On a BBQ scale, we are just about average here. Spending the weekend at the lake, we thought it would be good to try a BBQ place that we couldn't try back in StL. Rated by the Ozarks as one of the best in the area, it seemed like a natural choice. Service: Not so great. The hostess was going to seat us, then was told to seat us in someone else's section, so we moved. Then apparently she didn't tell our waitress she had put us there. And all through the meal our waitress apologized, FOR EVERYTHING. If she didn't have our drinks filled instantly, when she put down our food, when we needed the bill, when we paid the bill. Somewhere in her life someone told her if she didn't complete menial tasks in the exact instant they were ready to be completed, she should apologize. It was mildly annoying. She did all of these things in a normally expected window of service, except for our initial greeting. The Sauce: First things first, well second b/c the service was so weird, but before the FOOD is the SAUCE. All good bbq goers know to try the sauce before the food even comes out. Sweet or Spicy. Neither was really what it claimed to be. The sweet was not all that sweet, the spicy not all that spicy, both just slightly on either end of a basic sauce. So whatever, used the spicy. Food: The food was good... I don't know much of the competition around LOTO for bbq, but this was rated one of the best in the area. I got the ribs, because I love good ribs. They were cooked well, nothing to complain about really, and I ate my whole plate (just the half rack guys... sorry I am not a real man....). I got two sides, cole slaw and fries. I am a HUGE fan of creamy cole slaw, but I am actually fairly picky about the way it is prepared, and while this didn't quite match up to my high standards for shredded cabbage and mayonnaise, it was pretty good. I only store in my memory awful cole slaws so I know never to order them again, and this place is a re-order. Fries are fries, so really nothing new there. He ordered the burnt ends, which were good, but not great. Ok, so we didn't order this, but I honestly don't think I can go through the review and not mention it. The "Smoked Meat Salad". This is the kind of thing that both makes me want to laugh, and then vomit. Really a smoked meat salad? What does that consist of you might ask? Well, other than the smoked meat of your choice (pork, beef, turkey or ham) you have the basics, lettuce, tomatoes, etc, etc, all topped with cheddar, and oh yeah your choice of dressing. The couple sitting behind us were pondering the menu... and the girl said she thought she would just get a salad... which I don't know why you came to a bbq place for that but live and let live... and then she ordered the SMOKED MEAT SALAD. with ranch dressing. It probably does not need to be said that this girl probably could have forgone the ranch dressing, as well as the smoked meat topped with cheddar masquerading as a healthy meal option. I am sure it was delicious. Also, my beau loves sweet tea. Now, I think its gross, but they claimed to have it, so he ordered it (I just got a coke). But in line with the sweet sauce, it was not very sweet. It was much too sweet for me, b/c I like unsweetened tea exclusively, but he ADDED splenda to it to sweeten it further. Maybe they just meant sweetened tea, not sweet tea? Cost: Average. I wouldn't say we got a deal, which is sometimes fun at a street side bbq joint, but I think we knew what we were getting into when we walked in. Overall: If you are looking for bbq at the lake, give this place a shot. Although I think if we go back to LOTO we will likely try another joint. read more

As in another review the baked beans are to die for best I have had anywhere. Meats were all good burnt ends were very good. No need for a Gates in Osage Beach. read more

The atmosphere was a bit lackluster inside. It seemed most people were doing carry out. However the food was amazing- the BBQ sauces were outstanding. Glad we stopped. read more

Ok for the area. I had the sampler. Everything was good with the exception of the ribs. Ribs were over cooked. My husband ordered the baby back ribs and they gave him a different kind of slab. We did complain and they made him a fresh slab of baby back ribs. The baby back ribs were tender and delicious. read more

After several days of fall camping at the lake, we were hungry for BBQ. I saw this place and pulled in. The BBQ was excellent. We had burnt ends, a half slab of baby back ribs and pulled pork. All of it was very good and Halfsauced will be the first place I look for when I want BBQ at the Lake of the Ozarks. The service was excellent and we were even given a small container of beef, when the chef saw we had a dog waiting outside. read more

I totally agree that this is the best BBQ at the lake. I frequent this place as a local and thoroughly enjoy it every time. Right now I am hooked on the burnt ends sandwich. You can get it with a side for around 7-8$. It's amazing. They have a nice selection of sauces too. They are proud of the fact that they win awards for their BBQ and they really do deserve it. Be sure to get some beans on the side. read more

The platter is definitely plenty for two people. The brisket is done well. Falls apart with a fork. Friendly attentive wait staff and a great family atmosphere as well. read more

Great BBQ...love it when they cater. I have never had a bad meal.

This is a great place at the lake to stop and have some BBQ. The service is fast and helpful and the food is very good!

Best pulled pork I've ever had! I love BBQ and have eaten at most BBQ joints in KC. The pulled pork at this place was so tender, moist and delicious it is my new favorite. The sweet sauce, if you like sweet sauce, was fantastic. We've tried the other BBQ places at the lake and a couple are very good, but having tried this, I won't be going back to the others any time soon. read more

The meat taste good but all the sauce is almost inedible. Sweet tea is pretty bad and service is very slow and not knowledgeable. If you come here just buy meat to go and you will be happy most likely. Avoid the sides and sauce. They charge you money if you want a side of the only sauce that doesn't taste horrible. Owners are very unfriendly. This place would be out of business if there were any other BBQ places around. read more

Best wings at the lake, no one else even close! Great service, great staff, excellent food!

Not impressed. Don't understand how this is the best BBQ. The pit beans were watery and had a ton of chili powder. The meat was dry. The salad was mushy. The ham was jiggly. Glad I survived. Barely. read more

The baby back ribs were the best I've ever had! Very friendly, personal service. Beans were OK, cole slaw--fresh!! Also they have four different kinds of sauces, interesting to taste them all. We ate there on a Monday night in early August. read more

Great place that's easy to miss if your not aware of what's inside. Smoked wings were labeled the award winners and they were delish. Also loved the pit beans and smoked butt which was extra flavorful. read more

The portions were as big as the menu. There is plenty to choose from here. I had the mixed plate (two meats & two sides) and got filled up. Both varieties of cole slaw were just ok, but the potato salad was on point. The beer could have been colder but a good dining experience. I'm not sure why but we were the only patrons while the BBQ joints down the road have a wait... read more

Best BBQ in the lake area! The people there are super friendly and great! For those who like their food spicy, ask for the extra spicy sauce. The extra spicy sauce has a fantastic flavor and is great on fries and meat! Family friendly! Good prices! A must eat at place in the Lake of the Ozarks area!! read more

Really good simple BBQ. Had a 1-1/4" thick pork steak that was fall off the bone tender and had amazing flavor throughout. I would definitely recommend this place! read more

amazing service and food! our waitress was probably the nicest person ive met and the wings and brisket are great

Beef and ham were excellent! We loved their sweet BBQ sauce. We ordered a half order of nachos with beef - it was more like an order and a half. By the time we downed them and a taste of our entrees, we had enough to-go for two more meals. Excellent service to boot. read more

Best BBQ I've had in a long time! I had the loaded potato with pulled chicken and my friend had the BBQ nachos with pulled pork and he said the pulled pork was great. Super yummy, great price and great service. read more

Great food at a great price. Best barbecue at the lake, no doubt

Good food, best smoke flavor on meats I have ever had. We live in KC and this place was as good as any of the KC places and better than most. read more

Some of the best barbecue I've ever had. Service and people were great. We had the combo platter and everything on it was better than the other. Sides were great too. read more

Based on reviews we read we decided to try this place out. Excellent food and service! Try the brisket and pot beans!

We this place and highly recommend their food. Dine in/carry out it's great BBQ. The burnt ends are great as well as the pulled pork sandwich. For a healthy alternative their smoked turkey on salad is well made. read more

Well, it was OK at best. We stayed at Lake of the Ozarks for a few days and wanted to try some good BBQ. We read the reviews and decided to try it out. Not so pleased. The service was good - attentive, friendly, and prompt. There were only about 5 other people in the restaurant, though. We ordered the Sampler Platter that was supposed to feed two (there were two of us), but it didn't really. It was also supposed to come with Texas toast, but the small pile of meat came on top of two slices of ordinary, skinny toasted white bread. The "Burnt Ends" I thought were supposed to be a euphamism, but no - they were actual burned ends. They were smokey all right - sort of nasty, shoulda been in the garbage blackened bits of what used to be meat. Ick. We have average appetites and it wasn't enough food in the end. Plus it sat like a brick in my stomach. Unfortunately, we both ended up with...sorry...diarrhea the next morning. Won't go back. read more

The BBQ we had was very good, staff was friendly and service was great. Would return in a heartbeat.

I recommend the Sampler Platter! You get to sample four of their meats. Plenty to eat for two people. Being from the South, this meets our strict standards for great BBQ! Excellent service! I will be back! read more

Very kind, friendly and helpful staff...we had a the convo platter and 2-meat platter so we could have 6 different meats! We had brisket, pork, burnt ends, ribs, turkey and sausage. They were all good, ribs and brisket especially good. The BBQ beans are cooked in smoker so be prepared for a very smoky experience. I was not so fond of them but they told me what to expect, so next time I'll just try something else. Finished it off with some amazing peach cobbler. This is now our go to BBQ place at the lake. read more

Best bbq place at the lake in my opinion. I haven't had a thing here that I havent liked

Half Sauced is the right title. On Labor Day, we stopped in for some barbecue to take home to Jefferson City. We noticed the staff was a bit unorganized and didn't seem to know what they were doing. When we got home (over an hour away), we found that they forgot to include the potato salad and beans for the combo plate. The brisket and turkey was great, but no sides was disappointing, particularly since we paid for them. read more

Always great. Probably the some of the best smoked brisket I have ever had both times we visited. Great service and very clean. Just have to give them a try. read more

Had been here years ago and not impressed. Went back recently for lunch and it was great. Had the brisket sandwich which was piled high. Came with a side. I got the fries. Very good value plus had so much I took half home for another meal. read more

Food is absolutely mouth watering. You cannot make a wrong choice. Service and price were great as well! Best bbq at the lake!

Very good bbq.. Got the hot sauce from the back and mmmm good :) oh and Savannah aka Vana was pretty wonderful too! Don't forget the sweet potato donuts read more

We stopped in for lunch as we were passing through on our way home from Lebanon MO. We wanted something that we couldn't find in our hometown in IL. So we decided to stop here. We were glad we did, my family and I were pretty pleased at the lunch we received. It was around 2pm on Friday afternoon and the parking lot was pretty empty. There was a local police officer there which told me that the locals enjoy eating at this establishment. Upon walking in the front door you are greeted by the smell of smoked meats, not to mention the dozens of trophies for winning barbeque contests. We were greeted by a young lady who seated us and told us our waiter was going to be with us shortly. Within 5 minutes of being seated our waiter was getting our drink order. He dropped off our drinks and then proceeded to get our food order. I got the pulled pork sandwich with 2 sides, for one of my sides I got the pit beans, and for the other I got the creamy coleslaw. My wife got the brisket sandwich with pit beans and onion rings. My daughter ended up going with a loaded baked potato. After ordering our lunch we didn't have to wait for to long before our order was ready. My pulled pork sandwich had a good portion of pork, it came out with no sauce, and they provide the sauce at the table. I tried all 3 of the sauces with the pork and each one tasted great, i ended up using the Sweet and mixing it with the spicy, the smokey flavor was not overpowering, the pork. The pork was not dry, like pork can get sometimes. The pit beans were good, i have never actually had them before, so it was a new experience. They had a nice flavor to them. The beans they used were a pinto bean and kidney bean mixed, very good in opinion. The coleslaw was excellent, I love coleslaw with BBQ, this slaw was prepared in house and not out of a container. Overall my lunch was great. My wife's sandwich came stacked with 4 or 5 pieces of brisket and it had the crunchy ends as well. The meat had that perfect smoked looked and she said that it was good. She got the onion rings were a thick cut ring, and the batter used was not a panko style coating it appeared to be a beer batter type of coating. She also got the pit beans for her other side as well. We did have to ask for more drinks from our waiter, which we shouldn't have had to do. I have visited other restaurants where the wait staff take care of getting drink refills without having to ask them. The service definitely needs to be worked on in this establishment. The young lady who greeted us when we walked in was friendly. Our waiter, he was friendly but he appeared to be not as confident. Overall the food was great, the service was good/alright. If we are back in the Osage Beach area we will definitely visit again. read more

OMG! Being from Kansas City I'd like to think I know something about great BBQ. I've been to Half Sauced several times and it has always been very good. Yesterday I had lunch there and had the 1 1/2 pound BBQ pork steak which was the lunch special. It was truly amazing -- perfectly seasoned and smoked. It was so tender you could cut it with a spoon. The flavor was outstanding. I rarely leave anything on the plate to take home, but the size of this thing was so big that I couldn't finish it so I made the remainder my supper. This was competition level BBQ at it's best. The "fresh" coleslaw was a great compliment. I can't wait to go back. read more

This is probably the worst bbq I have ever had in my entire life. Not one of us had a good meal, burnt ends were literally burnt so much they were like eating rubber. Brisket was tough and dry, sausage was dry with no smoke flavor at all. Cajun corn tasted like cream corn out of a can. The only thing any of us had that was worth eating were the cheese fries and spoon bread. Even my nephew refused his corn dog because it was so terrible. Every one of us did not feel good after eating there. Avoid this place at ALL costs. Don't waste your time or money. read more

We are from out of town and this place was exactly what we were looking for! Food was amazing but the service is what really stood out! There was a young lady I can't remember her name but she was a school teacher and a server! She was an absolute sweet heart and extremely respectful!! So glad we stopped in. read more