Mabel’s Barbeque

They never on time or have the same food items on the menu, they make whatever they feel like that day. i would not depend on them as your regular lunch or dinner stop.

had it before. Not too bad. they have good chicken fingers, let alone barbecue ribs

The best brisket around. I drive five miles out of my way to eat there.

From the old reviews that are on the wall, this appears to be a business that has lost its way. The first impression on a recent visit was of lots of credit card stickers along side faded signs that say «cash only.» Don’t understand that. Also an empty chiller for sodas, etc. had me wondering. The waiting area could have used some cleaning.
On to the food. I purchased ribs that, while tasty with some bark and not over sauced, were well overcooked. The meat fell too easily off the bone and was very mushy. There was only light smoke flavor. Given that ribs are apparently their number one specialty, I would have expected better.
The Mac and cheese tasted good and had a bit of a crust but the macaroni was overdone. The beans tasted like they had something sweet added to them but otherwise tasted like they had come from a can. The mustardy potato salad tasted homemade but could have used a bit more seasoning.
The service was OK, but I don’t think I will return anytime soon.

We were in the area picking up our son from his summer program and had extra time on our hands. We decided to grab something from Mabel’s. It is a no frills cash only take out spot. The food is good and reasonable on the prices.
All in all, worth hitting again if in the area. Worth a try if you have not done so already.

We stopped in Mabel’s to grab some lunch. Upon entering the smell of old cooking oil permeated the restaurant. We were pleasantly greeted and given menus. I ordered the BBQ chicken breast w/​2 sides, sweet potatoes and string beans. My husband ordered pulled pork and 2 sides, coleslaw and fries. We were offered a sampling of the BBQ sauce which was very good. The portions are good and very filling. The food was good and prepared well. The staff are friendly and very accommodating. A place we would visit again.

Perfect fried chicken. Sides are great, too. My new favorite: fried pickles with baked beans.

First time eating here and if by there will try it again. It was a small smoke house/​barbeque with a soul food flavor. I had the rib and chicken combo with sides of collared green and macaroni and cheese. I ordered hush puppies, but they forgot them even though I made sure she knew I ordered them when she repeated the order without saying them,
To speak of the food I tried, the chicken and ribs had good flavor. The wet sauce on the ribs was smoky and flavorful. The collared greens were a little salty for my tastes, but that is me, they tasted as they should for normal people.
The issue I had most was that although the flavor was good, the edges were slightly overdone.
The ribs were fall off the bone as was the chicken. Again, I would go back if I were there, but I wouldn’t make the drive specifically to eat there.

Went in around 1pm. There were three people in the back, two working, one talking. Was ignored for 15 minutes before I decided to leave. There were two other people there who called ahead and had been waiting before I arrived and they weren’t getting anywhere either. Have heard the food is good but that doesn’t matter if they can’t be bothered to sell it to you. Place was filthy as well, no like a cool dive joint, just plain dirty.

So disappointing! I heard rave reviews about this place and the first time we went there it was horrible. The place smelled of old grease immediately upon walking in. We went on a Friday around 1 PM, when you would think they would have plenty of food to feed the lunch crowd. Nope. They were sold out of all but two sides, and even some of the main dishes. My husband and I finally had to settle on the pork sandwich (we wanted the brisket) and french fries and onion rings. The french fries were old and stale, the onion rings were also hard– not like crispy, but as in soaked in grease until they were stiff. When we opened the sandwiches– NO SAUCE ON THEM! They gave you two tablespoons of sauce in a little foil wrapped cup to pour yourself. The meat was dry and stringy, and even the good sauce, which was tangy and definitely the highlight, couldn’t save it. This place needs to revamp and try harder. West Chester needs a decent soul food and BBQ place! I will not be going back until I hear some changes have been made.

Ok, I visited this place twice, since I like to give a place a second chance; both were disappointing.
My first impression as I walk in, while getting blasted with loud music, was that it could use a good cleaning. I waited a bit until someone came over to take my order, while trying to understand them with the music blasting I found out that they didn’t have the brisket or pulled pork, so I walked out. Brisket is the BBQ staple and not having any is a crime, it was early afternoon.
The second time I walked in I received the same impression. Luckily there was no music blasting, but it was even more disorganized and dirty then before, I guess that cleaning never came. So this time I just waited and waited and waited … then someone finally peeked around the corner from the back room, but didn’t say anything and just went back. So I waited, because surely they will attend to their customer soon, but I just waited, checked out all the lottery ticket stuff and waited and after 5 minutes walked out again, never to return.
When you have to sell lottery tickets to get customers, something is not right. Good luck with your business model.

The pulled pork sandwich was good and much bigger than I expected. The only disappointment was that this place is take out only. My fiancée and I went there expecting to have a night out at a dinning restaurant. Good thing we didn’t go pimped out. :)
Next time I go, (notice that I said «next time»), i’ll order another pulled pork in my sweats.

We tried calling to order lunch the Friday of Memorial Day weekend from 11 – 11:30 and no answer. Showed up at 11:42 and nothing was ready and the lady stated «well…we only open at 11:30 so of course we are not ready». If you run a restaurant and open at 11:30…your food should be ready at or before 11:30. I had heard the mac and cheese was really good… and they had none… very disappointing. The food was ok and fairly priced but I will not go there again. Bad service

First the food. The food is pretty good. I’ve had the brisket and pulled pork sandwiches. Both were solid, although the portions were small for the price. The mac and cheese is absolutely delicious though.
Mable’s has a couple of major problems though. First, the shop is disgusting. It doesn’t look like anyone has taken a mop to it in weeks. It’s tough to get over that, but BBQ isn’t known for being squeaky clean. Second, the service is just plain bad. Since BBQ is already cooked, there is no plausible reason why a brisket sandwich should take 30 minutes to prepare.
My biggest beef though is something that happened to me twice. 4 or 5 of us from work called in an order around 11am for a 12:00 pick up. We get there at 12 and are told that a larger order came in AFTER OURS WAS PLACED and so they took care of that order first, and left us waiting for 40 minutes for a few sandwiches and mac and cheese.
If the service/​cleanliness was as good as the food, this would be one of the best BBQ joints in SE PA.

Great BBQ, I’ve tried everything on their menu, over several visits. I’m still dreaming of the ribs, I’ll be going back for more! Service can be a little slow, so be patient, it’s worth the wait!

A little bit of southern cooking makes it to West Chester! Mabel’s is a small family-​run place on the east side of the town. It’s not very large and doesn’t have much room to eat in. It’s more of a take-​out place and is located in a small strip mall.
But the food is great! Where else can you order fried catfish with a side order of collard greens and cole slaw? The servings are large. I managed to finish my meal on one of the two tables they do have and staggered out of the place. Some of the spiciest fried fish I have ever consumed.

I went in Sunday afternoon. There were 2 young girls serving and maintaining the restaurant. Perhaps Mabel’s grandchildren. There is only one table with 2 chairs (not meant to dine in) sadly, I didn’t know this before making the trip but I was dying for some southern cooking! …the ONLY table was covered with bbq sauce and napkins from the previous guest, I had to ask the girl to clean the table in order for me to sit and wait for my order. I guess it was near closing time, with that being said the available food was SCARCE. Overall, I’ve had better tasting WARM food and needless to say, I will not return.

Mabel’s is a great little dive to get some quality BBQ.
I recommend calling ahead as she will prepare your food to order. That’s not to say she’ll start cooking it to order, that’s not how bbq works :) But I’ve been to other BBQ joints where they leave the food sitting around and it dries out. That’s not the case at Mabel’s. You’re guaranteed to get an awesome meal.
Mabel is always ready to engage you in conversation too. You’ll immediately feel as if you’ve been friends for years. This is my kind of place, and I’ll keep going back to Mabel’s every time I want some good BBQ.

A couple weeks ago, I was watching Food Network and an episode about fried chicken came on. Immediately after the watching the show, I decided I needed some fried chicken since I hadn’t had any in a really long time.
But here’s the problem: there’s not a whole lot of places in this area (besides KFC) that have fried chicken on the menu. After a Unilocal search, I discovered there are only two places: Soul Fed Café in Ardmore and Mabel’s here in West Chester. Soul Fed was closed, so I ordered from Mabel’s.
It’s located in a small strip mall. it’s not a place I’d order from if I was just walking down the street, so you have to know what you’re looking. Along with the fried chicken, I also got mac and cheese and collard greens. The chicken was made to order, which was nice, and by the time I got in the car and drove there (which took about 20 minutes), it was ready to go.
The chicken was good and the mac and cheese wasn’t bad either. I thought the collard greens were good for the first few bites, but then I started to realize how salty they were. I’m a salt person too, but these were just way too salty. Anyway, Mabel’s was ok, but I’m not sure if I’d go out of my way to come back.

Am I the only one who is very disappointed in this joint? Most of the negatives others have mentioned applied to our visit: very slow service, aloof proprietor, and over priced, mediocre food. The place wasn’t the cleanest eatery we’ve seen, either. And just to clarify about the service speed: if you order fried chicken, you will wait about 20 minutes because they fry it on demand. That part is good and worth waiting for. The slow service I am describing is the proprietor not even acknowledging us for a good 7 – 8 minutes when we entered the shop while she flitted around behind the counter talking to a friend.
I have lived in the (self-​proclaimed, admittedly) BBQ Capital of the World so I may be a bit stingy with my praise here: Mabel’s sauce was passable but nothing I would order again. It lacks depth and tasted of cheap store-​bought ketchup. I don’t mean to dis this place too hard but if BBQ is going to be your calling card I would hope you’d try to raise the bar instead of going the easy route.
We also ordered fried mushrooms (about a dozen pieces for $ 4.95 and they were your average diner-​type frozen fare); a pint of mac-​and-​cheese (the sauce tasted like Velveeta from a can – it was okay but if you are going to utilize food service-​quality ingredients, charge a food service-​quality price); and a fried chicken sandwich, which Mabel defines as two pieces of fried chicken – bones included – dumped atop two pieces of cheap white bread. End of story. Perhaps that is considered a chicken sandwich where Mabel comes from; for me, however, that is a two-​piece fried chicken meal with a side of Wonder bread.
Most of the time we were in the place, there was a significant amount of smoke filling the air. Mabel finally shouted to a worker to turn on a fan. But to her credit, Mabel came around toward the end of our wait and was pleasant, sociable, and even smiled a few times. Perhaps she was having a bad, busy day; perhaps we visited during an off week. But we won’t be returning. There are far too many other West Chester eateries we need to explore first.
Summary: average low-​end food; amateur service and execution; not worth the price or hype.