Parkers Barbecue Restaurant

I drove 6 hours to visit this place and was disappointed. Not the best restaurant to drive 6 sweaty hours in a car with no AC to as the food wasn’t too good. The food was all very dry like it had been dehydrated for 6 hours. I wish I had my 6 hours back and the 1 hour it took to get my order. I heard that it would be a great dinner for me and a good escape from the reality that my diagnosis has faced me with. Try the brunswick stew! I had 6 of them! I would recommend this place if you had a group of 60 people.

At Parkers BBQ one learns that even in NC, there’s interesting local variations on the regional, meal of pork BBQ. Expected Forrest Gump to sit down beside me to announce Life is Like a Box of Chocolates. Nearer the coast than mountains I found Brunswick Stew and Corn Pone on the menu as sides. Probably won’t try them again, but it was nice to try once. The BBQ, like all NC BBQ I tried, was very dry pork shoulder made edible with flavored vinegar. We’re not in Texas. I didn’t expect brisket or ribs or sausage, and wasn’t disappointed. Service VERY was friendly. Ambiance was absent, but once again, the hot, humid dining area (think KFC circa 1965) didn’t shock me: They DO ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS.

The people are very nice.
This seems to be a popular place here, but it is not my cup of tea.
I am not used to this much fat/​fried food.

DISGUSTING! if you like this food you have no tastebuds-​cuz they overcook, under season, and fry everything. So if your looking to develop some health disease from nasty food-​go here!
I brought a friend from out of town since it was too far to travel to New Bern to much that day (assuming that NC BBQ had a standard) BOY WAS I WRONG AND EMBARASSED! My poor friend muddle through her blandness nasty food! I can’t believe this place is busy and popular! I’m from eastern NC and love NC BBQ-​I also have travelled and know what good food is. This, is not! Moore’s BBQ in New Bern is super flavorful! And even Smithfields is way better!!!
Ambience? Looks like a funeral parlor/​hospital buffet. No care to how things look at all. And Cash ONLY!
The staff was nice-that’s why they are getting the 1 star!
Parkers you need to step up your game cuz I don’t know how long you’ll have customers with no taste (buds)!

BLOWN AWAY by the service!
The food is flat out good. I think the amount of attention I received from the staff made the dining experience/​food that much better.

I really enjoyed the order of fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried oysters, and the side orders too. You can’t forget the Brunswick stew! The fried chicken was crispy. For me, the pulled pork bbq was great with a tangy flavor, but I’m not used to eating the chopped up bits of cartilage. Overall, I’d stop by this place again when I’m in town.

Hard to travel to Greenville without a stop in at Parkers for a plate of Eastern NC BBQ! Make sure you bring cash or check because they do not accept credit or debit cards. There is an ATM by the front door if needed. hey have a great sauce or Texas Pete if you prefer to spice up your chopped ‘cue. Been cutting down on the carbs recently so I doubled down on the green beans for my sides today — not bad. Otherwise, I would have been all over the hush puppies, slaw, mac ‘n cheese, and brunswick stew. 2 convenient locations and great service!

Parkers is som of the best BBQ in town. Been a local fav for many years. 95% of the time it is fresh and on point. Seems like they struggle with fresh food at non peak times. I love supporting local businesses. I always get small fried white meat chicken dinner. They do in my opinion have the best fried chicken in town.

When I am in the Greenville area I always stop in for some take out. The major downside is its cash only and have a weird way of doing it as well. You order the food and then you are given a slip and then wait till your number is called. Once it’s called someone goes over your order then you pay. It would be a quicker process to order and pay at the same time and maybe with that staff savings they could take credit or debit cards?
On to the food. I enjoy the vinegar based BBQ and slaw. The BBQ is mainly fresh by that I mean cooked that day and usually done in bulk and sitting in a steam table ready to be served. The amount of people they serve its not dried out and certainly does not lose its flavor. The hush puppies are freshly made as I had to wait on mine and watched the guy use a machine to drop them in the grease. I have not ventured outside the BBQ sandwich so I can’t say for sure how everything else is. Although the sweet tea is always ice cold and good as well.
The only con is the fact they don’t take a debit card. I know for myself I normally don’t carry cash on me so there is times I won’t stop because of it.

Fantastic establishment. Only in town for a few hours, asked the locals where to go and here I am. Great BBQ, sides, and down right Southern hospitality. I told the waiter I had never been here before and asked what he recommended. When I was almost done eating he came out and gave me an apple turn over on the house because it was my first visit.

Yuck! The hush puppies are good, but the BBQ is blah, and the slaw is not my taste. I’ve been here a few times hoping that it will be good, but it isn’t. I won’t be back. By the way, they’re cash only. No credit cards.

Really good food at very inexpensive prices. There seemed to be a lack different sauces but what there was was a nice combination of sweet and spicy. Great customer service. Would definitely come back.

I’ve been in Greenville for sixteen years and always been a fan of Parkers. What I like the most now is that they have so many options. The food is all delicious and yet you can get both healthy and tasty meals there. The one thing that has never changed is the hospitality. You’ll feel welcome from the moment you open the door. This place is a southern original that you have to try.
If it’s authentic eastern NC barbecue you want, this is the right place to try it.

I read a few reviews before coming here… glad I’m only in town for the night… I understand the vinegar in the que, but box macaroni and cheese is ridiculous. .the stew was cold and no spoon… hush puppies and corn sticks, probably boxed as well… chicken was decent and the fish was bland… I should have listened to the hotel bartender… never again

Great southern hospitality service and lots and lots of southern cooking tasty food. Gizzards, liver, potatoes, okra, slaw, cornbread, hush puppies, fried and bbq chicken, Brunswick stew, thick Mac and cheese etc…. We usually get the family style all u can eat dinner with all the above mentioned and always stuffed like pigs afterwards. We’re regulars when we are out in Greenville, NC.

Fluorescent lighting and linoleum floor, I already knew that I should have just went to Outback upon entering. They give you a couple of options for dinner; PORK and CHICKEN. No ribs, brisket, etc which is typical of most BBQ places. So I was anticipating AMAZING pulled pork and bbq chicken, but to my dismay is was sub par. Chopped pork that had 0 flavor and a piece of deep fried run of the mill chicken. There was no BBQ sauce on the table either, I had to ask for a side of BBQ so that my pork tasted like BBQ pork. The sides tasted mushy and canned as well.
There was nothing at all memorable about this place and I had a negative food experience. I would not come back. The only saving grace for this meal was that it was 10 dollars total which was pretty cheap.

Excellent chicken. Pulled pork was a little dry. Mac & cheese ordinary. Fried okra great. Slaw great. Hush puppies great. Service ridiculous… server right there as I sat down, food out in (I wasn’t counting, but it was faster than fast food!) in maybe 3 minutes.

Country cookin’ and the perfect way to celebrate, if you’re from the South. After my graduation on Saturday, that’s where the family headed. The front door was opened for us. The six of us were shown to a table in one of the side rooms where we perused the little menu.
Menus are kept on the table curled up around the condiments. Dad pointed out the Family Style section, which we’d never noticed before. Mini pitchers of sweet and unsweet tea were brought out along with some Pepsi for my brother. Then we all agreed on the family style. $ 10.70 per adult. Astonishing, right?!? It’s a buffet that you don’t even have to get up for.
Before we knew it all kinds of goodness was brought out to our table on a handful of platters. Eastern NC chopped pork bbq! Fried chicken! BBQ chicken. Coleslaw. French fries. Green beans. Stewed potatoes. Mac’n Cheese. Brunswick Stew. Hushpuppies. Cornsticks. Each platter was all-​you-​can-​eat along with endless refills of that «perf,» as my family calls tea, or whatever beverages you have. We opted out of gizzards and livers though.
The only other thing you must remember: bring cash or check. Parker’s doesn’t take credit cards. This place is a legend though so I’ll always make sure I have cash on hand for whenever I’m in town and get a craving for the good stuff.
Service was fantastic, fast, and friendly. Jay was great and other servers checked on us «just in case.» Really great afternoon. They even let me put my flowers and gifts on an empty chair behind our table and said they’d try not to invade on my flowers. :) Thanks for helping my family and me reminisce to my Pirate days and contributing to my day Parker’s.

Awesome service-​awesome people. The food is excellent. The barbecue sauce is a great signature item and the sweet tea is delicious. Good prices. Its a small restaurant, but totally worth it and has amazing barbecue and fried chicken. I also recommend the greenbeans-​they are made in a good vineager and bacon sauce

Our first experience with eastern North Carolina barbecue was at Parker’s.
Had this been our only experience, we would have been more impressed with Parker’s than we were, however, once we tried B’s Barbecue, we didn’t see as much reason to come back.
Don’t get me wrong, the barbecue at Parker’s is good, but not as good as B’s. First of all, the pork is in chunks instead of shredded. One of the members of our team doesn’t eat park, so he had the chicken instead. Although it was called barbecued, it more closely resembled baked chicken with barbecue sauce poured over it. According to him, it was dry.
This would be a good runner up to B’s.
Don’t expect anything fancy. The dining room is basically just two large large rooms with tables and stacking chairs. The servers seemed like college kids. Service was adequate. They don’t accept credit cards.