We've eaten here every year during the Can-Am Rugby Tournament. We typically bring a large group of hungry ruggers and their families and spend a good chunk of change on food and beer. The kids in the group love the atmosphere and the basketball and fooseball. This year we stopped and only had 9 in our group. As we headed to the hostess stand we were stopped by a woman drinking a beer who asked how many. We said 9, and her very, VERY rude response was "...uh, that's NOT going to happen. We literally have 2 empty tables (plenty for our group of 4 adults and 5 kids) and we've got two huge groups coming in." Now, I can understand that with two groups coming in you may not want to seat a ton more people. But to be told in the most rude and inconsiderate way, in front of one of the kids, is completely unacceptable. We'd been hearing how the place is under new management and had a new menu, etc. and were looking forward to making our yearly stop here. NEVER again will we step foot the premise, nor will we recommend this place to anyone. We ended up at Bones and Bitters in Saranac Lake, where funny enough our amazing server knew the new owner of the Pup, and she said she'd be sure to pass along our experience to him. Hopefully they will reconsider their front of house staff, and replace the hideous beer drinking woman with someone who knows how to interact with the public. What a horribly disappointing experience!! read more

Yea....Ive heard the rumors...but I have eaten here a few times... The food is alright, decent BBQ but a little overpriced and definitely geared to the tourists. For the area its overpriced... but the occasional live band makes makes it a cool meeting place after a hike or a round of golf. All in all...wouldnt go out of my way...there are better...cheaper places around. read more

Great BBQ food, had pulled pork with sweet potato fries and corn bread. Outdoor type with fun music.

This place looked great from the road. My new wife and I were on our honeymoon and saw the place from the road and we both love BBQ and thought the atmosphere would be awesome. Well the place was pretty neat but the BBQ was not. I got the "Texas" style brisket which was not Texas style nor was the portion. My wife ordered the ribs and they were very dry like they had either been over smoked or sat too long under the heat lamps. We each paid an additional $2.99 for onion rings and sweet potato fries and they were sub-par. Over all cool place to hang out, sit outside, and get a drink but don't expect much on the food. read more

Worst restaurant decision we've made in a long time. We called earlier in the day and had booked reservations for a party of 30. They sat us right over the sewers and the whole thing smelled absolutely disgusting. After asking to move since there was numerous other tables available they first told us they couldn't because no other tables were ready. They also said that the smell is like that no matter where we sat. THEN after complaining again they did move us. The smell was gone but it took 2 full hours to get our food. When it came out the ribs were almost inedible since they were WAY over done. We didn't even end up getting 5 or 6 meals at the end of the night. The owner was nice and took some meals off and gave us a discount but waiting 2 hours for food with families with little kids is absolutely not acceptable. We will not be returning. read more

We called ahead and took a group of about 60 people and ordered off the menu. There was also another large group there at the same time. The service and food were very good. Staff was friendly and responsive. I would definitely recommend. read more

Worst BBQ and lousy service. Arrived in Lake Placid late in the evening, so we didn't have time to do our "Yelp homework" ordered the "want it all BBQ platter" ribs were dry and extremely tough, chicken dry and shriveled (looked like it was left over from the day prior), pulled pork mediocre at best and came out cold, brisket was fatty and cold as well. Highlights of the platter were the slaw and diet coke!!! Server was abrupt and not very concerned with providing good service. I don't need someone standing over my table but I need more than 2 minutes to look over the menu, and when we asked about something on the menu she said she didn't know but didn't offer to find out. Brought out dessert included with our kids meal before they were finished eating and we specifically asked her to wait. Asked us if we wanted to go boxes while we were all clearly still eating, when we said "no thanks, we're still eating" she said I'll get your check!!! We're a pretty laid back, low maintenance group, so for the low light of the meal to be the service, you've got to be pretty bad! And the food was a close runner up! First and last time at this tourist trap! This was a quiet Wed. night (June 21, 2011) read more

Never have I wanted to review this badly due to poor quality, but I downloaded yelp and signed up to for this place. I went to this place 7/16/17 so take that for what it's worth. For starters the wait time to get a waiter is around 7 minutes depending on how busy I guess. I'm personally fine with waiting, but what really matters is time from when the order was placed to the food being served. Around 45 minutes, the waitress came back 6-7 times to check on us and even felt bad that we had to wait this long. For future reference if every other restaurant within a 20 mile radius is closed and you decide to stop by, I was told by my friends who used to come that it's self seating. I actually sat there wondering how long it would take to cut up some ready smoked meat, that should have been the first warning sign. But we were so committed we couldn't leave. So the food comes out and you'd think after hiking for 12 hours eating nothing but jerky and protein bars that someone would plow right through their meal. Not the case, I only finished half which i never do. The so called " world famous BBQ" sign is a definite indicator of world famous for being nothing but bland. I can almost say with 90% certainty they boil their meat. I have nothing against BBQs that do but you have to season your damn meat if the ONE layer of BBQ sauce you lather on to put in the oven after doesn't have enough seasoning. It's really simple to just season your meat the night before especially if you are too lazy to smoke your meat. For the sides, Onion rings were simple wet flower batter that also didn't have any seasoning not even a little pinch of salt after frying onion rings. Which I did pay a surcharge of 3 dollars I believe to replace a regular side. They were also pretty much cold by the time I got them because they probably waited for all the food to be ready before bringing it out. I also had "Grandmas collard greens" I think was the name, I haven't had much experience with collard greens but they weren't that bad I could find trace specs of bacon fat seasoned pretty decently. I also had some of my friends "brisket" aka boiled slices of dog food meat. Thinly sliced with just a dab of barbecue sauce for this dry pile of bland lunch food. 2/5 millimeter wide smoke ring with no bark or any sign of pepper or seasoning. Other friend ordered a chicken tender sandwich or something and said the chicken was over cooked. I was really looking forward to this meal since I was told it is delicious BBQ but little did my friend know they apparently changed ownership from what he read. That's always a nice big red flag for a once good establishment to change owners. The only thing this star was given to was for an awesome singing duo there who kept us occupied during our wait. read more

Tail O'the Pup - Boiled, unseasoned, deliciousness - Barbeque Near Me - Ray Brook, New York

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I would give a zero if I could arrived a hour and a half before closing time and was told they just decided to close early. It's a rural area where people travel to eat. The staff was rude and unhelpful read more

Tail of pub is part of our annual summer. No, the food isn't great, but it's ok, but we go because it's a fun place for family, friends, kids. Live music most summer nights. Not top drawer music, often pretty weak, but usually good enough. This is just about being outside, it's a camping feel, a local legend and a fun experience. There is better food les where indeed, but not any other outdoor places that are fun. read more

The pulled pork was good. The chicken was a little dry but over all good food. Reasonably priced, atmosphere was nice and service was quick. The bbq sauce is a good vinegar based sauce, not outstanding but still good. The band was a pleasure and the music wasn't too loud. If you're in the area it's worth going. read more

mediocre over priced food, small portions. we worked hard to please our waitress but she was not satisfied with us. Small wine pours , but pricey low-end wine. Also pricey beer. best dish: baked beans. read more

Decided to try despite reading the reviews. Sad to say the reviews were spot on. Food was overpriced ($16 for a hamburger) and underwhelming. Chicken sandwich's came out burnt and had to be sent back. Only highlight was waiter who was very nice and seemed to be trying his best. This may have been a great place in the past...but for now skip it. read more

Not sure how this place gets any positive reviews. It should be a fun place to eat in a beautiful part of New York. Sadly, not the case. Other reviews have detailed the poor (very poor) food and service so no need to restate. I'll just say always check Yelp reviews when visiting a place you've never been to before, plenty of other great places to eat in the area. read more

My family and I recently stayed here. We knew the cabins were rustic as I have seen them before. However the heater had an issue and the pilot went out before check in making the whole cabin smell like gas even after the issue was fixed. We went to their on property restaurant and ordered the lobster bakes. I'm not one to complain but the whole meal tasted terrible and I am still not sure was was in the oniony flavored "butter" that they brought out for the lobster even was. After getting home my mom kept being itchy she went to the doctor and found out she had gotten scabies. On the up side the owners are very nice and the cabins are quaint. read more

We ate here for 25 years and always had a great time. This place has gone so downhill with the new owner and waited 3 HOURS for food we didn't get. Said we would have to wait an extra 20 minutes for ribs and an hour later they came back and said they were out. The new owner is a fraud. Absolutely doesn't care about the customer and has shown to us he is not intelligent enough to run a restaurant. The waiters lied countlessly and they are very understaffed. It's a shame and we are never coming back. read more

Food was decent. Wickedly overpriced for portions. Corn bread was $2 and the size of a silver dollar! Waitress got my order wrong, but was friendly enough. Atmosphere was fun and owner, I assume owner, was walking table to table chatting with people and seeing how food was. Which was nice to see. We will come back again most likely, but I'll definitely keep an eye on what I order for price and portions. read more

Over priced....but food is ok. Live music is usually good. It's touristy but you've gotta at least stop once if you're swinging by Ray Brook. read more

Pulled pork sandwich was excellent! I got it take out so can't speak for the service other than they were friendly and fast when I came in at closing time... read more

Nope. Just nope. We haven't eaten here for some time, and I plan to keep it that way. The last (and I do mean last) time we were there, after a very average meal with very average service, when I got the bill I noticed that the prices on my bill were higher than the prices on the menu. When I asked about this, I was told that they had changed the menu - BUT THE NEW MENUS HADN'T ARRIVED YET FROM THE PRINTER!!! And so they just charged the new prices and ignored the menu you ordered from! I was told that the next time I came, I should ask for the manager and "he would take care of me". And that, my friend, will NEVER happen! read more

Ate there yesterday, food was not very good, still feel sick and also way too expensive. Will not eat there again.

Terrible experience and horrible food. I waited 1 and 1/2 hours for my food to be served and the place was not crowded. 6 out of 6 meals ordered were overcooked. Hamburgers were like burnt hockey pucks that could break a window. Waitress informed us their is a new chef. He / she obviously is destroying a legendary place I have frequented for years. NEVER AGAIN. read more

My boyfriend and I both had an amazing burger (double cheeseburger with pulled pork of top) with potato salad, an onion ring/fry platter to split, and I had an unsweetened iced tea. All together it was only 35 dollars, which is amazing for Lake Placid/Saranac area. The BBQ sauce was amazing and I know a couple people put on here they lost their liquor license but almost everyone had a beer, so they must have got it back. They had live music (on a Monday!) that was amazing and the place was packed! It was an extremely nice experience and we are already planning our next trip back! read more

I give them 3 stars simply because of their side dishes and wings. The BBQ brisket was terrible. It didn't taste like real beef. And the portion was super small compared to the price. My sons hotdog tasted better than our meal! This place caught our eye because it looked like a fun family outdoor dining experience... It's a trap!!! We won't be stopping here again. read more

Four stars for the fun ambiance and cold beer. Two stars for the so-so food quality. Three stars for the average service. Lobster was over-cooked, ribs were tough and chewy and essentially flavorless, and if they were "smoked" it couldn't have been for more than a few minutes. Our side dishes (corn, beans, redskin potato salad, corn bread) were average at best. The BBQ sauce was quite tasty, however. No Tabasco or Frank's hot sauce was available and our waitress seemed to not even know what it was - weird. Still, we return here every year during Can-Am Rugby weekend. read more

Very good BBQ... Family had pork and brisket sandwiches which were very tasty... Topped off the meal with Saranac soda...

Amazing BBQ! My husband and I split the BBQ sampler and loved everything on it. Also, the live music and great atmosphere made for a perfect vacation dinner. There is also a DOG FRIENDLY area which made it even better. We will certainly be back! read more

Tail O'the Pup - BBQ sampler - Barbeque Near Me - Ray Brook, New York

Place was horrid!! Ripoff! They cheat the menu to charge u more!! The wait for food was insane, they upcharge sides and don't tell you!

We spent well over an hour at the restaurant seated and were never served food. Most of the people were watching the short staffed wait team scurry around more tables than they should have to handle and check with the kitchen about their orders. We saw someone that appeared to be the owner have an unpleasant pow-wow with the understaffed wait crew. He also yelled across several tables that the tables in the back needed to be bussed. We went there for lobster, and were told 30 minutes after ordering that it wasn't available. There were two cooks in the kitchen to tend to the entire restaurant. Our food was almost ready. We were told this when we stood up to leave. We left because one of the (what appeared to be lead) waitresses ate off of a customer's plate TWICE while in the kitchen. I feel sorry for the staff there because ownership seems pretty terrible and disconnected from what it takes to run a successful restaurant. We've been going there for several years, but not it's under new ownership and we won't be back. The website also advertises live music every night, and there was no music. They won't be open long under new ownership. read more

The atmosphere at his place is fantastic! The BBQ is ok, I had the BBQ Lovers with a taste of everything. The chicken could use some smoke and a rub and I don't particularly like my ribs finished on a grill. The BBQ sauce is very good! My husband had a lobster plate. It was great. The music was enjoyable, the playground is fabulous for the kids while waiting for a meal. We had a fabulous waiter who never left us wanting for anything. We will back again and again! read more

Food was excellent. Service was the worst. Waitress forgot two meals until everyone else was done eating. Couldn't get her attention for anything. She took orders without asking how to split the bills then proceeded to bring one huge bill for twelve people and refused to re-do it. Took over 30 minutes for us to pay individually. Unless you're a group of two or literally dying of starvation, consider going elsewhere. read more

Tail o'the pup was an outstanding restaurant. The recent reviews are very misleading. We tried it here and the food was amazing. Maybe it was what we ordered but everything tasted excellent. We ordered the pulled pork which was moist and you can add sauce to your taste along with green beans that were fresh and delicious and loaded Mac and cheese that melts in your mouth. We also ordered a full rack of ribs with corn on the cob which was well corn and sweet potato fries which were really good as well. We had no complaints about the service especially since it was obviously crowded. Overall the food was great and shared among a family of four was more than enough. I highly recommend this BBQ to any and all families interested in BBQ. read more

A group of 8 went to eat dinner and had the worst experience. First it's cold outside so heaters are required to enjoy the experience of eating outside. They had a tent set up with a number of working heaters. Unfortunately no room to seat out party of 8 together. So we opted to sit outside of the tent with the caveat that they set up one of the extra ones outside of the tent. They set one up but it ran out of propane shorty after we ordered our appetizers. We asked if they could take one of the seven functioning ones from inside the tent to our table. We were told no as the customers in the tent each needed one for their table. They would not move one out to our table from the warm tent where people were wearing t-shirts while we were all wearing multiple layers and jackets. The manager was completely not accommodating in providing us with a solution that we allowed us to have our revalue tail o' the pup experience. Friends have been going for years. That was our last visit. read more

A visit to the Adirondacks should include a stop at the Tail of the Pup. Great BBQ, fun outdoor setting, real good live music.

This place touts itself as a BBQ place but both the pulled pork and pulled chicken were as tough and dry as dog treats. Slathering the meat (myself) in BBQ sauce didn't help. Absolutely tasteless and too hard to chew. That said the cup of clam chowder was pretty good. Service was mediocre at best. Wanted to love this kitschy outdoor summer spot but was hugely let down. This place could be so fabulous if the food were a whole lot better. read more

The wait was ridiculous.. we waited for over an hour and a half before we got our food! The kitchen ran out of ribs and beer. They charged us for drinks we never got. Overall service was terrible! Never going here again! read more

Keep driving... Ordered the Surf and Turf for $32, which as a small lobster, "riblets", corn on the cob and red potato salad. The good: Outdoor dining Live music Communal tables. The riblets were OK The bad: - The lobster was cool to the touch. - The butter that came with the corn/lobster was just warm butter, not clarified butter. - Corn on the cob was nothing special. Expected better from a restaurant withing driving distance from corn farms! - Potato salad that seemed like it was potato salad mixed together with coleslaw. One of our dining party actually got uncooked lobster. When reported to the server, they said "I will report it to the kitchen" and basically did nothing else. Expected us to pay for raw lobster?? Crazy. read more

Brisket, ribs and pulled pork were out of this world. Service was quick, gracious and friendly. Will definitely return.

Despite the less-than stellar reviews of others, we (a party of 8) were very happy with our meals, prices, the ambiance, and the fun the family had tonight!! The steamed clams, ribs, brisket, and fish-n-chips, were tasty, hot, and we all enjoyed our meal and the whole evening very well! We will definitely return (when we return to Lake Placid) and tell our friends about our great experience!! NO COMPLAINTS HERE!!! (And we are not your average easily- impressed- by-restaurant fare people ---- we're gourmet cooks, know good food and dislike buyers-remorse after a mediocre dinner out. You can feel free to enjoy the Tail o' the Pup and tell your friends! read more

For those of you who don't know any better, than have at the Tail of the Pup. But for those that are BBQ savy, or have done a web search on this place than I beg you to JUST DON'T DO IT, as you will be VERY disappointed. 9/7/09 visit to the tail left us deciding that after all the years of driving past this place, that we really hadn't missed anything! Terrible service, order not correct, cold & tough ribs, small portions, just to name a few problems. As for clean it is an OUTDOOR Tourist eating spot and leave it at that! So just drive by this place and find another spot to spend your money. They probably would be greatful that you stopped by as well. Thus leaving this joint to unsuspecting tourist that have deep pockets! read more