Jackson’s Big Oak Barbecue

«It ain’t nothing fancy, but it‘s great food!» — Server.
This place has one of the best BBQs I have ever had, the price is unbeatable and there are a lot of choices for sides.

Real disappointed in North Carolina «barbecue» lately. Did I miss the memo where it’s okay to cook meat in an oven and call it barbecue? The downward NC trend continues at Jackson’s Big Oak Barbecue where the only whiff of smoke you’ll get is in the name and on the grossly misleading sign out front which shows a wood log, as if that’s what they use to cook.
The food didn’t taste bad but I can roast up some pork butt and ribs in my oven. I don’t need to spend money on someone else doing it and calling it barbecue. There was no pink ring on the food indicating smoke and no smoky flavor. To verify I asked the cashier what type of wood they used and she said, «Oh they don’t use wood.» Turns out «Big Oak» refers to a tree out back.
On a plus note the sides and service were good but I won’t be returning. I’m obviously in the minority here because the place was packed.

Ok. So I liked this place. I did. But I wanted to like it more. I loved the southern friendliness of the staff; which very much matched the décor of this place. I ordered ribs and fried chicken with Mac and cheese and potato salad. The ribs were tender (and plentiful) but I didn’t love the excessive bbq sauce on it so husband got those. The fried chicken was addictive but could of used a little more salt in the batter. Same for the sides, it just wasn’t as tasty as food that high calorie should’ve been. To be fair, I was hankering for Casey’s but they weren’t open on a Monday. I would come back here but overall it was good not great.

The chicken was way overfried and the ribs had a lot of gristle corn sticks and black eyed peas were great and our server was awesome

I liked this place a lot.
I ate everything I could get! The pulled pork, chicken, ribs, fried okra, mac ‘n cheese… I ate every last bite, I liked it so much. The staff and other customers were so nice, too. The waitress even brought us corn sticks and hush puppies as soon as we sat down — I love not having to wait!
I even overheard my parents talk about how great/​cheap the price was! There was plenty left over for me to eat the next day.

I have to preface this review (and pretty much every BBQ review) with the fact that I’m not a real big fan of saucy and sweet BBQ. The one Carolina style BBQ dish I do like is pulled pork and Jackson’s does pulled pork right. It’s got that great vinegary bite and every bite was moist and delicious. Also sampled their fried chicken which was pretty good too. It wasn’t overly greasy and seasoned perfectly.
Sides were great, went with mac and cheese and collards; can’t go wrong there. Although I don’t like hush puppies, my friend loved them. The corn sticks/“breadsticks” thing was just weird and… corny but flavorless. It’s really hard to describe.
Overall, Jackson’s is a definite go-​to if you’re a BBQ fan.

I really like this place… I thought Smithfields was the best but this has this place beat. Best hush puppies I have ever had. Fries were yummy and the pulled pork was perfect.

BBQ plate is the item to get here. The small plate is usually enough. Mac and Cheese is great, okra is great, mashed potatoes are great. Collards are a bit smoky, but there are plenty of sides to substitute. They have other food but it is the best BBQ plate in the ILM. Sweet tea is a must.

Great eastern style BBQ, Mac and cheese to die for. A true North Carolina barbecue place, with a welcoming staff and a homey interior, decent prices coupled with delicious food make for a great experience!

A staple for NC BBQ ! Really good and tasty food/​great service too.

This place is the real deal. Cheap, delicious BBQ. Our waitress was a total doll. We both got plates – I got the pork BBQ and Brunswick Stew plate and my boyfriend got the BBQ chicken and ribs plate. He was crazy about everything he got, but I thought the Brunswick Stew was underwhelming.
The sides were amazing! Get the green beans and the Mac n cheese!
Maybe it’s because i’m not southern enough, but I thought the cornbread sticks were very underwhelming. The hush puppies were great though!

I was in Carolina Beach, NC recently and of course I needed to sample the local BBQ. Many choices available. We finally settled on Jackson’s because a local recommended it — what better way to decide.
Not disappointing. I had a pulled pork platter including two sides. The vinegar-​based BBQ is one of my favorites as it’s not sweet and allows for the smokiness of the meat to come through. Such was the case with my meal. My sides included collards and potato salad. The greens were just perfect — again the natural flavor of the main ingredient was dominant, no bacony fat taste, if any was used at all. The potato salad was fair — mushy and not much taste. I tried my partner’s cole slaw — Wow! The server was friendly and very attentive.
Return trip assured when in town again.

While i was passing through, I was really in the mood for some good comfort food. After reviewing the menu I could tell i was in the right place. I ordered the Mac, Ribs, Fried Chicken and sweet potatoes and I was not disapointed. Jackson’s has great food and great service. My waitress was extremely nice, the staff here are very friendly. If I am ever in the area I will be sure to stop by again. Oh and just so you know, if you plan on coming here be prepared for big portioned meals. At Jacksons you get your moneys worth.

Welcoming and friendly service. Food came out hot and quick. Bbq and sides were delicious! Hot hush puppies, not overcooked collards, and the corn sticks were something different, like corn flavored yucca to me – yum! The fried pork skins were phenomenal – see if you can get them right out of the fryer and they are even better! Great food, service, and price point – get here!

Ms T and I made a little tour of the North Carolina coastal region, stopping first in Wilmington/​Wrightsville Beach. We started our first day with a beer at Broomtail Brewing and proceeded to Jackson’s Big Oak.
I ordered a medium combo with pork barbecue and ribs. The pork was a decent medium chop. The sauce was not heavily applied, so the moisture was good and it had a pure pork flavor which I liked. It was well trimmed, not greasy. There was really no outside but also no googily bits. This would make a very good sandwich.
My ribs were what I would call crockpot style. This is an entirely different thing than I was expecting but then I guess you don’t come to North Carolina for ribs. They were cooked in a tangy, sweet sauce. They are cooked done and done and done. It is hard not to like them once you get past the fact that you don’t need teeth to eat them. I was thinking they would be right at home at a church supper. If you order them, just be aware these are not ribs like come out of a Memphis smoker.
Ms T had a Fried Chicken platter and it was very good unadorned fried chicken. It appeared to be brined because there was ample salt throughout the meat and it was very juicy. The coating was light, it was fresh and hot. Seasoning was minimal (not much if any black pepper). It was just very good purist fried chicken.
My collards were sweetened. I don’t care for sweet collards, but they were tender. They were cooked without any meat. My Brunswick stew was also somewhat too sweet for me. I would rate it average, a little boring, pedestrian. The slaw was yellowish, chartreuse from a goodly dose of yellow mustard. It was a little sweet and a little tart from the mustard. It was too much yellow mustard for me but it went well with the pork.
Ms T’s Blackeyed Peas were very simple, in fact they needed a little salt. They had good clean pea flavor with no obvious onion or Ms T would have commented. Her fried okra was very fresh, with great okra flavor. It was clearly not frozen, pre-​breaded. It was tender, not slimy and was as good as we usually get anywhere. The breading did not adhere very well, but it really does not matter, it was very good.
The hush puppies were fairly typical, with some level of onion. They are not sweet and are sort of long shaped. They also serve Corn Sticks which are not sweet. They have good pure corn flavor.
This was a very good choice for our first meal. I would go back right now if I could for a fried chicken and chopped pork combo with okra and slaw. The food is not heavily adorned or over seasoned. It was all simple down home cooking.

It was good bbq… HOWEVER…I think you could have substituted the meat for TOFU and everything would have tasted just the same. The vinegar based flavoring they use is quite over powering that it becomes more like vinegar flavored meat versus bbq… this could have been boiled for all I know!
I’d definitely eat it again… I’m a sucker for vinegar, not a sucker in recognizing true bbq…3 stars sums this place up quite nicely :)

This place is what classic North Carolina BBQ is all about!
The food: the BBQ is awesome and so is the fried chicken! The mac and cheese was just ok. But seriously, the fried chicken is such a great deal! And sooooo delicious! I highly recommend.
The ambiance: it’s a classic old BBQ setting. Reminds me of the 70s I think. It’s casual. A lot of old people. I think the place has been around since the 50s or something. They’ve won best BBQ in Wilmington for encore magazine for the past 8 years.
The service: the service is fast and the people are friendly. You can get take out and they have a little waiting area with pictures of all the famous people that have eaten there.
It’s a nice little local business that I’m proud to support :)

At Jackson’s Big Oak BBQ, savoring some of the local fair while I’m here briefly in Wilmington NC:) this is a fine example of North Carolina’s unique style of BBQ. Now I’m more of a Memphis BBQ kinda guy, but I respect the regional style. All BBQ represents the working class of America:) go get you some, you’ll love it!!! This California boy knows this is good:)

I feel so badly for writing this because the staff was very very friendly, attentive & accommodating but the food was down-​right nasty.
Greasy hush puppies, tasteless corn fritters, moist-​free pork chops & BBQ that was soaked in cider vinegar instead of basted (the NC way). We were so disappointed in the food. I’m from NC originally, so I know what BBQ should taste like, so shame on you.
On the up side there is plenty of parking, it’s cheap & they have a great reputation, so maybe I just picked the wrong Friday to go there??? Super friendly staff.
Would never go back again.

I had my very first Carolina BBQ experience here at Jackson’s Big Oak after asking where to take the boy to get some pulled pork. (He used to work in Raleigh and told me he misses Carolina pulled pork.)
We came in pretty late, but they didn’t rush us at all. Our SERVICE was quite friendly, although at times our server seemed to be slightly distracted.
I had no idea what to expect from a Carolina BBQ joint. The interior is very… homey? Is that the right word? You feel pretty at home here. It’s not a gussied up fancy date kind of establishment, but more of a chilling with people you like to enjoy food place. There are a LOT of pigs in the décor, so if you don’t like pigs… XD I thought it was pretty cute as I got my first taste of you know, «Southern» charm and food? I guess?
We got some hushpuppies and corn sticks to start. They came by with another basket when our food came out, which was a nice surprise for me, as I thought we were just going to get this one basket. These hushpuppies were much better than any of the ones I’ve been having so far. They were moist and delicious, and the corn sticks also helped stave off my starvation after putting off getting dinner for a little bit too long.
I ordered the BBQ and pork chop plate with applesauce and potato salad. The boy ordered the BBQ and Brunswick stew plate with barbecued potatoes and baked beans. A Carolina BBQ connoisseur of yore, he found the pork a little bit tough? I agreed, expecting more tender pork. Then again, we were probably their last or near-​last customers, so we were very understanding. He did seem quite happy about his meal.
Aside from the sort of tough pork, which I ate with some of the Jackson’s Big Oak BBQ sauce, which is a vinegar-​based sauce. This vinegar-​based BBQ was definitely a brand new experience for me, but I liked it. (Although the pork on its own didn’t really have much flavor in it, so when I added the sauce to it, I felt that it just took on a vinegar-​y flavor. The pork chop was very good, though. I am very glad I also got that in supplement my BBQ pork.
The boy was right though. Carolina BBQ is surprisingly filling. I only managed to finish my pork chop, half my pork, and we polished off the applesauce together to balance out the immense amount of meat and carbs we had already eaten. I remembered thinking that it didn’t look like enough food, and yet there I was, with about a third of my meal leftover.
All in all, I liked my first Carolina BBQ meal. I think I would’ve liked if the pork was a wee bit more flavorful and tender. But Jackson’s Big Oak is a nice restaurant and I would go again.