Brad’s Bar-B-Que

Best BBQ in Alabama! I love this place! I’m very particular about BBQ sauce but I looooovvveeeee theirs! The loaded baked potato is to die for and so is the catfish! I go there every time I’m in AL!

First time eating here and I have to say it was delicious my family and I really enjoyed the meals will definitely come back.

Three of us tried the waitress recommended Bbq ribs. We had 5 different sides to share to include beans, greens, onion rings, slaw and salad. I would rate the ribs and sides as average. Nothing to get excited about. Insides were typical Bbq and waitress was very friendly and eager to help. Not a bad place to eat but don’t expect a life changing culinary experience.

Real solid food. As a Kansas City native I’m super picky on my BBQ, but love finding it all over the country. The sauce was too sweet for me, and I should have ordered it on the side, but the pulled pork was good enough it could have stood on it’s own without the sauce. I also really enjoyed the fried okra and the green beans were among the best I’ve ever had. And don’t miss the sweet tea.

The experience at Brads was what you expect from an average bbq restaurant. The food was decent and serving sizes were generous. Customer service was definitely not 5 star, but they were friendly.

My younger brother and I stopped in here today (on a Tuesday) for lunch at 11 am (a little early, but we are on EST) on our way back to Atlanta from a jobsite in Talladega, AL. We decided to create a little sampler platter for ourselves hitting on most of the major food groups and animals by which we judge a barbecue spot. The service was spot on and the waitstaff and runners were very nice and attentive, while being checked out by the Owner was a nice touch. The staff and service bumped me up a star, overall. On to the food…
We had:
1 lb. chopped pork: 4 stars; real nice smoke and texture; moist with good char. 10 bucks.
Half slab pork ribs: 2 stars; decent smoke and char but really chewy and tough off the bone; I’m guessing these were much better this past Sunday. 10 bucks.
6 filets fried catfish: 5 stars; hot, crispy, nice flaky texture and good salt level. Definitely THE reason to stop by/​go back. 9 bucks.
1 quart Mac & cheese: 1 star; Velveeta’s finest. Gummy orange yada yada yada…5 bucks
1 quart baked beans: 3 star; your basic cheap canned variety with some nice texture/​taste adders of fresh onion, green bell pepper, ground beef, and crumbly brown sugar stirred in. I.e. grandma was in a little rush.
I would expect these will be a little better in an hour or two of simmering. No smoke. 5 bucks
1 quart breaded fried okra: 4 star; find these tasty morsels in your local freezer section. 4 stars because this is how I like my fried okra. Think Golden Corral. Factory breaded okra nuggets. I have had better, but never at a restaurant. 5 bucks
Sauces provided: Tarter sauce in the Heinz ketchup squeeze packs and bowls of barbecue sauce similar in taste and texture to Kraft Bullseye Hickory Smoke.
Freebies: ¼ loaf/​stack of white bread. Classic. Nice.
We will be back on future trips as the experience overall was awesome and I need to give the chicken and other sides a spin. I know there are many folks out there that judge a barbecue joint by sauces and side dishes and this joint fails in both categories. I.e. my wife would never visit this place again. Home-​made sides and sauce would go a long way. However, I generally judge a barbecue joint strictly on the meats for smoke, texture and char and this gets my stars due to the pulled pork and catfish. Also, while I did not respect the factory-​made sauce, I appreciated only having 1 sauce and not jumbling up the table/​dishes with an array of sauces to try and make everyone happy. Standing strong for your meat gets much respect from me and your meats were too flavorful and smoky to need a gummy sweet sauce anyway.
Thanks for a great experience overall!

Great BBQ. Love the food, atmosphere, and cleanliness. The fried catfish is amazing too!

I found Brad’s on the way to Georgia and for a BBQ place, it is very clean and well taken care of. The first taste I had of Brad’s was the sweet tea. Wow! I don’t know what they do to it, but their sweet tea seems to be a notch above most places. I was dismayed to find out they did not do a combo plate so I went with the ribs. Ribs were cooked perfectly. They were easy on the jaw and had an excellent smoked grill flavor to them. The BBQ sauce went well with the ribs. The BBQ sauce was a ketchup — base and seems to have molasses in them. At first, I really liked it, but the more I ate of it… it tastes like a Kraft BBQ sauce. It was a good sauce but when I go to a BBQ place, I just expect BBQ sauce not to taste like something I can get from a store. Potato salad was homemade, nice blend of mayo and mustard, but had a strong sweet relish taste. Beans tasted more like they were warmed over a fire with pieces of meat in it. It was sort of bland so I added the BBQ sauce to it. If you are in the Oxford — Anniston area, you should give Brad’s a try.

Four ribs, mac&cheese, green beans, corn bread and ice tea for about $ 15. The portion size was huge! Not too often I can sit down to a meal without adding additional seasoning but in this case, I did. This was a recommendation from a few people in the Anniston/​Oxford area. I wish I had the name of the woman who took my order… all smiles, very helpful with the menu, and included everything I needed without asking. Since I like eating in local restaurants where the food is good, I’ll be back.

Nothing here was particularly bad, but none of it had much flavor. The collards tasted like a cheap beef stock, the mac and cheese barely tasted of cheese. The onion rings seem to be frozen rather than made on site, or at least had the tougher texture like they had been frozen. I understand that not everything can be fresh, but it should at least seem so. The chopped pork wasn’t bad and the sauce was ok as well, but considering the lovely smoke smell outside the restaurant I was surprised that I didn’t really get any of that smokey flavor from the meat.
The basic gist of this place seems to be that it’s just got no flavor and mediocre BBQ never better than no BBQ at all. There’s got to be better somewhere else in town.

My daughter and I stopped at Brad’s tonight. We were in town for the week and were looking for some authentic southern BBQ. Not only did the food at Brad’s knock our socks off, but the service was amazing. We enjoyed the pork platter, which was piled high with smoked pork and drizzled with a tangy sweet bbq sauce. We could smell it when we pulled into the parking lot, and it turned out to be as good as it smelled!
The sides at Brad’s are as good as it gets. We enjoyed the collard greens (best I ever had), hush puppies and mac and cheese. We found out that the owners mother makes the collards and the potato salad. That gave us a reason to come back tomorrow and sample the potato salad.
Needless to say, this is the type of restaurant where the service makes you feel at home and the owner takes personal pride in his business. We got to meet him on the way out, and it confirmed to me that Southern hospitality is alive and well in Alabama.
Next time you come through Oxford/Anniston…Brad’s is a must stop. Get a taste of «the South in your Mouth»!

In town visiting family, I always drive by this restaurant when I’m in town, so I decided to try it. I ordered take out and the workers were very friendly but after getting my food, I drove back to my hotel room to eat. The side order of bake beans and potato salad was ok, however the ribs were crunchy and crispy, not good at all, other than the sauce. I will do as I have done before while in town and that is drive by without stopping.

Great food and great folks! Great family BBQ from a great family. I got the opportunity to get to know this family a little bit during my visit and they are simply Fine folks. Don’t miss Brad’s when you’re in Oxford!

Kansas City native here, with much pride for my BBQ, I stopped at this place for lunch while in Alabama on business, get a taste of that southern love.
I had the pork plate with mac ‘n cheese, onion rings, and giant sugary sweet tea. Huge portions! Nice pile of shredded pork topped with that tangy vinegar based sauce, quality meat with a nice smoke flavor, some good crispy bits scattered through. Onion rings were battered and delicious, the mac and cheese was tasty, a little lacking on the cheese flavor.
Service was friendly, prices very reasonable for the portions! They got me cup of tea for the road, a very enjoyable meal all around. I still have too throw down KC BBQ is the best, but I will surely be back to Brad’s next time I’m in town.

Brad’s has a great tag line: «Put the taste of the south in your mouth.» I did, and it was great.
The BBQ looked great and the portions are enormous. However, as a vegetarian, I didn’t partake in the BBQ, scrumptious though it looked. Their mac and cheese was pretty good as was the slaw. The sweet tea is REALLY sweet, but maybe I’m just not used to it!