Arnie's Place

Pleasantly surprised with our visit here. Arnie's isn't overly impressive to look at; it reminds me of an rebooted Dairy Queen, with a menu of BBQ, burgers, and ice cream. The food we tried was surprisingly good, and we saw a number of customers who seemed very happy. They have an indoor dining area, with clean bathrooms. But at this time of year, I particularly like the large number of outdoor tables available for use. It doesn't look like a classic BBQ place, but the Pulled Pork and Pulled Chicken sandwiches were quite good. The meats were moist and flavorful, with a mild smokiness. Lots of sauces and condiments available. Whoever prepared the sandwiches took care to grill the high quality rolls, and neatly stack the slaw, pickles and red onion, so that it was easy to eat. The slaw was noticeably crisp and fresh. Side dish of BBQ beans were, unlike many places, not over sweet nor straight from a can, but smoky and earthy. A year ago I was dining on BBQ in North Carolina, and Arnie's stuff was very competitive. Service was prompt, friendly and efficient. We saw a lot of families pulling in. I can see why: with lots of reasonably-priced choices, ice cream and even a kids' menu, there's something here for everyone. Good job, Arnie's!

Today was really disappointing. I decided to go to Arnie’s for my birthday as they have always been great in the past. I am not one to write reviews but today made me hesitant to return back here in the future. My partner and I ordered a BBQ platter for two, which had an option of choosing 3 meats, per the menu. Upon picking up the finished order from the window, it was clear the woman in charge of the trainees and kitchen was annoyed that we chose pulled chicken, pulled pork, and ribs and claimed that it normally comes with the spicy sausage instead of ribs and that it was likely the mistake of the trainee who took our order. Well, it wasn’t. It clearly said on the menu above the ordering counter that you could choose 3 meats, nothing said there were restrictions. But whatever, no biggie. That is until the ice cream, my personal favorite part. I was in the mood for a simple vanilla soft serve and rainbow sprinkles. We paid and tipped for our order. I received exactly what I ordered, however I guess they have cheaped out on sprinkles as they were hard as rocks. I have never had this happen here. It was disgusting and I threw it right in the trash. Now I’m waiting in line for good ice cream somewhere else, extremely disappointed that we just wasted money. This may seem like a small inconvenience, but some people rely on the stability of textures with certain flavors. Needless to say, if this is the new standard of sprinkles, I won’t return for ice cream. The BBQ was good though.