I've been here before, and this times even better! The sliced brisket is sooo good I forgot sauce and didn't even need it! So juicy and flavorful! The chopped mutton sandwich has a strong, but good Smokey flavor. The potato salad tastes homemade. The baked beans were a little plain, but good. The service was outstanding! The atmosphere is like that of a really good small town restaurant, which was wonderful! I highly recommend stopping by if you're in town. Some of the best BBQ I've had that didn't come from my smoker! read more

07/03/26. After 30yrs time to say goodbye. Our waitress was great and food was too. But if you seated in another's area you'll get drawn into a nasty comments by other waitresses. Since i don't tolerate that i told them so that it's wrong to do that and we all left. If they now hire those types and looks like they do, IM outta there. I'll try the other barbecue place. read more

I recently headed over to Owensboro to catch a show at the bluegrass hall of fame. Also to enjoy a beautiful evening at the wonderful riverside park there. Before the show we decided to check one off of the bucket list and visit the world famous Moonlite bbq ... note: we visited some shops before we headed over. When chatting with the shop owners, we mentioned we were going to Moonlite, almost everyone suggested to go to the "other" barbecue joint in town.. but since we had never been, and we wanted to experience it, our hearts were set. Upon arrival was exactly what we expected. The iconic Moonlite sign and a rustic dated vibe. We were excited! We were seated right away, and we of course opted for the Buffet. At 22.50 expectations were high, the world famous burgoo and mutton and skanky chicken strips?? Whoa! Well firstly the Buffet is attended to by several employees keeping everything neat and well stocked at all times. They are very serious about this. We tried a little bit of everything and our fair share of the mutton and burgoo, Before we hit the dessert bar. lots of familiar items on the menu like the famous green stuff or as some call it, pistachio medley... bottom line is, it's worth experiencing and it's fun but if you're looking for competition barbecue, this isn't the place. If you're thinking of smoke rings and bark .. light blue smoke, move on. This was probably really awesome at one time(1988) but in 2026 the craft has been elevated. This is like a Golden Corral quality or a smidge higher for 50+ dollars for two. Probably a one and done . Happy adventures read more

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Simply one of the best dining experiences. Everyone needs to try the buffet once. Everything is hot and fresh. The line is constantly refilled with great bbq pork, chicken, ribs and mutton. Sides that melt in your mouth. The veteran staff always on top of keeping things working smoothly. Weekend nights sees hundreds of diners. Plenty of space. My favorite are the desserts. Cobblers, carrot cake, Kentucky's best homemade pies. Soft serve ice cream at the end. Vanilla ice cream on hot blackberry cobbler. If you try this place once you will go there every time it's near. read more

WOW I have seen them on TV heard from friends how I should make the trip to eat here. It's worth the 2 hour drive. I would like to tell you what the menu had on it but we walked past the buffet on the way to be seated. No need to see a menu I was sold on the ability to try all the choices of the massive buffet. The cost was amazingly reasonable. Starting with a healthy salad then multiple vegetables including many meats followed by great desserts. Now that I've had the experience I'll be back multiple times. read more

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This place is huge! I didn't have the buffet because there was no way I could eat all that food. It looking very delicious. I had the BBQ pork sandwich and it was great. The banana pudding was great. Don't miss this place if you are traveling as I was. There are a lot of places to choose from, and this is not to be missed! read more

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Simply everything about this placed I enjoyed. You'll leave full and happy. If you don't it's your own fault. Service was great and the place seemed well kept and clean. They were having issues getting food out to the buffet the day I dined with them. During the evening. read more

Today, my best friend and I, took a 2 hour drive, just to try you out, and needless to say, SO VERY DISAPPOINTED! As we walk in, no warm welcome. Very quiet. Host/server, very cold, no warmth AT ALL. She did let us know that the buffet wasn't currently active, but when we was like oohh. We just drove 2 miles to eat here. First time here. Zero concerns of hers. 2 different people waited on us. Neither were friendly! At ALL! They were as blah as the food was. It was over dry. We both had the half chicken. There was no taste in anything. We felt rushed. She laid the check down way before we finished. Just an all out bad experience. I'll pass it on. Best form of advertisement read more

Although the meat was cooked well (very tender), it was all pretty much completely tasteless. The meat tasted like it was slow roasted or braised without any seasoning. There was no sign of smoke, bark, or flavor of any sort that I expect out of BBQ. The sides were all equally tasteless, as were the desserts. It's an abomination to BBQ to call what this place serves BBQ. On the plus side, our waitress was very nice, and the food wasn't greasy read more

I had the opportunity to swing an hour or so out of my way and visit the Moonlight recently. This is hands down the biggest BBQ restaurant I've ever visited. They have a huge buffet but I decided to order off the menu. I ordered the mutton plate half chopped and half sliced with green beans and coleslaw and a cup of burgoo that came with corn muffins. I had an unsweetened tea as my beverage. The coleslaw was excellent creamy and a little sweet tart. The cabbage still had plenty of crunch. The green beans weren't anything special but they were seasoned appropriately. Corn muffins were good. I really enjoyed the Burgoo. It was meaty and rich. Now before this I had never had bbq mutton. I really enjoyed it. It was moist and tender. Had a reasonable mild smoke flavor. And was well seasoned. I don't think you could have asked for more. They placed one sauce on the table. It was a middle of the road tomato based sauce. Neither sweet nor tart. But it complemented the mutton quite well. If I have time available again I'll detour and do it again or road trip just to go there. It's a good spot. read more

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My husband went to pick up an order. And when he got home, they either made a mistake or maybe they dont have anything we ordered. But the funny part if it all, they charged us $23 for this. We ordered 2 different meals, pork ribs & beef brisket. They charged us $45+.. look at this food! Its dry & its just pulled pork! Not worth $10 a portion of meat! read more

Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn - NOT WORTH IT!! I think its just a hype! - Barbeque Near Me - Owensboro, Kentucky

I've been here several times for the lunch buffet, and I can't recommend it highly enough. I've never had to wait to be seated. This restaurant is much larger inside than it looks from the outside. Even though the parking lot seems almost completely full there are still tables available. If you order the buffet there is no wait. Just head for the buffet and grab a plate. This is perfect for those of us who have a relatively short amount of time for lunch. The food is really good, and so is the selection. The employees are always friendly and helpful, even when the restaurant was super busy. read more

Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn - Buffet selections - Barbeque Near Me - Owensboro, Kentucky

Food was excellent. Had buffet, and everything thing was fresh, the kitchen help kept a keen eye on things if if it ran low. For the various dishes the price was very reasonable. Definitely a must stop when in the area. read more

There are lots of hustles and bustle going on here. There wasn't waiting to be seated. This place has a handful of rooms they can plop you down in. Great for large groups(we even had his service dog). Service was efficient and pleasant. Food was hot, stocked, and ready for the choosing at the buffet. The cost doesn't break the bank either. Where do I start? The blue cheese dressing g was pungent and filled with creamy chunks of blue cheese....yummy! Make sure you try oompah potato salad( homemade stuff always gets me) Left this place thick as a tick. Please just roll me into my car. Thank you read more

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Barbecue and Some History!! The Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn is an iconic Barbecue Buffet in Owensboro Kentucky. The Moonlite has been around for over 30 years serving up local favourites and barbecue classics. I was in the Owensboro area, had heard about the Moonlite, and decided to try it. If anything you find history, nostalgia and a massive offering of Meat, poultry, veggies, salads and sides. You can order from the buffet or you can order order a-la-carte items and combos. I chose the Buffet. The buffet has so many items to choose from and I could only eat so much so I decided on Barbecue Chicken, Country Ham, Pulled Pork, Ribs and a whole lot more. I even tried a local beef stew called Burgoo. The food was hot and fresh and replenished often throughout the evening. Is it the best barbecue I've ever had? Well no, but it was very good and the food was plentiful. If you are a fan of barbecue, you will things that you like and the meal was reasonably priced. Overall the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn is a must-try if you are in the Owensboro area, looking for history and you have a big appetite. read more

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We have a soft spot for Moonlite! We had this catered to us for our wedding. There was plenty to go around but due to the excellent taste, there was not enough to bring home because it was all gone lol! When we have went in to eat at the restaurant itself, the wait time hasn't been too long and we love the fact that it is a buffet. The mutton is really good and you typically can't find mutton in a lot of other bbq places around, especially on a buffet. Nice family setting. read more

This place has had some mixed reviews, but we decided to give it a try anyway. We must have hit it at the right time during the Famous Buffett. I and my wife both had the BBQ Sliced Pork Boston Butt Plate with cornbread muffin, pickle, onion, with a Toss Salad and onion rings. One of the few places in the United States that I have seen that offers mutton. They also offer some good KY Craft Beers, the Kentucky Irish Red Ale is my personal favorite. We had the Cherry Cobbler for dessert, and it was outstanding. Over all the service was ok, and the place does not live up to the hype, maybe everyone was having an off night. I wish them all the best, but it seems some of the prior reviews are correct. read more

Food is great and the service is wonderful! We had the buffet and it was delicious as always!

This place has everything that I'm looking for in barbecue: great meats, great sides, and a truly original sauce. The buffet has all varieties of meat. The mutton is not to be missed. I love lamb but had never had it barbecued! So good, and it's very specific to this region. The sides are amazing. If you grew up in this area of Kentucky, these sides are traditional as they come: green beans, navy beans with ham hock, stewed apples, soft sweet carrots, okra and tomatoes, etc. The distinctive sauce has a bourbony tang, and the very hot sauce has a spike of vodka. Not too sweet, not too acidic. The dining rooms are large, homey, and clean. Sweet servers. I've been meaning to come here for years because this place is often ranked #1 in Kentucky for barbecue, and my grandparents were from Owensboro. The online reviews always seem surprisingly low for such a renowned barbecue place, but I think that's just it! People like to say that it's overhyped because it's gotten some attention. But truly, this place is worthy of the traffic it gets. And if you don't like the sides, I guess you'd hate my grandma's cooking too because this is very authentic. (And honestly, I don't know what to do with you if you'd hate my grandma's cooking!) read more

Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn - I swear there are a lot of veggies hiding under the meat. I just loaded my plate so much! - Barbeque Near Me - Owensboro, Kentucky

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We were frankly unimpressed and disappointed. The buffet is only open during certain hours - when we arrived we were told it was closed, yet every other table around us was helping themselves? Whatever, we dont argue with servers. Anyway, the food itself was...meh? The sides were the best part, especially their potato salad. Their sliced mutton was fine, not great. The pork ribs were honestly pretty awful. The beef brisket was unimpressive and dry. The service was fine, not bad, no complaints. The two stars it gets is for its ambiance, which scream "middle american comfort food" in a homestyle way. Obviously a classic, at this point exists because of its name, not for quality of food. Not for nothing: OVERPRICED, especially considering you can find cheaper, better barbecue in Lexington. Insane to say over Owensboro. read more

I make poor food choices and this is one. I've been here 3x in 6 months and I regret going here today. Why? I'm trying to watch my diet and eat less calories and more fruit and vegetables. I told myself; you're not in the area often so go ahead (I live near Joliet, Illinois) and enjoy a nice lunch. I tell myself I'll mainly eat veggies and salads; only grab a little bit of BBQ, wait, is that chunky ham? Regrats? Three plates of food and way too much ham. Apple crisp for that fruit I mentioned. Lots of beans, corn, green beans........you know what they serve here. As they say I was in Hog Heaven. Then I rolled myself to my 1/2 ton truck and belched BBQ as I made my afternoon sales calls......NO Honda Civic for me (wife calls me Hoss, then laughs) read more

Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn - Barbeque Near Me - Owensboro, Kentucky

Mutton! I'd never had it and I dug it. Reminded me of pulled pork but there's a bit of difference. Can't tell you what. Anyway, the buffet was HUGE. Price was good. Highly recommended! read more

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We had the buffet and everything was absolutely delicious!! Home cooking best I've ate at any restaurant!!

My husband and I stopped by here to eat while visiting Owensboro. The food was great. We loved the brisket. The dessert bar was incredible. The restaurant is huge and all the staff were so friendly. read more

Rita at Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn did an outstanding job serving our table. The food was delicious. Visiting this restaurant is a must if you are in Owensboro. Jenise Hale - Author #GossamerKey #supportlocalauthors #supportlocalbusinesses GossamerKey.com read more

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The items presented, the taste should be improved, the amount of choices should be increased. The food location was the size of a small closet. read more

I have heard about Moonlite for some time as being the BBQ place to be in Owensboro, KY. In fact, it was just recently on Thrillist's 41 BBQ joints to try now. I was close in the area so I wanted to give it a try. However, I was skeptical about the buffet and I hate to say that my skepticism was right. But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of good stuff here. Just like all buffets, stay away if you are a germ-a-phobe. The meats that are on the buffet are ribs, pulled pork, sliced brisket, ham, chicken, and the specialty of mutton - sliced and pulled. Mutton is lamb and can only be found in this part of the world. Out of the meats, the pulled pork and mutton were the best. The others feel victim for being under a heat lamp for too long. The ribs and brisket were tough. Though I did give the brisket a better chance when they brought out fresh. At least it wasn't dry! And why is fried shrimp on a BBQ buffet? You come to a BBQ joint to eat BBQ! Why would you eat shrimp at a BBQ joint? Burgoo is a camp stew and it was also one of the better parts of the meal. There are too many sides to list but the sides were better than the meats. The desserts looked like a bunch of hyenas had torn into the pies but still the peanut butter pie and chess pie was fabulous. The BBQ sauce is a tomato base and seemed like it had cinnamon in it? Either way, the sauce was pretty good. Sweet tea was extremely satisfying since it is on the Southside of the Ohio River. There is a menu to order off of but would it be better? I do not know. Basically the quantity of the buffet won the battle of the quality of BBQ. Go to Olde Hickory if you value quality more. read more

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Maybe the cleanest buffet I've had. A nice spread both with the salad section and meats/potatoes. I would stop here again if in town

Pros: Food and service is great Good family oriented environment Owners are wonderful people Cons: Very pricey $30 per person is very high compared to other places read more

Moonlite is one of the best BBQ buffet experiences I have ever had. I honestly can't recommend this place enough. The buffet has basically everything one could possibly want. Ham, Beef, Chicken, Brisket, Shrimp, Burgoo, Chili, Mac & Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, Collared Greens, salads, etc.... If you'd expect it to be there, it will be there! And it's endless buffet so you can keep going back for more. So be sure to try a true sampling of everything they have. You won't regret it. Everything is done just perfectly. This is damn good BBQ! Well ..... your stomach might complain later for being over stuffed. It's hard to leave this place without saying: "Why did I eat so much????" The staff is extremely attentive and they make sure that your drink is bottomless. Every time I looked my Dr. Pepper had mysteriously refilled itself. Place is open floor with tables throughout. But the heavy attendance won't get in your way. It's perfectly fine. I do have to admit that I'm kinda happy I don't live near here because if I did I would literally weigh a zillion pounds and that wouldn't be good for me! read more

Moonlite lived up to the hype when I made my first visit there recently. It was Sunday at lunchtime so I ordered the brunch buffet (although I skipped the breakfast foods to save room for all the bbq meats). My least favorite meat was the mutton, while my favorite was the brisket. All were good though. The broccoli casserole and Mac n cheese were delicious too. I wish I lived closer to Owensboro so I could go back more often! read more

Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn - Sunday Brunch Buffet - Barbeque Near Me - Owensboro, Kentucky

A MUST stop when visiting Owensboro! I know of no place in America other than this region of the Country that serves Mutton. Theirs is wonderful! Could not be more tender or moist. Try the sliced and the chopped! Reach in the bottom of the buffet pan for the most tender meat! Get there early and the brisket is fantastic as well. Also must try the Burgoo....ANOTHER KY favorite! Decent buffet, salad bar and desserts but I pretty much stuck with these winners! read more

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Good buffet with salad bar and desert bar. Service is good as well as the food. It is expensive so we do not go as often as we would like. We find Thursday to be a good night. read more

I'm not a local but from what I've heard this is an esteemed establishment in Owensboro. My fiancé, familiar with the area since he studied at Brescia, said this is a local gem. The part that intrigued me the most is that they offer mutton. I love lamb, and I was really excited to give mutton a try. We each got the buffet. The food isn't bad! The mutton did taste like lamb, but a lot stronger and gamier--I think this is just by virtue of the animal's age. There are plenty of options in the buffet, both savory and sweet, so there is definitely something for everyone. The locale itself is really big, with plenty of seating. As we were eating we overheard they got a call giving them a heads up that a 40+ person baseball team was coming in, and they were able to accommodate. The staff is very friendly, and eating here is a fun and unique experience! read more

It was delicious, they were very friendly and accommodating with a good atmosphere. I've already recommended it to a bbq junkie I know. I would definitely go back. read more

Excellent service, ribs and pulled pork were good. Ribs tender falling off the bone. Dinner for 2 ribs a good deal with 2 sides and a full rack of rib. $25 and we got another mean from it the next day. Garlic toast included.. Service very good read more

A must-stop in place if you visit Owensboro. We were in town visiting family, and I DEMANDED we stop in for the buffet and promptly filled my plate with delicious chopped brisket, pulled pork, chicken and a FAR too large serving of delicious banana pudding. The team there is super friendly, the food is delicious, there is TONS of seating. Definitely coming back. read more

I got the sampler for take out. I got pork, brisket, and mutton, with corn muffins, potato salad and mac-n-cheese. I enjoyed it all. Brisket was melt in your mouth. Pork was juicy near melt in your mouth, slight firmness so it still had some chewing to do, First time for mutton bbq, it's great, still the mutton flavor but smoking it make it milder. All meats had smoke rink and bark. Bbq sause is a little sweet which I like, it may have some nutmeg and/or cinnamon in it, has a hint of apple flavor. Corn muffin spot on. Potato salad, made with love, there is something a little different, I ate mine too fast to guess. Mac-n-chees was good, lots of cheesyness, but no special pop for me. Portion was good, probably could feed two if you full of will power. Dinning room was packed, they have a bbq buffet!!!! Only place I have ever seen Rebbeca Ruth's bourbon Ball candy outside of where it is made in Frankfort, Ky. read more

Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn - Sampler - Barbeque Near Me - Owensboro, Kentucky

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I always get the burgoo here when in Owensboro. My college roommate and former business partner freezes me a gallon for each visit to Owensboro.. read more

The food was amazing. The atmosphere was pleasant and not too loud. Our waitress, Amelia, went above and beyond and made the whole experience exceptional! read more