Rivertowne BBQ

For lunch we split the sampler and a house salad… very very good and we still took a lot away with us. Generous and tasty portions. Wish we lived
Closer. Loved having all the sauces to chose from. A great lunch stop on our way to Fort Smith.

Do not let the outside deceive you! This restaurant is clean & the food is amazing! It’s worth driving 2 miles into town. Thankful for all the Unilocal reviews!

The food was great and so was the service. The food is priced right. The portion size was more than enough. I’m so glad that we stopped in to eat. The next time I’m close by, I will be stopping to eat here again.

Wow! What a nice surprise! Great atmosphere, food, and service! They say they have the best ribs in the state. I must agree. They were fall off the bone good. Located earthen square, it’s a short walk to the Arkansas river.

Overall is it just as the rating says. «A-​OK». 4 adults and a child. Everyone was mostly pleased and there are no complaints about the portions or the service (we had a very sweet and competent waitress). Prices were fair and reasonable to us. The mac & cheese was a hit, the corn on the cob was a BIG hit, fried okra, beans. all acceptable or better. I really liked the potato salad, but that a personal thing, so the table was split. It has sour cream in it for sure, and I liked that dill, mustard, sour cream flavor — skin on tators. good. Pulled pork was good, the ribs were given high grades. But I have to say, my brisket was tough and dry. Tough. And. Dry. At the end of the day, you aren’t going to be a great BBQ place with that brisket. Not happy. The BBQ sauces were mild and hot and the hot has a bite, but there were very good mixed. The green beans were loved by all and the house salad — though over-​cheesed — was fresh and good. Extra points for a delicious blue cheese dressing. All in all, I am not a BBQ fan and this place was somewhere I would certainly go again. Solid.

First time in the south and this was the first BBQ place I ate at. Great atmosphere, friendly and hard working staff. The food was awesome. We had fried pickles which are delicious and I had the pulled pork with sweet potato fries and potato salad. I loved the vinegar bbq sauce as well as the regular and spicey ones. Great place to eat and have a good time.

Great atmosphere, friendly people, good spot for kids & families. The staff is always friendly. Some people who don’t leave nearby plan their drive around a lunch or dinner to eat at Rivertowne.
Now for the food. The only thing I’ve ever ordered is the RIBS and it’s probably all I’ll ever order. I’m set in my ways when I find good bbq, especially ribs. Growing up in the South, this is serious business. Last time I was here, I brought a friend who had never eaten here. We ordered the ribs for 2 which came with 4 sides. So much food! We could have ordered 1 dinner & split it. The pics show how much food & how many ribs they bring. The ribs are meaty, fall off the bone, with a good smoke ring you can taste & see.
The sides all are great. Cool place. Oh, try the RIBS.

Every time we are in Ozark, we make it a point to come to Rivertowne BBQ at least once (but usually multiple times). They’ve got a simple menu that is delicious. I generally stick with the chopped brisket or the pulled pork with delicious sides like cole slaw and fried green tomatoes. These guys know their BBQ and the meat is smoked to perfection. It’s a moderate price point and easy for families. They’ve got a few different sauces that appease everyone, I really like the meat comes out without sauce so you can dress it up however you want. When in Ozark definitely stop by!

Eat with a group of 8, everyone enjoyed. Good food and price, service was outstanding. Pulled pork ruled the day.

We were traveling from Colorado to Florida and stopped at this little gem while searching for a place to eat. I’m so glad we did! Wonderful staff, atmosphere and food! The BBQ was delicious! i would definitely recommend this place to everyone.

I went there a week ago with no expectations. Was pleasantly surprised to find out that their barbecue is really good. My wife and I both had the combination plate and all the meat was cooked to perfection in and it was a nice pink color. The meat was delicious and tender, fall off the bone good. I do think that they need to work a little bit on their sauces. I have had a lot of different sauces, and this one has a bit to much vinegar. A good sauce will be dark sweet and really smoky.

The waitress got my order wrong two times. Food was not fresh, the meat was very dry. Inside is cold and uncomfortable.

Great BBQ — the chicken salad is BANGIN… super consistent and great big portions. Totally recommend.

My husband had the beef brisket with a side of coleslaw. He LOVED the brisket and the coleslaw was not his favorite but he happily finished his plate with a big smile on his face their bbq sauces delicious a perfect 10 combination between the hot and mild

Absolutely huge portions and the best baked beans. So glad we saw the billboard from the highway. Definitely worth the drive!

Wow! We were on the last few days of our cross country road trip, headed back to D.C. We knew that we were in the south and that barbecue is good here but it wasn’t until we discovered Rivertowne Barbecue that we were shocked at just how good it gets.
We came on Saturday July 18 and saw the signs right off the interstate 40 so we followed the directions. We came to the town square of Ozark and there it was, down another block on the right side. Excited, I came inside and there was already the enticing smokey smell of tasty barbecue. The place was very clean and neatly organized and in my waiting time there was a lot of decorative old fashioned neat stuff inside to look at.
Naturally, I ordered 2 large pulled pork sandwiches. They were large, delicious, and very reasonably priced. My dad had requested by phone the half rack of ribs with 2 sides, sweet potato fries and baked beans. Just the food in the to-​go boxes and bags filled the van up with an enticing mouth-​watering food smell, it was difficult for me to drive back before eating the food.
My niece who was there with me only eats fish and vegetarian stuff so I had to look for something for her. I was overjoyed to look at the menu and see that they have a smoked salmon salad! Smoked salmon just happens to be Julia’s favorite food, I couldn’t believe it!
The salmon salad was indeed a hefty serving, with spinach and lettuce and other scrumptious toppings that made it amazing. As if that were not enough, the salad came with a buttermilk pesto dressing. I’ve never had this before and it was the first time I ever heard of it, probably a local thing, but it was incredibly tasty. It all just seemed like we were having an awesome dream, the food was better than perfect and it made us so incredibly happy.
What an atmosphere the place has, they play really catchy tunes inside, everybody keeps a bright friendly smile and they’re eager to accommodate us, offering us water while we waited, making sure we had everything, double checking on the specifics of our order and catering to our picky special requests and custom adjustments (I’m sorry to say but we Cityfolk can be really demanding and difficult at times).
We took the food back to the rest of the family. We were camping out at Mulberry River campground, almost an hour away. Even as far away as we were, we still went back to Rivertowne 3 more times in the next 2 days that we were there. We talked about how good the food was for the rest of the trip home and we already missed it as soon as we left Ozark.
The only thing that I regret was that these friendly employees don’t have a tip jar at the register which I certainly wouldn’t mind adding to. They deserve it.
We’ll certainly be back…

Overall not bad BBQ, but nothing special for a region that has plenty of standout BBQ. The best item we had was the pulled pork (very tender, smoky but not overly so). The brisket wasn’t much… Tasted like chuck roast honestly. It was tender, but had no real smoke ring or ‘cue flavor to it. Ribs were tough– I wouldn’t order them.
The sides were what impressed me the most. Really tasty skin-​on fries, thick, sweet baked beans (gigantic portion!) really tangy coleslaw which balanced the sweetness of the sauce really well, and sweet potato fries that tasted like dessert!
Really friendly and fast service… The folks here definitely made us feel like we were walking into a home kitchen.
I probably won’t be back due to the numerous options in Fort Smith/​Russellville, but if I did return, I’d stick solely to the pulled pork and fries/​beans as sides.

This has always been one of our favorite places to eat, but since it has changed hands we have been very disappointed. Prices have gone up substantially while the quality of the food has gone down. The ribs were tough, and they don’t even put prices for drinks on the menu. They are extremely high!
As if that weren’t enough, the wait time for our food was very, very long and for the first time some in our party went away hungry. We won’t be back!

Friendly staff who serve good food.
The BBQ is excellent with a few surprises thrown in. Try a «half salad» and enjoy a large chef salad with your choice of meat. If you’re really wanting a treat, find «Bean Slop» on the menu. A heaping bowl of beans layered over rice, meat, and who knows what else. It’s my personal favorite.

Good BBQ situated in a quaint corner of downtown Ozark. Service is swift and competent. Will probably never forget the creamed possum with raccoon fat gravy menu item — for real!!! Still laughing.