Campbell’s BBQ

Underwhelmed. Ok, but by no means great. Cornbread was dry. Waitress’s were inattentive.

Time for this place to shit down. Good never same since original owners sold it years ago. Bye bye.

Ive been curious about this place. Tonight I decided to walk across the street and try some take out. We split a jumbo pulled pork and I added an extra side, plus 2 stubby Crushes for under 20 plus tip. The service was friendly and quick. The young lady smiled a lot and was polite. The food was great and we will definitely be back to dine in.

Food is good and service is friendly and accommodating. Reading through previous reviews, I have decided to clear up the confusion expressed by biased customers, who see the Asian owner and are immediately hesitant to try the food at Campbell’s. Campbell’s has been operating for over 20 years, and the «creepy» sign up front with the African American couple «having the holiest of moments over a plate of ribs» are the original owners. Put two and two together, the elderly couple on the sign, established 20 years ago are definitely not still running the place. People don’t live/​work forever! Obviously they had to retire at some point and a new owner had to take over. Ask the owner, his presence is irrelevant regarding the food. If anything, he really spruced up the place. The cook is still the same after all these years so reviewers who claim that the food quality has declined after the Campbells (original owners) sold the place, have compromised taste buds due to their judgmental attitudes. The sign up front should not be removed, even if people think it’s «misleading». It is important to honor the founders of this establishment. Would people be more comfortable if the Asian owner replaced the sign with a photo of himself and his wife appreciating a plate of ribs?
I’ve been going there for years, and Campbell’s has great authentic southern food. Very comfortable atmosphere, great original sauces, and I recommend the elk /​buffalo.

Go to Campbells bbq for true texas style bbq its the best. I really enjoy the turkey or the chicken they are great. I dont understand some of the bad reviews I go there at least once a moth and have never been diappointed.

Wanted to like this place but that beef brisket was bad, I don’t even know why I brought it home. I feel like they don’t make their BBQ sauce

They have reasonable prices, food is great! Waitress was very friendly. I would definitely come here again.

Tonight we had reservations at a different rib place up the road 20 blocks or so and left after receiving no service. We instead went to Campbell’s — only three of us (out of 9) had been there previously and everyone was very impressed with the service and the food. Two of us had ribs, one had sliced pork, one had brisket (and he proclaimed it the best he had had), one had sausage and four had chicken, with sides including mac and cheese, barbecue beans, red beans and rice, cole slaw and greens. Without exception, we all completely enjoyed our meals — moist, flavorful meat, excellent sides and two free pieces of pie for the only child and because they overheard us wishing someone a happy birthday. If you’re hankering for BBQ and are in the area, give it a shot — good service and good Southern cooking. Oh, and they cater too.

If you are a true Se Portlander you have most likely driven past Campbells took one look at the sign and went «uhhhh creepy» If your not well acquainted with this sign its composed of two people (with their eyes closed) who seem to be having the holiest of moments over a plate of ribs. I feel this is a mind altering advertising trick as its an image than once seen cannot be unseen, thus always keeping the thought of Campbell’s in the back of your mind. You know what they say right? Doesn’t matter what they say about you as they are talking about you ;)
One would get the notion that Campbell’s is a southern barbecue joint and im not going to lie there is quite a Smokey aroma that lingers around the restaurant. You walk in and as is our experience greeted by who I think is the owner I believe he is of Asian background. He is extremely nice and is always welcoming you with a smile. I can see, and have seen peoples confusion to as why the owner would be Asian but really who cares right? Don’t Judge! Its all about the food! Plus hes a nice guy. Nice beats stereotype every-​time.
We have eaten both in the restaurant and got take out multiple times. We do prefer the take out mostly because at this location your view consist of the colorful folks of this particular area of Se Portland (you know what im talking about).
For the pricing Campbell’s works for us and the parents. For the sheer amount of food that you get for the price. We ourselves probably wouldn’t go for it on a regular basis but if you have family members that think Dim Sum is just so damn werid and out of this world I can guarantee you they will love this place. So basically this is our go to place when we are thanking the folks.
I guess that’s what it falls back on here its a consistently positive agreeable place that we know we are going to get fed and fed happily.
We usually get the 4 – 5 person meal Its called the «Big Daddy» and it consist of Six meats (Chicken, Beef Brisket, Pork Spareribs, Sliced or pulled pork, Links, Beef ribs) and four 160z sides (Mac and cheese, Potato salad, coleslaw, candied yams greens, black eyed peas, Garden salad, Rice or Pinto Beans) plus Cornbread or rolls. That’s quite a spread and there is more than enough food for us to come back multiple times and load up a plate of food. We don’t have any complaints on the food and the Sauce that accompanies the meats pair very well that you do get the essence of the Smokey barbecue flavor. So there you have it give em a chance. The variety allows multiple people and different eating habits to be happy at the end of the meal. Just maybe take it to go ;)

Oh how the mighty have fallen! This used to be the place 20 years ago. Not any more. The meat is dry (except sausage) and tastes like it was in a house fire. I’ve eaten here multiple times in the past year, the last time was inedible.
Redeeming qualities — thickly sweetened sweet potato pie, excellent mac and cheese, good selection of unique soft drinks.
Echoing another reviewer, I think it’s very possible meat is cooked every couple days then re-​heated and served. It’s downright sad what this place has become and compared to what it used to be.

Great customer service. Felt like a regular the first time we went. Had the elk and buffalo brisker one with medium spicy sauce and one with sweet sauce. Both were delicious. My dog especially liked the buffalo bone they brought out for him. :). None of the wait staff looked like the couple on the sign which was slightly disarming. Looks like they do a lot of catering. I know i’m sold.

The food came out looking really good until I tasted it. The pork ribs had no flavor, the Mac & cheese was way too greasy and the red beans & rice also had no flavor like no salt was added at all. That was the first time I visited the restaurant & the last time. I ended up giving my left over to a homeless person.

I love buffalo and decided to try this place out. I like the charming atmosphere, but the food was substandard. While the meat was smoked, it lacked any flavor, all you can taste is the smoke not the meat. I believe what we ate was probably stuff cooked a day ago, then re-​smoked to heat it up.
The ribs were meaty and generous, the brisket was also a generous portion. The iced tea — I have NO idea what they served us, but it looked like a cross between chocolate milk and puddle water and was so bitter and awful that I couldn’t drink it at all. The red beans and rice were swimming in grease, the collard/​mustard greens were tasty.
I was honestly hoping for much more, but I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone nor do I plan on going back. Too bad too, because buffalo is one of the few meats I can eat.

Worst restaurant I’ve ever been too. The BBQ sauce was like tomato sauce. The baked beans were white. The meat was dry. Russel St BBQ or Famous Dave’s are the BBQ places to go.

This is the second time we have eaten here. We live in Tucson AZ and when visiting family in the area we always look forward to eating here. Ambiance is tastefully done and it looks nothing like a chain. The service is friendly as well. Even if those attributes were not present, Campbell’s scores big on it’s delicious food. The baked chicken melts off the bone onto your fork then in your mouth. There is nothing left but picked over bones. The pulled pork is similarly scrumptious. I can’t rate other entrees since I haven’t tried them yet, but from the smell and the empty plates, I’m sure you will leave here stuffed and happy. Another bonus is that it is very reasonably priced. More of a value than Famous Dave’s, and the food quality leaves it in the dirt.

My husband and I went here the other day, after deciding we wanted to try a new BBQ place, and knew that, at least once, this restaurant had a reputation for being pretty good…
Well, don’t even bother going; the moment you step into this place, you get the sense like it hasn’t been cleaned properly in some time. I’m totally fine with a ‘home kitchen’ kind of feel, but this wasn’t the kind of home kitchen I wanted to eat in, ever. Our server was nice enough, but not particularly friendly overall. The absolute worst part was when my husband and I ordered two diet Cokes and got, I’m not kidding, the WORST soda I have ever tasted, anywhere… as in, it was straight up mold infested soda. I am not a picky person at all, but one sip each and we sent the drinks back, in serious worry it was going to make us sick. We asked for sweet tea instead, and what we got was obviously bottled unsweetened.
The food was… okay, and that is about the nicest word for it I can think of. I actually liked the pulled pork quite a bit, and the BBQ sauce was pretty tasty, which is the only reason I’m giving this place two stars instead of one. Otherwise, completely meh; very dry turkey, barely passable brisket, bland cornbread, blander mac and cheese, and obviously canned sweet yams. I can’t speak for the rest of the menu, but I won’t be finding out. The food definitely did not taste very fresh. We took the left overs to go, which we gave to our dogs. We both agreed we would not be going back there again, at the risk of food poisoning, among other things.
Honestly, the health department should take a look at this place; a bit surprised it hasn’t been shut down yet. Avoid at all costs; go to Hog Wild, or even Famous Dave’s instead.

I’m surprised by some of these negative reviews, but maybe not everyone likes dry rub ribs, which are excellent. I like that they are not cooked to smoosh. Firm ribs are my preference, though clay’s makes the smoohy version, which also quite good.

The first clue should have been the menu. Items were scratched out and prices were crossed out and you can see they raised the prices.
To drink I had iced tea which was lite on the ice and my husband ordered a beer. The first one he ordered they didn’t have. They only have bottled beer. He ordered another and it was just barely cold
We ordered the dinner for two with turkey, short ribs and brisket, greens and baked beans and cornbread. Turkey was dry and had no flavor, brisket tasted okay but was tough, and the short ribs were lukewarm and had almost no meat on them. Greens were tasteless and «baked beans» were full of sweetness. Cornbread tasted old and was obviously microwaved. When the server came by to ask how things were were were honest and asked how fresh the food was. She did not know but went back to the kitchen to ask what was fresh today.
When she came back she said the sliced pork and beef ribs were the only meats fresh today. We said to bring those. The pork was chewy and the beef ribs were full of fat and so chewy we couldn’t eat them.
We eat out often and I have to say this is the worst food I have ever had. Tasteless, chewy and nothing was fresh. I felt sorry for the server. She was nice enough to comp the whole meal and let us go for free. We did tip her knowing it was not her fault.
Historically this restaurant had a good reputation but I have heard from many this evening that since the original owners sold it the food has sucked.
The only thing good was the barbeque sauce!
Definitely will not go back. Honestly I am surprised they have not been shut down. It reminds me of one of those shows on TV «Restaurant nightmares». I can only imagine what goes on in the kitchen.

Okay, listen up. I went to Austin once so I know me some BBQ.
I got some pork ribs and brisket here the other day and they were both very good. They had an awesome smokey flavor that actually scared away my mom. This meant more meat for me, HAHA! The sauce (medium) was perfectly spicy and sweet.
The red beans and rice, however, were awful. The rice looked like mashed potatoes. And the beans just looked like pinto beans. Not red beans.
The baked beans were good though.

My family has eaten at Campbell’s a number of times over the years, and we almost always have some kind of issue… something being burnt, something else is undercooked, food is slow, it doesn’t all come at once, something is forgotten.
But the spicy barbecue sauce is good, and our first visit there years ago was sweet, we had a good time and good food (smoked turkey was so yummy) and nice people talking to us who worked there… we keep hoping it will make a comeback… alas, has not been so the last couple times, so we haven’t been for a while now.
If we hear differently from others, we will trek on over there again.