Gary’s Barbecue

Southern hospitality is what a customer will experience at Gary’s Barbeque. The hushpuppies are delicious. I recommend the general public to dine at Gary’s Barbeque.

A warm, welcoming NC joint with some great barbecue and incredible service.
Ordered a combo plate with chicken and chopped BBQ. The chicken was tough and rubbery but the barbecue more than made up for it. Loved the fries and hushpuppies, too! The other side options were a little disappointing — no creamed spinach or greens on the menu which was pretty surprising.
The service was the real highlight, however. We had an outstanding, attentive, and friendly waitress and must have met 3 – 4 other staff who just decided to say hello. Thanks for a great experience!

Several of us went to try this so called icon of China Grove.
When we entered, the décor was better than most, and its bright… not like most Q joints.
Then the fun ended.
We stood for 20 minutes, while several as large groups that came in behind us were seated ahead of us. When asked why, the waitress said she wasnt sure why, so we asked if it was because all of us were in full leather… chaps, and jackets, as we rode in from the BBQ capital of NC, Lexington.
After we were seated, out order was taken and service time was fast enough for 6 orders.
Coffee was ok.
I ordered a Q plate, and the wife ordered a chicken salad.
The pork had a nasty almost fake smoke flavor. When you add their version of dip to it, it became unedible due to the vinegar they use, no sugar like Lexington style. Hushpuppies were dry and hard, and their slaw was, well, it was something else. Disgusting comes to mind.
The grilled chicken salad, was simply lettuce, with strips of chicken, and not much of that. The waitress acted shocked when the wife asked if it was a joke.
No joke. lettuce and chicken… nothing else.
Bring cash, as they dont take plastic as I found out.
The cashier, when I reached for my card, snapped at me and said there was an ATM in the lobby… I had cash, but the shocker was a $ 22.00 bill for 2 coffees, a q plate, and a head of lettuce with some bagged chicken strips.
If this is the best China Grove has, then they can keep it. The attitudes of the help sucked, and the food was nothing to write home about. If in the area again, Ill drive the extra 20 miles to Lexington for real BBQ.
Not to worry Garys, our group will never set foot in your dive again.
You get one star, for the fact you actually had a Type3 in your collection of cars under glass in the back.
There is no negative star ratings for service or quality of food, sadly.

I’ve been going to Gary’s Barbecue as long as I can remember as a child… it’s consistent and dependable! A definite «must do» if you are passing through Rowan County. Easy access just off Exit 68 off I85. Good old favorites and some of the best Brunswick stew around.

I’m agreeable with most of the below positive reviews and comments about Gary’s décor, cleanliness, service, atmosphere, etc. But what hasn’t been mentioned is my particular favorite there.
For me, skip the barbecue and get the Fish Sandwich. Best thing in the house. Nice large filet, deep fried, on a large bun with red slaw. Delicious!
If you simply must insist on getting BBQ, try the BBQ salad. Best thing with the BBQ there.
Call me a native NC BBQ snob, but truly epic North Carolina style BBQ takes lots of real wood to cook. The ‘cue here has been cooked with gas for a long time now. Same premise as backyard cooking with a gas grill rather than real charcoal. Turns out a meh… but merely acceptable, consistent but only average product. It’s just not the same as the real thing.
Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember here in Piedmont NC when the real thing was ubiquitous (pre electric and gas cookers). Back when every NC BBQ joint had a huge wood pile out back and a smoky parking lot. Those folks here now without this experience simply don’t know better. They eat their gas/​electric roast pork and think it’s NC BBQ. Not quite…
I miss those good ol’ days. Enjoy a Fish Sandwich here instead.

Sweet place!
The atmosphere is retro — awesome! So many blasts from the past, and in such great condition.
I had a pork bbq sandwich with red slaw on top… Pretty good. Super tender. I were passing through town is certainly go back.
I may get something other than the beans if I go back. They weren’t bad either, just not any better than something out of a can.
Everyone was friendly and helpful.

Great southern Carolina style barbeque. Great atmosphere. Always affordable. Great for locals or visitors!

Love the atmosphere and small town feel. Have been going to Gary’s since I was a little girl. It’s a hometown fav!

Quality of the BBQ is slipping. I had the sliced tray. Looked more to me it was ripped pork. It was dry and the flavor wasn’t there. My son had the large chopped tray and he was disappointed as well. On a good note, the banana pudding is still very good.

Delicious and very reasonably priced BBQ. The pulled pork sandwich was excellent. I opted to top with cole slaw. My husband said the cole slaw solo was decent but not amazing. Loved the hush puppies and my husband was a big fan of the baked beans. The mac n cheese was a disappointment (don’t bother) — maybe a quarter step up from the stuff you get from the box. This is a no frills place but for the price, you can’t beat it.

What a major disappointment. My first hint should have been when I was getting pulled pork to go for an hour and a half drive. The waitress said they won’t microwave it then like they do in the restaurant so I can microwave it when I get home. They nuke the food?
Then when the food came out I could not believe the side order of mac-​and-​cheese. She put it in the bag and said they didn’t heat it since I was driving a long distance. I looked at the mac-​and-​cheese and it was a microwavable bag of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Are you kidding me? Are they serious? Microwaved food is their side dish?
The pulled pork had the consistency, and somewhat oddly, the taste of canned tuna fish. It just seemed oven roasted and mushy. No smoky flavor, pretty much no flavor at all. If North Carolinians think this is real barbecue that is sad. The two stars are for the bread pudding which was pretty good. Best of all, it wasn’t microwaved.

The best example of southern hospitality. Ordered a pulled pork sandwich and it was gooooood. Awesome banana pudding. Can’t miss that. I definitely will come back.

Yummy ranch! Great vinegar BBQ sauce. Yummy fries! Can’t beat the tea and fountain sundrop!

LOVE! GARYS IS GREAT! And you’ll feel right at home in the south. You might think you’re in a nursing home haha but I love the elderly. And as for the banana pudding you better make sure you ask as soon as you get there because they run out !!!:(it’s so good

Good bbq and I love the Brunswick stew. Other good stuff too. Good atmosphere, friendly staff and typically fast service. Curb service is great and always friendly. Popular place.

This place is awesome. They have excellent BBQ and other foods, a really cool environment to eat in with family and friends. There is a lot of memorabilia on the walls.
For some reason, unbeknownst to me, they do not accept credit cards. While I understand that small places like this want to keep things simple, this is the 21^st century and it’s unacceptable for places not to accept plastic. Just strange to me.

Wow! This place is amazing! I came to meet a client and the owner and staff were amazing. We sat ourselves in an open and eclectic dining room that was well lit and full of memorabilia. The BBQ and hush puppies were tremendous. Now I am not a fan of Vinegar based sauce but this homemade pepper concoction was the best I’ve ever had. I will buy a bottle if I can.

After being hounded to go try Gary’s, as I work in the China Grove area, now, I finally tried it out.
The person I talked to on the phone was somewhat abrupt and I could tell he wasn’t paying that much attention.
I go to get my hot dog and it was not what I ordered. I ordered EXTA chili, cheese, ketchup, and mustard.
Well, it had almost NO chili, no cheese (although they sure charged me for it), and the dog was sticking out of the wrapping paper in the brown paper bag.
And to make it all worse (and the deciding factor for why I refuse to ever go again), they DO NOT ACCEPT VISA.
This is 2014, but 1914. I’m frequently amazed at these little country establishments that refuse to move along with the times. Why would you not accept a payment method that is widely used throughout the world??? I mean, many people do not carry cash for safety reasons.
I don’t even think it deserves one star, but that is as low as you can go on this site.

My first impression, as I’m sure it is for most people, is «wow, what a neat place.» The walls are filled with old tin soft drink advertisements, some of which I hadn’t seen in fifty years.
My second thought was, «this is a large restaurant,» because there is a ton of seating capacity.
Then I caught sight of the cars, 1950’s T-​Birds, in pristine condition. I had forgotten that this was the place with the cars — another «WOW!»
The waitresses are professional and friendly, and a couple of them are gorgeous.
I ordered a coarse chopped barbecue tray, with slaw, hush puppies, and sweet tea with lemon.
The BARBECUE? Good quality pork, tender, juicy, with some bark — that’s the good news. The serving size was generous. The bad news was that the barbecue was pretty much flavorless. There was no smoky characteristic or sweetness… it was pretty much devoid of taste. I first added the vinegar dip, and secondly the thick sweet western sauce to try and salvage the ‘Q, but it really didn’t help. 2.5÷5.
The COLESLAW? They didn’t offer a selection they just brought me their mildly flavored red slaw, and it was fine. 3.5÷5.
The HUSH PUPPIES? Well, they were excellent. Homemade. Large. Round. NON greasy. 4.5÷5.
THE SWEET TEA? Superb. Plenty of sugar, but not overly sweet. 4./5.5.
SERVICE? I was called, «sir,» «honey,» «sugar,» «darling,» etc., and I pretty much loved it. The wait staff here are seasoned professionals, and they do a FAN-​tastic job of looking after their loyal customers.
CURB SERVICE? YES!
This is a family oriented restaurant, and just a neat place to eat. It seemed to me that this restaurant has an extremely loyal following. I noticed that the place was EXTREMELY CLEAN. I also believe that their overall food is of excellent quality, generally speaking.
If I lived closer, I would be a regular here — that’s probably my ultimate compliment.

I came here with an open mind. About 45 min away from my house and well I was wishing the whole way that it was worth it… And my verdict: not bad! Note, it’s cash only, or check? The place is old school so I guess they never thought to upgrade.
The menu is definitely pretty big. But I let my waiter choose my fate as I was a little bit lazy on choosing. Plus, I usually want to be surprised. My waiter got me the combo plate that came with the pulled pork and chicken. Lots of meat. However, I wasn’t so fond of the hush puppies. I got the nice red coleslaw that also came with the meal, which as they said they were famous for. I’m not a big fan of coleslaw, so it was okay. It’s just a different taste than normal coleslaw.
So when the check rolled around, I was so surprised that our waiter brought a complimentary dessert. Their famous Banana Pudding, which was voted best in the state of NC. And lets just say… It was Awesome! Full of flavor, and at the same time not too sweet. Definitely, save some space for this dessert.
Overall, I loved the feeling of this restaurant with all the signs and advertisements. Also, the garage full of old school cars? Cool beans.