Earl’s Rib Palace

Consistently good! The best cole slaw in town! The blackberry cobbler with ice cream is incredible! Thanks for being there Earl’s, you never disappoint!

Everyone in OKC is totally enamored with this place, but I can’t say that I 100% get the love fest. It’s decent BBQ, certainly, but not necessarily worth the cult-​like following. If you go, winners are the brisket and the curly fries. Every time I find myself here, though, I really just find myself uttering a wistful sigh for County Line BBQ (RIP) which was far more tender and flavorful.

My friends and I ate at earls for dinner last night. I had the ribs, potato salad and fried okra. I’m from a deep south family, and let me tell you this is the real deal. GREAT food, friendly staff, very reasonable prices. Best potato salad I’ve ever eaten and that’s not a small complement believe me!

First time visit while traveling-​Great BBQ– had chicken, turkey and sausage sliders. Potato salad/​beans were average, and peach cobbler ala mode was pretty good, Would go again!

Overall a pretty darn good BBQ joint with a rustic feel. This is where you go after the game, or when you need a quick BBQ fix.
I found the food delicious and moist. I had the two meat combo dinner. With deviled eggs and coleslaw. Gotta say the coleslaw is awesome! I enjoyed every bite and it left me wishing for more.

peach cobbler!

Decided to get BBQ before a night out drinking. The place wasn’t too busy and we were seated right away. They only serve 3.2 beer but it’s ok because we planned on a long night anyways. Started with an order of poppers (they called them something else) and two deviled eggs (more like one whole one) because they were 59 cents. The poppers were amazing … Not breaded which I love and wrapped in bacon which I also loved. The eggs were … Well typical. We order our mains when the server came back around. ½ slab of ribs, ½ bbq chicken and ½ lb sliced brisket. The ribs fell right off the bone with a nice crust … They were without sauce which I liked because I like to control how much I put on. The brisket was … A bit dry. Nothing really to say about it because Iv had way better. The ½ chicken was great! Enough for the both of us to share and was super moist. What made me give this place 3 stars and not 4 is there was nothing to say about the sauces … They were just lacking. If you are a bbq place … Even if it is a chain … You should put some effort into the sauce. I don’t eat sides but my bf had the slaw (he’s a slaw snob) which he said was legit and the beans which he didn’t like because he said they tasted too much like coffee. Overall, we paid around $ 50, we were full and the service was fast. Staff is friendly and will answer all questions about the food as well. Seems like a good place to bring family but we are becoming bbq snobs and probably will try somewhere more legit next time.

I was in OKC for bussniess and I wanted to try some of there BBQ… Okay being from Kansas City I guess I just have a higher expectation of what BBQ should be. Anyways tried this place and it was eh, nothing special. I got the ribs and when he said they were St. Louis style I kinda of cringed, and thought whatever I’ll try them … Yeah not doing the St. Louis style again The service was awesome ! Guess I should try somewhere else next time.

Canned, over salted side veggies. Over cooked corn. Dry hamburgers/​meat in general. I’m just not a fan. I wish I had something witty or interesting to say, but meh. Just meh.

It’s perfectly fine – nothing great nothing awful. That’s all i got.

I love BBQ and especially ribs went once and told myself afterwards that I would never eat there again I went once more several years later and was reminded why I said I’d never go again!

Earl’s is some of my favorite BBQ around. Their fried okra is impeccable and can’t be beat! I don’t like to eat in the restaurant so I always order it to go but it definitely has yummy ribs!

Like someone else said — any place with Ribs in their name better have good ribs — but that was not the case. Just average — no noticeable smoke ring or smoke for that matter. Tasted like they were done in an oven and put in a smoker at the end. Brisket — same thing but drier. Sides were the stars, but not good enough to give it a second chance — I found something better (review for that forthcoming)

Is it odd that I’m a vegetarian and I love Earl’s?
My meal consists of a loaded baked potato, that I slather with BBQ sauce, a house salad (always fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheddar cheese), corn on the cob (and I steal some of my hubby’s curly fries. Hubby thinks the location on Western is better than the one on Memorial (same taste at both for my eats).
The service is always great — Everyone seems to genuinely enjoy working there (not in a «Welcome to Ci-Ci’s» obnoxious way), but in a «always has a smile» kind of way. When I’m craving a good salad and baked potato, Earl’s is always my first choice.
For the meat-​lovers: hubby recommends «just about anything“‘ (but he does say they’ve cut back on the «smokiness» (downside for him).
Prices are reasonable, portions are large, atmosphere is what you would expect/​want for a BBQ joint — Check it out!

Mediocre BBQ at best and then I woke up with indigestion at 3am!
I had the combo plate with ribs, brisket, fried okra, and beans. First of all I need to say that none of the meat was hot when it was served, it was all just barely over room temp. The ribs were decent, but if these are the ribs that the «rib palace» is serving, they should be ashamed. The brisket was fine, nothing great, nothing bad. The fried okra was either cooked twice (as in they accidentally prepared too much earlier and then threw this bit back in the fryer to heat it up) or their batter is bad, either way no good. The beans were awful and I love beans. I’ll eat pretty much any beans, ESPECIALLY at a BBQ joint, but these were just sad. don’t get them. Then the icing on the cake: both of their sauces were bad.
If I had gotten this stuff out of a drive through window after waiting 42 seconds, I would have given it 4 stars, but at a place that fancies itself a serious BBQ joint, NOPE.

This location of the OKC epitome (rhyme – nice!) of mediocrity (lots of rhymes – double nice!) in the world of BBQ is even less of a fall-​back place to get a meaty bite to eat, simply for the fact that the location is sort of tucked back into a not as highly trafficed part of town.
For those who know of the horrendous smoked meat that comes out of Dickey’s in Texas (300+ franchises; no bueno… in fact, any BBQ with more than 2 location sucks), this is no different. In fact, I believe they have Dickey’s in OK now. Oh, but the ‘cue at Earl’s is extremely comparable to Dickey’s, in the vein that they both suck. Bad.
There are many more outposts of the «Palace», but essentially wherever you go, you are gonna get the same type of bland, crappy protein in the way of swine and cattle cooked «low and slow.»
The pricing is not terrible, but I would say that they could do a better job in utilizing the «per pound» idea and running with it. I mean, up the prices and take away most of the different «platters». I don’t know how this would work, but in Texas, the best joints are the ones that don’t fuss around with the various lunch «specials.»
Sauce wise, go with the spicy. The mild is to sweet. In the end, sauce is sauce is sauce. Not the wisest decision to smother your perfected (or in this case, not perfected) BBQ with slop.
Many a thing at Earl’s I would like to change. Alas, there is nothing I can do. I hail from Texas, and there is no changing city ‘cue, wherever you are. People just love their assorted combinations of Meat ‘n 3, regardless of ow much more awesome it would be to order by the pound.

Super quick to-​go lunch service made me finally really love this place. I have been unimpressed before but I did two things wrong before. I went at prime dinner time and I ordered something other than ribs. This time I got a full slab of ribs to share with my grandma. I called it in and it was ready in ten minutes. We took them home so we didn’t act-​a-​fool in public and buried ourselves in the yummiest, sauciest bbq bonanza ever. We got the cole slaw for a side which was super fresh and nice (probably less creamy and sweet than most Okies like it like that). The ribs were tender and hearty, fell right off the bone and I could barely eat three before I was totally stuffed. No worries. Grandma will freeze the rest and serve me ribs every time I visit for a month.

BBQ outside of California? Yes please!
Once you leave the golden state, you’re chances of finding better than okay BBQ increase 100 fold. So when my OKC clients said we were going out for BBQ, I was very excited. Earl’s is everything you’d want in a mid-​American BBQ joint; it’s smoky as hell, not super clean, and the clientele look like they could do without an extra plate of ribs.
For our group, we ordered piles of fried okra, hot wings, and cheese stuffed-​bacon wrapped jalapenos. All were great, with the fried okra nuggets taking the prize.
For my main dish I had to get Earl’s Binge Plate. Basically it had everything on it; ribs, pulled pork, hot links, and smoked bologna! While the ribs were amazingly cooked and the meat was falling off the bone just by picking up the bone, it lacked salt. My dining partners told me that was normal and you were supposed to sauce and season it yourself, meh. But after a heavy dose of the white stuff, that rib was darn good!
The hot links were great as well, and had a nice little kick to them. The smoked bologna however was not as smoky or «cooked» as I would have like it to be. And lastly the pork was just okay. I’ve had much better pulled pork in the Carolinas.
For dessert we indulged in a couple monster dishes of ice cream and fresh fruit. They were amazing.
So overall, it was good. Could have been better, but no way you’re going to get a meal like this for that price in California. No way in heck!

My 18-​year old nephew and I are on a cross country trip from Detroit to San Diego for him to go to college and live with me. A mutual interest in good BBQ helped to lay out this 5-​day excursion across America.
Based on Unilocal,we knew a stop in Oklahoma City to sample Earl’s Ribs was required. After our third stop (in Albuquerque), Earl’s was a major disappointment.
We arrived at Earl’s on a Sunday night at 7:15 pm and were the only patrons. With an 8:00 pm closing, by the end of our dinner I felt as if we were imposing on the staff. The restaurant’s interior was kitschy and the bathroom was clean.
I order the smoked turkey, beans, and slaw. Billy had the large order of ribs, potato salad, and slaw.
The presentation on my plate was okay at best. A huge scallion onion covered the food (what do you do with this?). The smoked turkey looked like it had been sliced at the grocery store and I’ve had better sliced by the guy at my local Honey Baked Ham store! The mayo-​based cole slaw was okay with too many large vegetable chucks (bell peppers and red onion) for easy enjoyment. The beans were very good.
Billy’s ribs were very good. He had like feelings of «so-​so» for the cole slaw and potato salad.
However, later that night, we needed more Tums and stomach relief than I care too imagine.
So far, Earl’s ranks dead last for us on this trip. While business may see me return to OK City, Earl’s will not.

I’ve certainly had worse BBQ. Pretty good ribs with lots of tender meat, and a decent sauce. The green beans were acceptable. The potato salad was an onion fest, and NOT to be bothered with. The iced tea was pretty good. The cobbler was all right, but nothing to write home about.
All in all, a decent BBQ joint, but still haven’t found anything to rival my two favorite spots from «back home.»