Let me be real with you here: this place is GOOD. Like at least 4 Star barbecue. You can tell everything is homemade. The meats are House-smoked, and their sides are perfectly complementary. We have been coming here since the beginning. Before their larger menus. Before the expansion. Before they served alcohol, even. We even had them cater our rehearsal dinner because we were so "in love" with the barbecue. However, recently we've felt they've been getting a little too "big for britches." Their service is not that great. The service always seems frazzled, they get frustrated too easily and they forget things easily. Over the last few times we've been there, we got sat with a random party (literally at the same table) and have had horrid service the rest of the time, BUT the food is good, so we keep coming back. Today, things changed. We made reservations because they are normally booked over Friday & Saturday nights. They are ALWAYS sold out of things. It's typically just sausage or wings, but tonight it was RIBS and PULLED PORK. How are you out of that? That's not something you run out of. Those are you basic foods at a BARBECUE restaurant. To top it all off, we had people come from my hometown (2 hours away!!) come into town JUST to eat there, so it was really disappointing. We understand that Jefferson Street has gotten so big i our "small town" that our measly review doesn't matter, but we have eaten at restaurants all over the state. I highly recommend skipping Jefferson Street and hitting up a barbecue chain like Famous Dave's in Noblesville or something better in Ft Wayne or Indy. Not worth the risk of something being sold out or the terrible service that they've had for the past three years. Super disappointing, this spot could be great! read more

Big flavor - found in a small town. We have been here several times. The atmosphere is always pleasant but there can be long waits if you don't call ahead. It's a small place, so either reserve a table or prepare to wait. The BBQ is good- when it's available. They often run out which is unfortunate. Staff is friendly but sometimes can be confused about what's going on. We have had times where our order is incorrect but it's good food either way. Highly recommend the loaded nachos followed by the tacos. Especially when it's taco Tuesday and they are $2. Don't let our criticism confuse you, it is a great spot. We are there frequently for dinner and would recommend it. read more

Great food and great prices... first time I got a specialty sandwich and it was great. I got the Mac'inac and it was very tasty

I love this place! When you see the ownership walking around checking on people... you know they really do care about the food and the customer experience. Very big town food with a small town service. I have been here a few times and so far, I've never been disappointed. I always get my food in a timely manner, they realize that I'm on work time and have a short lunch and usually I get my lunch very quick! The bbq is always fresh and it's always fantastic. They are doing construction next door to add a bunch more seating and even with all the hammering and noise... no one cares! It's awesome to see a small town spot grow and really make something worth stopping for. Converse has a few other spots that are seasonal and awesome! I really hope this little town keeps growing it's one off food stops. It's really amazing. read more

Jefferson Street BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Converse, Indiana

BBQ was great! Sides not so much... Service was just ok. Always smiling but not concerned with customer satisfaction. Never asked if food/drinks were okay..Probably won't return unless someone else is paying! Upcharge for pork chops, no explanation. Probably should be 1 star or less @ these prices, with this poor service. Good luck read more

Went to Jefferson Street today for the first time today. I got the special today, smoked chicken taco. Really fresh and delicious. My friend got the pulled pork taco and said it was really good. The tacos were only $2.00 each, loaded with meat. Fresh brewed iced tea. Two tacos and a drink under $7.00. Locally sourced, fresh and cheap! Will definitely back! read more

Jefferson Street BBQ - Chicken taco, messy but delicious! - Barbeque Near Me - Converse, Indiana

AMAZING BBQ AMAZING SERVICE AMAZING OWNER EAT HERE OR BE SQUARE But really, if you haven't tried it, you need to. Yelp wants me to keep writing but it's short and simple: this is a great place to eat. read more

I went for lunch with a few coworkers and it was great. The food was fresh and delicious. Service was fast even though the lunch rush had started. read more

Jefferson Street BBQ - Mac'anic with toast and broad ripple fries - Barbeque Near Me - Converse, Indiana

If I could give them 0 stars, I would. I used to like Jefferson st because of the food but the service has been awful several times. We've eaten there probably 6 times and 5 of those we've had problems. In a to go order, they forgot items and got my husbands meal wrong. We were 30 minutes away when we realized so he just ate what we had. The real problem has been with the staff. Several times, my husband and I have ordered alcohol (obviously are both over 21 but we look on the younger side). In one experience the waitress answers "you have to be 21 to get beer" when we requested a beer menu. We told her we were and she snickered at us. No apology. It was incredibly rude. What broke the camels back was my last experience there. We tried to order alcohol and the waitress asked for our ids. We gave them to her and she looked at them for a long time. After several minutes she asked to see them again before she brought our beer out. When she brought them out, she asked to see our credit cards. We asked if something was wrong and then she said that she even asked the manager and they said they didn't believe we were over 21 and they could lose their liquor license. She didn't apologize or even acknowledge how uncomfortable this could be for us! I understand that serving under age can have some severe consequences but at this point she looked at our ids, and credit cards, and told us they were looking at us from across the room. I didn't even feel hungry anymore knowing that the staff is checking us out across the restaurant. It was awful and I won't be going back. read more

Here shortly for a charity ride but people were great as was the food. We'll be back for sure.

Insane. The food was so good. Well priced for the quality & quantity. Definitely coming back here. The nachos.... mmmmm.... yum.

Food, service, waitresses were excellent. Place was 'loud' ..Sound bounced off barn metal walls. Parking and decorations are ample and fresh. Excellent smoked pork,ribs,baked beans,chips and pickle! Wait time 15" @ 12:30 read more

Jefferson Street BBQ - Pulled pork, rubbed ribs, housemate chips and pickle and baked beans= excellent $11 Sat. - Barbeque Near Me - Converse, Indiana

Awesome BBQ Joint. We live just down the road and we like to occasionally order takeout. The brisket is good.

Heard they had great brisket and it didn't disappoint. Tender and delicious. Had the pulled pork as well, very good too. The sides were not anything special, I had the slaw and jalapeno cornbread, tasted the baked beans and they were good. I would definitely recommend this place, but get there early, they were packed at 6pm on Saturday and it's not a big space inside. Overall, good experience. read more

Just what we were looking for!! The restaurant has galvanized sheet metal and brick for walls. So rustic yet urban. Clean and simple and friendly staff. Simple menu - they know what they're good at and they do it well. Nice healthy options is a plus for me. We each had a salad $7. One with pulled pork and one with brisket. The meat was so tender and flavorful no dressing or sauce was needed. Jalapeño cornbread was fabulous. We walked out of there feeling full and satisfied for under $20 for 2 people. Will for sure be back and will also get some to go!!! read more

What a gem if a restaurant this is. Always really good food and delicious. My favorite is the loaded potato and their cheesecake. Never had a bad meal there. read more

Terrible service, took forever to get a refill. Food isn't that great either, nothing to write home about. Their credit card machine went down while we were eating and they wouldn't take a check. I had no cash and they wanted me to leave my friend there as collateral and go down the street to an a ATM and get cash. Considering I don't bank there I was going to have over $6 in service fees. My bill after groupon was only $6.26. After waiting for over 20min for credit card machine to come back up I asked for a manager who got rude and said well I guess we will cover your bill. Mind you they tried running my card 4 times on the "down machine" and now I have 4 charges on my card that I have to dispute. STAY AWAY FROM THIS RUDE ESTABLISHMENT! read more

Expectations were not high for our visit to Jefferson Street BBQ in Converse, IN. I have not experienced good BBQ anywhere in Indiana over the many years I have lived here. Invariably it is overcooked, either being cooked at too high a temperature, being cooked too long or both. This is the way most people in Indiana believe BBQ is supposed to be. Places often call their ribs "falling off the bone", which they are, sadly. With little or no experience of what excellent BBQ is like, the expectation is that if the meat is cooked to complete oblivion and then saturated with sauce, that is good Q. Having grown up with these misconceptions, most pitmasters in Indiana repeat this mistake generation after generation. Our experience at Jefferson Street was better than average, with mixed results. Wanting to get a broad idea of their pit capabilities I ordered pulled pork, ribs, sausage and brisket. There are three choices of sausage and I ordered the andouille. It was excellent, cooked to perfection, moist and flavorful with a decently modest level of hot. The pulled pork had good flavor and a good level of smoke, but it was overcooked and too dry. Typical Indiana fare, cooked too long or too hot or just left sitting too long, no way to know which. I can and do cook much better at home. Same thing for the ribs. They only have baby backs, which aggravates the tendency to overcook since they don't contain the same level of fat as the bigger belly ribs. Again, good level of smokiness, but very dry and overcooked. Most of the meat flavor was cooked out. Typical Indiana ribs, ugh. Finally a surprise, the brisket was quite good, with a generous amount of fat left on it. Slightly dry, but much less so than the pulled pork. Unlike with pork shoulder, it is almost impossible to get brisket that is truly moist. I wonder if they cook the brisket to an internal temperature using a thermometer, something they should be doing with both the brisket and the butt/shoulders. At any rate, the brisket proved to be the best of the meats, not including the sausage which is a separate category. I also had the wedge salad and it was excellent. Good quality bleu cheese, generous amount of bacon and a good quality balsamic vinegar. I will go back and sample this place again because there is an obvious higher than average level of quality at Jefferson Street. I can only hope the pitmaster figures out the secret to truly quality BBQ. I wish I could afford to send him or her to Austin or Dallas or Houston or KC or Memphis to experience the real deal. They obviously have the tools to do the job right and the desire for quality. read more

Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me start with saying we walked in at 8pm...they close at 8pm. I hate being that guy, but they were cordial and willing to let us get a take out order. Bravo! Ordered the ribs and brisket with sides of Mac and cheese and slaw. Very good. Ribs were fall off the bone and very tasty. Mac and cheese was really good. Slaw was pretty standard. Brisket was good but not great. Pretty cool little joint. Ribs were worth the trip. read more

We came here to celebrate our daughters birthday and get away from all the chains in Marion. We were impressed with the food and the atmosphere. Very clean and friendly. If you like BBQ, this place is for you. We ordered the jalapeño cornbread for an appetizer. Very sweet and delicious.For lunch I had the Big Nasty! Awesome! The slaw was pretty good too. read more

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This is an outstanding bbq Resturant!! Highly recommend it & the owner is great !! The owner great as she is out checking on customers , food, etc. read more

So disappointed. We eat here often. Usually a good experience. This is at least the second time now the food was cold on the table when served. Not a little warm, literally out of the fridge cold. The Mac and cheese was cold and the baked potato was as well. First time I didn't say anything just ate the food. The staff was clearly overworked. The server was running around like crazy and simply couldn't keep up. Not his fault at all. It was a busy day in town and things happen but still. Just an overall bad experience this time. Won't be back for awhile hope things get a little better. This review was updated as I'm sitting here. Folks not exaggerating it's taken over 30 minutes just to get a box and a bill. And still haven't got it yet. I haven't had an experience this bad at a restaurant in a long time. Only reason I have two stars is because my ribs were decent. read more

This place is amazing local meats and food , hidden in a small town with a modern twist if you are ever passing by hit this place up. The ribs are amazingly good read more

I have stayed near Converse for years. I have now found the place to eat if anywhere near. Great sausages and some of the best brisket I have eaten. Side are also very good. Try the collard greens, they are the delicious. read more

The food was amazing. The brisket was awesome. The pulled pork is great. Fantastic ribs. The rub they use is awesome. Great small place. Service was on it! They were friendly and attentive. We will definitely go back. read more

A+++ one of my favorite places to eat!! Just be sure to get there early enough before they run out of Mac & cheese!!

Best Pulled Pork & Beef Brisket around! A must try for barbecue! They have a lot of side choices and plenty to choose from on the menu!

Beef brisket sandwich & pulled pork sandwich delicious! Mac and cheese ($5) so dry neither one of us could eat it, 1/4 blue cheese wedge ($5) good but I thought pricey for what you got. Bloody Mary ($7) dont bother.All kinds of stuff in it including a full stalk of celery untrimmed .I think it was just bloody Mary mix with one shot, if any, vodka. Corn muffin was the star. If they improved their sides I might go back. Nice decor and our server was wonderful read more

Yum! Food is great! Staff is greater! Owner is greatest and can usually be found in the restaurant working right along with her staff! And they are the only restaurant that delivers food in our area! Try the tacos you wont be disappointed! read more

Today was my first time going to Jefferson St BBQ. I've been wanting to go there for a long time, and so glad I finally got the chance. I ordered the 2 meats with 2 sides with Chicken wings, brisket, baked beans and chicken white bean soup. I got the jalapeño corn bread for an appetizer, as a side. Everything tasted so good! I will definitely be returning to try more menu options. I also ordered the Bacon Carmel Cheesecake to go. I haven't tried it yet but it looks amazing! The service was great. I highly recommend Jefferson St BBQ! Outstanding! read more

One of the best smoke houses I've been to and I've been to a few! We split the Wabash, a platter of three meats and three sides. We went with ribs, chicken breast (which is served healthily sliced) and brisket. We thought we would need a to go box but the food was so delicious we just kept rolling through! I've never had collard greens so perfectly cooked! Or sweet tea so far north taste so south! All of the meat was melt in your mouth and to heck with the BBQ sauce served on the side the smoke was perfect! I'll be back!!! read more

I came here last Friday with my family and had a great time! Great service and wonderful food. I live an hour away, but can't wait to bring my husband next time! read more

Jefferson Street BBQ - This is Little Nasty, with an extra side of Mac and cheese. Also, the raspberry lemon drink was perfect! - Barbeque Near Me - Converse, Indiana

Craft beer and pastured pork in Converse IN? Yes, at really low prices. Pleasant surprise worth getting off your route to try. Clean open atmosphere in an downtown building, great service, unexpected level of detail. Expected a bbq joint with just counter service but found a well run full service restaurant. read more

If the review was based on food and service only, I'd give it a 4 stars... but keep reading please. My wife and I love eating here as the food is fantastic. I'm a big eater and a full rack of ribs is meaty and filling! It makes for a great lunch the next day! Either style of ribs are great (baby back or spare) but I've had the brisket too and it was amazing. You add your own sauce to everything which I like because sometimes I don't like a lot of sauce. The sauces are made "in house" I think and you can get sweet and spicy. Both are good. The Jalapeno corn bread is AWESOME as are their baked beans and green beans (with bacon!). I also love the wedge salad and the chicken wings appetizer! It's casual dining and you can usually sit outdoors if you'd like. It seems as though the prices have crept up a bit over the past couple of years but everything is still acceptably priced. They aren't open on Sundays, which is a drag, but I won't knock them for that. Now comes the problem (and the reason I'd only give it 1 star if I were spiteful). It's located in the really nice, quaint town of Converse... and there isn't much to do there. About a month or so ago we drove over to have dinner. It was 5-6pm and a beautiful day. Surprisingly we were told the wait time would be 1 hour AND they weren't seating outdoors! I couldn't believe it because we've never had to wait more than 15 minutes. We were upset, couldn't have drinks outside while we waited, there was no where to kill an hour, so we drove back Kokomo and ate somewhere else. A couple weeks later on a Saturday in early June, we decided to go again only this time I decided to call ahead. The girl said there was no wait time but that they were out of pulled pork and brisket. Not a problem because we were going for the ribs and chicken! So we hopped in the car and arrived about 40 min later (about 6:30) only to find they were COMPLETELY out of food and closing the doors!! We were so mad!!! The girl could have at least warned that they were nearly out of everything... not just brisket and pulled pork. That's a lot of time and gas wasted in a short period of time to try to spend my money here, so I'm not sure that we'll ever take a chance on going back. It's a shame because the food is great, but there is too much risk driving all that way for possibly nothing. read more

We've been here for dinner 3 times, and all 3 times we loved our meal. The atmosphere was pleasant, the service was good, and the food was delicious. The only problem with this place is how popular it is. Keep up the good work. read more

I've had the food a few times and it's okay, but nothing special. However, we were just appalled with the poor service. When the waiter came by to get our order, we asked for just a minute to look over the menu and it took him a good twenty minutes to come back for our order. Once we ordered, it took forty minutes to get our food and it wasn't even busy! Then, two of the four entrees are completely incorrect and when I pointed it out, he went back to talk to the kitchen and came back and said they could get our correct orders if we wait another ten minutes. At this point, I was so hungry that I just said I didn't care to wait and would rather eat something I didn't order. I thought maybe we would have gotten a discount on our bill for not getting half of what we ordered, but instead we paid for food we didn't want. We're never returning. What a terrible experience. read more

Went today, the weather was nice so we asked to sit outside. There were bees that would mot leave us alone for about 5 minutes so we asked to be seated inside. Service was great. The food however must have been left over from earlier in the week. Ribs and pulled pork were dry but the chicken was so dry, it was hard to choke down. We were very disappointed since there were so many good reviews about the food. I'm hoping we just went on a bad day, although it was a Friday evening. read more

After an all day swim meet at Oak Hill High School we were looking for someplace out of the ordinary to eat and we throughly enjoyed our meal at the Jefferson Street BBQ. Our group of four tried out the baby back ribs, beef brisket, smoked sausage and pulled pork. We also had the coleslaw, mac n cheese, baked beans and two orders of the excellent jalapeño cornbread. All of this was finished off by some three Floyd's Brewing Yum Yum and Gumball Head. We liked the fact that you get to add your own sauce to the meats that way you can get just the right amount. Everything we had was excellent we can't wait to go back again sometime soon. read more

Pulled pork barbecue was delicious! portion sizes and prices were very good! Be sure to order a piece of the jalapeno cornbread .

The smell as I walked in told me is was in for a treat. I've been here a few times and have never been disappointed. All kinds of good bbq here. My friend likes getting the loaded baked potato, but I love the brisket and bbq chicken. The white chicken chili is great stuff too. The only thing that didn't impress me was the pulled pork...it was good, but nothing special. read more