Would not recommend nor would we ever go back. Not only was the restaurant not clean and it looked/felt very unclean.... The food was not good. My husbands pork disappointing and my sandwich was honestly disgusting. The fries were either not cooked all the way or very bland. Half our party wanted the brisket which they had just run out of (only two hours after being open) and they completely forgot one persons dish and she had to wait for them to make hers while we all ate. Never will eat here again. Edited to add: I'm updating my review to add that the manager did reach out which was a nice gesture. He did explain the reason as to why the brisket wasn't available and I do understand that things happen. He even offered a free meal if we wanted to come back for a lunch - again the gesture is appreciated. However, we still would not return after our experience and nothing explains the quality of food that we were served. I'm glad others have had better experiences but we don't plan to return. I changed my rating from one to two stars because the manager did reach out but my thoughts on the food and cleanliness of the restaurant are still the same. read more

Delicious Mac and cheese and brisket sandwich. Seating next to aquarium and friendly fast service from waitstaff. Will definitely return. read more

Dillon's - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

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Sister and I took our mom out for lunch on a weekday and we all had a tasty meal. The service is above average but nothing spectacular. We loved watching the baby sharks and fish while dining. Their patio with the flamingos looks fun as well but it was a little too chilly to sit outside in early March. We ordered the fried mushrooms as an appetizer, also had the bbq chicken, salad and the French dip. Definitely the smoked French dip was the shining star. Moist and tender beef sandwich with au jus not too salty. I did ask for a side of tomato for the sandwich and it never arrived. I was too hungry to wait for the waitress to come back around so I did without. You can tell this place has been there a long time but that seems to add to the ambiance however we haven't been here on a weekend but I imagine the place gets very crowded so you likely need to prepare for that. read more

It's just fun to sit in front of the giant aquarium and enjoy great BBQ food. Beef Brisket was delicious!

Mixed reviews here. The location is super cool with the large shark aquarium in the restaurant. The lemon drop cocktails were FANTASTIC and cheap! What's not to love there? The service is good as well, but the food was more on the average side. I tried the ancho burger, which really gave me food envy while I watched other people eat brisket. They won't sub onion rings as a side either, for some reason. My recommendation is to stick with the BBQ here, and get the Mac and cheese! It has delicious little corn morsels in it...mmmm. Oh I almost forgot the best part. The salted caramel vanilla cake was the BEST dessert I've had at a restaurant in a very long time. And hey, this place is great for kids, too. read more

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Good food, good service. I enjoy coming here several times per month. There is a cool aquarium with several sharks. Cool ambiance for a out-of-the-way hidden gem. Thanks guys! read more

On our way home from the White Tank Regional Park, we stopped by Dillon's KC BBQ to pick up food to go. We called to place our order before we left the park, and the food was ready when we arrived. The woman on the phone was very helpful. We had three people ordering pork ribs with different sauces, sides and drinks. The ribs are prepared with a rub which might be a problem for those on a no/low sodium diet. My dad tried to get the ribs without the rub, and had to forego the ribs entirely because the waitstaff said no "rub" was not an option. She was courteous and repeated the overwhelming offerings when we asked. Best yet, she got our order right. The parking lot is huge! Be sure to park by the restaurant door and not the wildlife zoo door; otherwise you'll have a long walk. It would have been fun to eat here to enjoy the wildlife viewing after dining, but we had our dog and couldn't leave her in the car. Unfortunately they don't allow dogs on the patio either. The ribs were finger licking good. The corn on the cob is boiled not grilled, so each morsel is very plump and juicy. The steak fries were cold by the time we got home. Definitely not a good item to order to go. My mom was smart and got the baked potato instead. It was wrapped in cellophane so it stayed warm. I certainly would consider ordering the ribs again. They were tender, and I really enjoyed the "sweet with heat" sauce. read more

Beautiful location with view of flamingos and open, casual atmosphere. We came here after our trip outside at the zoo needless to say I wasn't too impressed. We came in on 3/25 and were a larger group with children. Wait staff were friendly but were unable to deliver when asked for a kids water cup after three or four times. That's fine. What really felt awkward was everybody's food came out at different times with someone from our group wanting a brisket sandwich instead of just the slices given in a platter. I'm not sure if that caused confusion but eventually everyone else got their food while I had to remind them about my son's chicken tenders. I'm vegetarian so I ordered a Cesar salad and that was the last plate to be delivered after having to be reminded. I was just observing my plate to make sure there wasn't any chicken inside cause I've never had it from here before when the waitress loudly said it doesn't have chicken in it twice as if I was deaf. Her remark kind of took me back since I'm not confrontational at all. That's fine, again. However, it was very soggy and the croutons felt slimy like they had been drenched in the sauce for sometime. Not the best not the worst in terms of flavor. Most likely won't return. read more

Let's cut to the chase, Dillons has good food and provides all of your typical BBQ fare, but it's the experience that you go for in this case. Being from the South, I can be picky with BBQ joints and Dillons is great for their style of BBQ preparation which is Kansas City style. If you don't know (Google it), there are different ways regions prepare BBQ, from Memphis, St.Lous, Carolina, and many hybrids in between, but KC style means they have a large variety of meats usually dry rubbed, and then you decide on your sauce instead of having it put on for you. What makes this Dillons location unique is that it is tucked into the Wildlife World Zoo which is a different review (in short amazing Zoo that blows away the Phoenix zoo, but is pretty pricey for a family...but I digress), and at its center is an aquarium tank filled with beautiful black tip reef sharks among other species. My kids will watch them without blinking for hours making for a relaxing meal. In addition the bar area shares its space with the albino alligator in the zoo, and the flamingo enclosure outside. If you go during Happy Hour, they have an amazing deal on Onion Rings that compliment the view. It is definitely out of the way and it's clear they set up the location to capture zoo patrons but if you are in the west part of Phoenix catching a Spring Training game in Surprise, Goodyear, or Phoenix, it's an all freeway drive set just off the 303 highway. There is plenty of seating and parking and the wait staff is great as well. Totally unique and totally worth the experience if only one time. read more

The food was terrible. I gave 2 star only because the kid said his burger wasn't disgusting. The fries were inedible with grease running out of them when we picked them up. I ordered the French dip and only managed to choke half of it down. The service was terrible even considering COVID. Our bill was $90 for three people. read more

Dillon's - Grease soaked fries. - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

The food at Dillons is always amazing! However I am giving them 5 stars because of their service Miki at the bar is absolutely amazing and will give you the best service you've ever had. Her service will be the reason I go back more frequently. read more

Dillon's - Great bar ! - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

Great service and fun atmosphere for the kids! Highly recommend if you're craving bbq

Great bbq, also the best onion rings in the valley, the fried catfish is delicious, tried the medium size prime rib on Sunday, it was delicious, always great service. read more

Dillon's - Prime Rib Platter - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

The Cole slaw and bbq beans were tasty but the pulled pork was dry, stringy, chewy and tasteless. We will not be back.

This place is disgusting. You are paying for the eating environment only, not for good food. If you like your food served so hot your tongue will melt off, or being able to pull a nice long hair out of your brisket, this is the place to go. Every one of my party had similarly nasty things going on with their dishes. I personally got a platter that included ribs, and they were so tough, I was worried about flinging sauce onto other people at another table because of how hard I had to pull to get them to come apart. I highly suggest that you don't get the baked beans..they must be right out of a can and then broiled to 500f. All in all, an experience I will not be eager to ever try again. Over $200 for this? My recommendation would be to skip this place entirely and go to a professional BBQ restaurant somewhere else. read more

Dillon's - .. - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

After five hours at the Ben Avery Shooting Range, we decided to stop by for some brisket. However, after noticing bar-b-qued beef ribs were on the menu we decided to order a plate for each of us. WOW, as you will see below, the servings were huge, the other restaurant patrons clapped when we were presented our meals. Can't say enough about how flavorful and moist they were,,, they were simply amazing. read more

Dillon's - Half of the original order. - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

Dillon's KC BBQ (DKB) is an AZ chain of BBQ Restaurants that has four locations statewide. This particular location is very unique, as it's located in/at the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium. You don't actually have to visit the zoo in order to dine here, as there are entrances on the outside and in. We visited DKB while at the zoo on Thanksgiving after my sister heard from a friend about their Turkey Day specials from last year. What could be better than a trip to the Zoo followed by some Q?! Let's eat! Meat: BBQ Beef Brisket- Their Brisket had a nice smoke ring and good flavor, but the cut they gave me was entirely too lean and dried-out. Luckily their smoky, sweet BBQ sauce was able to add some much needed moisture and save the dish. 2.5* Smoked Turkey- The Turkey was decent, as it was juicy and had a good flavor, but the smoke was definitely lacking in it. Seems like it might've been started on the smoker and finished in the oven?? 3* Sides: Dinner Roll- I usually don't mention rolls, but this one was exceptional! Sweet, pillowy-soft and melted right in my mouth... It put King's Hawaiian rolls to shame. I could've eaten a bucket of these and been very happy. 5* Sweet Potato Casserole- I love the big chunks of Sweet Potato, and they were cooked perfectly with just the right amount of sweetness. 4.5* BBQ Baked Beans- The beans were cooked perfectly and had a nice peppery, smokiness to them, but just a touch too sweet. Otherwise, terrific. 4* Dessert: Blueberry Peach Cobbler- I don't see this item on their online menu, so I'm not sure if it's part of their regular rotation or just a Turkey Day special? Crispy crust, perfectly sweetened and cooked fruit with a generous scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream made my taste buds jump for joy! If it's not a part of their regular menu--it should be! 5* Service & Ambiance- I wish I remembered our server's name, but he did a terrific job despite the place being a complete madhouse; our orders were correct and we were never left wanting. This particular DKB is known for sharing walls with the Zoo's Aquarium--and more importantly their 60,000 gallon Shark tank!! Unfortunately, the wait for an inside seat was too long so we settled on dining al fresco on their patio which has a great view of the Flamingo exhibit. 5* Value- The pricing here at KDB is actually really reasonable, as we only paid $13 for a plate full of Q that would normally cost around $20 at most other BBQ establishments. Plus, the fact that you're in a zoo would almost guarantee price gouging but none of that here! 4.5* Settling on a final rating for DKB was not easy, as all my little min-ratings averaged out to slightly better than 4-stars. However, they *are* a BBQ restaurant and all the terrific sides, desserts, service and ambiance in the world doesn't mean much if the Q doesn't hold up... Maybe Little Miss and Bobby Q's has set my AZ Q standards too high, but it is what it is. I will definitely give them another shot next time I'm in AZ, and hopefully I can kick them up to at least a four. Still, very highly recommended if you're visiting the zoo as it beats the hell out of the crap at the concession stands. read more

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There were 16 in our group last night dining with the sharks at Dillon's BBQ at Wildlife World Zoo. 16 happy people who dined on ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, their famous Onion Rings and Boston Clam Chowder. Boston Clam Chowder????? Who eats chowder at a BBQ joint? Well two in our party did and they pronounced it excellent with lots of succulent clams. Dillon's never disappoints and last night was no exception. And not only was the food excellent but our server Amanda rates 5 stars also. Good food good service and sharks in the tank. What's not to like. read more

Dillon's - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

Dillon's recently took over the former location of the Tiburon Restaurant and Flamingo. My husband said his BBQ pork sandwich and the BBQ beans as his side were good. I had the portabella mushroom sandwich with a side of vegetables. (I wasn't so found of it for many reasons but the sandwich was edible) These sandwiches are on snowflake buns (The kind dusted in flour and I HATE raw flour on anything) My mushroom only filled one side of the sandwich so the other half only had tomato, raw onion and lettuce no dressing or condiment just SNOWFLAKE Bun. The vegetables were a combination of ( maybe canned) corn, chopped poblano peppers,fresh squash and very dry carrot slices that could have passed for wood. Service was OK. The menu, under Dillon's Favorites Section the last item on menu is the Chicken Alfredo Pasta and the description reads YELP about this one! $12.99 so I did! Slight update 11-28-16 The people working here are friendly and welcoming. Onion rings are the specialty and are very good. Brisket was very dry. Sides of Cole Slaw and Potato Salad were fresh made but are flavored very strangely. 1.5 read more

Definitely Disappointed and will never eat here ever and will definitely skip this. Not to sure what happened but after a long 4 hour drive from California my wife and I went to the Aquarium at the Zoo and there's a sign above the door that says that's where the entrance was so we walk in and we're excited to have some burgers and fries but as we got to where the entrance was at inside the aquarium. We walk up and there's a barrier and it says please wait to be seated. So me and my wife waited and 5 people passed by us and not one of them acknowledged us. So me and my wife were under the impression that maybe there was a wait but as we were at the barrier there was empty tables. So for me I got upset because we stood there for 12 minutes waiting to be seated and not a single person ever said I'll help you out or we'll be right with you. So for that reason I will take my business elsewhere. Again totally disappointed and this was my first time bringing my wife out here to this state and highly disappointed with service. read more

Love the food, energy and atmosphere too! My favorite place even if we do or don't explore the zoo. Come check it out!

Haven't even eaten it yet (smells/looks amazing) just had to give a customer service review for the restaurant as I ordered thru Uber Eats... Arrived way early. Arrived still hot. Ok, I couldn't find cornbread on the menu so I put a note in the order begging for cornbread and they hooked it up! read more

As always the food was outstanding. Whether we eat in or order take out everything is always delicious. The staff is so nice and attentive. Never had a bad experience. The huge aquarium is just an added plus. read more

It doesn't get any better than this! The food is delicious. The restaurant is clean, and the staff is friendly. I highly recommend the pulled pork with sweet/heat BBQ sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Can't wait to go back! read more

After spending a lovely day at the World Wildlife Zoo, we were feeling hungry for dinner and headed over to Dillon's for some homestyle eats and bbq. It was a litle busy when we were here around 5 P.M., with a minor wait to get seated (5-10 minutes). I ordered the burnt ends plate, with coleslaw and mac & cheese for sides. The meat was delicious. It was a good mix of tender and crisp, and the cajun bbq sauce I had it with meshed well with the flavor of the meat. The mac and cheese was nice and creamy, with pieces of corn kernels for added texture, and browned breadcrumbs on top. I wasn't a fan of the coleslaw. I could only taste raw cabbage and not much else in terms of flavor, but my husband really liked it because he said it had a light flavor that he found refreshing (Hey, to each their own!). We were seated close to the shark tank, and it was cool seeing the sharks and fish swim around while we waited for our meals. The meals themselves didn't take too long to be served, and for the most part service was good. Towards the end of our meal, when it was time to get our check, service came to a halt and we waited a long time for our credit card to be processed so we could leave. So, if you are at the zoo and are looking for a decent sit-down restaurant, this is a good option, especially since there doesn't seem to be a lot of places to eat at around this area. Due to the slow-down in service towards the busier part of the evening though, I might be hesitant to go here again if it's a busy time for the restaurant. read more

Dillon's - Burnt ends bbq with mac & cheese and coleslaw - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

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Good flavored bbq. Portions are good. Bar with live band every now and then on the other side. Do need to get some cobbler or bread pudding for dessert though.... read more

We took a late lunch at Dillon's while we were visiting the attached zoo / aquarium. Luckily, we did not experience the service problems that other reviewers experienced. Our waitress was very nice and attentive. The food was good - I had the Pulled Pork sandwich and he had the Sausage Plate (pictures to come). I enjoyed the mild sauce and he really liked the sweet-heat. The Mac and Cheese was my favorite side, but the fries weren't bad! There were definitely little ones running around, and since we were close to the tank they passed by use relatively frequently. This didn't really bother us since the restaurant is attached to the zoo, so we expected to see a lot of kids and that they would be energetic in that environment. We didn't get a dessert since we were both pretty full after the meal so I can't speak to any of those, but they sounded tasty! Overall: B+ The outside will be noisy since it's right next to the flamingo exhibit and at the entrance to the zoo (we sat inside to avoid some heat / noise). The food was good, both the mild sauce and sweet-heat were a hit for us! read more

Dillon's - Pulled pork sandwich - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

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First off want to start by saying I love this place. My first experience here with my family was a great experience. I'm rating this place a 3 bc I truly love the place. The food is amazing and of course it's amazing for all crowds. HOWEVER!!! On Father's Day 2022, we had the worst customer service, which was a hard NO for me. I truly hate leaving negative reviews but I didn't think my experience with the girl at the register wasn't pleasant. We were told the wait was 30-40 mins which was fine. The waiting area was PACKED so we took the buzzer and was told we could "wait on the other side but not to go past the sting rays". 30 mins go by, 40, 50. We thought, wow they must be really busy but we can give them 10 more mins. Finally after waiting an hour, the kids and adults were hungry. So we finally ask when we'd be seated. The girls response was, "oh, well I buzzed you 30 mins ago and no one showed up so I took you off the waiting list, do you want to be put back on the waiting list?" Mind you, we never went past the sting rays! There was always someone sitting by the door with the buzzer. I said, "ABSOLUTELY NOT. Not with 3 hungry, small children." She couldn't even accommodate us. She then proceeds to say, "oh well, I buzzed you 30 mins ago, so yeaaa". Well honey, "well honey, we understand it's busy, but if you can't handle it, ya probably shouldn't be here!" That was such poor customer service which sucks bc I really love that place and I'd love to go back but I her attitude towards me left such a bad taste. So while I love the place, the customer service was a ZERO. read more

My family visited over Thanksgiving weekend, so we went to the wildlife world zoo, aquarium, and safari park Saturday that weekend with some family friends. We absolutely loved the park and when it was time for lunch, our family friends suggested this restaurant!! Since we ate at an off time around 2, we didn't have to wait to be seated and we had a great view of the shark tank. I ordered the fish tacos and they were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. I got the side of Mac and cheese, which was really good. I also sampled some of my brother's platter and the BBQ was really good. I tried the brisket, burnt ends, and pulled pork and all of them were delicious!!! I obviously made a mistake not getting BBQ, but I'm glad I got to try some. My parents ordered a full rack of he baby back ribs and they gobbled their whole dish up as well. Overall, this is a great restaurant with good service and a unique atmosphere and some good BBQ. read more

Dillon's - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

Awesome menu, beautiful setting with super service! I highly recommend a visit to Dillon's.

Solid 4 stars. A pleasant surprise. Was at the wildlife zoo and thought, what the heck let's try it. Food was overall VERY good, service was excellent. I enjoyed the 3 meat platter and the chicken fried chicken platter. If the brisket was on point I would have gone 5 stars. Very much recommend this place. read more

FANTASTIC place to enjoy a lunch sitting outdoors & watching ducks & geese paddling in the pond. Or you can sit indoors & watch the stunningly beautiful fish swimming in the big clear indoor pool. The food is absolutely delicious. The chilled beer is not too bad. Bring kids & enjoy the zoo. Love this place!!! NoshirHooty. read more

Love the BBQ here especially the brontosaurus ribs. Must try. Always fresh and staff is very courteous.

We had a party of 8 which is a lot, I get it. But we were pretty much forgot about. One of the kids was told not to go and look at the fish tank by the server, weird?!? Isn't that why they have the tank in the restaurant. The pulled pork for kids meal was amazing! The kids could not get enough. Maybe an update on the smiley face french fries though. read more

We have been dining at Dillion's for many many years and love to share this restaurant with visiting family and friends. We were able to sit next to shark tank(with three sharks)! Another story...as the zoo is separate from restaurant. I ordered prime rib and server had to come back and say it was not available. Okay, so quickly ordered 50/50 ribs. It was only 6:00pm so was surprised when both type of ribs were extremely over-done and dried out like jerky. My husbands chicken fried steak was mostly breading and mashed potatoes were lacking their normal great flavor. Hopefully this was just an off night, but the prices are pretty expensive for poor quality. We totally understand how unpredictable these times are with not knowing how many people will be dining. I rather hear, "sorry we ran out" than chewing on leather. read more

Cool location and ambience that's about it. Got the Bbq brisket (if you can call it that) with mac and cheese and mash potatos with brown gravy. Mac and cheese was good, mash potatoes and gravy was good, brisket was more like roast beef. Didn't even look like bbq brisket looked like broiled corned beef or something. It was edible but had to dip in bbq sauce. Girlfriend hated it. I just soaked it in bbq. Probably should have sent it back and got something else for $21.99. Don't think I'll be back even though just moved right around corner. read more

Dillon's - Brisket, mash potatoes, macaroni and cheese - Barbeque Near Me - Litchfield Park, Arizona

Worst service we ever experienced. Food was late, my wife's meal never showed up until after we had complained to two different servers. We asked to speak to the manager and after waiting again, only then he finally bring our last meal in a to go box!!! by that time everyone else had finished eating. We won't return! read more

Used to dine often but the past few times our server had long nails and would scratch her head and then carry food or drinks to tables . My final time dining here the servers nails were in my food when she carried the plate . Sorry but that's gross and when I asked to speak to the manager he could careless . Spent more time flirting with the teens hostess read more

Always fun and the aquarium is amazing. Love the turtles and Dillon's food never disappoints!!

Two stars. How sad ( I'm not sure I've ever scored a place so low ). One for the ambiance and the other for the location. I was looking forward to this visit for quite some time. It was a Saturday, 1-15-22, around 1pm, the place was teeming with happy families. Some eager to get started on a zoo visit, others wrapping theirs up. There were 3 in my party, one ordered the country fried steak and I shared the 3 meat combo plate. We all shared the fried mushrooms beforehand and those were really good. The fried steak had some difficult-to-chew areas and the 3 meat plate was a bit on the dry side. BOTH plates had an average temperature that was cooler than my mouth ( I wish I requested to send them back for replacement. But I was looking forward to the zoo visit and didn't want to waste time ). I had also requested 2 bbq sauce flavors on the side. Those were surprisingly hot, with respect to temperature. Now...I'm awake at midnight writing this unfortunate review. You do the math. Dammit Dillon's. I really wanted to love this experience. Please tell me that all of your employees in that kitchen are versed in temperature holding time procedures. It's food handlers certification training basics. All I can ask is that you do better, for someone else. I have no plans to return. read more