Bozo’s Hot Pit Bar-B-Q

Yum, yum, yum! I haven’t eaten here since I was a kid. (We live 2 hours away) We passed through Mason tonight and I got really excited when I saw Bozo’s! I had forgotten all about the place! My husband and I stopped in and were seated immediately. We were warmly greeted by three different employees. Our waitress, Christine, was very kind and made us feel like family with her calm demeanor and natural good attitude. We got BBQ nachos as an appetizer. My husband got two pieces of fish, mashed potatoes, and baked beans. I got the super BBQ sandwhich with seasoned fries. My husband then got strawberry cake and I had caramel meringue pie. Both of us were stuffed! Our meal was around $ 40 which I think is more than fair considering what all we had! We were more than happy to leave Christine a great tip!

Gotta love this place! It’s a true piece of the Old South that reminds me of lunch with my grandfather as a kid! They serve true Delta/​Memphis style bbq (slaw on the sandwich) and amazing catfish!
This is the very definition of hidden gem! Don’t miss it if you’re ever in the area!

My experience of Bozo’s is 4.5 — 5 Stars. For the food, service, and atmosphere. Was there in 2013.
We were just a couple of New Englander’s traveling from Nashville to Memphis, when we found ourselves craving for some food. I hit up my GPS for «BBQ» and this place comes up. As I’m driving from the highway, I’m a bit annoyed that it was several miles off our track, but by the time I realize that, I’m already committed.
And then we get there…
This was probably the best random restaurant experience I have ever had. Ever. We find ourselves seated at a table on the right side of the restaurant, the very end by the window so we have a full view of the place. And the place is adorned with the local charm and hospitality of its residents. I honestly felt like I was partaking in a period movie set in the 1950’s deep south. It just had the «feel» where everyone knows each other, life is slow, and life is happy. Customers don’t even have to place an order. They just know what to bring the person (actually saw this happen). This old codger comes in, and the waitress makes small talk for a minute. «The usual», she says?
Then come to find out, it WAS the setting of a movie. «Walk The Line», one of my all-​time favorites. And then it all started making sense and I recognized the place. Of course I made my wife pose in many of the scenes as «June» and myself as «Johnny», for photo’s. Even sat in the exact seats at the counter before we left. What was great about where we sat, was that in the movie you can see this very area that we sat at against the side windows in much of the scene. So I watch the movie when I want to be taken back this Bar-​B-​Que bliss.
Food was GREAT!!! Pulled Pork Sandwich & Coleslaw. Loved the sauces. Left feeling very satisfied in many ways. Wish I could twitch my nose and be right back there this very minute!

You haven’t had true barbecue until you have had bozos. I just returned after a 36 year absence and everything was just as wonderful as I remembered. From the décor, to the pit barbecue sandwich with beans and a coke. I was apprehensive about returning after so long, but was greeted with a smile and a warm «how are yall doin? «After that the food and service was exactly what I remembered and was hoping for. This is a treat for the whole family and one I’m sure you won’t forget. If you find yourself in the area or anywhere close you should try this restaurant. I promise you will be a fan for life.

Have lived in Memphis most of my life but had never been to Bozo’s, so we drove out there this afternoon between the lunch and dinner crowds.
I got the BBQ pork plate with beans, sweet slaw, and a toasted bun. The sauces are in bottles on the tables. The medium sauce was very good. I added a few drops of the hot sauce to it. The meat was pale and very plain with no smoky flavor and a little too much fat, but it was moist and tender. Nothing special, and I cut my teeth on Memphis BBQ, so I’m no novice when it comes to Memphis BBQ.
The beans and slaw we’re quite good, but the toasted bun tasted like they had used cod liver oil instead of butter. It had a distinctly fishy taste, and I couldn’t eat it. My husband had the BBQ sandwich and said his bun had a fishy taste too.
I’m glad I went, but I will not go back or recommend it to anyone. Next time I find myself in Mason, I’ll eat fried chicken down the street at Gus’s.

Wow. What a throw back! Booths, floor and ponderosa pine paneling are all from the 50’s and early 60’s roadside motif. Only because they didn’t ever remodel, but in a way it works. The menu is simple but you can custom blend your bbq (you gotta be there to understand). The «Q» is good and add the atmosphere it all comes together for a time capsule experience.

Great place. Reminiscent of the good old days. The staff was wonderful. The BBQ was great. Wish they had brisket. Make sure you get dessert. Amazing!!!

I love Bozo’s for the small town feel. It reminds me of a lot of the places I grew up going to. This is on the way out of town to my hometown so we make a stop for dinner sometimes. Tonight the spouse got a BBQ sandwich with sweet slaw and cheese fries. I got a grilled cheese and helped with the fries. He liked the sandwich with mild sauce and said he might have liked the vinegar slaw better. The grilled cheese was a perfect sandwich and the bread had a nice crunch. The cheese fries were ok– maybe could have been crispier with more cheese sauce. The service is so nice — just good people. Worth a stop just for the history.

Great local eating. Smoked BBQ on the pit! Bozos tucked away in the small town of Mason, TN. The oldest BBQ place in the USA that I know of. Friendly Staff… down home feel… even part of «Walk the Line» movie was filmed here. Very Nostalgic place. Food is excellent, whether it be BBQ, Smoked Chicken or Catfish on the Weekends… it is always delicious. Follow up with some Home Made pie by Ms. Mary who comes in to specially make them. you will not be disappointed!

Pulled pork was dryer. Sauce was tasty. People were very nice.

The barbecue is okay. It’s moist, but not full of flavor. The prices are fair given the enormous portions. The sauces are very good. I did not try the pies, but they looked really good. The service was okay. I have been here a few times. I will probably go back. I am teetering between rating a 3, or 4.

I’ve been coming here since I was a child; first with my grandparents and now I’m bringing my own family. I live in TX, but we always stop here when we visit Brownsville. So very good! The pulled pork is always delicious, and the onion rings are fantastic. We always buy a bunch of sauce to take home! Absolutely divine!!!

When in Mason, the two famous joints to eat at are Gus’ Fried Chicken and Bozo’s Hot Pit. Which should you choose? Unless you refrain from eating pork, I’d pick a Bozo over a Gus anytime.
It was hard for me to decide whether it deserved a three star or four star review. Unlike several other restaurants, where somethings will be great and other aspects horrible, Bozo’s maintains a basic good consistency throughout all major criteria for evaluating BBQ sandwiches. The bread is good, the flavors (sweet or tangy), (mild, spicy, or hot) are good, and the meat and slaw are both made well.
The only issue is that nothing seems to particularly standout to me about the taste of their BBQ sandwiches. It is an excellent sandwich, but it just does not standout in any particular way.

I haven’t been there in 20 years, but I have to chime in. Bozo’s was started back in the Depression by the father of my mother’s (aged 96) high school classmate. It’s terrific, and I got the added value of a foiled bank robbery that happened across the street while we were having lunch. This place cannot be beaten. If you like ‘cue, this is like dying and going to heaven.

I used to eat here in the seventies and eighties, and it was good. Last few time I have been there, it was a shadow of my memories of it.

Recently under new ownership and my goodness how the BBQ has suffered! We stopped in returning from Nashville to enjoy what has always been fantastic pit BBQ. No More! This stuff is dry and without any flavor. I feel like it may be cooked off-​site, frozen and then re-​heated in a microwave. That’s the only way to achieve a product this poor!

Service was southern and very friendly. Mason is a bit of a drive, but Gus’s Fried Chicken is nearby. If you’re going to both places, start at Gus’s because you’ll want to end with Bozo’s dessert.
The potato salad was better than average (a little mustard, herbs). Pulled pork is what i was told to get, and it was good. Mild smoke flavor, definitely needing sauce. A half and half mix was what I favored. There are a few, but not as many as I’d like, burnt bits in the pork. There’s not much of a difference between a sandwich or a platter with bread on the side.
Everything else (baked beans, cole slaw, etc.) was just average. If you’re just in it for the pulled pork, I don’t know if it’s better enough to justify not going to something convenient (Central BBQ, one of the Neely joints), but distance aside Bozo’s has the edge.

Worth the drive. Friendly staff, good pulled pork, reasonable prices. Running into this Unilocal entry makes me want to eat here again. Extra benefit, it is right down the road from a prison.
Seriously, if you are thinking about going someplace different for BBQ, here it is.

This is a locally famous barbecue dive in Mason, which is just north of Arlington and a bit of a hike for Memphians. But it’s a great little road trip when you are in the mood to try some authentic southern barbecue with no wait and a relaxed, casual atmosphere.
Bozo’s has been around forever and a day, and has a really loyal fan base. I count myself among them. The pork sandwiches are wonderful, the meat slow smoked and tender. And I love their hot sauce here.
An interesting little factoid — a scene from Walk the Line was shot here.

I’ve only been to Bozo’s once but that’s enough to give it a 5 star review. I had heard about Bozo’s from a bbq place in NYC. So I found myself on vacation in Memphis with my family when I was in high school (sweet, right?), and we decided to take an hour or so long trek out to Mason for Bozo’s. It did not disappoint whatsoever.
My memory is a little fuzzy because it was about 6 years ago but it was the best pulled pork I’ve ever had. It’s a good thing because pulled pork is pretty much all they had as I remember. They have 3 sauces and they’re all fantastic too. You can get sides but they weren’t good. The prices are really reasonable but maybe that’s just because I’m from the east coast where we have to pay a ton of money for awful bbq.
The décor is cool, it looks like a Diner or it did when I was there… I think they were doing renovations when I went. Oh and just a bit of trivia… they shot a scene for the Johnny Cash movie, «Walk the Line» at Bozo’s. It was one of the 28 scenes where Johnny Cash is hitting on June Carter before they get married.