We love Tarheel Q. Best pork BBQ around! Love the BBQ chicken & hush puppies as well. We have always had great service. The staff is so friendly. read more

The car was reading E and we were in the boondocks. But as luck would have it, out of no where appeared a C-Store with gas. As I was filling up the car we noticed the Tarheel Q. So it was next door to fill our bellies with what turned out to be very good Lexington style BBQ. We started with fried pickles, onion rings and a large order of hush puppies. They were all fried to perfection. Being that it was only lunch time we all ordered pork sandwiches but looking around the full meals and chicken also looked very good. Did I mention that this was a casual diner. This meant it was kind of like an indoor pinic. The sandwich was served wrapped in wax paper with no plate. This fat sandwich came with a small tea pot of vinegar based sauce and cole slaw and it surely lived up to our expectations for great North Carolina Q. The service was outstanding, quick and friendly. Even though we may have been the only table that wasn't on a first name basis with the staff we got treated like we were regulars. Our only disappointment came when we were informed they didn't have any Banana pudding. But the disappointment didn't last long as we ordered a piece of chocolate layer cake that was very moist and very chocolatey. It was large enough to satisfy three no longer hunger customers. So next time I am in the middle of the boondocks I will think back to this wonderful meal and know that good things can happen in the most unusual places. read more

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Never got anything there I really thought was good I don't understand why they're busy as they are. I got barbecue chicken there one time and I actually could not eat it and I can eat about anything read more

I have to say that I have heard different things about this place. We decided to take a chance and was pleasantly surprised as to just how good it was. I had my usual coarse chopped plate. I opted for french fries and cole slaw. The meat was great. Smoky and tender, it is served with dip in a small steel pitcher. I'm not always a fan of french fries, but these were cooked perfectly. Every one of them was crispy, not a limp fry among them. That's something you don't see often. They were very enjoyable just like the cole slaw which was sweet and not too moist. The hush puppies were a little cold, but the staff is quick and friendly. My friend liked the grilled cheese so much, he ordered a second. Very good and I highly recommend. read more

This is my favorite diner/bbq joint near me. The service is really good. The new owners are giving it their all! read more

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This is a very busy establishment. I went there twice and it was busy. The food is great the service is great. I love it. I will continue to go there as it is very close to home. read more

Stopped by today for takeout lunch and felt as if I'd stepped back in time! Closing on 400,000 dead in the US and this is a den of Covid deniers. Though there was a sign on the door saying masks required, there was another sign next to it implying the sign was only there b/c Roy Cooper forced them to have it there. I was the only person there with a mask on. The girls in the front had theirs draped under their chins. No one in the prep area or the back had masks on and none of the patrons, eating or not had them on either; it was as if it was a mask free zone. I should have turned around and left. The thought now of the cooks breathing over my food possibly infected makes me sick to my stomach. This needs to be reported and something needs to be done. Never again will i darken that door. read more

This place has been up and down, but now has new owners and they have made a good attempt to bring it back to what it needs to be. Recently I stopped in for breakfast. Large menu with lots of choices, including waffles. Specials posted every day. I had a sausage biscuit and hash brown. The biscuit was nice and fluffy, with a good taste. Hash brown was one that looks like it came from a fast food joint, but was ok. A little greasy. Service was fast and friendly. Inside the place was clean and well kept. Large private lot for parking. Looks like a typical BBQ joint from outside. I havent tried the Q yet, but plan to soon!! Breakfast is totally worth a stop! read more

Great value in typical country Carolina BBQ cafe, that also offer a wide range of other choices including burgers, sandwiches, etc. Sign says "pit smoked daily" and smoke was pouring out of the chimneys at dinner time ... result being I made U-turn and was able to enjoy a nice Carolina rough chopped pork dinner with red slaw, fries, and hushpuppies. Pork was excellent, saunce was a great complement. Fries were standard crinkle style, red slaw was a nice change (they offer white slaw too) and the hushpuppies were average at best. Service was GREAT! I swear each time I would take a sip of my drink the waitress would back topping it off. I didn't indulge, but they have Cheerwine on tap. The food didn't come right out, a very good thing in my opinion as that would suggest it was freshly chopped, something I later confirmed while checking out as I saw the cook rough chop some just for one plate. Topped it all off with a slice of sweet potato pie, to go! BONUS: People watching as a wide range of families, couples, and takeouts came and went while I sat there enjoying the summer evening, looking out the window, and a country highway (64) in North Carolina. read more

Lunch here today was amazing!! Ordered a hotdog all the way with chili and white slaw and a chopped bbq tray with white slaw and hush puppies and I really enjoyed my meal. The customer service was also very good and they were very quick about getting my order ready! This is a legit NC BBQ place. Be sure to ask for brown in your BBQ chopped tray! read more

Everything we've had here has always been awesome .. New ownership.. excellent management, friendly staff, and great food. Even a simple hot ham & cheese is really good. The service is always great. Spaghetti night on Thursdays makes things very busy but our drinks are always full and you're never forgotten. Our son especially loves their spaghetti. We have always loved going to the Q and will continue to go and enjoy the atmosphere & great food. read more

Tarheel Q - Spaghetti Night - Barbeque Near Me - Lexington, North Carolina

First I am going to start out that Jason and TJ ( the current owners not sure for how long) have a good place the food is good the price is cheap service is good its not a fancy place you eat on paper plates styrofoam cups you do have metal forks /spoons but who cares right? The portions are large.The place is busy with mostly locals I always said thats a good sign!I plan on going back middle of next week for the ribs.But..... there are a few things from eating there that I noticed. Please everyone I do not want a war here and I am not telling anyone how to run their place this is my opnion you try it out for your self and see what you think! I had the chicken Q that was not the blue plate for yesterday it was fried chicken we will talk about that later the chicken was half a chicken it came with sides red slaw fries and your choice of rolls or hush puppies so I took the puppies. The wife had sliced pork fries slaw an rolls? Now my chicken had a good taste but the white meat was very very dry of course the dark meat was ok fries where the crinkle frozen ones and the puppies where the frozen heavy batter ones... The wife had sliced pork that was not as dry but, still pretty dry she had slaw also fries and she got rolls ( we where going to split the puppies) we got a hambuger bun for the rolls on the way out she saw they had pie and got a piece of apple it was the forzen type that you buy at the store when we left I saw the door to the pit I told the wife I will be right back, I went to the door and saw the pit master feeding the fire with Hickory and oak it was so hot I thought I had grown horns on my head if you know what I mean! He showed me the pit and I asked a few questions about cooking I asked him how they did the ribs( they only have them once a week) he said they boil them about 75% to make them tender then grill them off to me Q should be low and slow and if your in a hurry you can still make it pretty good that may have been the problem with the pork and chicken not sure? I am going to try again for the ribs hoping that short period of time in the smoker will give them flavor Now this place is busy all locals they open a 6 am they have alot of breakfast normals and burgers and other sandwiches this place is in a rural area you have to travel a while to find any other food .And that may be why they have non Q items you can make alot more money off of eggs than ribs Try it out for your self read more

Tarheel Q - Barbeque Near Me - Lexington, North Carolina

Good food. Reasonable prices. Enough to fill you up and maybe take some home. What else can I say?

Disappointed to give this place only 3 stars. This last visit was actually a 2 but the other time I stopped by was a solid 4. That first (4 star) stop - so amazing. I'd driven right on by a dozen times, usually having already eaten somewhere else closer in to Lexington. But a few months ago, I grabbed a sandwich here after also stopping at Lexington Barbecue and having a sandwich there. (Take one for the team and suffer through to ensure a solid comparison, right? I'll make the sacrifice.) Nice and hot. Super crisp slaw. Perfectly smoky pork. Just enough dip mixed in to make it Lexington style without obscuring the smokeporkiness. In fact, there was some other wonderfulness mixed in - crunchy but melting in your mouth. Like pork-rind-creamy so I don't think it was just the outside brown. Perhaps they had tossed in some crispy skin. That first stop was good enough that the next time I was driving through Lexington, back towards I-40, I happily skipped the other Lexington options for Tarheel Q. Man, was that a mistake. The second (2 star) stop. Pork didn't even have a slight hint of smoke. In fact, it had a cooked-in-a-crockpot roasted pork taste and a water-logged sogginess. Mushy. Some outside brown that was just brown and dry, adding absolutely nothing. Barbecue (red) slaw taste/texture suggested it too had been sitting around a while before making it to my plate. Had I been traveling toward Lexington instead of away, I'd have paid my bill and left a tip, abandoning my sad soggy tray and headed to Lexington Barbecue or Barbecue Center. Not sure what happened. Or how both meals were even from the same place. But there you have it. Apparently, it's a gamble. May be the best lexington-style you've ever had. Or it might make you wish you'd stopped somewhere else. read more

The food is consistently good! They don't have a lot of turnover, so the staff are very nice and seem to be happy! The only negative thing that I have to say is, whoever answers the phone should have a good knowledge of the menu! I have had a problem a couple of times with incorrect information! I don't mind waiting to get the correct information instead of getting home and not have the food prepared the way that I would have liked it! Even though it's good, I want what I want! Overall they are far better than most! I eat there every week! read more

We stayed in the area for a week and ate there twice, supper the first evening and breakfast when we left. We found both experiences top notch. For supper I had the chopped tray with red slaw, my wife had a chopped sandwich. She liked her sandwich a lot. I had BBQ pork several more times in and around Lexington (BBQ capitol of NC, i.e. the world) that week and I liked this the best. I didn't get to all the top joints, but some and this seemed like the place I could get the great flavor of the pork best without putting on sauce, though their sauce was good. For breakfast I had a standard sausage and eggs plate with a biscuit. The biscuit was good, the eggs were fine, the sausage was very good, which helps explain my wife's reaction. She's kind of a biscuits and gravy fan. Prior to this her favorite place, now closed, was in Bloomington, Indiana. She thought this was on a par with that which speaks very highly of this. We'd happily go back. read more

Good North Carolina pork butt BBQ. Vinegar based dip (sauce) and "red" (dip) slaw our "white" (mayo) slaw. Excellent hush puppies. Smoked chicken on Saturday. Recommended. read more

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First time here the best home fries ever, will come back. Knew it had to be good Richard Childress was here read more

Tarheel Q - Barbeque Near Me - Lexington, North Carolina

Loved having coffee with Kathy, Dawn, Ellen and Charlie this morning. The service was great, as usual, and the food too. A great place to start your morning around wonderful people! read more

Great little divey BNQ and Home Cooking kinda place. Kids eat for 1/2 price Monday and Wednesday. Great sweet tea. Breakfast is amazing!

I've been here a few time and have always been pleased with the experience. The food is good and service is always friendly.

Was hesitant to try this place after their unfortunate history... Service was not the greatest- waitress more interested in talking to her friend at booth than waiting on me. Had to get a second server involved. Posted health score was 94, thought it would be higher for above reason. Parking lot/sidewalk entrance was littered with plastic bags, wet napkins?, tons of cigarette butts EVERYWHERE- guess where employees smoke. Just not a very good impression. Won't be back. read more

Friendly as can be! Worst BBQ in North Carolina. Poor location unless you are a camper at nearby park. Had breakfast here once and service was FAST but nothing overly great about their breakfast. Hard to mess up eggs and bacon :) read more

We've been getting takeout pretty regularly from here this summer, on the weekends, as it's close to home. The food has been consistently good. No more messed up orders either! The BBQ was much better than it was the previous time that I had it. read more

Classic Eastern NC (vinegar-based) BBQ. generous portions, excellent sides and fast, friendly service. They also have other menu items on certain nights such as chicken pot pie. No complaints. We'll be back. read more

Wonderful new owners have changed the atmosphere to a wonderful restaurant! Great food, decent prices and great customer service!!

Ive been going here f or years.This restaurant offers BBQ along with a variety of other offerings.Great family atmosphere as well. Try the mesquite chicken salad. read more

I really liked it! The room is nice, but the bathrooms are not the cleanest. The barbecue is fantastic and really cheap. It tastes homemade and the sauces are great. The lemonade is the best ever. read more

My favorite BBQ restaurant! Hushpuppies are GREAT! All sides, especially coleslaw, are tasty! Warm sauce adds wonderful flavor to the lean pork!!! Yummy! read more

This was a spur of the moment stop for lunch which ended with our tummies full and our hearts warm. The chopped bbq sandwich was awesome, kids chicken tenders so moist. The waitress were super nice and Johnny on the spot with everything we wanted, needed or requested. They never interrupted our family conversation to see if we were happy with our food. I read some reviews from last year and can honestly say the new owner has turned things around completely. read more

The BBQ smell is so great in the parking lot BUT. You get in side order you BBQ sandwich and Fries from the friendly waitress. As you wait on your food you think should I really stay as you shoo the flies away from you. Hum should have gone with the first response to run. The sandwich come squished up in two wrappers, open it up you has a real soggy bun, under cook BBQ pork, No BBQ sauce, and bitter wet slaw. Still thinking we should of left as we are still batting at flies. Open the tightly wrapped fries you find dried out mashed hot looking maybe fries. Ok got to try new places hubby keeps on saying to me as he rolls his eyes. So I bit in to the soggy BBQ sandwich to find it a tasteless mess, so tried a fork to eat in sides to the sandwich finding the meat is not cooked done. So we pained the bill and left, marking that place off our list, and in hopes we don't get sick. So much for tiring new places. read more

My mother and I stopped in for lunch on a chilly, rainy afternoon. My mother was hoping that they would have soup on the menu. There was no soup on the menu, but the waitress said that they had Brunswick stew (I hadn't noticed that it was shown on the daily specials chalk board). My mother got the small stew and I got the large stew (huge portion, took some of it home). Both portions were hot and delicious. My mother got hushpuppies also and she said that they were outstanding. Service was very prompt and friendly. Very good dining experience. read more

I eat here when passing through. Food is always good. Great service always. I usually get a chopped sandwich with dip on the side.

best pork bbq i ever had! great service and friendly, informative waitresses. will definitely be back!