The Q Shack

The food was great however I would most likely dine there next time versus ordering delivery. The food is not the same but I was ok with taking that risk since I couldn’t get there.
I ordered the roasted turkey and pork tenderloin. Everything was good especially the sweet potatoes and the collard greens. I know they have a lot of options on their menu however it seemed pretty limited for delivery.
I will definitely eat here but i will make the trip to dine in.

How anyone can leave anything more than two stars for this place is beyond me. Being from Texas I LOVE bar b q and this place doesn’t deserve to be called bar b q. There wasn’t even a *hint* of smoke flavor in my pulled pork nor my friend’s brisket. The meat tasted completely devoid of basic seasoning like salt & pepper as well. It was tender but tasteless and my guess is that it was steamed or stewed but the one thing it was most certainly not was smoked. The tell tale sign pink smoke ring was missing from the meat as well as any flavor. The coleslaw was runny and swimming in liquid, the mac n cheese was rubbery and bland, and the potato salad was just a big okay. The best thing about the meal were the hush puppies. I don’t recommend this restaurant and I won’t be back.

Just plain bad. The meat wasn’t even smoked. Maybe the person running the smoker forgot to put wood in it or something. Just tasted like bland, unseasoned stewed meat. Really disappointing.

I’m not even sure where to start. There was a wonderful aroma drawing my husband and me into this place last night. He ordered pulled pork barbecue, onion rings, and a side salad. I ordered sweet potato fries and peach cobbler. This should have been so awesome, but it was just gross.
The barbecue was soaking wet with grease, and not in a good way. He tried to sop it up with napkins and then drown it in barbecue sauce, but it was inedible. The quality of meat was poor as well, more fat than meat.
The onion rings were so-​so. Nice and fat slices, but batter was kind of blah.
The cobbler was nasty. I don’t even know how cobbler could ever be bad but it was. There were only two tiny little pieces of peaches that I could find, which really shouldn’t have mattered because the goo and pastry part are supposed to be super yummy. The goo was decent, but the batter flavor was really foul. I have to wonder if it had gone bad somehow. I couldn’t eat it.
Definitely will not be back. I am so amazed this place stays open. It must be first timers and no repeat business?

BBQ was tender, the collards were cooked perfectly and I enjoyed the black eyed peas. Will definitely come back when I am in the area.

If you want some solid wings/​BBQ food real quick this is the place. I am huge on wings and they have solid wings for sure my favorite thing, but it is a chain so you can only expect so much. Not necessarily my first pick, but im on the way to work craving wings. This place is definitely worth the visit!

Ehhhh, not as good as the original Q Shack in Durham.
Boo & I went here on a recent Monday night & ordered as soon as we walked in. I got chopped pork BBQ, greens & mac ‘n cheese. He got wings, beans & mac ‘n cheese. Neither of us was really impressed.
My BBQ was soaking in juice, the mac ‘n cheese was hard, like it had been sitting too long & the greens had an odd taste them & were big leafs, still. The hushpuppies were overcooked. The sweet tea was super sweet.
Reasonable prices for the portions you receive. Parking is an issue, since it’s around the theatre & other restaurants.

As much time as a friend of mine and I spend in going to see movies at N. Hills, we like to eat at the various cafes/​restaurants there. Sadly, Q Shack isn’t one to which we’ll be returning again. The pulled pork sandwich I had was both small in portion size and tasted bland. Not a lot of taste there and a puddle of grease in the bottom of the container in which it came. The cole slaw was decent and the hush puppies were fairly tasty. Honestly, these were the only bright spots out of the whole experience. While others who’ve posted a review seemed to like the mac n cheese, it was fairly tasteless to me. Seemed more like macaroni with a little bit of cheese thrown on top as a casual afterthought. Checkout at the register was also a trying experience. Although they were apologetic about the significant delay in getting us checked out, whether it was due to user error or technical issue, there’s appears to be only one register there. A second one would go a long way towards reducing future delays and stress on the staff and customers. All in all, not an impressive experience.

There are many great BBQ joints in the Triangle… this IS NOT one of them. The service staff were indifferent at best and the place looked like it hadn’t really been cleaned in a good while. The BBQ sandwich was mediocre at best; way inferior to even Smithfield’s CnB. The ribs were dry and what little taste there was wasn’t particularly appealing. I was hoping that the sauce would help the situation but unfortunately not. The beans would have been better had they come directly from a store bought can. The highlight of the meal, if you can call it that, was the coleslaw. It wasn’t particularly good unless compared to the rest of the meal.

Not as good as The Original Q Shack in Durham. I normally go with the pulled chicken and at this location it’s always lacking the kick that the Durham Q Shack has.
Sides are OK. Had fried sweet potato’s today and they were nice and hot.
Now, my question is… when did Raleigh restaurants begin charging 15% tax on prepared food?
That’s what I was charged today on my tab. I suppose it’s been a while since I got food out in Raleigh but yet another reason to avoid eating places in town.

We were visiting Raleigh. The entire family enjoyed their food. The hubby and I had the pulled pork. The kids enjoyed the chicken tenders. The kids meals come with a drink, one said and cookie. The mac and cheese was creamy and delicious. I enjoyed the sweet potato fries. Good food, good service, and good location.

Back in the day this was a solid lunch choice for the price, no more than 3 stars at best, so I didn’t have high expectations. Today was a completely difference experience, and not in a good way. I don’t see them staying in business much longer.
Everything was incredibly over salted. The meat and sides were just terrible and seemed like they weren’t seasoned, but maybe the salt overpowered anything else. The brisket was overly fatty and the turkey dry. The sides were cold and/​or soggy if they were deep fried.
I can’t remember ever having a lunch meal this bad. Avoid this place.

I’m not a frequent reviewer, but my experience at the Q Shack tonight was terrible. The last time I had food this bad was when it was served on an airplane.
We thought we’d give it a roll, not wanting to go back into town to Cooper’s or the Pit, and with other reviews on here we thought we’d be in for a decent alternative. But man, it couldn’t have been further from the truth.
I ordered the two meat plate, brisket and pork, the lady had turkey. Brisket was nearly flavorless, aside from the line of fat on the three paltry strips I received. The pork was better, but still only a 2 out of 5 at best. The turkey was drier than the worst white meat I’ve ever had on Thanksgiving.
We both ordered slaw, I got Mac and cheese, she got baked beans. The slaw was all onion. I actually had a quarter of an onion on my plate that hadn’t been pulled apart. The beans were so bad she didn’t even touch them, and after everything else I was afraid to try. Even the Mac and cheese, while seasoned well, was dry and lukewarm.
If I could have given a 0 rating, I would have.
Save your $ 15, this place should be out of business soon.

I came with my 8 yo and I was not impressed. The kids meal turkey breast was half skin (come on people) and my dinner was so-​so. No one was here at 5:30 on Saturday and now I know why. I won’t be back, there are other places nearby that are far better!

Went in for lunch today, was greeted by a middle-​aged gentlemen in a chef’s coat, but as we walked up to the counter, a young guy asked «are you paying with cash?» and I said no. He informed us «Our machine is broken.» I asked where the nearest ATM was.
«I don’t know.» (why would you? you only live and work in this city… I am from out of the state, so it’s my problem, right?).
My boyfriend suggested that they put a sign on the door, and the guys replied
«well it just happened.»
We went t o the middle-​aged man to ask where the nearest ATM was, he kindly walked outside with us and pointed in a few different directions.
After getting our cash and coming back, we came back in, again the only ones in line, waiting for the young guy to be ready to take our order. But instead of a greeting us, we watched him put on gloves, wipe off a blade, and stare to his right. Apparently the best way to tell a pair of customers that you are ready to take their order and are happy for their business is to not make eye contact or say a word. I waited for him to make a move toward being ready for about a minute, then just walked up and ordered. Apparently he had been waiting on me… ah yes… very obvious.
Watched him make our food at a very apathetic pace, even watched him scoop old, dry beans onto our trays, and watched a hispanic gentleman come behind him, take the old ones, throw them away and give us new ones.
A pork shoulder sandwich with one side and loin plate with two small drinks was $ 21. Not one $, more like $$.
Sat down and looked for the BBQ sauces (our plates were dry, no sauce added). There are two, one vinegar based and one texas chipotle. Nothing else in the whole place. I would rather have a middle of the road sauce instead of two crappy sauces.
Our food was very watery, my sandwich, even my onion rings (probably because they them pull them out of a plastic bag out of the freezer) were dripping with water. The hush puppies and the okra were the only things we enjoyed.
We will not be returning.
And owner, Tom Meyer, looked like he was in the building, behind the counter on the phone and making a deal with someone in person while the young guy (in the Panther’s hat) was serving us – so either he doesn’t care or didn’t pay attention.
He left just before we did so he didn’t get to witness the Panther’s hat guy pay so little attention to customers coming in: did not greet, did not make eye contact, stayed at the far end of the counter where the cash register was, did not say one word, that FIVE CUSTOMERS decided to leave instead of ordering food.
This guy is LOSING YOU BUSINESS. FIRE HIM! Your business was empty (save for us) and you are at a PRIME location.

The ribs were awesome !!! I was born in the north, but believe I was meant to be a southerner. I have had lots of BBQ in my day and I have to say these ribs are always great. Now, I got brisket and was less than happy about the way that tasted. Briskets one of those things that only a BBQ pit master can make right. I have only had dry. chewy. brisket everywhere. Anyways, the green beans were good… but the spinach was my favorite part. I am not sure of it had some type of cheese of cream sauce but it was hearty and spicy and acidic, which paired with fatty pork was very enjoyable.
If I was to go again I would get the spinach and ribs and then my rating might be 5 stars. But with the brisket and normal hush puppies I’d give it a 3 ! I really want to try the pulled pork, so I can get the whole experience !

Service and most of the side dishes suck. Service is really horrible. I called today to place an order for a few co workers and myself. We called first to ask about side dishes and the guy was really rude in advising that the ones we asked for were at the Durham location only. We advised we get the orders together and call back. We called back and he remembered the number as he was more rude the 2^nd time. He advised it would be a few minutes. 5 minutes later he came back and advised it would be another 5 — 7 minutes before he could take the order and slammed the phone down. Nevermind.

The burger special looked great. Pasture beef burger, pimento cheese, Apple smoked bacon, with a side for $ 8. My image was far better than the burnt ultra thin patty I received, topped with cold cheese spread and burnt bacon. I won’t be back…

My husband, a native Chicagoan, was desperate for some good ribs. We found Q-​Shack and decided to try it. The whole family, including two kids, got ribs (not me), mac and cheese, mashed sweet potatoes, fries, onion rings and hush puppies. I also got a baked potato. I’m vegetarian and they do have a descent number of vegetarian sides to choose from.
My husband and 10 year old daughter were not impressed with the ribs, at all! The mashed sweet potatoes had too much cinnamon and not enough sugar. The mac and cheese looked good but when we bit into it it had a cheap Velveeta-​like taste to it. The fries were okay. The onion rings were actually pretty good. The only thing I can say that was truly amazing where the hush puppies! Oh yeah I’m vegetarian so I got a baked potato with cheese and sour cream. It was pretty good.
I doubt we’ll go back to the Q Shack. For $ 50+, it just wasn’t worth it. We wanted to like it but we’d rather do Famous Daves or Outback.

I have been going here since I moved here in 2009.
I always come with an appetite because the amount of food is almost always more than enough. Many times I’ll go for the «children’s» plate which includes a drink, cookie, meat and of course hush-​puppies. I love their mac and cheese.
The owner was there one time and I asked him what the ingredients were. He was happy to tell me because he knew I’d never be able to replicate the final product. :) We have friends who visit from out of town just about every year and they always want to come back here to eat.