Hank's Texas BBQ

First, their deep-fried cheese curds are EVIL. You cannot stop eating them: light, crunchy, & melty in all the right ways. Holy mozzarella, those things are ADDICTIVE. Most places overdo the breading on "fried cheese sticks", and you get something that needs steel dentures to chew thru -- not Hanks. Very light crunchy panko, melty & gooey and JFC, I'm craving them AGAIN and it's after midnight...Anyway. First, let me lead up to our latest visit by saying that yesterday was a really shitty day in a string of two really shitty months. Our new-to-us car had gone kerblooey despite having had a lot of work done & showing no signs of other trouble up until it decided to KERBLOOEY in the middle of rush hour on Cleveland Ave, we've been dealing with housing issues and family issues and health issues, and by the time we finally got home after getting Said Supposed Car towed to our mechanic, me and my husband just wanted a) food and b) lots of alcohol.Sadly, B isn't possible due to our medications. A, though...Husband looked at me and said, ok, what kind of food, and I just said "BURGER. SOMETHING DEEP FRIED. NOW. :grunt:"So we decided on Hank's.Now we'd first been to Hanks last month and really loved their ribs and the loaded corn cakes and the sides and those evil EVIL cheese curds. You first walk in the place, and you see an open floor plan, corrugated metal and worn wood, xmas lights all over the ceiling, friendly servers who say "sit wherever", an honest-to-gods old-school Catholic Church light-up bingo board on the back wall with what looks like a glowing cow skull over it, and laid-back music that's a good mix of ska and reggae. Very casual, very relaxed, and a fun vibe without being in-your-face about it. Fast forward back to yesterday. At that point in our shitty day, we decided Hanks was probably the only non-fast-food place nearby that stood a chance of having a decent juicy burger. Holy Ground Cow, Hanks did not disappoint. Same relaxed vibe, cool ska and reggae, same friendly servers, and a sympathetic waiter who listened to the much-abbreviated highlights reel of our shitty day with a quiet "oh my god" and he and his fellow server were fast, efficient, friendly and totally non-intrusive, which helped to start our day back to "bearable" and our brains back to something other than "holy sh*t, life sucks". (Sorry for dumping the highlights reel on that poor server; thanks for listening, man).By the time our food arrived, we were feeling "mostly human" again.We both had their American burger and fries. I always keep my burgers on the plain side; no condiments, cheese only, maybe lettuce/tomato if my gut's behaving; Husband had the works, with Hanks' collard greens on the side. Oh, yeah, and more of those deliciously crunchy melty EVIL cheese curds. Pleasant surprise: the burgers turned out to be doubles, not single-patties (we really hadn't read the menu much beyond "burger, fries, cheese curds, *GRUNT*"). Perfectly seasoned and juicy, perfectly cooked, melty American cheese. Big pile of hand-cut fries. My husband spent part of his childhood in Louisiana, and so he tends to be really, REALLY picky over northern-attempts at Southern cooking -- he's fallen in love with Hanks' collards. We easily spent an hour with great burgers, fries, and cheese curds, and by the time we left, the shitty day had turned into a fairly good one. So yeah, give Hanks a try. We need more good local restaurants in Clintonville, and these folks deserve your business!PS -- Hanks, just a small suggestion? Maybe add a couple other cheese options for the burgers, like blue cheese crumbles or pepper jack. Just a thought.tl;dr -- good bbq, good burgers, evil cheese curds, relaxed vibe, friendly staff. GO. EAT. ENJOY.

This was a great (quick!) option near OSU.Delightful server. Good beer options.Reasonable prices.Casual atmosphere.

Went here with the intent of trying the brisket but ended up getting a half smoked chicken instead along with a southwest salad. What a perfect combination and tasted great. I tried their white barbecue sauce thinking that I would then move on to the other sauces, but it was so good that it was the only barbecue sauce I used!

In search of the best bbq in Columbus, stopped by Hanks BBQ in Clintonville at Crestview and North High Street.First, I had to laugh because Hank's is in the old Pizza Hut building that I used to hang out in high school. So much better decor inside but it was the first time I had been in there in many years.Ordered the three meat plate of beef brisket, bbq ribs, and pulled pork with Cole slaw and potato salad on the side. The brisket and pulled pork were heaven. Brisket was moist and juicy with a nice crust. Pulled pork was a wonderful taste especially with the bbq sauce. The ribs were meaty but the seasoning was just ok for me. Cole slaw and potato salad were ok. Would have liked a bit more kick to them.All in all, I loved the meats. I really wanted to try the 1/2 bbq chicken but they were out. Bbq chicken is one of my test meats when I try someone's bbq.

This place is the best! It was about 2pm so a little later lunch. Bartender was our awesome server. Tv's everywhere, cold beer, great seating for a group or individual parties. The jalapeno appetizer was so good, loved it. So we all had the meat platters, ribs did not need any sauce. The chicken was so tender and tasty I used just a little sauce. The potato salad , beans and fries were so good makes me drool thinking of it. New favorite BBQ place in Ohio.

Ordered takeout and stumbled upon trivia night on Wednesday which was cool to see. I didn't experience too much of it though because the order that I placed onsite was ready pretty quickly. A nice start!Upon getting home, we dug into "Steve's Way" Corn Cakes which were great. Its sweetness set it apart from the savory BBQ, sides and Poutine that comprised the order. I really liked the poutine. The gravy might have had hints of coffee or beer or something (I really don't know). But it worked! Fries and curds were both good, too. From there it was hit or miss. The pork didn't stand out, and the mustard-based potato salad was fine. The collard greens were disappointing . It had too much tomato influence for my liking. Ending on a high note, the brisket was money. Get it! This was a strong showing, and there's enough variety on the menu to warrant another trip.

The food the barbecue might be the better barbecue in the area from a person that's eating Memphis St Louis North Carolina and Texas it's really hard to find good barbecue in Ohio however Hanks is one of the good ones service needs a little work the Ambiance is okay the pitmaster cocktail is a must try the corn cakes are okay they're not the best they don't really have a good corn taste to them like you would think they use cornbread or what we call hot water cornbread it's not doesn't have enough corn taste to it however it's worthy of a try I will be going back the briskets are perfect moist good smoke ring juicy

This place is definitely unknown place and I heard a good things about this place before coming to Ohio on my vacationSo we stopped by here to check out the food, and I wasn't disappointed at all. I like ribs so I had to check out these Ohio ribs and they did not disappoint me. The restaurant definitely has a Texas vibe to it. It's very open. Lots of tables and is definitely worth going to if you have a big party.

Not the best experience here. Went on a Sunday afternoon, in the mood for some bbq chicken...they're out of it. Huh? We ordered the ribs instead which were not as tender as I liked. Also was craving some mac n cheese. Theirs tasted a half step above Kraft. Brisket nachos were ok, same with collard greens, fries, etc. Sat for a good 30 minutes after finishing a disappointing meal waiting for our check. Had to get up and hunt down the waitress for it. Doubt I'll ever be back.

Amazing barbecue and the best cheeseburgers! Always great food and service. Highly recommend Hank's!