Punkin’s Bar-B-Que & Catfish

We stopped by here for lunch on the way to Turner Falls and were pleasantly surprised by the delicious flavor in the sliced brisket sandwich. The sandwich came with chips, but I opted for fries instead which was a great choice. There is a quaint pickle bar. The décor is festive, reflects the community, and is perfect for a BBQ joint. One thing I have to brag on about this place is I could tell the ranch (which I dip my fries in) was homemade and it was super delicious! Great service too!

This place is good. Great southern cooking. Had CFS this time and BBQ last time and plenty of it. You’re not gonna leave here without your belly full. Very good waitstaff.

«Known for their ribs & catfish» and Service with an Attitude
We were in town last weekend for youth rodeo events and saw the signs for Punkin’s on the highway. The location at 1911 W. Grant Ave (Hwy 19) was very convenient for our group of 13 for dinner. With a large group, we called ahead to set an expectation.
Our server said they were known for their ribs and catfish, so we tried both. I had the barbecue ribs, which were very tender but lacked any smoky flavor; the barbecue sauce was ok; nothing special for a «barbecue» restaurant. Everyone that had catfish, though, loved it. Portions were large, so nobody left hungry; quite the opposite! French fries were very good, as was the potato salad. Hushpuppies not so good — nice ‘n crisp, but no flavor beyond the corn meal.
The real challenge at Punkin’s was with the service. The servers who seated us and cashiered were both friendly. The server who actually served us, not so much. They were busy, and she appeared so overwhelmed that she got a little frazzled — and it showed. She was clearly annoyed with requests for drink refills, barbecue sauce, lemons («Go get them yourself at the counter!»).
Service is probably really friendly on a slow day during the week with mostly locals, but some were not suited to service work on a busy Saturday evening.
Pros: Great catfish at reasonable prices. Visit during the week and you may get lucky on service. ;-)
Cons: Based on review and our experience, service is inconsistent at best. If you’re going to get worked up over it, go somewhere else for dinner on a weekend. Barbecue was unimpressive.
Bottom Line: We’ve been to Pauls Valley a few times now, and this is one of the better places to eat in town. Be patient, and eat the catfish!

An awesome tradition for Pauls Valley! Best catfish anywhere but the same goes for their tender ribs! Luckily they have a combo option on the menu! Always great service — so many regulars it’s like family! They do have some other really good things on the menu — burgers sandwiches chicken — we always get the catfish though! Try it you’ll like it!

Love their fried zucchini! So good and the people are friendly. Definitely a good place to go to and take your family.

Best waitresses ever!!! Best catfish, ribs & sliced beef! Great location and easy access from I-​35. Definitely recommend!!!

The best service in town. Julie Johnson is the bomb. The catfish is my favorite and the price is great!

Horrible service good food if your not a local good luck getting waited on. Im not in the Restaurant business by any means but I think you would want your customers taken care of so they come back.

Consistently good. Variety sandwich is my favorite. Service is iffy at best. Fast one day and slow the next. Still recommend though, good food.

This was an excellent place to eat. I had the catfish and ribs. The service I got was amazing. The price was just right and the portion for what I paid was very large. 3 large catfish filets and 2 ribs and your choice of 2 sides. $ 15. As I was there I noticed they are big supporters of the Marine corp. and or waiter was a veteran. Thank you for supporting our service men and women. Small town with small town values and great food.

Cleanliness and service was good. Food was ok. Fried green beans were excellent. French fries were excellent. Ribs were dry and chewy. Sausage was ok. Sliced beef was bland. Food portion was good.

This place has the best catfish. Delicate flavor, crispy and not greasy. Loved the hush puppies as well. The service was great and the salad bar fresh with lots of choices. We will be back!

Not great, but not bad, and very simple. Service staff was nice and quick. Very busy during Sunday lunch. Pickle bar was misleading. There was dill pickle spears, onion, jalapeño, pepperchinis, and lemon. I ordered the chopped beef baked potato, which was more like sloppy Joe topping with a bunch of cheese. A little too much for my taste. My husband got the catfish, potato salad, and cole slaw. Everything was void of any seasoning or flavor. Again, it wasn’t bad, just not really good.

Great little diner/​bbq. Played old country music which definitely fit the place and atmosphere. Super large glasses of tea, tender beef, ribs, and pork. Service was quick and waitress very friendly.

Well, I didn’t have the catfish but it at least looked pretty good. Probably should tried it. I had the BBQ combo plate with brisket, ribs, and «Polish Sausage.» First of all, when you approach any BBQ joint, you should be able to smell smoke! I have a t-​shirt from a well known joint in Driftwood that says «You can smell our pits from miles away.» Exactly. But I digress. No smoke aroma coming into Punkin’s. The ribs were fall off the bone tender but no real smoke flavor. Same for the brisket. Both meats had the smoke ring, but I know there is same process by where you can oven– or gas-​cook meat and induce a «smoke ring.» And the sausage is a disaster, store-​bought with a very mealy texture and very bland taste. Eckrich maybe? Absolutely no spices and flavorings visible in the meat. And not being from Oklahoma, just a transient, I do not care for the sweet BBQ sauce served here. BBQ should be able to stand alone without sauce but Punkin’s needed it so as to provide some sort of flavor. My sides (slaw and tater salad) were good but I don’t go to BBQ joints for the sides.

Met some friends here for lunch. The food and service was just fine. The place was pretty busy and the food was reasonably priced.
I was a fan of the autographed James Brown photo next to the cash register.

My husband and I come by anytime we are in town. Great pickle bar and we love the catfish, Saturday is all you can eat. My favorite is the chip off the ol’ block, great sandwich and great fries. Small town atmosphere and they make great sweet tea!

Service was great. Catfish was toughest I’ve ever had. Left a lot on my plate. Don’t know about the Bar-​B-​Que. If you want good catfish, you might want to drive on down the road a bit. Pickle bar was just that, pickles, beets, peppers and onions.

haven’t had the Bar-​b-​que, but the catfish with the pickle bar is good and the service is very friendly and helpful! worth stopping in the fish in just rigth they cut the pieces up kind a small so it dune but not over cooked and it comes with beans frys and hushpuppys more then enough pickle bar has just about any kind a pickle you could want
onions oh and green tomatoe relish also lots of parking and I think there is truck parking on the side there is room there and its a big yes
I will be back.

I have only sat down in this place to eat once. But I have been eating their sliced brisket takeout for as long as I can remember (story below). Some friends of mine and I stopped by this place just off the freeway on our way to Dallas for a concert from OKC. We all ordered sandwiches. All in all the service was great, good not TOO spicy sauce, the décor to be expected and the food was spot on. I love their brisket too much to dare try anything else but looking over at my neighbors plate I saw that it all looked great.
I grew up a Yankee but my grandparents all lived in South Central Oklahoma. My grandfather used to get Punkin’s sliced brisket for at least one of our meals without fail every visit. It’s hard for me to go to another BBQ place without using Punkin’s sliced brisket as the benchmark. BTW my last visit was 9 months ago but I was inspired to write this review because I dreamed about their brisket last night. I know, I’m wierd.