Strawberry's

Many locals in southeastern MO have raved about the BBQ at Strawberry's since I moved here and have been dying to try it! Last week, I happened to be at an event catered by Strawberry's--A food wish fulfilled :)!!!

The pork steak was excellent! The meat was juicy, well-flavored, and fell apart with every bite I took! The pork steak definitely lives up to its reputation and is quite possibly, the best I have ever had! I could not help myself and had to go back for seconds! Needless to say, I was in a food coma for the rest of the afternoon!

The ribs were good, nothing comparable to some of the well-known BBQ places in Memphis or Texas, but tasty. Rumor is they do not take reservations and you need to come early before the food runs out. One day, we will make the 2 hour trek to go to this restaurant and eat there in person!

Some of the best BBQ that I've ever had, all at a place in literally the middle of nowhere. They've had famous people and some Cardinals players sign the walls over the years, so you know the food must be good to get them to come out all this way.

I had the pork steak, which I had never heard of anyone doing but was told it was a great meal. And that it was. It was like slicing into a very large piece of pulled pork each time, as it was that tender. The spicy sauce was outstanding, and I got a taste of the ribs which were fantastic as well. The steak that I had was so large that I was able to take some of it home, and use it to make 2 full sandwiches the next day.

One star is reserved because of the service, which I have to say was pretty awful. The waitresses were not nice, the food took forever, and asking the staff for anything was a real chore. I guess it was busier than usual, but your staff can't get that flustered when there's a few extra people in the place.

If it were just on food, I would give Strawberry's 5 stars. I had the small rib plate that came with 2 sides. I went for the fried okra and scalloped potatoes, and it also came with a slice of toast. I loved all of it! The barbeque sauces were delicious and the ribs were so tender...and I've NEVER been a rib person! Based on food alone, I would come back, but I'm knocking it two stars for the inconsiderate and plain rude service we received.

I came to Strawberry's with 5 other family members to eat dinner on a Monday night. I hopped out of the car before everyone else so I could try to get our seating arrangement figured out. Since their backroom is closed on Monday, seating is limited to the bar area. Three small tables that would not have been large enough for our party of 6 were cluttered with dirty dishes. I asked two waitresses what the best thing for our larger party to do was and they replied rudely, "wait". Normally, I wouldn't have been so miffed by this, but I was with my 78-year-old aunt who uses a walker and needed to sit. Their complete unconcern with her needs bothered me immensely. When two of the tables finally were cleared, we asked if we could push two of them together so we could sit together and the other waitress snapped at us and said that we can't be in her way. When I asked what she would prefer us to do, she said, "Sit separately".

After the initial seating issues were settled, everything went smoothly until the end of the meal when I asked our waitress if she would mind taking our picture - I hadn't seen this part of my family since I was 8 years old and probably won't find myself in this part of the country for some time - and she said "No. I don't do technology." So, I had to ask another patron to take the picture, who as it turns out, just quit working at Strawberry's because......everyone was so rude!