Arlington Barbeque #17

We visited Arlington Bar-B-Que in Arlington, TN on Monday June 8, 2009..

Brett's Review: I walked into a 10x10 box in Arlington, called Arlington bbq. I had never heard of this place, but that is what this tour is all about I guess. It had kinda

 a sports bar meets mom and pop diner sort of feel. Picnic table clothes ontop of mismatched tables, a little bar that I don't think served alcohol. Sports on an old school tube television and cheap sports swag hanging on the walls that looked like they were 5 or 6 years old. There was even a 2x6 Tennessee Volunteers banner on the wall with the Vols schedule from 2005 on it. This is a bbq tour, so why am I telling you all of this? Well the lack of concern seems to be a theme at Arlington bbq.. Our waitress was less than pleasant, the menu was blazay at best, and despite

 what the waitress told us, I don't believe the crinkle cut fries or any of the sides were made there. They were even out of cheese fries! Worst of all the bbq 

sauces on the table ranked from "OMG, I wish I wouldn't have used that" to " I guess I'll use this one". The meat on the sandwich was ok and once the waitress got down to just our table in her section, she became more pleasant.  They even gave us free bbq bologna for us to try, although I think it was only because the waitress was a bit of a bitch when we first got there and she knew it. Either way it was a nice gesture I guess. So overall I am going to give Arlington at 2.5 out of 5 but that is largely based on the owner coming out to talk to us for a minute and our linebacker for a waitress taking the time out from snarling and actually taking a break to smile at us. Oh and

 one last thing, if you own a restaurant and you know someone is there to review it, don't be the guy that asks.."How'd we do?"...If you don't know and have to ask, probably not that well big fella. 

Regina's Review and Drew's: Drew had the ribs and thought they were delicious with a kick of spice. He also had the potato skins. Regina had the pork plate. All was very good! I think the potato skins idea was great. If they replace the liquid cheese with real cheese and a dash of sauce they would be better. 

Tony's Review: I got the rib plate and they were ok. I don't think they were smoked, but they were decent. My sides were average too. The sauce was different, I like the more mustard based ones and this one had pepper and was spicy. I would go back if we were in the area. The owner was nice. 

Diane's Review: It was average. I had the sandwich. It was adequate, I ate it. There was too much sauce on it. I did like the beans. It was a molasses base and I liked it alot. I would give it a 3. 

Randy's Review: I'm happy that I went to Arlington's. A long drive that I would not make again just for their bbq. There barbecue chicken breast sandwich consisted of an adequate portion of meat with good slaw and sauce. The beans were above average. The onion rings were

 very good. The iced tea was almost non-existent bordering on ice water with lemon. Because of the red tinted glass I could not achieve the visual that I needed to ascertain exactly what it was that I was drinking. Just looking around at lunch time, it was quite obvious that many people are fans of Arlington's as the place was packed. The service was good and the owner was very friendly and accommodating.

Courtney's Review: I ordered the pork sandwich from Arlington BBQ and thought it was pretty good. The meat was tender and moist but it didn't have much of a smoked flavor. I liked that they put their sauces on the table but it was confusing what the different sauces were. The one I chose was the mild sauce(I think) and I liked it fine. I never figured out what the other bottles were. We guessed they were the hot sauces but they tasted like seasoned vinegar.

The sausage and cheese plate was delicious. It was covered in a dry seasoning that I loved. I would have liked some of that seasoning on my sandwich...wish that bottle would have been on the table. I wasn't a fan of the BBQ bologna. It was too soft for me....would have preferred it grilled longer. We also tried the BBQ potato skins. They were OK but they could be better with some of that dry seasoning. It was nice to see something different on the menu, though.

Kembree's Review: I had heard good things about Arlington BBQ from my friends that live out that way (Brenda/Jared, Julie/Greg). Tony and I had passed it before when we were looking at houses out that way. I don't care what anyone says, Arlington is a drive, especially that you really need to take the interstate. But I don't mind driving to try new things and that is what we were there to do. I had the sandwich and it was ok. It was hard to judge, bc the sauce was so different. It was very spicy and dark like Worcestershire sauce. Some bottles on the table were thick and some were runny. The waitress assured us they were all the normal 'mild' ones. But I will tell you they were all different in taste and texture. So the sandwich would have to be low on my review, I would say a 2 out of 5. The cheese and sausage plate was great as well as the bbq potato skins, which I think was something new and different that we had not had.  The bologna was pretty good, just regular bologna in a bbq joint. The tea was TERRIBLE, I kept looking at it in my red glass wondering if I ordered tea or water, she even switched it out and still the same, tasteless. The service was average for a place like this and I loved the UT decor even though it was pretty outdated, older schedules that this place's age. When we checked out they were excited to show us a picture of the couple that works next door and their picture on the Ole Miss field. Maybe I should bring them one of Tony and I at a real football stadium..hmmm