I was really looking forward to checking it out. I'd heard they were struggling w customers so I went. Was offered their buffet so that's what I got. There were a lot of people there so that's good. But the food...it was all cold! When I mentioned it she just said it was supposed to be closed down. Not sure I could come back after that. read more

First time coming here we were gonna go to the place across the street but they were closed so we decided to give this place a shot so thank you for being open on a Monday, decided to order some food and I was blown away how perfectly smoked the meat was and the house sauce was amazing too, chicken wings were massive and infact if I had to complain about anything it would be the little itty bitty ranch dipping sauce. Riley was are bartender and she was on point was able to watch the cook prep all order's and was very entertaining. Will definitely be back you have earned a customer for life and hands down best BBQ joint I have ever been too. read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - Chicken wings with house sauce - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

I'm from KC KS and was excited to have authentic KC BBQ. The pulled pork was great, very small portion. I liked the sweet sauce option. There are two others, spicy and can't remember the other one. Mac and cheese was soupy and made cheese puddles in the shells pasta. Husband got green beans that were dry and tasteless. Potato salad was ok. I was disappointed with the service. Our server barely talked to us and acted like she'd rather be doing anything else than stooping to take our orders. It took a very long time to get our food. As we left, there was a lady at the cash register who looked to be in charge and we walked right past her. She didn't look at us, say thanks for coming in, nothing. I found it to be very embarrassing as a KC native myself knowing this isn't how we treat each other. read more

Just moved to the area, seeking a ,"go-to" bbq spot. Service-ok, ambiance - fun, food- brisket was really good but wings were the worst we've ever had. Cold, Overcooked & chewy . Seemed to have been cooked a while ago and re-tossed with cold sauce. Got 12 , ate 3. Only two customers eating with one at bar and waitress was very preoccupied with her discussion with the person at the bar. No beuno !!!! read more

Service is terrible. It's embarrassing. Clearly the staff does not want to be there and could care less about customers. Owners should clean house and start over with hiring friendly people. Meats are ok and the variety of sweet and spicy sauce options are good. But there are plenty of other BBQ places in the valley that make you feel appreciated for dining there versus being an inconvenience for the staff. I live close by and will probably try again if I see reviews where the experience is improved. read more

Stoped here for lunch after an amazing UTV ride tour. Walked in and greeted the hostess twice, she did not respond. I stepped out and walked back I'm and finally she acknowledged me, order out lunch to go. Got back to the hotel and realized we were provided no utensils, no wet wipes- for a BBQ joint. Pulled pork was ok, ribs were ok. Potato salad Terrible- The potatoes were not cooked and it was super watery. The Mac and Cheese a joke. Who uses shells for Mac and Cheese? The good news is we won't be back. read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - Mac and Cheese - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Don't mater how good food but if after 40 minutes waiting for order you told that you have to wait another 20-25 minutes in bbq place !!! This place can't score more than one star for me read more

Overall a 2. I really wanted to love this place moving het from KC 5 years ago. Sorry fellow KC folk... this place won't scratch that KC BBQ itch. Food - 2.5 for PHX BBQ ... in KC a 1 (as you're comparing it to the standards of the world - Jack Stack, Joes, Gates, JC etc). Service - 4. Considering there was literally 2 people working (1 cook, 1 bar tender/server) for a Sat afternoon - service was acceptable! Ambience 2 - A run down beer joint/pool hall. This doesn't matter if the foods good so I don't weight it very high for the overall score of 2 (for BBQ joints. I call it the KC Joe's BBQ rule (best Que in KC is in a gas station). Food Brisket -2. Some cubes were dry.. like eating a dry cracker. Other cubes were not dry but chewy. Can't wait to hit Jack Stack next month in KC to properly apologize to my taste buds. Perhaps this was cooked/reheated? Not sure. It was NOT terrible... so worth trying as you may think it is better than me. Im just used to real KC BBQ. Chicken Salad (wife rating: 2). Salad leaves were slimy. Wife didnt like the chicken as there was some bones in it. Perhaps chopped up and a few bones. This was no big deal but my wife had 1/4 of here slimly salad leimoves to the side. It appears the place doesn't do enough business to keep food fresh (manage food turnover). read more

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Phat BBQ, you are Smok'n'hot! HUNTER love your personal attention that you gave us. It's always fun finding a new place to go and on top of that we were treated so good. Love the burnt ends, the french fries were nice and crisp and hot and the beans were excellent. I WOULD RECOMMEND read more

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Food was terrible service was slow and took two hours for 4 people. This place needs a facelift.

SLOW, "emphasis on "SLOW and LOW" we waited one hour for quesadillas . The food was cold too read more

I am a KC native, so any chance I have to try an authentic KC BBQ restaurant I will take it. We got lucky to get an outside table as we showed up with our dogs and it was too hot to let them hang out in the car. Fortunately both our server and the owner were friendly with the pups. And the owner came by our table and talked KC BBQ with us for a few minutes, which was very nice. Being from KC, burnt ends are always my go to, but my husband beat me to them and ordered them. I wanted to try some other things so I got the ribs and sliced brisket combo. I really appreciate that they let you mix and match anything (for an appropriate charge). While the sliced brisket was really good, and had a nice bark to it, the ribs didn't rock my world. They were good, and if ribs are your preferred item then definitely give them a try. They were tender and fell of the bone with just a push from my fork. But the stand out by far was the burnt ends. I will be getting those on my next visit. To do them right, it takes extra time and effort and that's what they do here. The sides were good. The sweet potato fries were my favorite, and my husband said that the onion rings were really good as well. He liked the beans and I liked the fries too. Neither of us found the perfect sauce. The "hot" isn't really hot, so don't be afraid to give it a try. I mixed all 3 and came up with a good mixture, but that was mostly to dip my fries because well seasoned and properly smoked meat doesn't need any sauce in my opinion. read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - Burnt End meal with onion rings and baked beans. - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

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The worst bbq I have ever had! Mac and cheese were more like a creamy soup. Don't go ! Service wasn't the best either . read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Just had lunch at Phat Turtle -- the best bbq I've ever had !!! Sides were outstanding .. mac and cheese - slaw- then brisket beans ... took the brisket platter to go the owner sent over a tasting (good hospitality ) I couldn't resist .. molasses bark .. fresh - piping hot -melt in your mouth pulled pork on my sandwich .. If you haven't been there lately you haven't been there !!!!! Great experience... it's hard running a restaurant and if you haven't you would have NO idea.. you can't even guess the hard work to serve FRESH food everyday ... I'll be back for pool tourney need to show those phat turtles how to play .. lol Great experience hats off to the owner very attentive to my experience and the other patrons too! Give it a try and if you have been there before give it another try smoking everyday ! read more

Short Story - Average with inconsistency K.C. Style BBQ restaurant with below average service. Longer story- Phat Turle BBQ îs a small independently owned Kansas City Style BBQ Restaurant located in Cave Creek. It looks the way BBQ places should look and even more importantly SMELLS the way good BBQ places smell like delicious BBQ. I thought our server seemed really sweet and nice. I ordered a 2 meat plate. After I ordered she came back and said they were out of chicken today so I picked something else. My husband already ordered a Phat Sampler (burnt ends, pulled pork, brisket, b.b.ribs, chopped chicken, sausage with onion rings and one side).......She didn't say anything to my husband who was exspection his Phat Sampler with chicken......We thought maybe they only had a little bit of chicken left???????? The food gets served and My husbands plate didn't have chicken and also didn't have any sausage. They didn't even bother to MENTION TO MY HUSBAND THAT THEY WERE OUT OF THE CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE FOR THE PHAT SAMPLER. He told her that he was upset because he would have ordered a two plate meat if he knew that he wasn't getting two of the meats. Anyways- some things were better than other things. Maybe the best things were the side salad and the onion rings. The least favorite things were the chopped brisket (like dried up brisket they scrape off the cutting board and throw in the beans) and the Mac-n-cheese that was like thin white sauce missing the cheese. We didn't think either burnt end was right. On my plate the burnt ends were extra succulent and on my husband's plate they were chewy and dried up. Average - with below average customer service. read more

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Car club had lunch at Phat Turtle today. Very accommodating, good service for only one server for 14 of us. Strong BBQ menu. Most ordered one kind of brisket dish or another. I opted for a salad with brisket, and while it took about 15+ minutes to arrive....it was HUGE. I ate on it for 20 minutes and still took 3/4 of it home. Lots of fresh greens and usual salad stuff, many pieces of brisket (needed to put sauce on it as it was dry) that was good after sauced. PT is marketed as a St. Louis BBQ place but I am not familiar what that exactly means with regard to flavor profile. Most of the club members liked their choices, some of the more discriminating (picky) were non commital. PT came highly recommended and I am sure that at dinner time and into the evening it does a very good business both in terms of food and other activities available. read more

Sadly, we do love the food here most visits. I'm not sure if they are low on help. On Jan 25th went to pick up a to go order. 1 rack of ribs, fries and beans. Not too complicated. First we got the wrong order, thankfully we checked. Then like magic they couldn't find the order? So how did we get the wrong one? I had to show my order receipt and they blamed their online ordering system. It took approximately 2 hours to get our order. They kindly offered to refund the charge for the inconvenience, which was appropriate. My husband has been reaching out to them every few days and they keep saying it takes 7-10 days for it to show..well it's been 15 days. So send me the receipt. I got the emailed receipt dated today and the money showed up today as well. That is pretty shady in my opinion. We are frequent customers too. read more

My first visit here. The pulled pork sandwich was very tasty. They have 3 kinds of house-made BBQ sauce that you can put on your food yourself. The coleslaw was very good, not vinegar-y but sweet, and the portion of slaw was huge. The server was very friendly and attentive. I'll be back! read more

Where do I begin? Showed up on a Friday at 7pm. Nobody sat us, so I asked the bartender if we could sit at a table for dinner and he said OK. After 10 minutes, we walked out. Another couple walked out before us, and I know why. We didn't notice one server. We were never brought menus, place settings, or asked a single question. I noticed one cook in the kitchen. We ate at a different restaurant in the strip mall, and when we came back to our car around 8pm, the cook was smoking a joint in the parking lot. This was my second and last chance given to this establishment. I enjoyed the food the first time despite horrendous service, but this last experience will be my final one. read more

I have to preface this review by saying the only redeeming part of our dining experience was how polite our server was (she was quite young - high school age perhaps?). As much as I wanted to complain about the food there and then, I just didn't have the heart to hurt her feelings. We got there around 7:21pm on a Saturday night - which I would say is prime time dinner hour. We were told by the hostess, "We're behind on cleaning tables but please find one and get seated"... Which we did. Not a single open table was bussed...so we picked the least dirty booth. It took about 20 minutes to get our order in- we ordered an appetizer sampler (mostly fried items) and I ordered a two meat plate with brisket and burnt ends. Partner ordered a full rack or ribs. It took another half hour to get our food. The fried stuff was... Satisfactory. Some good, some underwhelming. The meats in our main entrees were absolutely awful. I don't believe they were even cooked that day - the brisket was like leather and zero juiciness to it. Same could be said for the burnt ends and ribs. I think I've had better meats from the frozen prepared section of Costco. We did not feel it was worth the $85 pre-tip total of the meal - it would have been disappointing at half that price. Needless to say, we would NOT recommend this place for food, but perhaps the attached pool hall would not be so bad. read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - Dry, dry dry... It was definitely not cooked the day it was served and it had been reheated til it was leather. - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

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Placed a takeout order with sides. Had a beer while I waited. Finished beer and asked if my order was ready and she said " Oh! I forgot to out it in" Her compensation for her forgetfulness was In personal side of something I ordered a quart of. Do better. Potato salad - chunks were the size of a 1/2 of a potato. Usually you can't even confirm potatoes are in there. Inconsistent Still love the brisket. Husband thinks it's hot or miss. read more

Not awful, but not good either. Very overpriced for the quality of the food. The food has gone downhill since they opened. Service has as well. I keep giving it a second chance and keep getting disappointed, whether it's dine in or take out. read more

Decided to try this place out recently, but unfortunately don't think I'll be going back. The location is very nice, and the ambience and decor are actually pretty nice, but beyond that, too many let downs. Service was spotty from the moment we walked in, nobody up front to seat people, despite a sign saying we need to wait to be seated. Awkward. We did eventually get seated but then had to wait quite a while for a server, despite the place being more than half empty. Service was inattentive the entire time, and we had to ask for refills, which is a pet peeve of mine. The food itself was serviceable, but not great by any stretch. It wasn't 'sit down BBQ' good, but it wasn't 'fast food BBQ' bad either. I rather liked the mac and cheese, but everything else frankly underwhelmed. Pulled pork was too oily and the fries, despite having a lot of seasoning on them, somehow still tasted bland and too mushy. The cornbread muffins tasted more muffin than cornbread, which I'm not certain how they managed. The chili was also barely warm when it came out, and had almost no meat in it. I can't see us going back to this place. Everyone seemed friendly, but friendly doesn't make the food taste any better nor does it refill my drink. Sorry but this one was way overhyped and for us, it's a hard pass. read more

I am not normally that into BBQ meals, but I will be back for this one. We went here on a rainy Saturday and they had a decent crowd of people inside. They also have a couple of tables outside so we pulled up a seat at an outdoor table. Their menu has many choices- I don't think they are missing any BBQ dish. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and it was perfect. Nice bun, great flavor and, most important to me, it was not filled with fatty pieces- just good tasty pork. I tried their sweet sauce and it added the right amount of sweet flavor to my sandwich. I chose coleslaw as my side so I could pile it on top of the pork- love the crunch it adds. Prices are a tad high (my pulled pork was $15.25 on the dinner menu and $12.95 on the lunch menu) but I think it reflects the area and the fact that this is a small business. I want to try the corn bread next time. read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Was going to get pizza but seen BBQ ... well I should have just got pizza .... Lol .. BBQ was a 5ish Service 10 and I was a little after lunch so not busy at all . read more

They should serve Philly cheese steaks. Their bbq is very average. Service is good only because the servers are good people. Dirty tables sticky everything. Prices are okay. It's just run incompetently. Just pay attention. Trying hard to like this place but it is average on all levels. Maybe less than average. Try harder. They are only surviving on their pool tournaments. Lose that AND this place is DOOMED. read more

Well done, Phat Turtle BBQ! My friend and I came in for an early Sunday dinner, and the service was spot on! Promptly greeted, always kept beverages full, outgoing, helpful with the menu, could not ask for more. I started with a 20 oz Schilling's cider which is a crisp, refreshing and not so sweet draft cider. Companion had a Coke. We ordered the cow candy to start, and although I have had this dish as one of my needs on a platter when you order it as an appetizer it comes in a sizzling hot cast iron skillet. Cow candy is gooey and juicy and amazing as usual. I ordered my standard brisket with sweet potato fries and a creamed corn that was almost like chowder. I think these are the best sweet potato fries in town, and I was super pleased to find the ranch dressing was homemade and delicious this time. My companion ordered the ribs and was only able to finish half. But she did eat all of her potato salad and mac and cheese. The Mac was creamy shells and she was very impressed. I really think this restaurant is far superior in food quality than the latest and greatest thing to open at the mall. The brisket is tender and moist, even the leanest parts are superb. The ribs just fall off the bone, slow smoked to perfection. I'm very happy to recommend this restaurant, and I will be bringing my giant teenage barbecue eating son next time! read more

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Omg we were starving and boy did this place satisfy our hunger. The owner even came by to welcome us. The customer service is on point too. I ordered corn bread which came out warm with butter and honey. It was a little to the dry side but yummy. Burnt ends were tasty with beans and onion rings. My 7 year old filled up on onion rings and I finished off all my baked beans. I was stuffed half way through my meal and this is with sharing with my 7 year. Wish I still had room after dinner for dessert because the table next to us order warm skillet cookie a la mode and it smelled amazing!!! read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - 3 sauces offer with our bbq - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Excellent service, BBQ ribs and beans. Onion rings borderline to not so good and peach cobbler a bust. But they readily took the charge for cobbler off our bill when we told them the cobbler was poor quality. Next to the great tasting ribs, the ambience was probably the most appreciated thing. It was the quietest rib joint we have been in since whenever. We ate early, 5:15 and beat the crowd. Although there was a stream of takeout folks. The Friday evening rush came in closer to 6:00 PM. When we left, there were six other pleasant, polite, non-rowdy, non-look at me, pretty quiet couples enjoying a pleasant night out. So nice to talk to your spouse and friends without shouting and asking them to repeat themselves. read more

Don't waste your time or money. When a restaurant makes a mistake and refuses to compensate the customer that is a restaurant that will no longer see my money. Mistakes happen! It's your job to make your customer happy! read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - BRISKET grilled cheese. - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

This is fantastic BBQ ! The brisket is fantastic with a wonderful bark and I watched them un wrap it from butcher paper. Great staff and service - the owner is from KC and has the placed packed for Chiefs games! Come in and have some great bbq and a fantastic happy hour from 11-6 every day! They have a pool hall if you love to play pool. I am a bbq fan and this place is some of the Best in Phoenix ! read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - Brisket - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

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I'm here eating and it's blazing hot in the building. I asked the server if we could turn the air on when it's 82 in here and she said it was "above her pay grade" and walked away. This is the same server that I couldn't find a couple weeks ago and left a 13 year old run the rest of the bar. If you're not coming for the pool tables I wouldn't recommend. read more

This restaurant has gone way downhill. The pulled pork tastes like it has been reheated and is super oily/smoky. It is not the same as it used to be. I would also recommend reading the owners replies to customers on this page. read more

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Went on a Saturday evening. They were doing buffet. It was horrible. Trays empty constantly. Cold food that included beans, mashed potatoes, and taco meat. What a disappointment. Best item was cornbread and we had to ask for that. $21.95 per person, ridiculous considering what was on buffet. read more

I've been before to good food and service. Today was ridiculous. Took us TWO HOURS to get our food. Half the food was forgotten, half of what we did receive was burned (and not in a good way) and our waiter was just the worst. There were only two tables of patrons as well, to add insult. Never again. read more

This place is something else. Service is absolutely horrific. Food is less than par. Pool room is cool but the place needs a massive overhaul. I was there on Saturday, buffet was horrible. I was sitting at the bar waiting to check out as another women patron was trying to pay her bill. The worker tells her to hold on she is going to punch a bitch...WTH. Then came back and continued to bash another server and Mike to someone else that was standing there. Most unprofessional experience I have ever had. I continued to hear about how the owner was screaming and yelling at employees. I will not be back. I will stay home and watch a soap opera. read more

Our family came in last night and waited about 30 minutes with no service... The waitress couldn't have looked more disinterested in being there and would not come over, despite us flagging her down. Table next to us complained about cold food. After hearing that... we ended up just leaving. read more

Some of the best BBQ I've had in Arizona. Really cool spot a few minutes from downtown Cave Creek. 8+ pool tables you can play for $10/hour. Can't go wrong with the brisket. Pulled pork is phenomenal. Creamed corn and mac n cheese also great. Not a ton of sauce options but this place checks off all other BBQ boxes read more

After having a few bad experiences with Pfat Turtle and the rudness of the manager, my husband, and I made the decision not to go there again. Well.. today, I decided to try it again. I parked in front called at 12:19 pm. and placed my order with a super nice gal. She repeated my order, a chopped brisket sandwich extra lean, and an order of baked beans. I went in and waited for my order. The dining room was completely empty, with a few people playing pool in the other room. They may have been eating. didn't walk in there. I brought my order home, unwrapped my sandwich, lifted the bun, and I couldn't believe my eyes. The meat wasn't chopped and almost all fat. Unacceptable!! read more

Phat Turtle BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

We walked in on a Saturday evening and it was empty. There was only 2 waitresses but our waitress was very kind. There was a lot Of decor on the walls and all around. The tables are very unique as each has its own design. The food was okay. We loved the burnt ends and would say they're probably the best thing we ate. We got ribs, beans, fries, pulled pork, Mac and cheese and sweet potato fries. The food was okay, nothing special though which was disappointing. We've eaten a lot of bbq but this didn't meet our expectations which was disappointing because it was our anniversary dinner. read more

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