Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

I wanted to try this place once I saw them popping up around the area. Went in today and was very disappointed. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich which wasn’t bad but was WAY OVERPRICED! I could’ve walked out I suppose but thought maybe the food was way above average. It was not. It was decent but not worth $ 14 for a SMALL pulled pork sandwich and two sides. I guess if you have unlimited funds this may not matter to you but I can assure you the portions do not match the prices.

THIS IS MY FIRST REVIEW! When I first entered this location of Dickey’s Barbecue in Irvine, I had very good expectations since I have been to the one in Orlando a couple times and have enjoyed it. When I first got there I couldn’t seem to find the location– it literally took a couple minutes scrambling in my car seat looking left and right. Once the location was clearly evident I walked up to this promising barbecue palace. When I had first walked in, the smell of barbecue happily traveled up my nose and made it its home for a couple of minutes. 3 of the members of my group really didn’t want barbecue and went right next door to a Mexican grill. There was 2 left standing in my group and we were ready to take on some juicy flavorful meat with a various selection of delightful sauces. However I wasn’t there yet, I had to pick my FULL MEAL and that was a little difficulty as I had found the menu a little hard to understand.
After a couple minutes of decision making, I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with a side of fries and mac and cheese. I also got a root beer which was very refreshing and fit right into the mood in preparing me to get ready to eat some barbecue. When the food shortly arrived I carried it outside and was ready to dig in.
The mac and cheese was good but wasn’t spectacular and doesn’t call for critical acclaim but was satisfying. I then indulged into the pulled pork sandwich in which I had added the original Dickey’s sauce in it. After finishing it, I was slightly disappointed as I had expected a touchdown and only got a first down. I guess I was hoping for something incredible but after chomping it down I ended up saying, «eh». The fries were decent but I prefer straight fries than waffle fries. However, the free ice cream was a nice touch and got a bunch for my group. Let me tell you the ice felt really good after finishing up the meal.
Overall, if you go in having average-​good expectations than your in for a treat, but if you want the «best barbecue in town» I wouldn’t suggest this place as there is most likely better options in town.

Let’s start with the one good thing. The meat was good, and that is what the 1 star is for. The service was bad, very slow, poor system for ordering, no communication between their workers to get your order right. They ran out of several of the sides so I had to pick a 4^th choice. It was really salty so I took it back and asked if I could get something else instead. The cashier gave me a dirty look, attitude and then argued that the side I was requesting was even saltier than the one I brought back. Great answer. She told me she would bring it to my table in a few minutes. We waited for awhile, and when it wasn’t brought over we just left. The girl with attitude had dark hair and glasses, whoever owns this place should train workers that giving attitude and acting annoyed to customers will not make them come back and soon you will have no job. The dining area was also dirty and they ran out of ice. Terrible first impression for our first and last visit here.

Just moved to Tustin and decided to try this dickies out since I have had several great experiences with the Buena Park spot. So I drive over to the spot and go to order just to be told all they have is chicken and sausage. How does a bbq spot not stock enough meat to accommodate a holiday? Guess this is a sign from the gods since the staff was rather rude in how they explained it to me why would I want to support a establishment that is rude when they can’t accommodate their customers wants and needs? Guess I’ll stick with the other local BBQ spots or just drive to a more prepared spot!

My recommendation… just avoid!
I’ve tried to be a customer since this opened three separate times. All three times I have left disappointed and slightly agitated.
The crew spends more time chatting with each other than serving customers. Customers seem to interrupt their conversations and the half-​hearted questions barked over the glass partition in curt tones let you know it is an inconvenience. Added no matter what time I stopped in the menu was highly limited because they were out of everything but one or two items (the menus is small as it is… so I chalk it up to just poor planning).
Not worth the gas to park and restart your car —

This location was very clean with fast and friendly service. Everyone was very welcoming. The food is consistent with other locations and best of all, free soft serve ice cream!

Now a favorite brisket place. Courteous staff, clean place, free soft serve ice cream. This place was not short of delivering great food on a gloomy June day.

I’m very surprised by the negative reviews for this restaurant. Today, I ordered the family meal for four for take out. I ordered the pork ribs, beef brisket, mac and cheese, Cole slaw and beans. It took two minutes to order over the phone and it was ready within 20 minutes.
I was greeted by two friendly employees and my food was packed in two bags. Pleasant, fast take out order experience. There was plenty of parking in the lot and the restaurant is very clean.
The pork ribs were absolutely fall off the bone tender, perfectly seasoned and warm. It is even better with the bbq sauce which came with the order. The beef brisket was also tender and again, perfectly seasoned. The portions were plenty for a family of four (even though it’s only for my husband and me).
The three sides were delicious, generous portions and definitely large enough for a family of four. We also got six rolls which were soft, probably great with butter or honey.
Overall, the food was great. Nothing was over seasoned, the portions were great and we will definitely come back. We also recommend.

It’s pretty decent. Nothing to boast about. I would come back but couldn’t say it would be top of my list.

Uhm… our ribs and brisket was very dry. The only thing me and BF ate was the pulled pork. The only thing that wasn’t dry.

Other than Korean BBQ finding authentic American BBQ can be a little hard to find. After stopping in at Dickey’s BBQ I will keep looking.
This is the 2^nd time I’ve tried their BBQ and trust me I LOVE BBQ. Their pulled pork is on the dry side. At the condiment bar you have your choice of BBQ sauce to put over your meat. Even that doesn’t help. I opted for the sandwich which consisted of dry bread that feel apart after two bites. Once you’ve finished your meal you can treat yourself to a free «vanilla» soft serve. Do yourself a favor opt out of this free goodie.
If Orange County has a great BBQ place I haven’t found it yet, but my quest continues.

This place was fine. I don’t think we will come back, but we won’t avoid the place either.
To start, the restaurant itself is in a strip mall. The workers there are friendly, but the set up was confusing to me (order the meat with that guy down there, no don’t tell him your sides, tell someone else, etc), and a bunch of people talk to you at once. You order your food and they scoop it all out and give it to you right then. They were very fast.
I ordered the pulled pork combo plate with green beans/​bacon and potato salad. My husband ordered the beef brisket with Mac n cheese and potato salad. For starters, I liked my pulled pork and his brisket. They do meat very well. However, the sides were not great. Both of us thought the potato salad was soupy and not very tasty. Also, my green beans were mushy and did not really have any bacon pieces in them, so that was a bummer. My husband’s Mac n cheese was okay but also a bit mushy. The bread was yummy.
They have free soft serve, which is a nice touch. I didn’t have any, but my husband said it was a bit watery.
Overall, it was an ok place but not anything to write home about!

It’s been awhile since I was last here; I wasn’t sure if the food has changed. Well it hasn’t! The food was awesome as usual and the cleanliness was very good for a casual restaurant. I am very unsure of why this place has only a 3 star average when it should be 4!
The service is what brings the people back again and again! We walked in today a few minutes before closing. They offered nearly the full menu of items. Only 2 items were out, which is impressive. The gentleman had told us it was closing time but that we need not rush and to feel free to enjoy our dinner.
Even at the last minute a group of people walked in and asked if they were too late. The fellow said it was fine, but they had to make to go orders. The guy checked on us frequently to be sure we were satisfied with our food. Yum!

I really wanted to like this place but the workers there are quite rude.
The food is ok nothing special.
The place is not well kept by the workers either, spilt food dirty tables crusty pickles container. Not worth the price, ill just go to lucielles

Save your time and money and go elsewhere for a meal.
Service (¹⁄₅): Dickey’s employees are dicks… they were all frustrated and taking their frustration out on all the customers. The employees were not friendly and were giving customers attitude. All the line servers were disorganized while taking orders and serving incorrect orders. The cashier was also ringing up incorrect orders. The couple in line in front of us had to bring their order back to the register because at they were given the wrong dishes. Additionally, my family ordered food to-​go and when we got home our pork tangler baker had NO pork! :(Overall, The service was incredibly slow because no one seemed like they knew what they were doing.
Food (¹⁄₅):
–brisket: dry, no smoked flavor
–turkey: rubbery, too salty
–pulled pork: dry, bland, but better than the brisket and turkey
–pork tangler baker: would have been pretty decent if they did not cheat us and actually put the pork on the potato

I’ve been here twice for their BBQ brisket. All I can say is that it is inconsistent and not very good. The first time I had it, the brisket was dry and tough. The seasoning was okay, and it did have a subtle smoke flavor. It made for a great Unilocal picture! But, was tough to eat. The second time I ordered it, the meat was burnt and shredded. It almost looked like they were trying to make pulled pork with brisket. The photo of the meat I had the second time did not resemble the meat I had the first time. After seeing the meat all shredded up and burnt, I didn’t want to eat it. Their fried okra was good. But most anything fried and dipped in Ranch dressing tastes good.
If their brisket is any indication of how the other meats are, I don’t think I need to try their rib, pulled pork or whatever they have cooked up. Why do they wrap their meat in plastic wrap after cooking it? Hopefully it is because they are still new and working through the kinks. I am not impressed. There are better bbq’s places out there for brisket.

This is a new location for a franchise that I just recently heard about. It just opened and clearly has some initial growing pains. The first time I visited, the order process was extremely slow and inefficient. Nearly every customer was unhappy with the wait but the delicious smell kept me waiting not-​so-​patiently in line.
I ordered the brisket, pulled pork, and spicy sausage. I have been told I am fairly picky about my barbecue as up until now I hadnt found a bbq place I liked in southern California, having been spoiled by Texas bbq.
So how was the food? I must say the flavor was excellent. The brisket was moist and tender, the pulled pork was flavorful, and the spicy cheddar sausage had the right taste as well. I could do without the cheddar in it but I’ll live with it. The owner seemed truly concerned about the long wait and came out to apologize to our table. He offered some ribs for us to try, and they were delicious as well. They weren’t quite as good as ones smoked at home, but they were ⁴⁄₅.
Now on my first visit the food was a little cold but I had let the manager know and the food has been appropriately warm on my subsequent visits. The portion sizes are pretty decent and I leave full after ordering a three meat combination, especially if you get a preparer that is a little more generous with the scale.
Oh, and don’t forget the free soft serve ice cream. While not quite as good as a hole-​in-​the-​wall local bbq joint in the heart of Texas, this place scratches my bbq itch and is a lot more convenient than flying to the Lone Star State just for a meal.

Q: How do you get into this place?
A:The exit door is in the front near the street while the entrance is in the back.
Q:What is all this cross-​contaminated food about anyways?
A: You see, this place is a newly opened franchise, so there are a bunch of high school kids that work there on the weekend and the manager doesn’t really pay that much attention to what they are doing. I hope the health dept. does. I watched how the food was prepared for the group that ordered before me and seeing that, I almost bolted. Instructions to help prevent cross-​contamination: Cut the meat on the board, place the carved meat on a new paper on the scale, then move that paper with the carved meat off of the scale and then continue to make the sandwich or plate.
Q: Why is my sandwich cold?
A: Almost all of the meat is cooked ahead of time, encased in plastic wrap and stored in the frig. They have warming lights on the pulled pork, but even so my sandwich was cold.
Q:I just ordered criss-​cut fries. Why can’t the carving board tell the sides station that so they can start cooking them?
A: Hell, I don’t know. It’s some super secret kitchen silo of information and its poor customer service if you ask me. You have to wait for them to come out of the fryer after you’ve already sat down and started to eat.
Q: Why is everything so sticky?
A: It’s the sauce. It’s delicious and it’s everywhere. On the counters, on the tables that were all dirty and not wiped down, on the chairs, on the windows, on the napkin holders — everywhere. Dear management: please train your employees to wipe down all surfaces in the kitchen and dining room frequently with a clean cloth and sweep the floors.

This is a average rating for the following:
¹⁄₅ — Ribs. Ok, I got the pieces on the end so I figured maybe on the drier side but they were too salty. I did like the bbq sauces though.
³⁄₅ — Brisket. Tender and tasty, a better choice.
¹⁄₅ — Turkey. It was sliced from a loaf type of form that was kept in a warming drawer. But the weird thing is that the Turkey was kept in a plastic bag or wrapping.
¹⁄₅ — Ham. Also came in loaf form and in plastic. Nothing special.
³⁄₅ — Pulled pork. Juicy, decent flavor but brisket still #1.
¹⁄₅ — Green beans. Mushy, overcooked. One little piece of bacon.
³⁄₅ — Mac and Cheese. Pretty generic but good.
²⁄₅ — Onion Tangles. A plastic bag of frozen onion rings were dropped into the fryer. Decent but tasted like sub par fast food.
¹⁄₅ — Waffle fries. Nothing special, and again from the freezer in a bag.
³⁄₅ — Cole slaw. I liked it but reminded me of kfc Cole slaw.
²⁄₅ — Baked potato casserole. Think mashed potatoes with green onions on top and a sprinkle of cheese.
The best thing was the free self serve ice cream. I suggest getting the root beer and then adding ice cream to make a float!

Dickey’s is a smallish barbecue chain. Typical fare — pulled pork, brisket, turkey breast, chicken breast, some sausages.
I had the big barbecue sandwich with brisket. Not bad but not spectacular. For side I had cole slaw and fried okra. Cole slaw was okay. The fried okra was a nice change because it is hard to find.
This place is brand new so there are some kinks to work out. Wait time was pretty long.
It’s close to work and home so I’ll be back.