food (which is still my favorite BBQ in the city). This family-​owned, down-​to-​earth restaurant doesn’t have any frills, but it does have class. They make good food, and they are friendly while they do it. What else do you need?
Some people will tell you about other BBQ places in town, and to be honest, they are good too. But it’s all so… gentrified. Uncle Wendell’s BBQ means a big chunk of perfectly prepared meat, slapped between two thick pieces of bread and wrapped in tinfoil to go. No pretense, no apologies. They know it’s good, so why try to dress it up?
You want to eat well tonight? Get some Wendell’s.

My workplace has catered from this place multiple times and they were great! I have never actually eaten or been to this location, but like I said I have had their food catered to my workplace.
Their BBQ is tasty, but not the best I’ve had. Their sides are very satisfying as well. There is always enough food to go around for all my coworkers. They do a great job catering, one day I will actually try and see what they have to offer at the actual restaurant.

Those pregnancy hormones must’ve short circuited my synapses. Went there today after finishing up a 5k, got ribs and brisket again, and devoured it.
Service is still super great! I’ve been to Jethro’s now and I still prefer Wendell’s in terms of location, atmosphere, food, and service. Jethro’s meat is just dry and eh whereas Wendell’s is succulent and full of flavor.

It looked a little run down, but sometimes those kinds of places are rewarding. Had the delicious brisket which was nicely smoked. I like the fact that they had different sauces from weak to spicy so you could mix it up.
I also had the hot pepper cornbread which was great. They even had honey to use for the cornbread which I don’t see often outside of the south.
Definitely worth a trip back next time I’m in DesMoines and I’m very interested to sample some of the other offerings.

Nice little BBQ place, great flavor, sauces, and size. They do have extra spicy sauce and bottles of extra hot if you can handle it. The meat was cooked great, the extra sauces are a nice touch since I love trying different kinds and you do get your money worth portion wise, which I am a fan of. Sides are awesome, they do have daily specials which keeps things fresh.
They also have s ome baked goods, which I haven’t tried. But the BBQ is on point, worth a shot if you are near by.

I can’t give an extensive review of Uncle Wendall’s because I’ve only had the brisket. Ooooh the brisket… tender, flavorful, and delicious-​not fatty and chewy like so many other places in town.
I know my husband ordered something else and thought it was delicious but the only thing I remember is how good my brisket was.
The service was great, everything was good, can’t wait to go back.