Dean’s Barbeque

Oh how I miss eating here! The best Bbq sandwich and I love the brunswick stew. Secrets in the sauce and theirs is amazing. Seems like forever since I’ve eaten here as I live in Switzerland now for 8 yrs. When I’m in Atlanta, I always try to find time to swing by Deans. Family owned for over 60 yrs and friendly service.

When in Jonesboro you have to eat here. Voted best BBQ in Georgia more than once. That’s really all you need to know.

At first glance the location is unassuming and may even seem abandoned. Once inside the staff welcomes you in and the board menu and a loose sheet of paper round out the menu options. Being from California I wanted to try some good southern bar-​b-​que. I went with the bar-​b-​q sandwich as a taster that came with chips and a drink for a very reasonable price. Also ordered a three rib plate with two sides. Baked beans and coleslaw. Then ordered a full slab of fall off the bone pork ribs. Sauce on the side.
Now the results were not short of spectacular. The sandwich was the perfect size and tasted great. Did not bother with the bag of chips. Next up was the rib plate with the sauce and Wow! They just fell off the bone and tasted great. The beans were also very good not as sweet as I’m used to. The coleslaw very similar to KFC but not as sweet. Loved them both. By now we were pretty full but took on the ribs with no sauce. Excellent!!! Had the sauce on the side for sweetness but the ribs held there own without it.
Location: Once inside, the dining room is quaint and surprisingly cool as it was very hot outside. Tables furnished with extra sauce and a roll of napkins.
This place has been here since 1947 and it shows from the outside. Give this place a chance and I believe you will not be disappointed.
Loved it.

Pretty good barbeque — will def be back — enjoyed the Brunswick stew — tasted pretty close to my grandma’s and I am very particular about my stew… very good flavors — u won’t be disappointed — stop on by!

Came here right after the Gone with the Wind exhibit hoping for some authentic soul food. Heard that this place was actually one of the oldest barbecue joints in the area, but when I went in and tasted what they had, I was not impressed. The whole menu consisted of variations of one thing (outside of their ground beef stew thing, which was literally just ground beef slop): their bbq sandwich. This would have been ok if it were actually amazing. However, the buns tasted like they had been bought at walmart, and the pork inside was extremely dry and cut into large cubes. The whole combination was basically tasteless, and I had to slather sauce on it to make it a little easier to swallow.
Honestly, not the best representation of bbq. Overpriced for what you got, and they didn’t even have proper silverware or tables.

Dean’s Barbecue has been around since 1947. This is allegedly the second-​oldest barbecue shack in Georgia. And for good reason – the food is fantastic. This place is about as old-​school, no-​frills, traditional as you can get. The Dean family cooks only hams over a mostly open pit, using only local oak and hickory. The results are delicious.
Smoked pork is generally the only thing on the menu, though occasionally they will have a separate menu with a small variety of things on it like barbecue chicken or pork ribs. My ribs meal was tasty and filling. The sauce on the ribs was smoky, tangy, and sweet. I’m not generally into vinegar based sauces, but the table-​top sauce at Dean’s was actually pretty good. (I’ve heard a rumor that the sauce recipe is actually Vivien Leigh’s.) My ribs were flanked by some baked beans, slaw, and pickle slices. The beans were good, but the slaw was the real winner among sides on my plate.
Dean’s is mostly known for their pulled-​pork sandwich and their brunswick stew. Next time I go, that is what I will get. Holler if you’re coming with.

This is barbeque just like you got it in the 50’s and 60’s. It is smoked on site and the sandwiches are wrapped in wax paper. This is the read deal. Dean’s has the best pulled pork sandwich hands down.

Would give a 1.5 but my friend thought it was decent but not great. «It isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever ate.» So we ordered 2 pulled pork sandwiches & Brunswick stew, the sandwiches came soggy and disgusting. They failed to put barbecue sauce on the sandwiches as well, or put the bread on the side to avoid the sogginess. As for the brunswick stew, it had a gross consistency that looked like vomit, and had a odd smell to it. I couldn’t eat more than one bite, which is sad to say. Otherwise this is a small local BBQ joint that has been around for ages. Might give it another chance one day, but not any time soon.

My go-​to place when I want good BBQ. I’ve had the pulled and chopped pork, the ribs and the chicken and they’re all good, as is the stew. Good service, reasonable prices, and the seating and atmosphere that anyone familiar with good southern «cue» joints will feel right home in. We love this place!

The best BBQ ever I’m so amazed & full the baked beans are excellent the coleslaw is just right and toasted Texas toast …
Everything is so satisfying !!!
I will make this trip again …
Mrs V

Small in appearance, but great BBQ. Roger is always quick with a joke.

I was raised on Dean’s BBQ. I’m biased. But, I’ve transcended three generations here and watched the business adapt to locals — pork sandwich, stew, tea only… To… A few pork choices and the prior… To… The addition of chicken and ribs, plus debit/​credit card acceptance! It’s still great and always worth stopping in. Their sauce is thin and their pork is chopped, but the quality of everything is top notch!

Ate here a few months ago and meant to write a review. I ordered a BBQ sandwich, and a coworker ordered the BBQ platter. Both dishes had more vinegar than BBQ. It was literally drowning in it. So much so that I couldn’t taste the BBQ for all the vinegar. The good news is that I quenched my thirst and got food in my belly simultaneously. The bad news is that the experience was not what I had hoped for, and won’t be returning. The proprietor seems to take issue with my review, pointing out that I have given bad reviews to other restaurants. I’ve only given two negative reviews to restaurants — one being your establishment. I was raised on good BBQ, and this (in my definition) is not good BBQ. Pork should be the primary ingredient to good BBQ — not vinegar. I stand by my original post and wish you the best.

First of all, I feel I have to give this place props for having been around so long. The service was fine, though I did get a bit of a sideways look when I ordered the half-​slab without any sides. I’m not sure if I ordered the wrong thing, or if I’m just too much of a Kansas City bbq fan, but I didn’t care for the ribs at all. The texture was off to me and they were a little too fatty (I know, wtf?!, they are supposed to be fatty, but it was weird to me.) I was surprised and disappointed, I really wanted to like this hole in the wall.

This is one of those BBQ joints that smothers everything in a sauce that isn’t very good. The ribs and chicken that were spared the sauce fared better, but the sauce is nothing they should be proud of. There is a place in Cartersville that reminds me of this place. If you grew up with it, the best thing in the world. If you regularly travel outside the zip code you start seeing there are better options. Other complaint the sweet tea had that sitting in the dispenser all day funk to it. Slightly metallic after taste. I would give it 3 stars because the people were really friendly, but thats not why you go out to eat.

I was in Atlanta for a few weeks this past year, and ended up going to Dean’s for lunch. It was my first real taste of southern BBQ for a girl from New England. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich, Brunswick stew, and «Yankee Tea» (unsweetened)The pulled pork sandwich was amazing. Brunswick Stew; really not impressed. If anything has a tomato base to it, I’m used to a little more flavor due to my culinary preference. Kudos definitely to the fact that this place has been an establishment for decades. Seemed like a hole in the wall that is also a local landmark. I still crack up that they call «unsweetened iced tea“Yankee Tea.

PICTURE HERE:
I love this spot. I’ve been going here since I was a boy… my Dad first took me here when I was about 5. Since then, on the odd occasion that I find myself that far south of the city, I make a special jaunt over to Dean’s.
For my taste buds, they’ve got the best damned pulled pork in the state. Every trip, I pick up an extra ½ LB just to bring home and give away to a buddy. It goes without saying that I am very popular with my friends.
Sadly, this place’s days are probably numbered. Do yourself a favor, and go to Dean’s, just so you can say that you went. That way, in five years when it’s gone the way of the Dodo, and your buddies are talking about whatever wanna-​be BBQ they think is «THE BEST», you can smugly tell them that they missed out.

BBQ just like I like it. All about the meat, not the building. This is old-​school BBQ. Loved it. They only serve pork, and they do it very well. The sandwich was great, the Brunswick stew delicious, the sweet tea great. It was all good. No complaints, this is as good as real BBQ gets.

No frills, just gooooooood barbeque — in a time warp.
The service is minimal at this mid-​century eatery located in what’s not much more than a shack in the middle of the road.
Brace yourself. You have to get in touch with your sense of trust here.
Eating at Dean’s Barbeque is like traveling to a time when high-​technology meant food refrigeration and air conditioning.
But there IS a reason why Dean’s has been doing business since just after World War II: the food.
First you have to FIND the place. Don’t blink as you drive along the railroad tracks not far from «downtown» Jonesboro — or you might miss it.
Parking is informal, along a dirt and gravel shoulder a few frightening feet off the two-​lane pavement. Walk into the tiny building with the makeshift sign hanging over an ancient door: «Established in 1947/Dean’s Barbeque.»
If you think about all the social revolution that’s taken place in Jonesboro and the South since 1947, it’s really amazing that Dean’s has survived largely unchanged.
This town has forged a small tourism industry on being author Margaret Mitchell’s inspiration for the Tara Plantation in «Gone with the Wind.»
Down the road from Dean’s, a confederate flag flies over a cemetery where victims are buried from the Civil War Battle of Lovejoy.
Now, Jonesboro is fighting a war against a recession — hoping to win with its strip malls and modern day fast-​food joints.
A humble statement about longevity, Dean’s stands as a monument to dishing out fast food waaaaaaaaay before fast food was cool.
Once you wiggle your way inside the shack, the store counter is so close to the door that there’s barely any standing room available to wait for your order.
The menu — which apparently has changed little since the 40s — is posted on the wall above the counter. Among its highlights: «Tea: Sweet, Yankee or Mason-​Dixon.» (For the uninitiated, «Yankees» don’t put sugar in their iced tea. Mason-​Dixon is half sweet and half unsweetened.)
Behind the counter, cheerful staffers assemble lunches including sandwiches, bags of chips, tea and cans of Diet Coke, Sprite and other soft drinks.
The meat is already pulled and cut and ready to be assembled on plates and plopped between brown buns.
In a few minutes, your order is handed to you in a plain brown paper bag.
To the left of the counter, through a doorway, is a very modestly furnished dining room.
Alfresco, anyone? If it’s a nice day, there are picnic tables around the side of the shack.
Yum! The pulled pork sandwiches are tangy, salty and satisfying. You’ll want at least two.
Seriously, I highly recommend that you make time to do Dean’s at least once. It’s a unique dining experience — and the meat will prove it to you.

This is one of 2 BBQ places I can recall eating southern-​style BBQ from (the other one being Butch’s, on the north side of Jonesboro), over all the many years that I’ve visited my grandmother in the Lake Jodeco area.
I slightly prefer Butch’s a little over Dean’s, but I enjoy going here almost as much. Not to mention, it doesn’t have as weird hours, or odd days of closing, as Butch’s does.
Anyway, this is basically all but a take-​out only BBQ place (I believe there are almost no seats at all inside, and I think it only has one or 2 outdoor tables at most), and not sure if they do delivery or not. They’re located in a very small shack-​like white building off the highway, just south of downtown Jonesboro. Excellent pulled pork BBQ, coleslaw, and your typical other staples that are served in southern BBQ joints.
I hope this place is around for years to come. Especially since my family seems to strike out w/Butch’s often, due to the fact that they often have strange hours of operation (and/​or occasional vacations that the owners of Butch’s do from time to time), we often call in an order to go from Dean’s, instead. And like I said on my Butch’s review, Dean’s gets 4 stars, and Butch’s 4.5 stars.
HOURS: 10:30am-4pm Monday + Tuesday, and 10:30am-7pm on Wednesday through Saturday. They’re only closed on Sundays.