Dixie’s BBQ

Poor service for large groups, the pulled pork was average but it’s the best fried chicken I’ve ever had.

Great new find!
I went with my friends and we did it right.
–sat at bar so we could ask the bartender questions
–my friends ordered a 2 person platter with brisket and ribs, I got the fried chicken and we shared it all
People will balk at the location, it is a sketchy area but once you pass through the door its like a little piece of Texas. Actually I’ve spent some time in Texas and this is better.
This is based on my lifetime of BBQ eating, including Texas and Florida (for reference, Memphis Blues would be no higher than C+ in any category):
Chicken– B+
Ribs — A
Brisket — B+
Sides — B+
Easily the best BBQ and Chicken in Vancouver and the interior is part of the fun,. these guys did it up perfectly for the space they have. I wish them all the luck, as the first Summer arrives, this place deserves to be hopping (but currently you can still get a seat).
Side note (pun intended): the spinach and cheese was amazing.
Must try a biscuit next time and pulled pork.

Incredible food, tasty drinks, developing neighbourhood and seasoned service. What more could you possibly want?
Try…everything, you wont regret it.

Bloody amazing food! I’ve eaten Texas bbq in Texas and this place is perfectly authentic and mouth-​wateringly delicious. The portions are big, fairly priced and the service is awesome. I’m a server myself and Dixie’s has some fantastic people. The décor is cool too, like I’m in an American postcard from the 50’s. Love this place! So excited for Gospel Brunch (live music and bbq… hello)

I’ll preface this by saying this is the best BBQ I’ve had in Vancouver…
Unfortunately, something needs to be adjusted in the kitchen with respects to output. I have never run a kitchen nor can I provide anything in the way of rectifying the issue, but there is nothing in this city worth waiting over an hour for. I don’t drink, making this even more frustrating as I watch my hungry guests pound beer after beer waiting for food.
The Bubba platter did not disappoint. Volume. Flavours. Textures. Everything was great and certainly has provided a «next level» to Vancouver BBQ.
Serving staff was friendly yet slightly overworked as the restaurant filled up. It was her first night and she did a phenomenal job keeping her cool and working within the constraints of the kitchen’s timeline. I would, however, suggest advising your customers around the 25^th minute that there are delays and check in regarding their meals every 15 minutes or so. We received an apology regarding the wait, but that was right before our food came out. At one point, we were wondering whether our order had actually been processed.
I will likely return for takeout and give a long runway. Unless I hear the food can come out within a reasonable timeframe or unless I can order 45 minutes before my reservation, I don’t think I’ll return to the dining room.

When I saw that Vancouver was getting it’s own Central Texas style BBQ place, I was incredibly excited. We have Memphis Blues, Peckinpah, Hog Shack, and others that are a mishmash of various styles, but nothing that is pure Central Texas BBQ (the best in my opinion). Central Texas BBQ is all about the simple ingredients, no fancy rubs, mops, or sauces, and lets the true flavor of the meat shine through.
Dixie’s unfortunately misses the mark in a big way.
The food is what I’ll focus most of my review on, but I’ll give a quick nod to the location itself. It is in the DTES, but is a very cool restaurant with some appropriate decorations that fit the theme. I ordered from the bar and the bartender was very friendly and chatted with me for a bit.
I ordered brisket, one of each of the hotlinks, pulled pork, beans with brisket, and potato salad. The brisket was what I was most looking forward to and from a BBQ perspective it was almost a complete failure. The meat was dry, a bit tough, and it looked like it had been smoked too long at too high of a temperature. The bark had a decent flavour to it, but it wasn’t fully formed. I’ve had better brisket at every other BBQ place in Vancouver, and that isn’t saying much because no place holds a candle to the joints in Central Texas. The hotlinks tasted like generic Johnsonville sausages, and had been grilled rather then smoked like traditional sausages in Central Texas BBQ. They were dry and had no fat to bind them, and were pretty flavourless, even the Jalapeño one. Not to mention, they were $ 6 each! The pulled pork was ok, I wasn’t expecting much and I didn’t get much. It tasted like it was made in a slow cooker rather then being smoked. The beans were awful, hard and undercooked, and no molasses in the sauce so it was incredibly runny — pretty much inedible. Really no excuses for this, and you will notice other reviewers on here and other sites have noticed the same thing. It also had the bad brisket, mentioned above, in little chunks, which didn’t add to it at all. The potato salad was good, but messing that up is next to impossible.
I didn’t try the ribs or chicken, so perhaps those are good, but for a Central Texas style BBQ place to be so bad at brisket and hotlinks means they shouldn’t really be calling themselves it. Their fried chicken could be the best in the world for all I care, but this is a Central Texas BBQ place — not a fried chicken shack.
I really hope this place improves, and most of the things are technical executions. But for the prices they are charging (equivalent to Franklin’s and other BBQ places in Austin), the quality NEEDS to match. Right now it is incredibly overpriced.
Before posting this review, I did message the page, but I got a fairly dismissive excuse as to the poor quality of the food.

I had a great meal here, definitely the best BBQ in town. Real BBQ without all the sauce.
It takes time to perfect, they’ve done it.

The owners of Gringos have done it again!!! A rad spot in an expected neighborhood~
This spot is MUCH larger than Gingos but still has that «come as you are» vibe. The bar is made up of vintage cabinets and perfectly fitting.
My heart was swooning over the brisket, corn bread and bourbon lemonade… and then I tried the pie. Are you ACTUALLY kidding me? I live too close to this place for them to be serving up such delightful pie. The Pecan is my fav but they are all outstanding.

Really good! I’ve never been to Texas, so can’t compare to that — but for a good bbq dinner at a restaurant, I was impressed. The platters are perfect for two (plus leftovers), got the one with pulled pork and fried chicken. Yum!

The brisket here is amazing. Hands down. So tender and juicy on the inside and crispy bent deliciousness on the outside.
Ribs are quite good too — not mind blowing but still excellent.
Interesting kinda ghetto-​chic décor.
Do yourself a favour, get the smoked pecan pie.

I was excited to see a new Texas Style BBQ spot opening in Vancouver but unfortunately left pretty disappointed. I first went for dine out which was pretty poor but I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt as they literally just opened. I travel a lot to Texas for business and have eaten in many spots including some of the best and this is not even close. Brisket was completely flavorless and had none of the delicious bark evident in any Texas BBQ. Beans were under seasoned and undercooked, ribs were fine but no sign of the smoke ring you would also expect and no smoke flavor at all. Coleslaw and potato salad were at least decent.
Hopefully they will take some of these reviews on board and change things up!
Had high hopes but sad to say the wait for top BBQ in Vancouver continues.

I’ll stick to the food the ambiance and service were just fine (although they need a second server). The brisket was like a smoked roast beef way to hot of a smoke temperature and super underseasoned. The beans and chili were inexcusably under cooked and underseasoned, no depth of flavour or richness add some MSG. The slaw and potatoe salad were great. All this place needs is to slow down taste the food, salt the food and let things cook…
Afterthought — they should make their own bread.

Vancouver doesn’t have many BBQ places that serve this style of BBQ. So, when I heard about Dixie’s I wanted to try it right away.
Dixie’s is located east of Main St on Hastings St. which might be intimidating to some folks if they are not used to the DTES (Downtown East Side), but in my experience it truly is quite safe and is transforming. However, this maybe something to consider depending on who you’re going with.
The place was not very busy when we went and as such it was a little cold inside, but the BBQ itself was very tasty. We enjoyed everything we ordered (Ribs, brisket, and fixings).
I think this place has great BBQ at a fair price, and is definitely worth checking out.

For the fried chicken & gravy worth the weight in gold, definitely will be making a trip back, despite the sketchy neighbourhood lol. Extra star for being brave here.
Think the server said the batter was made out of cornmeal but this isn’t your typical KFC lol. Not when it’s 3 pieces for $ 15 haha. Not super oily but almost like a soft crunch, popcorn-like…and super moist chicken.
Add the incredible country-​style creamy gravy… I could drink this like soup.
The beef brisket is good too, though I wouldn’t say it’s earth shattering but worth to try, since this is a Texas-​theme.
Very cool western/​cowboy style with the flinging doors, with a bit of a throwback to the 50/​60s theme wallpaper in the vintage washrooms.
Liked the wall seating booths/​communal tables with a flashy glaze to it. Seats actually dip down so quite comfy.
Great service too.
I’ve always like restaurants that provide matching apparel for staff.

Bad service and took forever for food. Wasn’t even busy but they kept saying it was packed. They were sold out of brisket, corn bread and
Beer and it was 6pm. Took over 1 hour for food. food was also a disappointment

Stopped in for some takeout and was pleasantly surprised to find a hidden piece of texas, I ordered a little bit of everything and my god was it excellent, every part of it. Plus it seems like they are well on their way to an excellent selection of whiskeys. I will be back and I will bring others.

So I have to admit I don’t eat meat, but I do enjoy a well stocked bar with a unique menu — Dixies doesn’t disappoint! Also, the space is adorable and the owner is equally adorable ;)
I love that the location is in the heart of the lower east side. It gives it just that much more character and intrigue.

I’ve been on a mission for the last year to find the best BBQ in the greater Vancouver area and Dixies is up there with the best. The brisket was the best I’ve had in a restaurant in Vancouver. The fried chicken was also amazing.
The server was very nice and she seemed to know what she was talking about.
I will definitely be coming back!

Probably a 3.5 I really appreciate that it’s different than the other bbq joints in town, and I also appreciate that they kept most of the modifications the previous tenants (the short lived second Brixton, Buick 6) made to the place. It’s a cute space — and busier than I ever saw Buick 6, so I hope they’ll last!
When we arrived, they were out of a few things, but the staff were great about making substitutions. We went for a platter that wound up including FANTASTIC fried chicken; decent sausage; and brisket that I’m hoping I caught on an off day (it was pretty dry). The chicken (boneless thighs — so juicy and served with rich sausage gravy) is honestly some of the best I’ve had.
Home made sweet tea, lemonade and peach punch are a nice touch (made even better by bourbon), and the sides were delish (serrano-​cheese spinach and tater tots for us). I also appreciated the slices of white bread and the pickles; felt like ‘MURICA. Will defo go back to try the mac & cheese and pulled pork.

I would like to preface this review by saying that I am a Texan, born and raised. I moved to Canada in 2002 and my wife and I have searched (in vain) for GOOD Texas style BBQ since then. This is the ONLY place I’ve been that serves good Q (IMHO of course). I am going to be biased, I don’t like Tennessee or KC BBQ. Texas BBQ is where it’s at. It’s all about the meat. It’s not about smothering the meat in sauce so that’s all you taste. I have been to a LOT of BBQ joints in Hill Country and I know what good BBQ tastes like. Been to Lockhart, Luling, etc. where BBQ was born, and Dixie’s is the kind of BBQ I would expect to get back home. This is the best BBQ I have had in Canada. Period.
As far as the self-​proclaimed foodies not liking it, unless you have been to Hill Country TX and have had the BBQ there, your comments are irrelevant. Texas BBQ is ALWAYS served on wax paper, with white bread and some pickles/​onions. It DOES NOT get drowned in sauce. It’s about the flavor of the meat. If you want $hitty reheated BBQ drowned in sauce, go to Memphis Blues. Dixie’s uses a VERY nice smoker and they know how to smoke it.
I’m not going to lie, before I went I was VERY skeptical of this place, but the brisket was really moist, the ribs were tender, the sausage was a bit different than I’m used to but still good. Peach cobbler was really good, now they just need to get some pecan pie on the menu and get the same chef to make it. One authenticity test they passed with flying colors was the mustard potato salad. A minor detail but still important. I was impressed. I am looking forward to seeing what this place is like when it fully opens up. As long as they stick true to Texas, we’re all in for a treat. What I saw was very promising.
A couple of suggestions that may help keep the Vancouver «foodies» coming in;
1) Make a house sauce. While I have been to a few BBQ joints back home that have NO sauce in the place, it’s pretty rare. Most places have a house BBQ sauce on the table for you to use if you want to. I’m not sure Vancouverites are ready for the hardcore no sauce style BBQ. Leave a bottle on the table as an option.
2) Offer unsweet tea. The sweet tea was pretty good, but I was really looking forward to some unsweet iced tea.
3) Lose the cowboy hats. Not trying to be an a$$, but they were a little over the top. Let the meat speak for itself. Don’t get gimmicky. Just keep making good Q.
I will definitely be coming in for more visits any time I have a craving for brisket.