Pardner’s Bar-B-Que & Steak Restaurant

The BBQ beef and brisket sandwiches were large and delicious. Can’t wait to go back and try something else. Last ate there 25 years and food was good as ever!

So here’s the deal. I go to this place because I have a particular fondness for sliced pork barbecue, which is their specialty, and the sweet tea and bleu cheese dressing are TO. DIE. FOR. Try the dressing on their fries (holy crap, it’s goooooood).
That said, the service here is mediocre at best, and there is no atmosphere to speak of. Also, they close ridiculously early so if you don’t want to eat by 7:00, sometimes 7:30, you’re pretty much out of luck. I’ve had good luck with to-​go orders.
Side note: For those of you who have had Ridgewood Barbecue, which is just a few miles down the road from Pardner’s, this barbecue and sauce are identical. I don’t know anyone who can tell the difference. If you don’t want to deal with the parking fiasco and shining standards of customer service (note the dripping sarcasm) that Ridgewood offers, go to Pardner’s.

Great food at a very reasonable price some good Tennessee barbecue brisket is awesome ribs are tender and baked beans made from scratch

After cruising the flea market for half a day I took my son to eat here, I had heard good things about this place however it took an hour to get our food and it wasn’t even crowded. Our waiter didn’t believe in refills either he went MIA after taking our order.

I LIVE for this pork BBQ. It’s the only thing I’ve ordered. The atmosphere definitely needs some help (the acoustics are terrible and you can hear conversations from the other side of the room). However, I dream about this BBQ now that I don’t live in town anymore. And I go *every* time I visit.

Just dreadful. Had the supposed pork barbecue which was actually sliced lunch meat and tasted like garbage. Wanted to try something local but the place we found was closed since it was a Sunday and we settled on Pardners. Such a mistake. Unfriendly service, overpriced and just terrible food.

The hamburger steak is good but, it takes a really long time to get it! The service is terrible! Very noisy and you can always see employees standing outside smoking when you pull up! They have a party room downstairs that on the ceiling tiles you can see a ton of mold and filt!
My husband says they have the best bbq sauce of anywhere in the country but, everything around the sauce is a decline!

Didn’t meet my expectations. Ribs were hard and cold. Order a medium rib eye and I got it well done. Food took about 20 minutes to get. I expected more than this. I’m not sure if I’ll come back.
I do like the location — it is right between Bristol and Johnson City.

Big disappointment. We saw a big crowd and figured these folks must serve good BBQ. It’s good if you like too much sauce and lots of gristle.
I’ll bet there are better places around.

I have not been to Ridgewood for many many years. I find the crowds much too daunting. When I first went to Parnders a few years back, the taste of the sauce immediately recalled Ridgewood. I have returned to Pardners many times since and always find the food and the service to be pleasing. I always get the BBQ pork, and I have never been disappointed.

Don’t bother. This is a no frills place. When we sat down and noticed the walls were dirty we decided to give the place the benefit of the doubt. The parking lot was always full and we just moved to the area so we thought it might be great BBQ. Well, we talked ourselves into saying that maybe the food platters were large and good… ugh, the French fries were soggy and warm and the pork sandwhiches were fatty, even KFC coleslaw is better. All for 2 pork sandwhiches and fries and drinks it was 19 bucks, should have just gone to Chili’s for that price! I think only the local older folks visit this place.

This place has been around forever. BBQ is quite good, this is one place i like the beef better than the pork. And their famous for their breakfast. Definitely worth the trip. Enjoy the southern atmosphere… its free.

I live out of town now and I use to love this place but the last few times I have come here the food and service has rapidly declined. Tonight was the last visit for me. The young lady running the register was extremely rude and apparently could careless if a placed my order or not. I was very surprised when I got there at peak dinner time to find only 8 – 10 cars in the lot. But now I know why.

Get the fries well done as they are typical served soft style. They are kind of like Five Guys.

It’s one of those things. When you’re away you remember it being a lot better than it turns out to be. Nothing wrong with it, just not a light healthy dinner.

One of the most unique barbeque flavors I have ever eaten. Have seen their food truck at Bristol Motor Speedway over the years and finally got a chance to stop by the restaurant. A large interior capable of seating quite a few people.
Serving size here is massive! One half of the menu is barbeque and the other side is more grill with steaks and seafood items.
We opted to try the barbeque platters with both beef and pork and added the creamy slaw and baked beans as the sides.
Slaw was very good. Creamy and sweetened just right. Beans were lighter than most and had a very complementary taste with the rest of the food. Not as loaded with the brown sugar as some others can be. As for the meat, it was very tender and ample portions of both. The sauce is really the flavor here, and is thicker than others. Was very rich with subtle spicing and a smooth bite to it. Never had anything like it and was surprised at how well the meat and sauce blended into each other.
Nice place with friendly staff. Glad to find another joint with their own take on an American tradition!

I have lived all over and eaten a lot of BBQ. This was not bad. I was impressed with the size of the sandwich for the money. They have good beef and pork, however they don’t do brisket.
I live in Va Beach, (used to live here years ago,) and lived in Memphis, this is by far no Beale St. but for this area, it is a good fulfilling meal. I do think it needs more coleslaw on the sandwich though. Not a fan of the dill slaw, but the sweet & creamy slaw was good. The french fries were great, nice and fresh, hot, and very plentiful!

People love Ridgewood, but when it is full and the close leaving you outside – you might ask WHY?! The original owner of Ridgewood was the family that ran Pardners after they sold it to the Profitts. With a handshake agreement, they could not open another competing BBQ restaurant for 10 years. 10 years later, they opened Pardners.
For those who hate it but love Ridgewood, it really isn’t all that different. Fries are very similar, blue cheese is almost identical, and the sliced ham (not cured) bbq is very similar. The sauce is a bit milder than Ridgewood.
It isn’t your pulled pork type bbq, but it is good in its own right. Tea is outstanding.

I have only ate breakfast here every year when I go to the Bristol race. You get a ton of food and is priced cheap. The gravy is great likes grandma use to make, biscuits are fluffy and soft. The staff is always great and never much of a wait if at all.
Friend says the burgers are great just never ate there other then breakfast.

In this area there is lots of hoopla over Ridgewood BBQ. Don’t get me wrong Ridgewood is very good, but I believe it is overrated and therefore tends to have a long wait time.
Pardner’s is very good and rarely has a wait. The portions are generous and the BBQ is tasty. I personally like the beans! If you stop by you will notice the customers are almost totally locals, usually a very good sign.
If traveling to Pardner’s from the Johnson City area BE AWARE! There is a speed camera just before you get to Pardner’s. The speed drops to 45 shortly before the camera and they «catch» about 1000 folks a month!