Choo-Choo BBQ

Sucks. How much clearer can I be. Went here a month ago to dine in. Food cool and mediocre at best. Phoned in order tonight for ribs. Pull up to drive through and nobody answers. Finally call and get food. Ribs are bland and not worth trouble. Fries and fried okra re what you’d expect. Run away don’t walk.

It isn’t fast at all, didn’t expect it to be but wanted to let people know.
The sides they serve come in little cups, and I mean really little.
Also, their BBQ is really dry, even after I put sauce on it. I think maybe it was over-​cooked. If you like their sauce ask for more, they do not give you hardly any.

I really wanted this to be a good experience. I wrote a review a year or so ago for this BBQ joint before it moved to the new shiny building it’s in now.
WHO KNOWS where that went? Poof!
Well, lets just say it wasn’t a clamoring for people to spend their hard earned money there. It was not a happy visit. (recap done)
So, the folks wanted to meet us for dinner and I wanted to give this place another shot. The building looks so damn pretty – seriously love the décor inside and out, it had to be good, or better than the last time. So we get there about 25 minutes before the folks. The Mrs. and I ordered two drinks and an appetizer. Corn Nuggets! She loves those. We grabbed sweet tea, which was very good. They give you little round discs with numbers printed on them to put on your table so they know where to deliver the food. The corn nuggets came out fast (corn deep fried in batter) and were tasty. On the table were three types of BBQ sauce. Hickory Smoked, Hot, and Sweet Carolina. I sampled all three. I think the hot wasn’t so hot, but the Hickory Smoked has a good flavor to it. So here is where it gets interesting… My folks get there and we all go up to the counter to order.
You have to go to the counter to order, then you sit and wait. No table service.
We go up and I see my folks squinting to see the menu. They have a big screen TV hanging up above the counter on the back wall with the entire menu squeezed onto it. I have decent vision, but I was having some difficulty making out the tiny lettering. My mom and dad both wear glasses and they’re no spring chickens, so it was difficult for them to read the menu at the counter. I noticed a sign on the counter right in front of the register that said specials of the day. It had brisket, filet mignon, and something chicken – i forget. So I guess the the cashier hears me talking about the specials and runs around the counter and says, no we don’t have those anymore. I’m like, «none of them?» I think the lady in front of us had tried to order a special as well, because she looked at me like, I know, right? I then notice my parents are staring at the tv screen. I said where did the menu go? They just looked at the counter and a worker was putting the menu back. I said, were you done with it? My mom said the worker looked like she wanted it back. I offered to get it again, but mom doesn’t like confrontation as much as I do. So I read the menu options to her so she could select a meal. As she is ordering, she asked if they had any pickles. The worker said they didn’t. ((Record scratch!!)) They have fried pickles as an app. AND this is a BBQ place. How would you not have pickles. So we go sit down and I’m watching food come out. The servers are taking food to the wrong tables and having to explain to someone why they are out of something or other. They tried to give my folks’ meals to two other tables before guessing it was ours. Then they explained it was on the wrong number and took our little round number disc to another table and gave it to them.
There are several girls that are working the front and it seems like they are all trying to the same task at the same time. Not sure if they were training or what, but they all seemed to be stepping on each other and getting nowhere fast.
So when the worker brings mom’s out, again mom asks, «Do you have pickles?»
She says sure do! ((Blink Blink…)) Ok, great. They do have pickles now. Does anyone know what is going on here??? My food comes out and my wife’s does too. It looks great! I have pork plate with a side of potatoes w/​onions and baked beans. My pork was good, but it was room temperature. The potatoes were better than I thought. Beans were average, but hot. All in all, it took 30 minutes for everyone at the table to get their food. Maybe it sat in the window while the people that were after us were getting served. (I’m all about fairness)
It seems that there is not a good system in place for connecting the front of house with the back of house. I will say the restaurant was clean, but it is brand new. So I would really expect nothing less. If the food didn’t taste good I would have scored a one. I like good food, but I can put up with mediocre food with great service. We didn’t get that on this last visit. I mean last visit.

They refused to honor a coupon stating that it was for their previous location even though dates were valid. It was the attitude of the manager that helped me decide never to go back, ie: my fault for presenting a bad coupon, not their problem even though their name was on the coupon so, as I informed the cashier, I will never be back. Rude management does not warrant a return! BBQ, average and too many BBQs in the Hixson area to be hassled by the staff.

I’ve been to 3 different Choo Choo location– one in Ringgold, one in Murfreesboro and the one here in Hixson. They’re all soooooo good. Best BBQ I’ve ever had, and what’s better, everything is really reasonably priced. I would say, try the fried ochra, it’s an otherworldly, mouthgasm food experience, and the BBQ pork. My my my… my mouth is salivating just thinking about all of the deliciousness. Just take my word for it. Order enough for leftovers, you’re gonna want to double dip.

I wanted to update Unilocal with the new location but I couldn’t find any sign of the actual address anywhere… so not sure if someone updated it (lol given Unilocal probably not) or if this was the old shack type place.
Well now it is an actual restaurant, and even has a drive thru. It’s pretty confusing if you had no clue this occurred because the old location has a sign saying «closed 4 moving» but if you haven’t been around you’re like MOVING WHERE… and then drive past the new one. And then you’re not sure that one is even open because the original sign makes you think moving is still taking place.
The nice thing about the shiny new restaurant is that prices don’t seem to have gone up. Still only get the potato, though sometimes I switch it up and get pork instead of chicken. And it’s still awesome. I think I probably prefer it with pork over chicken (and it’s just slightly cheaper too).
This new sit down restaurant also includes a salad bar so that’s interesting, but I guess like all your bases are covered if you come here. I never noticed how much stuff is on their menu so I almost wonder what isn’t very good but I can tell you that you can’t go wrong with killer potatoes.

Let me say first off, this location has moved to the other side of the meat market.
That out of the way, this is probably the best Q in Chattanooga. The only thing that hampers it is its staff. Tried to go today and got there to see their open sign was displayed next to the door. Left hand side of the door, being held up by a pillow so it could be seen through the window tinting.
Got in there and was snottily told they were closed till tomorrow at 11am. I advised Smirky McSmirk-​Stick that the reason I came in was his open sign was displayed. He followed me out but did he change the sign? Nope.
Word to the wise: Don’t drive too far for this Q. You might get there and learn that Open means Closed in their language!

Really good BBQ at a good price.