not too busy on a Friday night so we had a party of 8 come in last minute and they were welcoming and the food was great and fresh. the gentleman that walked around the dinning room to make sure everyone is good and happy and with a basket of hush puppies. We will be back when we come back to Knoxville! read more

Food was great!!! Male Manager was a piece of .... . Service was not good. Seemed like the employees were working scared. Came off in the customer service. Do the employees a favor and go to a different location. Will never come back here. read more

My Husband and I wanted to go to a buffet but they were closed so we decided to stop in @ Buddy's. We definitely made a good decision Staff was amazing and the good was WONDERFUL definitely recommended. read more

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Great location . Always clean . Great staff and food . The best buddy's of all of the locations have visited .

I had a very solid experience, especially for it being my first time! I ordered the beef brisket with bbq sauce and it was delicious! I ate it all pretty quick and instantly enjoyed Buddy's Bar-B-Q. The drive through trip was quick and the brisket was quite lean! I was very impressed to say the least. I'll definitely be having some more again before heading back home on my roadtrip! read more

service is great, food was good, friendly staff very clean! Enjoyed the experance ver much. Always try to stop here and eat whenever we are in the area! read more

ordered bar b que dinner place was busy lots of employs but they for got my hushpuppies again ,bakes beans were cold not warm meat was like fine grounded up hardly no bar b que rate this meal a one guys do a better job money is tight i could have ate at several places today is nov 11 2025 meal was at 5.45 read more

Fast n fresh. Gave out extra free hush puppies in the lobby. Excellent job!! Place was clean and staff friendly.

Food was overcooked and dry. Ribs were dry, hushpuppies were soggy and tasteless. Pork dinner was dry. Food caused upset stomachs. Won't eat at a Buddy's ever again. read more

friendly service, clean facility, great food. The hush puppies were really good. Overall it was a great value for the money that we spent.

Good food and tastes great just a little to light on the sauce but all in all it's great

really good food and service. I would come back. it was very clean and the staff where very easy to work with. they got my food very quickl.

It's an awesome dining experience for my Husband and me! We have been coming to this restaurant for several years. We are thankful for the delicious food, the clean restaurant and the friendly employees! We come on Tuesdays to enjoy the special meal discount. Thank you so much, Buddy's BBQ! read more

Great service and excellent food! Fast courteous customer service! The restaurant is clean and inviting.

Hesitated on stopping here based off the 3 star rating. Should have just gone with that and not stopped. We ordered brisket sandwiches with fries. Got home and opened up our sandwiches. Definitely didn't look like any brisket we'd ever eaten. I would say at least half was not edible. It was so much fat. My son just about choked on it. Definitely not worth what you pay. Won't make the same mistake twice. I would say this place is a hard pass. read more

In town for work and wanted some good BBQ....this wasn't it. Got the rib, pork and chicken combo with potato salad and coleslaw. Ended up throwing everything away except the potato salad which was pretty good. Don't understand why they were so busy. read more

Buddy's is fast, cheap, and tasty bbq! I love coming here on Tuesday night for their $5.99 dinner special. The service is fast and friendly and the food comes out quickly. I really enjoy their pulled pork dinner plate with baked beans, potato salad, and hush puppies. You just can't beat it for the price! read more

Buddy’s bar-b-q - All of this for $5.99. Yum! - Barbeque Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

My first time visiting this barbecue restaurant as I'm visiting from out of town. Was looking forward to great BBQ. Food was OK lukewarm at best and took a long time. Waited 15 minutes for a basic turkey platter to go. Chili ended up being a mess inside the container all over the hush puppies and the turkey things were bland at best. The restaurant seemed overwhelmed. Staffing did not seem to be an issue lots of people working just not getting a lot done. read more

Buddy’s bar-b-q - ows the outside of a restaurant - Barbeque Near Me - Knoxville, Tennessee

Cute little TN classic. Great food and quick service. The girl working the register was very nice and helpful (I didn't really know what to get!) The restaurant was tidy and comfortable. I was even asked if I'd like any hushpuppies on the house! The pickles were tasty too, add them to your bbq! For fast food this is the best bbq I've had! read more

UT ordered catering for a dinner party and I had the stuffing, mash potatoes with gravy, string beans and chocolate chip cookie. Everything was too salty. The cookie was on the stiffer side. read more

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manager Greg Rivera (i think that's what his name was) was extremely rude. refused to fix my food or offer compensation. Raised his voice at me when i asked him for a refund or to at least fix what was wrong with my food. read more

Placed an order online and requested to pick up at 6:00pm. Placed the order over an hour before pick up time. Just as I had left the house at 5:45 to go pick up our food, I got a notification that it wouldn't be ready until 6:30. Got to the restaurant at 6:30 and went thru the drive thru to pick up. Waited for a long time due to drive thru being busy. When I finally picked up our food at 6:45, we left and as I got halfway home, my Daughter looked at noticed they didn't give us our Quart of Tea. Had to turn around to get our Tea and ordered 2 additional sandwiches because when we looked at the kids meals, we noticed the sandwiches were TINY! The kids meal sandwiches are like sliders, so if your kids can eat more than a slider, don't get a kids meal. They did give us the 2 sandwiches free. Got home and found out they didn't give us the chips we ordered with one of the kids meals. I was not about to go back at this point. Very disappointed with Buddy's on Chapman Hwy. The food was ok, the sandwiches were cold. We will not be going back! read more

Had wings,pulled pork and ribs, all were fantastic! French fries, baked beans and hush puppies on point! Entire staff was very helpful and friendly. Highly recommend this place. Great value as well! read more

I'd be lying if I were to say this place didn't have a special place in my heart. That's why it's two stars instead of one. It's fast food barbeque. You just have to know what to expect so you won't be disappointed. First off, at times, buffalo wings can be overcooked. The same goes for the barbeque chicken. The ribs sometimes have hardly any meat on them. Hush puppies...yeah, they sometimes can be really old. If you order a ham dinner expect to leave still hungry. The pulled pork dinner is consistently good. The green beans are good but are very small in portion. For now that's all I can think of. The sometimes part I want to stress because these downfalls aren't always the case. I've been so many times that I've learned what to expect. I'd say something but I really don't like complaining. Even at that, there are new people behind the counter and in the kitchen ALL THE TIME. Maybe if they stuck with the same people there would be more consistency. Just saying... read more

Certainly not the best bbq in the world, but it is good, pretty consistent, and reasonably priced Tennessee style bbq. Yes, it does sort of qualify as fast food, but this is clearly a step above most chain fast food restaurants. Their sauce is quite good, and they still pull their smoked pork, as opposed to chopping like many places. They also have smoked chicken (1/2 or pulled) & ham. Occasionally the pork is a bit fattier than I would like, but my wife & I frequently come here and practically never leave disappointed. The sides are nothing to write home about, but the potato salad is a solid choice. read more

Great food great price and what an incredible staff. Friendly and will leave you smiling!

My wife and I stopped at Buddy's BBQ after working 12 1/2 hours in a critical care unit in a hospital. We pulled up to the drive through and I ordered 2 orders of hush puppie, 1 1/2 pounds of BBQ, and a QUART of Green beans. The young lady told us the price and we proceeded to the window. The young lady opened the window and just reached out her arm without saying anything and waited until I gave her my credit car, still not saying anything and closed the window. she came back, opened the windo, gave me my credit card back, handed me the food, and still said nothing. I took the food and noticed the QUART of green beans was not in the bag. I sat there for a second and she j looked at me still saying nothin, I said you forgot the quart of green bean. She finally speaks and says "you ordered a pint". I said no I didn't I ordered a QUART. She speaks again and said " no you didn't I put it on the ticket and it say pint". My wife sat up and told her I really did order a quart. The young lady even told my wife " no he didn't". I then placed the bag of food back on the window ledge and told her she could just give me my money back because im not going to argue with her about my order because we stop there a lot and get the same thing every time. She got the manager to come and give us our money back. He came to the window and asked how he could help? I told him I wanted my money back because I'm not going to argue with a rude teenager about my order and we stop frequently and order the same thing. The manager asks how much of my money I wanted back and I told him all of it because I could tell he really didn't care about what happened either. The manager closed the window and was talking to the young lady that took my order and said " I've been working too hard handling stuff like this all day". He then opened the window and gave me a cancellation receipt. He didn't apologize or even act like he cared about loosing $28.14. My wife and I drove awa, went to Burger King, ate for less without having to argue with anyone, and the employees were very friendly. Needless to say we won't be back at Chapman Highway Buddy's BBQ again. The only reason I gave them a 1 star is that I got my money back. read more

In the middle of my drive home I accelerated too fast due to excitement and spilled a whole cup of coffee from 3 days prior. I am very upset. The food is great and service is just as good read more

My family has enjoyed Buddy's Bar-B-Q for over 30 years. For my husband, the smoked 1/2 chicken dinner is his "go-to" and he swears he has never had better even from much more pricey establishments. My son thinks their cole slaw is the best on the planet. My personal favorites are probably the pulled pork and the potato salad. Hard to beat a "feed 5 family pack" for the value (it really feeds 7-8), and the Tuesday night special is also a great value. Thankful to have such a good, solid, family-run business in East Tennessee. read more

The absolute worst barbecue ever! Cold food, burned food, heartburn galore for myself and our children. Awful! Looks dirty, too.

tyler and hannah was the only one working everytime im here! give them a break or a raise. management sucks!

We just blew $30+ here and were extremely disappointed. I hate wasting money on bad food. For a place that "specializes" in BBQ they should realize that RIBS are a mainstay and should probably put in a little effort. If you like ribs, pass on this place. If you like microwaved, pig-fat jerky then I guess dig in. The people were friendly enough but the food is awful. read more

Fast food BBQ. Like the McDonald's of Tennessee BBQ joints. The Hawgback Potato is pretty good - stuffed with BBQ pork. Everything else is no better than average - hey - it's fast food! read more

Yeah it's a fast food BBQ joint but it's a damn good fast food BBQ joint. The atmosphere is wonderfully nostalgic and the staff is extremely friendly. read more

This is great BBQ. I saw the negative reviews and I have to say I don't know what those people saw as lacking. The staff here is phenomenal! So friendly and courteous. The food was great too! The House sauces were tasty and the bbq was that perfect blend of Smokey and juicy. This is a solid spot for a satisfying meal. Prices were great too! I got stuffed for $7!! Sure the seating is great vintage but if you're looking for something modern and sleek what are you doing stopping for BBQ anyway?!? read more

With all the other BBQ options available in the Knoxville area, don't waste your time with Buddy's. It doesn't even resemble BBQ anymore. It used to be good - things have certainly changed. I'd give it 0 stars if possible. One is overstated. read more

Buddy's barbeque is a hometown staple in Knoxville. So, how sad it is to visit family and look forward to going to this restaurant on a weekend evening and then notice it was pretty empty and didn't appear to be as popular as it once was. Upon picking up our order and unpacking the food at home, I was disappointed. We were all disappointed. It was nothing special. BBQ was tough and chewy... The potatoes in the potato salad were not cooked!! Baked beans were straight out of a can. The slaw was OK..Not great, just....Alright. read more