Bandana’s Bar-B-Q

Barbecue was okay, ordered full slap came with two sides. A lot. a lot. of food for the price.
Hostess & Server were dull just like their decorations on the wall.

Bandanas is a classic example of good St. Louis style BBQ. They are excellent at smoking their meats the right amount and have a nice selection of sauces on the table that you add yourself. I prefer the spicy bbq sauce best because it adds a nice heat without over-​doing it (if you like really spicy food, the sauce will be quite mild to you).
The dinner platter is usually enough to split between my husband and me, leaving us both satisfied without over doing it.
For the sides, I really like their baked beans and the applesauce. The baked beans have little chunks of meat and are served in a sweet sauce. The applesauce is nice and chunky. The green beans are usually good though sometimes overlooked and soggy.

Our bosses order takeout from Bandana’s on occasion for lunch and it’s always a treat. The selection of sauces is great and I’m particularly a fan of the way they chop the meat into a cube shape instead of the typical slicing. It works for me.

Best BBQ around. The service is fast the restaurant is clean as a whistle. Very good. Try all the sauces
Ask for Kristin. She’s the best!!!

Yes, I’m sure there are better options for barbecue in the St. Louis area. But let’s face it. Sometimes you just really want barbecue and you want it right now. And bandannas is always close by and open.
Now, that being said I quite enjoy their food! You can never go wrong with a lunch platter of either chicken breast or the turkey! Depending on if I’m watching my figure at that moment my side dishes will vary. I either get applesauce and green beans or I get baked beans and coleslaw AND eat the garlic toast. I could probably eat just their garlic bread for a meal… Very thick slices of Texas toast. Yum. They have really nice sweet tea as well, but sometimes it’s too sweet so I ask for half sweet tea half regular tea. And they’re always willing to oblige.
The service there has also always been great! I do like that they have the calorie count on every item of their menu. So you really know how guilty your eating pleasure may be that day. They keep about five or six different kinds of sauces on the table as well. I love a good combination of a little sweet and spicy along with a little smoky.
So, when in need of a quick and close barbecue place and you don’t want to drive to Bogarts, Pappys, or Sugarfire. I feel this fits the bill.

How on EARTH can you call yourself a BBQ place and not have BRISKET??? What are barbecuing? Chicken? Ribs? No thanks. You can find that at Applebee’s. We walked in and right out. Bye Felicia.

The actual address is 11 750 Gravois Rd, NOT 11 150 as shown. Also the phone number is wrong, it appears to be someone’s home phone#. We finally found it though.

Everything was great! A carbon copy of Famous Dave’s back home. They have on the table the typical roll of paper towels on the pipe roll. And about 5 – 6 different types of sauces to pick from. The one thing that was different and next time I will save more room for the homemade, made fresh donut holes! To die for! YUMMMM!

OK… if you eat meat you gotta love Bandana’s. As you float through the doors captured by the smoke, you’re greeted by a friendly smile and taken to your table.
The menu is simple: Beef, pork, turkey and chicken… all smoked and ready for one of Bandana’s six BBQ sauces. Yum! (Ribs too.)
Pick a side or two of green beans, potato salad, cole slaw or pork & beans. Oh… did I mention the garlic bread.
Then they roll a cot next to your table for a quick nap… ahhh…sorry, I wish they would then roll a cot out so you could dream of another visit to Bandana’s on Gravois Road in SW St. Louis county. I have been to three other locations, but this is my favorite.
Tip: Inhale deeply as you walk in :)

Took the little one for a quick BBQ lunch. Great bang for the buck, kid’s platter has probably the largest I’ve seen from a kid’s menu anywhere. Ribs were good although the smokiness almost seemed artificial because it was so pronounced, but still good. Fried okra hit the spot and both myself and the little one gobbled all of them down. For a chain, great food.
I had the BBQ pork sandwich and liked that it was chunks of pork versus shredded pieces. Fries were just ok.

I’m gonna cheat here, because I went to the one in O’Fallon, but since this is a chain and that location isn’t in Unilocal and I’m too lazy to add it… well, you get the picture.
I love barbecue. I could eat it eight days a week. My eyes glaze over when I think about it. I drool like Homer Simpson at the thought of it. So when Mom wants it for Mother’s Day, but we are no where near Pappy’s, we whip out the iPhone and look for what’s close. And what’s in O’Fallon is Bandana’s. You know what worrisome? When the restaurant slogan is «Smell that Smoke» and you don’t. Not a thing from the parking lot. Inside it’s a bit of hickory, but that’s it.
My meal? Not that memorable. I got the pork and beef. The «pulled» pork wasn’t pulled, but chopped. The beef was tender but gristly in places. And who the fuck serves garlic bread with barbecue? That is a major no-​no in my book. It’s a slice or white bread or nothin’, folks. Next Mother’s Day, I bring Mom back into the city.

We’ve been to Bandanas multiple times — mainly because the kids seem to love the place and we’re fine with the «standardized» fare. However, at the Gravois location this evening — they seemed to be finely attuned to customer service. Manager was there to greet us on entry, and noticed him walking around chatting up the patrons.
After mentioning to the server, and then the manager, who the former brought in that the ribs seemed a little dry — they brought out a replacement plate of ribs. Oh, what a difference the piping hot, fall-​of-​the-​bone, meat was compared to the first plate.
Highly commend the management!

You would think that a place that looks like it would have great barbeque would be so mediocre. I don’t know, maybe it was the rain that made all the food taste a bit bland, dry, and just plain sucked. The service was a bit on the downside… probably because they were closing soon… or maybe they don’t like the rain either. So, the co-​worker and I get off the plane, go straight to food, then end up finding that it just isn’t as good as the person from the airport said it was. WHY DOES EVERYONE TAKES US TO BAD PLACES? The last place we found that was recommended was Alaska. Alaska just hasn’t let me down… yet. Stay away. Run away or else they’ll get you in their grips and… well, you don’t want to k now.

While I don’t detect any difference amongst the various locations, I should say that this review is specifically about the newer location at Manchester and Rock Hill (which is not apparently in the Unilocal database).
Buckle your seatbelts, because this is going to be harsh. Let’s establish some background first. I love BBQ. I grew up with it around every corner in Tennessee. I make it. I’ve been in large competitions. But… I’m not a BBQ ‘snob’. I’ve had edible BBQ come out of a home oven before that had never so much as seen a piece of wood, much less any smoke (god forbid). So I don’t require that there be a ¾ inch smoke ring and a dark bark to put it in my mouth and force myself to swallow (that’s what she said).
Smoke is not an issue at Bandana’s however. Plenty of that. But it’s frankly just not that good. The pulled pork in particular. I think my dog might turn up his nose at it. Let’s get something straight right off the bat, *pulled pork* should be *pulled*…not chopped, sliced, minced, or diced. Duh. And why the hell is their pork slightly slimy on the outside? How are they keeping this stuff heated? The sides aren’t very good either for that matter.
The food has so turned me off that when my sons entire baseball team decided to go there (to my chagrin), guess what I ordered? A baked potato.
«Oh, you mean our loaded baked potato with pork, cheese, and sauce on it? Very good choice sir. A popular item».
«Yes please. Oh, and could you hold the pork, the cheese, and the sauce?»
«But, sir, that would just be a plain baked potato»
«Exactly»
Only pluses I can even find within me to mention would be that their spicy sauce is pretty good, and they make great iced tea. So if you’re thirsty, and you have a craving for squirting sauce straight out of the bottle into your mouth then I suppose this would make a good place for you to go.

Bandanas has the unfortunate priviledge of now living in the shadow of Pappy’s, the new BBQ king of St. Louis. Bandanas BBQ is good, even great at times. It’s a local chain, so there are places scattered throughout the region, and they all serve pretty good, but standard, Q.
When I go I usually get the 2 meat platter with beef and pork. Maybe it’s my untrained palate or perhaps the fault of Bandana’s, but I can never really tell the distinction between the two. The sides are pretty standard stuff. Beans, slaw, fries, baked potato. The fried corn on the cob is pretty good, but costs extra. They serve huge slices of garlic bread with their meals as well, which are incredibly awesome.
For what it’s worth, I actually prefer their sauces to Pappy’s. True it’s nothing fancy, but they pretty much cover the gamut with their 3 styles (hot, sweet & smokey, and mustard-​based). For a sauce guy like me, it can make up for boring meat (even though it shouldn’t).
The service is usually good, and the prices are fair. In the St. Louis BBQ scene, Bandanas tends to get lost in the mix. They’re just kind of there, nothing too exciting. I don’t think about them too often, but maybe I should. I’ll never put up an argument if someone suggests Bandana’s, but when I’m in the mood for BBQ I can’t forsee a scenario in which I wouldn’t prefer Pappy’s.

I’m not usually a bbq fan (even after living in Texas), but when I’m in town I always have to visit Bandanda’s. Their bbq baked potato is the best. You get potato, meat, and cheese, with your choice of bbq sauce.

Honestly, when I was a little kid I hated this place. For some reason, I really disliked the texture of shredded meat. Who know why? But when a friend wanted to meet there for dinner, I said I’d give it another shot. And I guess my taste buds grew up a bit, because I was pleasantly surprised.
I had the BBQ Pork plate, and it was filling and delicious. They have several BBQ sauces to choose from, so I sampled them all. My vote is for the Sweet & Smoky, though their original is also good.
You get two sides with every meal, and their baked potato was good (and dripping with melted butter). Their garlic bread is also tasty.
So, I’m glad I got past my childhood and tried this place again. If you like BBQ, you’ll like this place.

I’m not a meat eater… so I can’t comment directly on the bbq… really just the reactions of my friends and family… but when we needed a table full of food and had to no time to cook for the party after my niece’s baptism, Bandana’s saved my family’s butt.
We called the night before and ordered a spread… I mean the works… everything but desert. They had the food ready to be picked up at the time we designated and the food was on the table before all the guests made it to house after church. Not too shabby Bandana’s. Also, somehow, everything was still piping hot. It didn’t hurt that it was 100 degrees outside I’m sure, but still, totally hot after the 15 haul out to my sister’s house. Again, I’m impressed Bandana’s. Finally, it really just wasn’t expensive… at all. We would probably have spent more if we had had to cook and go to Dierberg’s to buy all the stuff that we got from Bandana’s, not to mention all the hassle and mess that we saved ourselves.
Also, I think we have enough Bandana’s BBQ sauce to last us until my sister has another baby and has her baptized…

Good food. Great portions. Great sauce. Fast service. Great catering — oh, those ribs.

Bandana’s Bar-​B-​Q is some tasty bar-​b-​q. I remember the first time that I went there was with my family. Every now and then my parents get an extremely huge craving that will dive them nuts if they do not have a fix. Since I was in college at the time and whenever my parents would ask if I felt like going out to eat, I would take them up on it. After all, at the time I was living on Ramen Noodles and cafeteria food, so I took them up on their invitation for food.
My dad had heard about Bandana’s from people at his work so we went there. I was not sure as to what to expect because the first thing that comes to mind when I eat BBQ is the massive amounts of napkins that I’m going to use. Well, as soon as I had some of their Bar-​B-​Q that changed. Yes, I would need a good deal of napkins, but now, the first thing that comes to my mind is the taste. Oh the taste of their Bar-​B-​Q is quite delicious. The sauce does not over power the actual taste of the meat and the meat is tender enough to where it just comes right off the bone with out any kind of hard work involved. The meat is slow cooked so that allows enough time for their sauce to properly sink into and marinate the meat to allow the sweet flavor and natural taste of the meat to blend.
Bandana’s Bar-​B-​Q is some really good bar-​b-​q if you are ever looking to have that fix of long cooked tasty meat.