Red State BBQ

This was my first time and I ordered food to go. The small hole in the wall BBQ had plenty of locals eating even on a Tuesday evening. I got the pulled pork nachos, beef brisket and a few sides. All I can say is that I’m very impressed and will absolutely be back for more the next time I’m in Lexington traveling for business.

This is the best BBQ I have had outside of Memphis. I am glad that I can finally get BBQ in Kentucky that reminds me of home. This will definitely be my go to place for BBQ. Very friendly staff and great food.

1^st off — make sure you order the beer cheese grits. My sweetie doesn’t like beer or grits but darn near ate all my beer cheese grits!
Pulled pork and brisket are awesome! Loved the TX Spicy barbeque sauce.
Don’t pay any attention to the no tell motel flea bag where you have to park —
its snug and you’ll have to wait for a table/​booth if primetime.
But. This. Place. Rocks.
She got pulled pork sandwich w/​o bread, slaw and ate more than ½ my grits– I pigged out on 2 meats, slaw — walked out stuffed but wished I’d done a double order of brisket — or the double smoked. $ 24 incl generous tip. Awesome.

We loved this place which is very close to the Kentucky horse park. Excellent food and service. Authentic BBQ. A definite must!!!

If your looking for a hole in the wall type of place. Food was great but needed more smoke flavor., the choice of BBQ sauce’s was good. Seating isn’t very good on busy nights. The service was pretty bad if… You consider getting drink refills part of the servers job. We never got drink refills throughout our dinner. Once you get your food they don’t seem to look your direction again.
I’m a fan of the mustard sauce.

Service was a little slow. We got our beverages right away, but it was about ten minutes before our waiter even greeted us. He seemed to only be able to concentrate on one table at a time. The food was good, but it wasn’t over the top. The Mac and cheese was lukewarm, with thick cheese and the pasta was overcooked. Green beans were very good. Baked beans had too much meat in them for our taste. The ribs were fall off the bone tender, and very tasty, but as I said earlier, it wasn’t over the top good. It’s lacking a signature taste that identifies it as Red State BBQ.

Great stuff. The other Unilocal reviews were not wrong. We got a BBQ sampler platter. What was awesome is they don’t put the sauce directly on the meat, they leave that for you to do. This was good for me because I am currently eating less sugars and BBQ sauce is mostly sugar.
The décor is pretty old fashion with checkered tables. When you pull down the street you totally feel like you went the wrong fucking way. Nothing is around this place and it is a tad creepy at night. Also, the road the place is on has cars fly by at 60 miles an hour like fucking maniacs. Assholes.
Either way, this place rocks and I will go there again.

Really good, hickory smoke flavored, brisket! Had the, piled high, sliced brisket sandwich with Mac N Cheese side. $ 8.00. The Mac N Cheese was typical, but good. The menu has many more bbq selections to try. Pulled pork, pulled chicken, ribs. The half and full slab of ribs looked great, I will try them next visit. The restaurant is very comfy and quiet. Looked like a decent bottled beer section. Credit cards accepted — Visa, MC, AmEx. Definitely worth a 30 min drive.

My husband and I stopped in on the way from Cincinnati to the Gorge and were not disappointed. We are used to Eli’s-caliber BBQ and Red State did not disappoint.
The pulled pork plate came with plenty of meat and the many sauces on the table gave a nice variety. The baked beans even had pork in them and were just the right amount of sweet and spicy.
Our server Brad was also phenomenal. It was a busy Friday night and he was juggling multi-​tables being sat at once. He took it in stride and was incredibly friendly.
Definitely check out this gem in Lexington!

The food was wonderful. The chicken was moist and flavorful. The brisket was tender and succulent. They both needed a bit more smokey flavor to round them out, but mostly I am happy with them both. The beer cheese they use is outstanding. They have a variety of sauces… All of which are pretty tasty.
The staff friendly.
Yet I just paid $ 1.99 for a glass of soda and was never once offered a refill. I sat for over half my meal with an empty glass. Every member of the staff that I could see had walked by at least once. When I eat out that’s the one thing I can absolutely use to see if a restaurant star is paying true attention to its patrons.
Would have been 5 stars.

I stopped by Red State BBQ on the way back from Lexington today. The inside décor is cute — all red and checkered. The waitress was friendly, kept calling me «honey.» I got the pulled chicken. It was fun to try all the sauces. I liked the Memphis Sweet the best, but found the South Carolina Mustard to be better than I imagined. For sides, I got green beans (just like grandma used to make) and beer cheese grits which were very tasty.
It was a nice warm meal on a cool day, and I will stop in again.

I’d been meaning to check these guys out for a while. After they catered my cousin’s wedding, I knew I definitely had to make it out to the restaurant. I think that was even better! Everything is fantastic, I have no complaints.

Great local BBQ place. The sauces are fantastic. Great beer selection, including many local brews. Service is great, with southern charm.
Red State is located on Georgetown Road on the edge of Lexington near a creepy old motel. We visited on a damp, dreary and cold Saturday afternoon. The dining area was warm and inviting.
I ordered the brisket with sides of green beans and slaw. The beans were peppery and crisp. The slaw was creamy style but but to sweet or mushy. The brisket was nice. Not overly smoky and so tender it was almost difficult to keep on the fork.
My companions ordered the pulled pork with corn pudding. The pork was moist and juicy with a slight smoky flavor. The corn pudding was creamy, sweet and delicious.
There is a choice of five sauces, all served on the side. The sweet Memphis was a favorite as was the spicy Texas style. There is a sauce for every taste.
It was a great meal. The local West 6^th Octoberfest beer was a perfect fit.

Upon entrance this place doesn’t seem very pleasing but don’t let that fool you. It is in the middle of Georgetown road where there’s not much to see in route. This BBQ place hits the spot especially if you’re craving some good home style cooking. I was greeted by a friendly smile of Diane aka Granny. I ordered the brisket sandwich with fries and it came out quick. It was so good, especially with the 5 various options of sauces and the fries were very fresh. I’d definitely come back here and would highly recommend checking this place out if you’ve never been. It has a very welcoming home feeling.

We went late one Sunday afternoon for dinner with a few friends. My husband had a double meat plate (pulled pork & chicken) it came with two side he chose green beans and coleslaw. I am
Not a fan of coleslaw but he couldn’t compliment it enough! I had pulled pork plate with two side Mac n cheese and baked beans! All the food was amazing and they give you plenty of it! Customer service was great and the wait for our food was short! This may be our Sunday dinner spot from now on! The only reason I gave the restaurant four stars is what surrounds it. It’s in a very sketchy location!

Paul loves BBQ, so after a challenging hike, I was on the hunt for a good lunch spot. Red State BBQ appeared to fit the bill.
The place is definitely a dive, as evidenced by the location, overall appearance, and well-​worn booths, but both patrons and staff seemed happy, service was quick and friendly, and the food was good.
I had the regular brisket plate with green beans and beer cheese grits. I was served three nice size pieces of tender, tasty brisket. The green beans were also very good. I was a bit disappointed in the grits, especially after reading all the rave reviews. But then again, I’ve had the good fortune of enjoying the grits at Eli’s in Cincinnati, so there’s that. I tried all the sauces, and the North Carolina Mustard was by far my favorite.
Paul had the pulled pork sandwich «all the way.» He enjoyed the sandwich but was on the same page with me as far as the grits were concerned.
If you’re in the Lexington area, be sure to give Red State BBQ a try. If you’re a fan of good BBQ, you’ll likely enjoy it.

We had been dying to eat here since we moved to KY and three years later we finally did! It was delicious!!! The meats were flavorful, cooked perfectly and were not full of fat! We had the double smoked brisket, ribs, and pulled pork… it was all perfection. They give you sauce bottles on the tables and my favorite was the KY one! Yummy!!! The sides were out of this world good! Especially beer cheese grits, say what!!! Beans were good and the Mac n cheese was a winner winner! My favorite part of the meal was the wings by far they are perfection! Not overly smoked and juicy and get flavor! Even our 3 yr old was a big fan! We even got dessert, the peach bread with honey bourbon vanilla ice cream!!! Oh man it was heavenly! Defiantly a place we will return too for sure!!!

This spot was pretty legit. I spent a few months in Oklahoma around some fine BBQ, and this stacks up. I’ve also been in areas with some horrible «BBQ» (e.g. Maine) and this is NOT bad BBQ. Overall, I can say you’ll get some quality food and your money’s worth,
I had the beer cheese brisket sandwich with beer cheese grits. In retrospect, I got way too much cheese for this meal. The sandwich was SMOTHERED in cheese. The beer cheese grits was just right though. I wish the sandwich had more meat, but for all I know, it was hidden in the gobs of cheese.
The sauces were fun to try. I liked he Kentucky Single Batch and North Carolina Spicy Vinegar the best. They have a sauce for all tastes (5 total + 1 secret sauce you must request)
I had Stu as a server. He was awesome, as were the rest of the staff. He checked on my frequently and made good conversation with me and all his tables. The staff here is pretty fun and upbeat.
I want to go back and try something different; something not completely doused in cheese. It’s worth your time to try this place out too.

Best BBQ in town. I’m really sad this place was not known to me during my 6 year stint at UK but now every visit back this is the one place i MUST stop at before heading back to cincinnati.
The sauces (of which there are a wide variety) all are really great and pair well with all of the meats.
The brisket was top notch and the sides with it all are some of my favorites.
If you are ever on Georgetown Rd. in Lexington make sure you stop here for lunch or dinner!

Have you wondered how they got the name Red State? Well, I asked the waitress. She said that The owners were watching an election one year and noticed that all of the red states had good Barbecue. Whether that’s true or not, I can’t say. That’s just what the nice, sheltered waitress told me.
As I was looking at the pictures on here, she asked if I was looking at their website, I told her I was looking on Unilocal.She said she hadn’t heard of Unilocal!I told ya she was sheltered. You were wondering what I meant by that, weren’t you? Now you know.
I ordered the pulled pork nachos. I’ve had them at several other BBQ joints and even from a food truck. I think it’s the best way to experience the most meat. There was a ton of meat. at least three times more than I probably would’ve gotten on a pulled pork sandwich. I was impressed, but I’ve had better. I did like that the sauce wasn’t on them. They had several different options in the bottle on each table along side of a roll of paper towels. The chips were regular bagged like, round corn chips… not like the triangle homemade ones that appeared in one of the listed photos. The cheese was ok. I don’t like jalapeños, so mine was just chips, pork and cheese. Good enough for me though. Later I found out that they have a special sauce in the back. That means I must go back and try it and update Unilocal world.