Danny’s Place

Sub par ribs. If you like the sauce your going to love the ribs but they have no real flavor of their own and are packed with gristle and cartilage.
The brisket was by far he worst broker I’ve ever had in my life, almost tasted like roast beef! It was dry and flavorless, would never recommend this to anyone
Pulled pork sandwich was good, was the only thing that came out of their kitchen that I enjoyed besides the iced tea.
Went here because it was called the best BBQ in the state but I guess that doesn’t say much about New Mexico BBQ. Would not recommend coming here, save your money and eat at a gas station.

Great stop in Carlsbad. Very good prices. I had smoked turkey and brisket. Good brisket, great smoke ring. The turkey was great, nice and moist and smoky. My wife had St Louis ribs. Very tender. I took almost all my turkey home and 2 ribs. Big portions. Building doesnt look like much from outside, but very nice inside. Great staff, helpful.

As a southerner, I have some pretty high standards for BBQ. The turkey with barbecue did not disappoint. Some of the best I’ve had in a long time.
While our server was fantastic, we saw most of the others standing around, arguing trying to get out of taking tables, ignoring customers lining up at the door waiting to be seated.

Not Texas Bar B Q. Pleasant setting. Clean and neat. Pretty décor. Not much smoky flavor to meat and beans have no added spice or bacon flavor. Salad very small and served in a too small bowl. Servings size offers are plentiful. Bread is a slab of toasted dinner roll. O. k overall.

This place was excellent. There are not a lot of great choices in Carlsbad but this place was at the top. We had the brisket plate with macaroni salad and Cole slaw. The flavors were spot on and I will say that was probably the best brisket I have ever had. It is so moist, tender and flavorful. To top off the experience the customer was excellent and we had our food 5 minutes after ordering it. Will definitely be back when in town again

Wow this place is great ! I had some Brisket with fries and was not disappointed. bbq sauce was tasty, very friendly staff so would definitely recommend

Like so many others here, we found Danny’s after a long day at Carlsbad Caverns; we followed the solid Unilocal reviews and the fact that the parking lot was packed, even at 2PM. When we got inside, I was a little skeptical; the pictures of the specials on table weren’t the most enticing (including smothered fries covered in… something), and the environment really didn’t seem to be anything special. Just as I was starting to feel certain that we were on yet another New Mexico culinary misadventure, our burgers arrived… and one bite wiped the smug expression off my face. Seriously one of the best burgers I’ve ever had (and I don’t think it was just the ravenous appetite talking). I have no idea why this place isn’t on the green chile cheeseburger trail, but it should be.

After long hike at the Caverns this was an awesome stop for an early dinner! Chopped brisket sandwich and 3 meat dinner plate were big hits in our group. I had «The Flip» which this restaurant claims to have invented — it was good! Highly recommend!

Well worth the wait. The brisket was fantastic. Really family friendly place and perfect stop on the way to CO.

After a grueling day at the caverns we just needed a place to eat and I found Danny’s barbecue on Unilocal.We were not disappointed. My husband and I had the brisket plate, our grandson had the pulled pork. We were so happy to find that the brisket was fork tender and the grandson really enjoyed his pulled pork,! He especially liked the barbecue sauce that was on the table which was flavorful but not too spicy with a hint of sweet. The potato salad was creamy and fresh and I like the beans because they were not overly spicy just well cooked and flavorful,
All server up with onion, sweet peppers and the best grilled rolls (?) EVER!!!
Service was good.
If you go to Carlsbad and you live good BBQ. Don’t miss it!!!

Danny’s Place is a Carlsbad staple and one of the three very good BBQ places we have. The Gaulden family has been making BBQ in Carlsbad (and competitively) for over 30 years, even when the restaurant was a franchised Dairy Queen. When DQ told them they had to drop the non-​DQ menu items, they dropped their franchise and haven’t looked back.
Danny’s BBQ has tons of smoky flavor, being smoked in a pit on site. The ribs peel right off the bone (as they should-​they shouldn’t «fall off the bone”-if they do they’re overdone) and the pulled pork is, as they say, «to die for». The brisket is their flagship and is always perfectly done with a great pink smoke ring just under the surface. I can’t speak for the quality of their burgers or «flips» (their own invention many years ago that puts either beans or a burger patty with cheese and green chile in a butter-​grilled large flour tortilla that has been folded in half) because I can’t bring myself to order anything but BBQ. They have two sauces, sweet and vinegar, and both are very good, my preference being the sweet sauce. The pinto beans that come with every dinner platter are typical for the area (nothing special) but the potato salad and cole slaw are excellent as is the fried okra, also a staple with BBQ dinners here.
There’s no beer served here, only tea and soft drinks, and the service can sometimes be lacking… but that’s a characteristic of Carlsbad in general. My only real complaint is the rude lady at the checkout. She’s been there forever, but never gets any easier to swallow. It’s for these reasons that Danny’s doesn’t get 5 stars from me.
If you’re in the Carlsbad area, I highly recommend any of our BBQ restaurants and you certainly can’t go wrong with Danny’s Place.

A great old-​fashioned BBQ restaurant. Good ribs, excellent pulled pork, sides were delicious, and that slab of toasted bread… The service was great and the boss lady kept everything running smoothly. We were there for Sunday lunch and the after church crowd had the place hopping. I would love to eat here again.

I always eat here at least once when I go to work in Carlsbad. I’ve had their brisket, sausage, and chicken tenders. All have been extremely tasty.
Service is always very welcoming and prompt. Haven’t been disappointed yet after coming here the past 3 years.

I had the 5in Bbq brisket sandwich it was really big. lol I should of just got the 4 in everything was good! A little pricer than I thought but good! Ribs wear really good! Loved the fries. I would reconsider this place!!!

Three stars based on the food but two stars for service. Not our first choice for dinner in Carlsbad but on a Sunday you are limited to what is actually open. This place had lots of cars parked in front so we took the chance.
Things started off poorly with the hostess (owner?) pointing to a specific table across the dining room as ours and to go sit there. If you want us in a specific table, take 30 seconds to walk us over to it. Geesh. She did that all night long too and if folks wanted to sit somewhere else it was a semi big deal to get her approval.
Our server was decent but frequently disappeared for long periods of time and dropped off our receipt without asking if we wanted dessert. We did in fact but opted to go elsewhere to find it. BTW also not easy to do on a Sunday night in Carlsbad.
Our food was good though. My wife and I each got the two meat mix plate and chose four different meats to share. The smoked turkey was awesome and best without any sauce. The pork was excellent especially with the sweet sauce. The brisket was a strong third with the smokey sauce. The ribs were a distant last place and the weakest of the bunch. The meat came off the bone easy enough but didn’t quite taste right to us.
Oh big BTW, no beer here. Another anomaly but not just limited to Carlsbad this time. We found many restaurants that didn’t serve beer throughout Eastern New Mexico on our trip.

Stopped by here for dinner during my roadtrip to Carlsbad Caverns. I had the Brisket Dinner ($ 14) with Texas toast, pinto beans & potato salad. The brisket was perfectly cooked & flavorful… better than any brisket I’ve had in Albuquerque. I usually skip the bread but that Texas toast was buttery wonderment! The potato salad was solid, but the pinto beans lacked flavor… which was easily fixed with their spicy bbq sauce option on the table. Service was very friendly. Highly recommend.

Oh. My. God. Best bbq in town, don’t bother with anything else. Huge portions, the ribs are the best. Huge sweet teas as well!

Nicely done brisket and smoked turkey. Heard the okra was pretty good as was the sausage. BBQ sauce had just a slight ping which I like. Really enjoyed the cole slaw because it wasn’t too wet or creamy and sweet.
Pinto beans could be a bit smokier though was only drawback but still had decent flavor. Would recommend for a nice spot after the caverns. But note there’s no alcohol… but I might have missed that in reading other reviews-​was in a hurry.

I’m from California, which isn’t really known for good barbecue, so I didn’t really know what to expect when I tried out Danny’s Place. Because of this, I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy the food here! I’m even tempted to say this is some of the best barbecue I’ve had, but that wouldn’t mean much because I haven’t had that much to begin with.
I ordered the small plate of brisket with a side of coleslaw, which came with bread. Even though this was a small order, I could barely finish half of my order. The small came with 4 slices of brisket, and even though I loved it I couldn’t finish more than two pieces! It had a delicious smokey flavor, and combined with the house barbecue sauce it was great. What really blew me away, though, was the coleslaw. It was so creamy, and the lettuce was crisp and fresh. The bread, which was fried in butter making it crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, was also a nice addition. Loved Danny’s, and as my first barbecue joint it definitely set a high bar.

After visiting the Carlsbad Caverns, we came here with some family on a Saturday around 2pm. They were busy, but our group of 7 waited less than 20 minutes. This is a very casual, laid back establishment with friendly staff and satisfactory service.
They have great options for kids and have no problems making substitutions on your meal. I ordered the choice of 2 meats dinner plate with brisket and pork spare ribs with fried okra and coleslaw as sides (around $ 14). While the meat was delicious, I’m not the biggest fan of sweet BBQ. However, I had a taste of the sausage which balanced out the sweetness of all the other BBQ. The variety of BBQ is great. The sides were good, but I tried some of the potato salad and it’s definitelty just as good… maybe even a little better than the coleslaw in my book.
This is a very family friendly restaurant that does not disappoint. Stop by if you’re in the Carlsbad area!