Hard Eight Bbq - Roanoke

What a gem! I've driven past this place several times and not really noticed it. Well, those days are gone. This will be a regular spot for us from now on. The food is great, the dining experience is fun, absolutely nothing to complain about. It's an interesting idea, and executed well.

On vacation and thought I needed some Texas BBQ before heading home. Cute place. I like how they 've set up getting your sides pre-packaged . Though it wasn 't clear when outside ordering the sides would be inside. Maybe I overlooked the menu. The food was great and they had fresh fried okra. There 's was an optional pot of beans with jalapeno sausage no extra charge after you pay. A bit pricey. Not sure how they billed me, but for only me it ended up being around $35. I did try all of the meats, potatoes, beans, and okra. The pulled pork, red skinned potato salad, and fried okra were my favorites.

Overall excellently cooked food with a different approach to food preparation and purchase. There is a wide variety of BBQ food options with an almost cafeteria approach to food preparation and payment. It creates an atmosphere of pure enjoyment of the food waiting on staff to provide needs. Steak is cooked by demand while all other main dish meats are prepped and then given as desired and charged by weight. Sides are delicious but were out of stock of Mac and cheese upon our arrival. The chicken on a stick with jalapeños and onions was also somewhat dry.

The food was really good. One star docked for two things: For a first time customer the ordering process is not intuitive so a bit intimidating and stressful; In the semi-outdoors eating area the flies were a nuisance and there didn't seem to be any bug zappers in place to keep them away from customers. Other than that the food was just what we wanted, the staff were helpful and the atmosphere was great.

It was my first time there and the guests in line behind me were nice enough to share a few recommendations. Every employee who assisted me was friendly and eager to assist. The food was great. I'll definitely be back.