Armadillo Barbecue

Food made me very ill and manager was unprofessional.
I ordered a beef sandwich which was really bad. It came with wilted iceberg lettuce and was slathered in a sauce that the staff didn’t mention when I ordered and could not tell me what it was when my sandwich came. I ate only half of it and have felt sick to my stomach since I ate there 7 hours ago. Avoid.
24 hours later after being very sick from the food and thinking I might have food poisoning I went back and explained I had gotten sick from the food. I was very polite and patient and with the cooks and the wait staff we figured out that they had mistakenly served me pulled pork to which I am highly allergic. The staff apologized. It was a pleasant conversation and was completely resolved in my mind until as I was leaving the manager came out and demanded to know what I wanted, she said they would give me the money back from my sandwich but that they had not made any mistake. I told her that her attitude and refusal to acknowledge the error made me angry and she yelled at me to «get out of the store» and she pointed to the door. Well there is a first time for everything. I can’t remember being asked to leave any restaurant before. I was so sick from their error and here the manager was yelling at me. Avoid.

Armadillo BBQ is a gem. It’s rough and is in desperate need of a cut and polish before it can be presented to the world. The service was spotty at best. Many miscommunications and small errors that made the meal less enjoyable. They do have a wonderful back patio, which I highly suggest on a nice sunny day.
But let’s get down to the food. I’d suggest the «Bone Jour» a combo plate where you get a little of almost everything for $ 10. The order process for this dish highly convoluted. It is $ 10 per person, but their menu indicates that you pick how many orders (2 – 100) you’d like. I don’t understand why they say $ 10 per person, minimum of 2. The meats are all un-​sauced, which I appreciate. I like to be able to taste the smoke on the meat and then sauce it to my liking. Their sauce was great, mildly sweet, with a smoky undertone and just a hint of heat and complimented the meats perfectly.
Personally I went for the Pork Rib Combo. The ribs were on the small size, with not much tender smoky meat on each bone. We did enjoy the sides. Creamy Potato Salad was a nice counterpoint to the meat. Sadly, the cornbread muffins were tragically dry. We did add a little Brisket to our meals and we were wow’ed by both the quality and price of the meat. It is expensive, but so worth it.
Armadillo BBQ has some great qualities (friendly service, brisket, sides, beef ribs). And some areas that need a good polishing.

NO FLAVOR! NO RUBS, NO SALT, NO SUGAR… NOTHING! My husband and I were so confused and disappointed, him being from Texas especially… The meat was tender but dreadfully bland. Why??? Not even salt and pepper? Really? The cornbread was awful: dry, bland and way too dense… Inedible. Even the coleslaw was flavorless. I had to add salt to everything! This place has so much potential, and a lot of character but they so miss the mark. Why put all the effort into having the smoker and produce meat that has no flavor? It’s like not salting the water for pasta. Why not, spices are cheap! The BBQ sauce was too ‘molasses-​y’ sweet for me, and too thin. The only thing we both enjoyed was the salad dressing.

Terrible food both visits (1^st visit 4 years ago)
2^nd visit just last week. Stopped in at lunch time as I figured as hungry as I was they deserved a 2^nd chance.
TOTAL FAILURE !!
I ordered the burnt ends special for $ 12. I specifically asked if this or another option was a good portion serving. Waitress said yes is a man sized portion.
Well for $ 12 I got approx. 3oz of straggly looking burnt ends — a regular sized portion of baked beans and 2 miniature corn bread muffins.
taste was bland. And I estimate I paid $ 12 for about .80cents of food.
Terrible business model !! STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS PLACE AS IT WILL SURELY DISSAPOINT
edited to add — this was served in a cereal bowl !! That is how small this portion was. And the bowl was only ½ full. Not anywhere near being to the edges of the bowl. much less maybe stacked higher than the brim of the cereal bowl. NO don’t give the hungry customer 2 scoops of beans or an average portion of meat (like maybe 6 – 8 ozs)
Was so tempted to just get up and leave when I saw what was placed on my table.
A 12yo kid could have ate 3 of those servings in 1 sitting

Really wanted to like Armadillo. It looked like the real deal from the outside. However the service was horrible and the food was almost as bad. The waiting staff was super slow and did not seem to care. And the meet was super hard. Spent $ 90 and over one hour of our life there that we will never get back. A ruined family outing. Advice — AVOID!
Note this review is from our experience from a weekend in July 2015.

Very disappointed with the food I received. Was close to a jobsite and I consider myself a BBQ affictinado and smoke my own meat from time to time. Although service was quick and I got my food within 5 – 10 minutes, the «Bonjour» plate I got lacked a TON of flavor for a smoked BBQ joint… Chicken was like jerky with near burnt skin, the brisket I got was all bone and cartilage, the ribs were gnawy and difficult to chew off the bone, the corn bread tasted like something that came out of a cardboard box with expiration date from 1980’s… The baked beans and small tube of butter was pretty much the only enjoyable aspect of the meal. The staff was friendly and checked in on me constantly. Ultimately, would only give a 2-​star review because of location, atmosphere, and staff. Food wasn’t great, but not HORRIBLY inedible. Carolina BBQ in Bothell Country Village would have been a better bet for a more tasty ensemble than Armadillo BBQ

Is the best barbecue on the Eastside, must eat here — it’s the food that makes it– get some soul food and enjoy Duvall.

The ribs were completely inedible. Every bite was met with marble fat chunks and the taste was like smoked rawhide. $ 50 down the drain! Won’t be going back. The corn bread wasn’t great and the baked beans were mediocre at best. Too bad because this place used to be good.

My boyfriend and I had dinner at the Armadillo last night. I was very impressed with the décor and the awesome staff and the food was great! When you arrive, there are so many visual entertainments in the restaurant and the co-​owner had a big smile on her face as she walked past us with her newly carved pumpkin and said «hi». :)
We were skeptical as my boyfriend had been to the Woodinville location and and it was not as good. There has been much improvement.
My suggestion is that they go down to The Root Farm vegatable trailer on 203 and grab a bunch of bags of arugula (which are super cheap and fresh) and add that to the sandwiches in place of the lettuce. Arugula has a nice, fresh peppery flavor which will compliment their awesomely smoked meats and delicious bbq sauce and will probably hold up better than lettuce.
I recommend you visit this restaurant and give it a chance. Don’t only enjoy the food, but enjoy the commitment by the staff to make this a place people will return for some great bbq.
I’m glad I went and I hope you are too. :)

I think the BBQ was pretty tasty, but the employees (one girl in particular) are VERY MUCH lacking smiles and customer service. Sets a very bad tone. The other employee (girl) was also not nice. I will never go back due to this negative experience. It’s simple — hire NICE people!

Wow! What a tasty pulled BBQ pork sandwich. And the hot BBQ sauce is perfect. Staff supper friendly. Great place with cute old timey atmosphere. A must try in Duvall.
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Great place in Duvall to stop in for BBQ.
Funky décor, at least no bbqed dillos but great links and ribs.
The Snoqualmie valley trail starts about 1000 feet from this place… so great place to enjoy eats after riding or running the trail.
Highly recommended

Can’t see how people love this place. The meat was dry. $ 1 to have an oz of spicy bbq sauce. Wont be back.

I had the ribs. My wife had the brisket sandwich. My father in law had the BBQ chicken.
The Meat:
They do not season the meat! They char the outside and then slow cook it over pine logs, which apparently have no flavor at all. There is a reason most BBQ joints smoke with hickory, applewood or mesquite … a little thing called aromatic flavor.
Ribs cooked in a conventional oven with a bucket of sauce would taste better than this.
The Sauce:
The BBQ sauce they provide at the tables is watery and gets all over the place. The sauce is sweet and smoky, but runs right off the meat. The result is more sauce on your hands and plate than the meat going in your mouth. I am by no means a sauce king, but I do know that BBQ sauce shouldn’t drip like soy sauce.
There really is no excuse for a lack of flavor on meat that takes hours to smoke and prepare, other than a fundamental misunderstanding of the basic elements of good BBQ.
Please, owners, I know your company motto is «mediocrity» but … can you pick either a spice rub or sauce off the shelf and just use it?
What a waste of great meat. I won’t even comment on the side orders, because nobody goes to a BBQ joint for potato salad and cornbread.
The food is pretty affordable, which gets it a 2 instead of a 1 star. Lunch for about $ 10-​$ 13.

Man, I have heard the people from Seattle were mean, but whoa buddy! First off this is a BBQ restaurant, not a foody haven. I’m from The Southwest and this BBQ is authentic. You won’t find a more authentic smoked brisket outside Austin. Too dry? Put some sauce on it. They offer wine, but they shouldn’t, those pretentious Seattleites love to find fault with anything, I thought the experience was great. I goes into my book as choice. If you need to be coddled, skip this place.

I have been to many bbq places where the claim to fame is their sauce and the meats are so smothered in it, you dont get to really taste the meat itself
I am not sure how, but these guys smoke their meats in such a way that the beef ribs and the chicken were so flavorful and moist and with no sauce at all! Really good. We didn’t add any sauce at all even when eating… just salt.
The salads are plain and while they come with the meal, next time (and there Will be a next time) I wil simply skip them.
In addition the portions were hearty and the value was well deserved.
Great place.

We ate the family deal including two side salads, 4 ribs, two pieces of chicken, beans, coleslaw and potato salad. GOOD — The beans and cornbread w/​whipped honey butter were to die for, the service was fast. BAD — the ribs were burnt and way over cooked, had a beef jerky texture, same as the chicken (very dry) the potato salad was very blan and the coleslaw was loaded with so much pepper, it tasted like pepper, and not coleslaw. overall, not the worst I’ve had, but, not too great either.
The employees (younger girl and guy) working the front, had great prompt service, but were very unprofessional and joking around about slightly inappropriate things I wouldn’t want me kids to hear if they had been with us.

We came by accident. The food seemed to be an accident also. They strove for humor with their motto of mediocrity. The humor faded when the food arrived.
Very nice people, however.

Should have read Unilocal reviews prior to making a wasted visit.
What an insult to real BBQ establishments to call this BBQ. Should be called Armadillo Incinerator.
Beef ribs the texture of jerky; chicken so dry it was not consumable. No flavor. No Salt. No sauce.
I hate to waste food, but I would imagine if The Donner Party had been given this meal option, they would have stayed with the plan that made them infamous.

This place gets points for quick and friendly service. However, the food fully lives up to its insignia, «We Aim To Be Adequate». Dry and low on flavor. Nothing to write home about.