521 BBQ & Grill

I ordered online through their website since I didn't want to call or go order in person. I got the 9 smoked wings with 3 sides and a gallon of lemonade. The wings were amazing, we got the hot honey and mild sauces and they were perfect. The wings were big and juicy and Smokey with plenty of sauce and still a little crispy but the time I got home. The Mac n cheese was really good and cheesy creamy style, the sweet potato fries were good and crispy but did lack some salt but dipping them in the wing sauce in the tray was great. The raw fries were a bust tho, bland chips at all. Don't order unless you can ask them to season them. Definitely will be ordering again and not sure why they were so dead on a Saturday night but everywhere's been empty lately.

So to start, I decided to come for lunch and get enough to have leftovers for dinner. I got there a few minutes before noon so that I can get the food before I had to pick up my son from school. As soon as I walked in I was greeted but was immediately told that they didn't have grease so I couldn't order anything that had to be fried. Ok I get it, sometimes orders do t come in but this place is closed Monday so you would think coming in Tuesday, they would have everything they needed. I place my order and got 2 rib plates with potato salad and Mac n cheese and a bbq basket. After placing my order and paying, I was then told they didn't have ribs at the moment and that it would be an hour. So I figured I would take the bbq basket home and make some pulled pork sandwiches. The pulled pork was ok, but it did have lots of hard over cooked bits. I went back an hour later for my ribs before picking up my son and was told it would be another 15 minutes or so. So I went to wait in line to pick up my son and went back to the restaurant a few minutes after 2pm. Got home with the food and was ready to have an early meal, when I opened up the trays there was no potato salad in either tray. At this point I'm completely over this place, I just want to sit and eat. The Mac and cheese has good flavor but is a bit mushy as if it had been sitting for a while, the ribs, for have been waiting over an hour for were ok. Not super tender and very low on sauce, which they also did not give me. Luckily I had some leftover from the bbq basket I had asked for. Maybe I caught them on a bad day but either way it was very disappointing. The girl taking my order was very nice and apologetic for all the inconvenience, but having to go back 2 additional times is not ok and then to not even have all of my order makes it worse.

The barbecue was excellent! Great smoked flavor and you could tell it was freshly smoked the night before. The appearance on the outside would lead you to believe this is your run of the mill street side restaurant, but definitely give them a try and you won't be disappointed. The mustard sauce was excellent! Not too strong and just enough sweetness. Service was excellent, waitress was very nice and friendly. Portions were surprisingly large. Ordered a barbecue basket and a side and left stuffed. There was at least a pound of meat in the basket it seemed.

Food was delicious, the staff were kind and friendly, and the service was fabulous! Absolutely recommend the BBQ.

Stopped on a whim on our way through town headed back to Charlotte. Nice place. Everyone was practicing good Covid precautions except one of the server wearing her cheetah mask on her chin. (That doesn't really work...)Food was excellent and Randi took great care of us. I am a fan of smoked ribs and these did not disappoint. My wife and I split a combo plate. (Lunch, we needed a smaller portion). Hush puppies before the meal were great and the honey butter was delicious. If this place was closer to home we would have loved to try the burger, bologna sandwich etc. great menu. I always love a place with a simple one page menu. They do a spectacular job with their product. Highly recommend.

Had a to go order.Service was good, food was bad. Nephew got dry ribs, sister got a dry BBQ sandwich with a missing side. I got the combo plate with chicken and sausage. They need to say what kind of chicken you are getting on the menu. For the cost, I thought it would be a real piece of chicken like a leg and thigh quarter. It was a thin dry flavorless boneless chicken breast. Yuck. Sausage was good but it was a cut piece about maybe 3" long and sliced in half. Green beens were good. They should not have even have served me the baked beans. Have you ever accidentally left some baked beans in the pot set on low for too long? How all the moisture dries up and the beans are just this dried up lump of goop? That's what they sold me. I did like their sauce. If only they had decent food to eat it with it.

Went on a Thursday at 12:30 pm. There were perhaps 6 other diners. It took the waitress 15 min to get our drinks and order in. We were in a hurry so we ordered 2 cheeseburgers and a chili dog with fries. 20 minutes later there was no sign of the food nor update from the waitress so we left. The food is fairly pricey for BBQ---a standard tray with meet and 2 sides is $12.25; soft drinks over $2.00. Lancaster doesn't have many options when it comes to flavorful food, but 521 isn't so irresistible in that department that slow or bad service can be overcome by it. 2 stars simply because the food isn't bad if you can wait for it.

The original 521 BBQ was located up hwy 521 in Indian Land. A few years ago they moved across the street into the Harris Teeter shopping center. The original owner sold to a new owner.And things started to change.The food just was not as good. Ribs, especially, were neither well-cooked nor tender. Wait staff were the regulars from the original, but the quality of the food and quantities seemed to be not so good as we were used to; so we did not eat here but infrequently.We later were told that the original owner was opening another 521 in downtown Lancaster. People were saying it was better, so we tried it out.They were right.It is on Main Street and is fairly cozy with about 10 tables and an open kitchen area. An outdoor seating area is also available. The food is wonderful. It was what made the Indian Land 521 BBQ so darn popular and well known. Portions are great, table service personal and the owner roams around talking with customers. Very much home-town southern hospitality at its best.Owner did mention that every Thursday morning at 8am he hosts a veteran's breakfast. Usually simple pastries and occasionally biscuits and gravy, but the quarantine came about before I could try it out. I certainly will once we are allowed out.Once you can, get down to Lancaster to re-experience great BBQ 521 style. My wife and I are real fans.

Ordered a chicken sandwich and two burgers. Sandwich was cold when delivered. This is basic kitchen organization at its poorest. To make matters worst, there was only one other customer in the restaurant at the time. Lancaster deserves better.

2xs in 1 week-Not a good experiences-1st time we had to move our seats as one employee sprayed air freshener near the bar and my husband has asthma so not good-our table was close enough to get fumes but we moved and server was very apologetic and nice. My ribs were not hot at all. A bit warm but we decided to give it another chance. 2nd chance (4days later) we took our kids, grandkids, mother and sister in-law to eat. The server said no potato salad, they were out of brisket, my daughter in law ordered Caesar Salad and they asked: what kind of dressing with that? They had no caesar dressing for their caesar salad. My son ordered fish n chips and they were not good. Unfortunately, my ribs were not hot, a bit warm and 2 ribs were hard, over cooked so it made me think that with everything they were out of did they just over reheat yesterday's ribs? Hmmm. I have to say, I'm newer here and the experience I had was not the best. I hope they are able to do better. We left there hungry and broke. If your wondering why I didn't complain while we were there because we would've had to send all our food back and they didn't have much from their menu anyway to replace. With an elderly mom and kids we just wanted to hurry up and get done and we ate what we could.