Billy Sims BBQ Review (Home of All You Can Eat Ribs)

Billy Sims BBQ is a chain barbecue joint that opened up in Andover back in October of 2014. They are still less than a year old (How’s that for some simple math?).

They are located at 513 S Andover Road right at the northwest corner of Andover Road and 54 (Kellogg). They are open seven days a week from 11 am – 9 pm.

Website and Menu: http://www.billysimsbbq.com/location/andover-ks/

There are over 40 locations for Billy Sims BBQ that was started by partly by former OU football standout and Heisman winner Billy Sims. Being an OU football fan and an owner of a signed Billy Sims OU jersey, it only made sense that I would go check out the newest bbq restaurant in the area.

Worth It? Keep on reading.

I invited a few friends with me to make the drive east and see if Billy Sims BBQ could stand up against the classics that Wichita has to offer. Admittedly though, we went into this with low expectations. I was told by some people it was “fast food bbq”. Another buddy warned me not to eat at BBQ chains. It’s been compared to as Chipotle style bbq in the fact that you move down an aisle and order your meats and then sides. I heard more bad to average things than good. So expectations were definitely down.

We went on a Tuesday and Tuesdays there is All You Can Eat Ribs. For $13.99, you can have all the ribs you want plus two sides from 5-9 pm. Two of us went with the All You Can Eat Ribs. Another friend ordered the Heisman sandwich (pork with a slice of bologna and hot link). Then a third friend ordered a rack of ribs and a three meat meal consisting of pork, brisket and a hot link.

The line moved a little slower than what I was expecting but it was pretty busy in there the night we went so that’s forgivable. At each table there’s three different sauces, a hot, mild and a bold & sweet sauce. The runaway favorite at the table was the hot which was not hot the least bit. A friend in our group who doesn’t handle hot well was able to take it rather easily.

And the food? My friend who ordered the Heisman felt it was just ok. There wasn’t anything special about his sandwich or the meat. The meat wasn’t tender or flavorful enough to be considered great. My buddy who ordered the rack of ribs and the three meat meal did not finish his meal. The hot link had cheese stuffed inside which turned him and others off who kind of picked away at the plate. The pulled pork was average and the brisket was very dry; dry to the point that drizzling it in sauce barely saved it. Three of the four of us had the ribs and we all shared the sentiment the ribs were ok to average. The meat of the ribs came off the bone fairly easily. Some ribs had a lot of meat on them but the taste was all best described as “ok”.

In all honesty, we all came to a conclusion Billy Sims BBQ was just average. From the sides to the meat, it wasn’t horrible and on the flipside it wasn’t great by any means. One buddy said that if you live in August or Andover and don’t like to drive far (and don’t cook), this may be your best option for BBQ. For a fast food style restaurant, Billy Sims is probably pretty good if you keep the expectations at that. If you’re looking for really good BBQ, this probably isn’t the place for you.

I’m still not entirely sure the $13.99 I paid for the All You Can Eat was truly worth it. If you can down a ton of ribs, then it could be a great value for you. Oddly enough I was charged $13.99 for the ribs while my buddy who ordered the same thing was charged $11.99. Hmmmmmmm………..

If I were to go again and it was a Tuesday, I’d just order something else to try something new.

Some positives I did take away were the staff did an exceptional job of making sure the place was clean. Every time someone left a table, an employee would clean it in a quick manner. Even though its a fast food style restaurant, employees were still walking around to make sure things were being taken care of. The bathrooms? Very clean. So they have all of that going for them.

This isn’t the best BBQ in town but granted, nobody was expecting that. There are certainly better BBQ places in Wichita but for the convenience of Billy Sims BBQ, it just may be the right option for you especially if you live way way way way way way out east.

Happy Dining,
Eddy

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