Dillard’s Bar-B-Que

Mini-​review: Good barbecue, good fried chicken, great black eyed peas, and frickin’ fantastic carrot soufflé.
Now the bad news: they’re CLOSING THEIR DOORS on 3÷18÷2011, citing the down economy as the reason.

After living just a couple of miles from this place, it’s ironic that I tried it only after I moved away! Met up with some Southern food-​loving Unilocalers on a Saturday to give it a fair shake. Now I have to preface this review with a little disclaimer that basically goes: Despite being a North Carolina native, I’ve only recently — in the last year — begun to appreciate the niceties of bbq. I’m by no means an expert, and I also don’t have a dog in the East vs West (vs TX) fight…
So without assumptions, I grabbed my tray and went down the line asking for the «bbq special plate» which they had taped to the counter — a dose of ‘cue, along with hushpuppies and your choice of a side. The ‘cue is quite pulled, to the point of being mushy. That texture was a little hard for me to get past; but I have to say the unusual flavor of the sauce was pretty good. It has a note of vinegar, but also has a tangy spicy kick that hits the palate. It’s also a much thicker sauce — a cohort suggest it might be mustard based. Meat aside though, there wasn’t much to bring me back. The mac n’ cheese was a tragedy — watered down cheese and bland bland bland! (To be fair, I’d just feasted on some Dame’s mac the day before, and had that attainable in my mind.) The hushpuppies — they lacked something. They weren’t nearly as sweet and delicious as Allen & Son’s. I got a second order of food to go for the husband and inlaws (who were at home doing yardwork [some wife I am, huh?]). With that, we tried the collard & turnip greens — good. And the carrot soufflé — hands-​down the most amazing thing of the bunch. This tasted like a sweet potato pie. Probably prepped with butter and brown sugar, it was alllll kinds of deliciousness.
The folks working the line were super-​sweet, and I’d say if you’re in the area it’s safe to give this unassuming little joint a try!

Dillard’s definitely holds its own among the top BBQ places in the Triangle!
My first impression when I walked in — it seemed a little dingy. Which is OK for a BBQ place. Food is served cafeteria style. I already knew I wanted to get the BBQ Pork, which is good because the glass was pretty foggy and I don’t think any of the dishes are labeled.
Now honestly, when I try BBQ places for the first time, I judge what I consider the three main BBQ staples: the actual BBQ, hush puppies, and coleslaw. The BBQ tasted really great, the coleslaw was delicious (the very finely chopped kind), and the hush puppies were incredible — possibly the best I have had. Now for sides… the carrot soufflé was amazing! But the macaroni and cheese was a big disappointment. That’s okay though… while mac and cheese is probably my favorite food (since as long as I can remember), the rest of the plate really brought the goods!
Big thanks to Michael H. for setting up the UYE and the carrot soufflé recommendation! It’s a shame more people haven’t checked this place out yet.

Asking if Dillard’s is tasty is a bit like asking if Lindsay Lohan has bad judgment. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that this might be the best down home Southern cooking in the Triangle. Possible in all of North Carolina.
And let’s be clear: Dillard’s has some stiff competition.
Their BBQ has a slightly different taste than most of the traditional Eastern NC barbecue that I’ve had, but I like it. I really like it. And unlike so many other places where the side dishes are a culinary afterthought, I could make an entire meal out of Dillard’s side dishes alone.
The people who work at Dillard’s are just fantastic. I’ve never met a person there that wasn’t delightfully friendly and genuinely concerned about my having a good dining experience.
Eat at Dillard’s. Period. if you like it, thank me. And if you don’t like it, I’ll find someone else for you to blame!

I love this place! The food was amazing and the friendly service was the typical southern hospitality. If in the area Dillard’s is a must.

In the area on business and wanted local BBQ. I found Dillard’s on Unilocal,liked the reviews, so I headed over. To my dismay they were closing off the parking lot, they closed 25 mins ago at 7pm. Rather then sending the obvious out of towner on his way, the gentleman offered to make me up a dinner to go. (where I am from things like this are very rare) They invited me inside for a warm and friendly welcome and lesson on the food, including how to doctor up the collared greens with vinegar and sauce. I left with a smile and rushed back to the hotel to dig in. The food was as good as the service — pork, ribs, greens, slaw, hush puppies! They took extra special care of me! It was all excellent. Great flavors and I loved the sauce. Next trip through I will return to Dillard’s to eat there and sample the other options.

Don’t call it South Carolina-​style.
They make it like no one else does.
Fried Chicken also excellent.
Lack of ambience is more than made up for by the effusive owners and staff. Cool collection of pennants from Historically Black Colleges.
The owners are very nice and 3^rd or 4^th generation. They’re good people, give them your money.

This place operates very similarly to Backyard BBQ on Guess Rd, minus the crappy food. I was pleasantly surprised by this place. Don’t get fooled by the not so up to date décor once you get in there. I got a very warm greeting once I went in, with the server asking me if this was my first time there. I said yes and he was more than happy to explain how things worked and the types of meats they had. All their food is placed on warmers behind a sneeze guard and you just choose what you want and they put it on a plate for you and then you pay and take it to your seat.
Everything is really well priced there. My meal was less than $ 10 and that included a drink, a meat selection and 3 sides. The meal normally comes with two sides, but I got greedy and decided to get one more ;-) They have a really wide selection of meats, so much so, that I couldn’t remember them all when he finished telling me what my choices were. They have chopped BBQ, BBQ chicken, meat loaf, etc. They also have a carrot soufflé that is TO DIE FOR! The server will let you have a small sample if you ask.
This place has great service and great food. It’s one of the better BBQ joints I’ve tried around here.

In the grand debate over the vinegar-​based Eastern Carolina sauce vs. the tomato-​based Western Carolina sauce, the mustard-​based South Carolina sauce gets lost in the shuffle. For the record, it’s not as good as Eastern Carolina’s sauce but better than Western Carolina’s.
The only place I know of to get that sauce locally is at Dillard’s. And it’s good stuff. They cook their meat just right, and will always throw plenty of sauce over it and still give you a little plastic ramekin of delicious just in case you like your Q swimming (sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t…either way, Dillard’s gives me options!).
They also to a really good fried chicken, if you’ve been a few times in the same week and just need something different. The sides are all southern awesome, from the mac & cheese to beans that you just know had some kind of animal fat cooking with them. People will go on and on about the carrot soufflé, which I finally tired and thought tasted like cotton candy.
Seriously, cotton candy. This is why many like it, but why I’ll stand firm in my position that only cotton candy should taste like cotton candy, and that carrots that share that taste are unholy things that the crazy church down Fayetteville St. should be campaigning against awfully hard. Too far?

Coming to North Carolina for school has made my love BBQ, and Dillard’s doesn’t disappoint as one of the better local BBQ stops in the area. I love the way they prepare the barbecue, and the serving sizes are huge. Their macaroni and cheese is some of the best that I’ve had, and the green bean’s aren’t half bad either. I’m not thrilled with the prices, as I find they are a bit too high for what you get.

I came through Durham on my way from NY to Austin and stopped to try out the Carolina BBQ I’ve heard so much about. I chose Dillard’s since I thought it would be emblematic of Carolina BBQ… after all they serve at the minor league park.
I let the very nice servers choose my food — chopped pork with special sauce, hush puppies, green beans, mac and cheese, and some white bread. My very large meal came to $ 7.50 and was pretty good. As Caroline Z says, there are a lot of options.
My food was good. The green beans were surprisingly awesome. I ended up giving three stars because I would probably try another place before I went back to Dillard’s. Still, I’d go back if someone else chose the place. and I’d be happy about it.
Students take note: there’s a $ 5 deal for a sandwich and side.

Dillard’s has been a family-​owned and operated barbecue restaurant here in Durham since 1962. We went for lunch today and got some food to go.
I had barbecue and my husband had meatloaf. If those two meat dishes aren’t adventurous enough for you, you can have chicken necks, beef livers, pig’s feet, chitlins, and gizzards as well. Veggies/​sides include green beans, collards, corn, sweet potatoes, and a sweetish macaroni and cheese (might have had nutmeg in there?).
The barbecue wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but still pretty good. The sauce was vinegar-​based, which is my personal preference, but not quite vinegar-​y enough for me. (I like for the sauce to burn cuts on my lips I wasn’t previously aware of.) My husband liked his meatloaf and collards, and I liked the hushpuppies — fluffy and not too onion-​y. Dillard’s is the BBQ of choice at the Durham Bulls ballpark, so you can try them out there or at their cafeteria-​style restaurant.