I'll make it short and sweet this place used to be good but they are terrible now. Heres why: after eating I confirmed with the person working that they cook the brisket a day early and then reheat it in the microwave When you order. They also deep fry the bologna and sausage in oil to reheat when you order. If you like your barbecue reheated In the microwave you will love uncle joes. If not, i suggest you keep on driving. read more

Uncle Joe's is a deli inside the gas station opposite of Love's Travel Center (Lakeview General Store I think) right off Interstate 57 at the Ina exit. Uncle Joe is becoming locally famous for his Uncle Joe's BBQ sauce. The pulled pork sandwiches here are awesome, and you can add whatever sauce you'd like to it. They have a few to choose from. If you love the sauce (and most do), you can buy a bottle of it while you're there. They are always outgoing and nice to the customers as well. read more

Hubby had fried bologna Sammie and he bought sauces pepperoni and jerky. Sauce is e cement and he said the sandwich was great!

Small, just off the highway, BBQ joint. Great food, great atmosphere, great sauces. The pork steak sandwich I had fell apart when I bit into it. Just like a pork steak should. Delicious without the sauce, it was enhanced by the sweet smoke sauce. I sampled the XXX hot bbq, original, sweet smoke, and tangy sauces. Sweet Smoke was my favorite, original was good, tangy was okay. The XXX hot was all right, but it did not live up to the name. They also feature Ski, a locally bottled soft drink, that puts Mt. Dew to shame. When I get back to the area, I will make it a priority to stop again. read more

I just love this place...Uncle Joe is no longer inside a gas station he has moved into a brand new restaurant across the street...I found this place 3 years ago and have not eaten any other BBQ sauce since! I love his XXX hot sauce...so tasty! You can order it on-line from his website www.eatunclejoes.com which is what I do because we live close to Chicago. If you are in southern Illinois stop by his new place. I always got the pulled pork which is really tasty but today I got the brisket...OH MY GRAVY...so good I got some to take home...Burgers are fantastic as well...I give Uncle Joe 10 stars!!! read more

Driving from Minneapolis to our home in Orlando, we stopped for coffee at the nearby McDonald's but noticed a rib joint (with a real smoker in the parking lot). We quickly ditched the coffee idea and stopped at Uncle Joe's for lunch. No hyperbole here: they served us the best ribs we've ever had. The sauces are great, we actually bought a few bottles, but the meat is out of this world. Smokey, but not overpowering at all, and the ribs are moist but tender. There is not much atmosphere in the restaurant, but who cares when you get nice staff, great food and great service. I'd give them a 5 star, but I thought their prices were similar to restaurant prices in Orlando or Minneapolis...still not bad for the wonderful meal. I guess quality never comes cheap. read more

This review is for Uncle Joe's BBQ. Newly opened, but wonderful. The best BBQ I've had in a while. Worth the stop.

Great food. We were driving through and stopped. It was quick and enjoyable. We had pulled pork and brisket. Both were great. Loved the thin French fries too. read more

I saw these sauces at Schnuck's so recognized the name on the highway sign heading to the Shawnee Hills and decided to stop in for dinner on the way back. The pork sandwich was a big bun with a lot of meat, I also tried the black oak sausage and had been expecting a hot dog bun but it also came on a whopper sized hamburger bun. Tried the hot version of the sauce and the sweet mustard sauce. Preferred the sweet mustard, the hot wasn't really that hot. The crockpot beans were also really good. I did notice the two sides end up costing more than the meat sandwich, usually it's the other way around. The cup of beans though was nice and deep, twice as much as some places give you. read more

Food was good. I took home a large order. When I got home, the chili was not the same I had at the restaurant. Not cool. read more

Uncle Joe's Restaurant - Delis Near Me - Ina, Illinois

Stopped here on our way home from Florida. Had BBQ in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. This is the best we had and from Southern Illinois. Bought a bottle of sauce for home, will be ordering some off their web site. Killer. read more

I would have given 5 stars for the food. It was great. We ordered one combo plate for 2 people and it filled us up. But the tables were not clean, the floor was not clean and the bathrooms have not been cleaned in a while. Also the personnel were wearing the sloppy clothes youd wear at home doing chores and they look unprofessional. No one came down to our end of the dining room to clean while we were there. It was hard to find a clean place to sit. And although there are nice seats out side on the patio, there is no shade. If you clean it up I will give 5 stars. Still 100% better than McDs. read more

Great place. Pork sandwich is awesome. The sauce here is really good too. Truck parking also.

Don't do it. Meat is reheated/boiled/No smoke flavor. Like google reviews - best part was the grilled white bread that comes with the food. The sauce is good but that's about it. Just buy it at the grocery store! Absolutely no ambiance. No vegetarian options. no beer. Potato salad is obviously from USF, as is the ranch...how hard is it to make your own!? read more

Order some pulled pork got back to the truck and they gave me the wronge thing on top of that it was cold . Their baked bean suck too

Stopped on a whim. Clean, inviting and fun decor. While we waited for our food we taste tested the different sauces. Our favs were sweet smoke & xxx hot. We ordered the pulled pork sandwich, smoked wings & ribs. I hated to add sauce to anything- everything was delicious on its own. Someone ordered cheese fries and said they were forgettable. Everything else was fantastic- we will stop again when in the area and highly recommend. read more

Burger & bologna sandwich were great although they need to upgrade from the plain white bread on their sandwiches , i mean come on. The brisket was incredibly dry, the chicken salad sandwich was also put on plain white wonder bread & was extremely soggy! Baked beans were really good. ****My only advice is if you're ordering one of their sandwiches that comes on plain white bread ask them to grill the bread....Your welcome lol read more

This is some of the worst BBQ I have ever had this side of the Red River maybe I'm picky because I'm from Texas but I actually like to taste the meat not the grease so much that it floats and your sauce will not stay on the meat coleslaw wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't yellow and brown the okra had a good crunch to it but that's only cuz it was still raw my suggestion before you spend $20 on a barbecue plate go across the street to McDonald's save yourself some money and a bad taste in your mouth from all the grease oh yeah one last thing the older woman at the register did not even try to make it right she just open the register and pulled out $16 and get back to me wish I wasn't going to argue with her because I decided I would keep the water down tea read more

The ribs and brisket here are amazing! We are truck drivers and have tried many BBQ joints across the country. This place is definitely worth a try. Our order got lost (there was a bus full of people before us) and the owner came out and apologized and refunded our money (HE DID NOT HAVE TOO). We turned around and bought their signature sauces and rubs to take back to Oregon with us to enjoy with our family! read more

Thought the food was great. Small place so crowded, but very friendly folks. What a nice surprise to find on the road to Birmingham. Thank you and well done. read more

We stopped on our way from St. Louis to Lake Barkley and sampled the pulled pork, grilled pork sandwich, crock pot beans, creamy cole slaw and seasoned fries. The food was tasty, reasonably priced and the variety of sauces made everyone happy. read more

The standard in bad bbq. No sauce can save that shit. I'd give it zero stars if that were an option. I tried it twice just to make sure they didn't have a bad day the first time and it was even worse the second time. They need to go somewhere that serves real bbq and take notes. read more

Stopped on our way to Nashville (McDonalds or BBQ). We waited in a line of maybe 8 people to order at the counter. This took 15-20 minutes. The woman at the counter was extremely rude and unpleasant. 40 minutes into our wait for lunch the same woman yelled out 4 names, one of which was ours. I walked up and she said "We're out of slaw." and stared at me. That's it. Not "Sorry, we're out of slaw. Would you like a different side?" or even "pick something else." I asked if she knew how much longer it would be and she shrugged her shoulders. We got the food about 5-10 minutes later. The brisket and pork were pretty good. The sides tasted like they came from Sysco. We both had iced tea and it tasted like it had been brewed with grass cuttings. Not surprisingly, no one said "Thanks" or "Have a nice day" when we left. I would stick with McDonalds. read more

Homemade BBQ that hits the mark. Very clean place. Decor is spot on. Plates are full and the price is reasonable.

Outstanding... not much else to say. Best bbq I have quite possibly ever had. A must stop if you are hungry!

On my way to Nashville, TN, and I just happened to recognize the sign from the BBQ sauce I get at the store. I waited in line for 10 minutes & they were out of chicken & that's all I can have right now. I'd love to try this place, but as much as I love their sauce, this wasn't a great first impression. read more

We stumbled on this place by accident. Best BBQ and the Joe's Original Sauce is our family favorite. We bought extra bottles to bring back home. Heading down south in a few weeks and will make the stop!!! Great food and really great people!! read more

Thank you yelp reviewers! We are on the road home and needed something quick that wasn't fast food. This BBQ is way better than the Jack Stack we had in KC last night for 1/3 the cost! Plus a bottle of the delicious bbq sauce, and a bag of bones for our dog for $3. read more

Unpretentious and good. Multiple varieties of barbecue sauce. I combined the Xxx hot sauce with a super hot sauce it was delicious. Friendly staff. Highly recommended. read more

for being in the middle of nowhere it's pretty good. the meat was on the dry side but the sauces made up for it. my two faves were sweet smoke and sweet mustard. I got the brisket sandwich it was average. my buddy got the pulled pork and said it was a good pulled pork sandwich. he's from Georgia. read more

Oh gees. Delicious. Prices are great. Had rack of ribs. I'm coming back here for sure. Cooked perfect and not crappy meat full of fat. No. Top choice meat used. Sell honey and other stuff. Good food. read more

Very small amount of food for the price you pay. Coleslaw had no flavor at all and brisket was dry. They messed up the order right off the bat. I Asked for Brisket plate and they brought me a sandwich. read more

We like to eat here on our trips through this area, we have gotten pulled pork and sloppy joe sandwiches with various sides every thing is fine the chili cheese fries are excellent read more

Uncle Joe's Restaurant - Part of the menu not seen elsewhere as of 11 2015 - Delis Near Me - Ina, Illinois

Wow, wow wow!!! The food is amazing. I had the rack of ribs, took about ten minutes to receive my order and they were tender and very tasty. I ordered baked beans and cole slaw for my sides, they are homemade, very very good. The real eye opener here is their sauce, its so good its bottled and sold in other stores. Very expensive but well worth the money read more

We stop here fairly often. I love the brisket and the better half loves the ribs. Had smoked wings tonight and they were good. Usually get baked beans and coleslaw which are good though as others have said the beans are a bit on the sweet side. They have a good variety of BBQ sauces so you should find one to your liking. Service is very friendly and fast. Great place to stop if you are on the go and want great food fast! read more

Stopped on a whim and had the smoked pork which was quite tasty. My boyfriend had a hamburger that he gave a rave review. I have to agree with other Yelpers that the dining area could use a little TLC but I have to disagree about the cashier comments, she was nice and helpful. I would definitely stop again and hope they branch out. read more

I'm a southern girl, member of the Atlanta BBQ club, and I was quite impressed with my choices. I ordered chicken, pulled pork ribs, and beans for my family. Although, it was not the best I've had, it did stack up closely to many of the southern BBQ joints where I've dined. read more

Food was good. The service was less than desirable. The dinning area was ok but needed a lot of cleaning.

We were looking for a unique place to stop and eat with our family and pooch. We were not disappointed! We had hoped to have brisket, turkey and pork as well as the fried pickles and mushrooms; however, they were out of the fried pickles and mushrooms. So we had the onion rings and fried jalapeños instead. The turkey was out of this world; and, the brisket and pork were a close second. The kids had chicken tenders and a cheeseburger and they were very happy with their selections. They had outdoor seating which was perfect with our dog; however, there were no umbrellas on the tables or shaded spots. Was a bit warm on a August day, but worked. read more

So you like BBQ? Then run, don't crawl to this hidden palace! The ribs are excellent, the brisket has a small chew but still melts in your mouth. And something I never expected to eat, the best damned fried baloney sandwich EVER! Also, their baked beans are, without a doubt, the best damned baked beans that have ever been commercially done. They appear to use 4 different types of beans (with the basic navy bean being the base amount, the other three are scattered in a pleasant variety) and a sauce that will literally make you want to dig up Justin Wilson and smack him in the mouth! But then the ultimate addition, the beans are true pork and beans as there are great sized chunks of their absolutely deliciously smoked pulled pork.... Seriously, this place doesn't use a steam box, but real pit BBQ. read more