Panhandle Barbecue

Best BBQ in the NorthWest! Carl and Tiffany, the owners, are the most hospitable business owners on the block!
The service was amazing, and the food trumped the hospitality.
Having lived south of the mason dixon line before, I can vouch for good BBQ, and these guys got it on the money.
The bacon mac and cheese is to die for, but I think it contends with the Banana custard pudding.
A+ all around!
Cheers,

Tucked away next to Gene Juarez and Doxa Church, this little goldmine is now a staple for me. I hail from the south, and my options for BBQ up here are limited (see: Carolina Smoke and that’s it). Now I’ve found Panhandle, and it’s a taste of home. The folks running it told me «you’re gonna think of back home» as they handed me a large container of Frito Pie. Yes, I did. It was delicious. The week prior I had the taco trifecta, and it too was delicious. The smoke coming off of this little establishment always gets my mouth watering, and the best part is that you’ll smell like that smoke for hours if you take the time to place an order. You’ll want to do that, by the way.

Carl and Tiphany Bennett are the owners and brothers and sisters, they know what they are doing. Great location, cool little log cabin truck with TX logos proudly displayed all over.
I was walking by on my way to the food truck lot and was just curious, I ordered a single brisket taco for $ 2 and ate it on my way down to the other trucks to see what else was available. The taco was street-​style (tow corn tortillas with chopped brisket and some slaw. I wolfed that down and, even though another BBQ truck was there, I swung around for my lunch.
I ordered the brisket sandwich combo for $ 10 chose the mac & cheese and potato salad. I also ran with tow different sauces and it was a home run. Thanks for the rib sample that they placed in my to-​go box, guys!

Best Banana Pudding in the universe ;) Delicious foods, Awesome Owners — what more is there to say. Amazing!

The food here is amazing. I come here at least once a week. The only reason I give 4 stars is because their hours confuse me. The truck is static, so I would think they’re open for lunch every day, but some days, they’re just not there, and it seems to be different every week. Hook me up with a schedule, son, damn.
Also, a word to the wise: they put zero BBQ sauce on anything. They give you that responsibility. My first time there, I waltzed off without saucing up, and when I got back to the office, I was so sad. Make sure to remember the sauce.

The size, flavor and quality of the sandwich and the sides was not worth what I paid for it. (Around $ 14). I got the combo with one sandwich with two sides. The meat is mediocre but not great and the sides of Mac and cheese w/​bacon were too soupy. Felt like Kraft Mac and cheese when you accidentally put too much water in it. In terms of quality I would put it at the same level as Fred Meyers or some average grocery store although Fred Meyers has better Mac and cheese. The service was fine although the lady seemed impatient even though there was no one behind me or waiting for their order. With the other food trucks around the corner I would’ve expected better food at the price point they were selling at.

The pulled pork sandwich was really good. The baked beans were also amazing but I wouldn’t recommend the bacon Mac & cheese. I also love the variety of BBQ sauces.

The service was good and people are nice but the BBQ was super dry. When I order brisket I don’t expect it to be on a bun all ground up. That is more of a pulled pork thing. I usually have it not on a bun so that was odd for me. Had to drown it in sauce and i am not normally someone who drowns his que but I needed something to help the dryness. It came to the point at the end where i felt like Tom Hanks in the movie Big when he eats the caviar and lets it roll out of his mouth. I was super bummed I paid $ 10. They had a number of different kinds of sauce to choose from. The potato salad was watered down a bit and the beans were not Crazy Beans as advertised they were super bland beans.
The part that turned me off the most was the bottle of water. I carried it out and it spilt all over me. I grabbed the unopened bottle thinking what the heck. I had water all over my jacket. I squeezed the bottle and water jetted out the top of it. Unsanitary.
Super lame bbq place in my opinion.

I got the Sucker Punch special (pulled pork on a hoagie roll with two sides) with BBQ beans and potato salad, and everything was pretty good. I lived in Texas for seven years and this was just average by those standards, and definitely not worth $ 10 + tax, but that’s the PNW for ya.
So why two stars? While Panhandle BBQ’s food may itself be good, it fails in other aspects that are also very (if not more) important when running a business:
* I looked at the menu on the website before heading over, and I immediately decided to get the Texas 2 Step Steak Sandwich. When I arrived, this item was nowhere to be found and I was very disappointed. How hard is it to keep a damn menu in sync?
* The cashier was awful. No hi, no thank you, no «please sign here,» no telling how long it would take for the food to be ready. All she did was ask «what sides,» swipe my credit card, flip the screen over for me to sign without saying a word, and walk off.
* The box was given to me in a bag, which I assumed would also contain a napkin and utensils – especially since there was a concert going on and pretty much everybody buying food was eating it right there. When I sat down to enjoy the Live at Lunch concert, I realized there was nothing in the bag but the food. I had to walk all the way back to the truck to ask for a napkin and a fork and, by the time I got back to the concert, all tables were taken. Pissed off, I took the food back to the office and missed the live music.
When I’m shelling out $ 10 – 12 for premade food from a truck, there’s just no excuse for these things.

OMGosh, I can’t remember a time when a bbq tasted so delicious. I had the pulled pork, beans & potato salad with a side of beacon mac & cheese. I will make the trek from Seattle to Bellevue just to eat this delicious BBQ. I’m SO happy I found them.

They catered a corporate lunch for us, and they were so wonderful to work with. They served a great variety with homemade sauces that everyone raved about. Great portions, and the ingredients are fresh and high quality. They forgot to bring one side, so the next week they brought a huge sampler platter over. Customer service beyond words.

Delicious BBQ and wonderful customer service. I needed a Last minute dinner for a group of 6 people and googled BBQ and this came up. The owner was so nice and helpful and gave me a good deal on catering for 6. Met up with me off hours to drop food off. Told my folks about it later and they tried it for lunch and loved it. They also validate parking!

I work near here and I eat here at least once a week, sometimes more. The food is really great, though there’s a lot on the menu that I still haven’t tried. It’s hard to find good BBQ in the Bellevue/​Kirkland area, and this place is even better than some of the stuff I had back home in Georgia. They sometimes rotate in new items, and after a few weeks of me asking, they started serving chili for the winter!
The owners are very friendly and it’s always nice chatting with them while our food is being made.
The prices are slightly above average, but the portions are generous.
I definitely recommend stopping by here. The truck is located in the back-​right of the old Mars Hill parking lot (if you’re facing the building from the road).

I work near here and stop by probably once a week. The barbeque is delicious and the owners are very friendly and outgoing. They are Cowboys fans so they’ll poke fun at you if you’re wearing any Seahawks gear, but it’s very endearing.
Prices are just north of the middle of what you’d expect for the food, but it’s good and the portions are pretty large.
They also have a very simple program where you type in your phone number and it tracks how many times you’ve been there — 5 times and you get a free meal, which is awesome. This program also periodically gives you small discounts and deals on combos and what not.
Overall a great place to get a quick lunch.

Got a really cool little delivery from PeachD to our office — a really reasonably priced lunch of two pulled pork sliders, a serving of coleslaw and a bit of peach cobbler were dropped off around lunch time.
The pork sliders were great — I like that they packed the sauce separately so it wasn’t a giant mess inside or made the buns soggy. Very smoky and full of taste.
The coleslaw was the big loser — I tossed it out after two bites. There was pretty much no flavor except spice. I didn’t taste any use of mayo or buttermilk, just spice… spicier than the barbecue sauce on the sliders, actually. Boo.
The peach cobbler was super sweet, but super good. It was a decent sized serving for a dessert, which was nice to see.
All in all, I might try it again, but I’d stay right the heck away from that coleslaw.

I went here with my husband today in an attempt to move beyond Specialties, Potbelly, and Chipotle for lunch options. I was impressed with the food and the value and will definitely be coming back when I’m looking to mix it up for lunch! We had no wait just after noon on a Friday. There’s no seating area, but you could either bring the food back to your office or enjoy the chairs outside near the Taphouse on a sunny day.
We both had the pulled chicken sandwich combo. For $ 8.50 you get the sandwich with a ton of meat plus two sides. The non combo is $ 8, but adding the sides for $ 0.50 is really worth it! The sandwich came with lots of chicken, but you get to add your own sauce. There were 4 different BBQ sauces (a jerk, a raspberry, a sweet, and something else that I am now forgetting). I tasted three of them and they were all good, so it seems like you can’t really go wrong. We both agreed the potato salad was the best side. The cole slaw was spicy but didn’t have a lot of flavor besides spice. The baked beans were okay but not great according to my husband.
All in all, felt like a good deal and nice contrast to other choices in the area.

It’s a little hidden in a cart next to Chantanee by the Bellevue transit center. Portions were a plenty there. I ordered a shredded pork sandwich combo. Comes in a Costco looking hotdog bun with tons of meat. Like end to end… along with 2 scoops of (i chose) potato salad. The meat was moist and there were 4 or 5 sauces to top it with. It wasn’t as smokey as I thought it was going to be but it was still delicious. That plus a can of coke came to $ 11.00. Needless to say all post lunch production ceased after that. Overall good place to get your BBQ fix if you’re in the area.

I cannot compliment Panhandle enough. As another reviewer noted, the northwest is a wasteland for good BBQ, and I’ve been hunting for a good Texas style BBQ joint for what feels like forever. Panhandle did not disappoint! To begin with, the owners and staff were just downright friendly!
I ordered the brisket sandwich. I recommend getting it «dry» — that is, sauce on the side. The brisket is juicy, flavorful, and smoked to perfection. I snagged a cup of the Texas Spit BBQ sauce as well, which was also delicious and added just a little bit of spicy zesty goodness to the basically perfect brisket. They have several other sauce choices, but I’m a dedicates fan of Texas style BBQ so I have to admit I didn’t try the others… Maybe next time! I had mac n bacon for my side, and it was tasty as well.
The total price for a very good sized meal was $ 9.95. Considering the quantity of food and the fact that I’ve had some seriously mediocre (or just downright bad) BBQ for more money than I spent at Panhandle, I give this place a great rating for price paid for benefit conferred. Well done, y’all! Please, never leave Bellevue!

Penury, yet still for the affluent
Ambience: —
Food: 4
Drinks: —
Value: 3
While panhandlers are a common sight in Bellevue, a food truck is anything but. Panhandle BBQ is a permanent food truck in the parking lot on the pathway from Rock Bottom to the Bellevue transit center. Despite its seemingly humble disposition, like everything else in Bellevue, it’s not for the timid of wallet. A styrofoam plate of a sandwich and a side runs you $ 9.50, ribs run you $ 10. The food itself is decent: fairly juicy and flavorful. The sides are pretty great; the beans are really tasty. The portions are pretty small, and relative to other deals around, like the happy hour burger at John Howie, it’s hard for me to hype this place. Though if you’re around for lunch and desire a change of pace; give panhandle a try.

I’d been curious about this place strictly by the name! I’m all about good bbq but I admit that I don’t need the heat all the time.
I ordered The Phil and I remember that it included brisket and hotlink but I hadn’t realized it included beans. My hubby would have loved it. The brisket was good and I wish I had more hot link!
The service was good, fast, and friendly. The banana pudding was the best part of the meal.
I gave 3 stars because I had wished it were warmer and I was expecting a lot more yumminess from the bacon mac-​n-​cheese.
I’ll be coming back, though… gotta try those baby back ribs.