Stumpy’s Bar-B-Que

I just learned that Stumpy’s is close to me by hearing advertisements on STL1380, so I had to try it on a Saturday night. I went in at around 7:00 pm and surprised to see only 4 tables being served.
I sat and waited and waited for one of the two servers to give me a menu, silverware or at least a drink order. After about 10 minutes I was presented a menu and silverware and she took my drink order.
I ordered the Stumpy’s special sandwich with pulled pork and fries as a side. The pork was served dry with no sauce and I mean dry. They have 3 sauces that are available on the side. I put the Stumpy’s original sauce on the sandwich. I had to keep putting sauce in it since it was so dry even with the coleslaw.
The meat had decent flavor but it was more cut than pulled and did I mention dry?
I don’t think I will go back even considering its proximity to me.

Been there several times. The first time the brisket was sliced with the grain I thought it was a mistake. Second, just another inexperienced kid mistake. Third time was not a charm because a manager cut it. Real BBQ brisket should be sliced AGAINST the grain. Slicing across the grain makes it tough, stringy and chewy. Fix this and I will come back.

I have been eating at Stumpy’s for years and always really liked the food. However, in recent months I believe they have changed the rub or spices they are using and the food is so hot and peppery I can’t stand it. Even my husband, who likes spicy food, dislikes it. We gave it one more try last night and I was unable to eat the ribs I ordered. We will not be going back.

We’ve been there 3 times in the past month, at lunch time. EVERY TIME the service has been HORRID!!! S-​L-​O-​W. Every single time there is an excuse… someone called in sick, blah blah blah. But nothing changes. Food is meh. Service is the LOUSIEST ever. Every single time. And every single time there are excuses.
Let me define SLOW SERVICE for you: It took 45 minutes to get my iced tea. FORTY FIVE MINUTES. And it took a full TWO HOURS to get my salad. TWO HOURS. Lettuce with a bit of pulled chicken on it (which was very greasy). I didn’t walk out because of the people I was with. And this wasn’t the first time, but the THIRD time we got such lousy service.
They also couldn’t make change for a $ 20. Had to send someone next door to get change. It’s like they have no idea how to run a restaurant.
How do they stay in business? Do they get a lot of catering orders?
I AM TRULY STUMPED AS TO HOW STUMPY’S CONTINUES TO STAY IN BUSINESS! I know one thing: we will never go back. EVER.

Had the pulled pork, great sandwich, string beans also good. My extremely lovely wife had the brisket was but was very tough, they replaced with some excellent ribs. Happy campers now. Would definitely go back…

There smoked wings are some of the best around. Other than that, my family thinks the rest of the items are pretty mediocre. If you go, I suggest sticking with the smoked wings. The atmosphere is somewhat unique, with the different sports memorabilia, but I think this restaurant does not benefit from its location.

Extremely dry beef brisket. Molasses in the «Stumpy’s beans» was overpowering. Filled with regret instead of good bbq. Met with unapologetic staff.

The food was good. We really enjoyed it. BUT… We ordered one of the family meals to take home for a lazy night in front of the TV.
Here’s my complaint…
It was $ 45 for our food. It was supposed to be 3 sides…
We got less than ½ cup (!) of beans, less than ½ cup of baked beans and 3 corn cobs that literally 1.5 inches long!!! I measured the servings. We got a teaspoon each!!!
I expected to at least get KFC sides for $ 45!
Wow!!! Good food but won’t go here again.

Great food! But had a horrible experience with an employee screaming and yelling at another employee and used the «F» word many times. I felt so bad for this girl. Probably won’t be back, would rather go to a place where employees don’t scream at people.

I had some of the worst BBQ I’ve ever had in my life. It looked and tasted like it was from yesterday. People where nice tho.

I cannot remember when I have been served such fowl tasting allegedly smoked chicken from a restaurant. I am shocked that the St. Peters department of Health put an A sticker on Stumpy’s door, the place is filthy, the service is as bad as the food.
I get tired of guys who smoke chicken and then keep reheating it thinking that when the diner picks up a leg and the meat falls off because it has been steamed over and over, that they are «pitmasters», the slang for feces followed by master would best describe this black hole of Calcutta.
The floors may have been clean, sometime, some month but not tonight. When there is a ring of dirt around where the table leg touches the floor, you know that the «cleaner» did not even move the table to mop. The amount of salt dust from the snow two weeks ago on the floor should have been an indication.
When we walked in there was one table not served, one with appetizers, and three were eating their entrees. We placed our «to go order» and waited, and waited, and waited. Two call in orders were served, the table with the appetizers were served their entrée’s, and 10 minutes later got the catsup they requested, as well as bone plates.
We still waited. 40 minutes later we were given our order.
We used a groupon as did almost everyone else. If you have a groupon for Stumpy’s use it fast before they cease to exist.
Will I ever go again? Maybe during the next ice age, or if hell freezes over.
This is a pathetic excuse for a restaurant.

I would not recommend this restaurant to ANYONE! I called yesterday to see if they would do a corporate catering for me at a local hotel for a meeting while I was in town and before I could even finish stating what I was looking for the person who answered the phone literally cursed me out and told me to «stop calling every f’n day» and that I was «disturbing their business». Huh??? I went on to try and say I’ve never called before but before I could even finish saying that the phone was slammed down. I wanted to call back and curse them out right back but I have more maturity than that. I am literally appalled at their restaurant. Idk who they thought I was and quite frankly idc – customer service makes or breaks a business and let it be known these people are terrible.

I was worried about this experience, after reading so many negative reviews. Overall, it was a great experience, and I’d definitely go back. I used a Groupon, and no problem redeeming it. I went with the smoked chicken wings, since other reviewers said they were fantastic. They were! I also got sweet potato fries and baked beans, both of which I LOVED! My husband got a pulled pork sandwich, which he liked. He liked his potato salad and green beans, but for me, they were sorta’ bland, nothing special. Not offensive, but only about 2 stars.
By the way, the meat is served dry – you choose which sauce you want to use. (Same way Bandanas serves their meat.) They had 3 choices. I liked the Sweet & Smoky sauce the best.
I sat in the back near the restrooms and did notice a bit of a stale cigarette smell when I first sat down. Interesting b/​c there is a «NO SMOKING» sign on the front door. But it went away (or I got used to it/​forgot about it) in a minute, so it didn’t affect my visit.
The young lady who waited on us was very pleasant, got our order correct, and we didn’t have to wait long for the food to arrive. No sign of the evil manager I have read about in other reviews, thank goodness!

Pretty disappointed. This was our first time so we tried everything (except the chicken), it was all dry. My brisket was particularly bad. The ribs were alright and if I ever went back it would be for $ 1 a rib night. Not a very clean restaurant either. Service was OK.

You know, I just can’t see wasting a lot of time on this review. It was a typical strip mall BBQ place. The ambiance consisted of the walls being completely covered with local sports pictures, and a smallish TV at either end was set on low volume ESPN. So it makes up for it in food, right? We ate in, with me ordering the combo platter (Andouille sausage, ribs, brisket) with potato salad and green beans as the sides. I had read elsewhere that these were two good side choices for here. The wife got the brisket platter with the same two sides. Oh, and we got fried pickle spears for an appetizer.
Fried pickles — These either had to be dumped from a pre-​frozen bag, or the cook knows how to make something that appears mass produced. Breading was actually too thick, and not especially flavorful. Pickles were quite a bit more slender than the breading, so that they would fall out after the first bite had been taken.
Sausage — not bad, not great, kinda spicy for Andouille rather than flavory. Ribs — they were decent. Not the best I’ve ever had, but at least average for BBQ joints. Brisket — decent, very tender, nice beef flavor. My wife actually thought I should give three stars due to her brisket, but everything else kept me at two.
Potato salad — pretty good flavor, actually. But it was warmish, which was off-​putting. I want my tater salad cool so that I know it’s been kept fresh — or hot so that I know it’s been made recently and pulled from the warming oven. This felt like it had been sitting out on a counter in a warm kitchen. Bleh. Green beans — I had read they would have a good spice and oniony flavor. What I got was canned green beans with a lot of pepper flavoring.
So if you want mediocre that is close to home, have at it. But don’t drive 30 minutes like I did.

The best part of this meal was my toddler’s chicken fingers. The turkey was dry. The fries were ore ida. The sauces were not delightful — the original was spicy, the sweet was overly so and the hot was a bottle of Frank’s. Will not revisit.

I just don’t get how anyone could think this place is good. First time I went, I thought they were just having an off night; after the second time, I knew it was just bad.
Ribs were bland, grey and tasteless, sides left much to be desired both times; also there were lots of uncleaned tables both times and the service wasn’t very good.
There are at least 5 other places in St Charles County with better BBQ — save your money and go to one of them, and avoid this place at all costs. I think the only reason this place stays in business is the copious amount of advertising they do on radio and print coupons; bringing new people through the door. I doubt they have many repeat customers, unless they are people who have permanently lost their sense of taste who enjoy eating ribs that taste like cardboard.

Sorry guys, Stumpy’s missed the mark badly on the day we were there. We had been there once, a few years ago and recalled an OK experience. That was pre-​Yelp and my recollection was that the ribs would qualify it as a 3 star place. We drove back this time with a Groupon, hoping for something at least that good. We needed to use our coupon so each had a three meat combo platter. This gave us tests of: ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken, turkey and brisket. Where do I start?
Turkey — sawdust dry sliced breast. You could tell by looking at it and tasting it did not help. It had mild smoke.
Pulled Chicken — also very dry according to Ms T.
Pulled Pork — This meat was definitely stale. We visited on a Tuesday and I would estimate this was cooked on the previous Friday or Saturday. It was a classic example of why I don’t usually get pulled pork in the mid-​west. Big shreds of dry, poorly seasoned pork. I ate about half of the serving.
Ribs — The ribs were the best of the lot and that is not saying much. They were also a little stale. I like that they are served without sauce. Barbecue should be good without sauce. These were mildly smoked, tender, not over done, but were also dry.
Brisket — About three weeks ago I ate world class brisket at City Market in Luling, Texas. Now here I am eating some at Stumpy’s. When I say some, I mean I ate about half. They simply don’t know how to fix brisket here. It was chewy, dry and unfortunately also tasted 3 – 4 days old.
Green Beans — pretty good with some grease and onion
Baked Beans — ordinary sweetened out of the can
Potato Salad — very good, creamy and not sweet (best thing on the table)
Slaw — creamy and mild, a bit flat
So here is my take. Since essentially all of our meats (five varieties) were stale, there must have been a day when they were fresh. I have a theory that you go to eat barbecue for lunch because they have been cooking all night and you get it fresh. Plus at many of the iconic places we got to in North Carolina and Texas, they run out and stop serving later in the day. Going to Stumpy’s for lunch on this day of the week may have been bad luck. Barbecue is not like chili or stew in that it does not improve with age. Stumpy’s is trying too hard to serve too many meats. They would be better served to stick with ribs and work on improving the pulled pork. Their brisket license should be revoked permanently before they waste more beef. They should also cook less at a time and more often. The stale barbecue is inexcusable. If it was truly cooked that day, it is even more of an indictment of their cooking. All of the meat was barely warm on the plate which did not help and (just for pettiness) the annoying metal platters are domed on the bottom so they twirl around constantly.

Oh Stumpy’s, oh Stumpy’s, how do I love thee.
Let me count the ways…
Friends took me to Stumpy’s on a Sunday afternoon for lunch, and I was rocked by the tasty ‘que that day (excellent green beans and baked beans sides, too.)
The atmosphere is solid St. Louis sports photos and memorabilia from wall to wall, and even on the tables. Cool old sports cards embedded right in the tops to read while waiting for your delicious ‘que.
Hint: The pulled pork sandwich is slightly more expensive than the pulled pork plate. Get the plate, save a little coin, and it comes with texas toast anyway if you need bread. Great value and I was completely full at the end of the meal.
I’ll definitely come back if I’m in the area.
Service: 5
Food: 5
Value: 5
Ambience: 5
Note: the location is set back quite a ways from the road in a shopping center (on the right side). It’s not visible from the road, so you’ll need to explore a bit to find it. It’s definitely worth the effort!

Stumpy’s House of Bar-​B-​Que, offering some the best hickory-​smoked meats and fish in the area. Stumpy’s is also known for its appetizers. One of the best places in St Peters if you are looking for something local. It’s a nice place if you are looking for some good eats!
They also deliver and make it easy if you don’t have time to smoke your own.