Although Daddy D's has been around for years, we never managed to stop by for a variety of reasons. As an aside, I was aware that in the beginning, Danny's BBQ of Cary, provided assistance to Daddy D's in the beginning to get up and rolling. We always loved Danny's which featured a Texas/Florida style of smoked barbecue. At that time (1990's and early 2000's), the predominant (perhaps only) BBQ style in this area was the eastern NC vinegar-based variety. So, it didn't take long for Danny's to began spreading the word that other styles of BBQ were as good or better (subjective, I know).

It was around 3 PM on a Tuesday when we happened to drive past Daddy D's, and we finally decided to stop in, and I'm glad we did.

First of all, our family have really grown to favor the Texas/Florida/Kansas City/Tennessee styles of BBQ. We just personally never grew fond of the vinegar-based Eastern Carolina style of BBQ, but that's subjective of course. Well, Daddy D's has both, with their main focus being on the former. Their menu shows some Eastern-style BBQ offerings, so they cater to everyone.

They were still serving lunch when we came - and by the way - they give a 10% military/law enforcement discount, which is nice.

I wound up ordering the Burnt Ends platter, and you get two sides - I chose the baked beans and coleslaw. Along with that, we ordered a separate 1/2 lb of pulled pork so all of us could dig into that if we were still hungry. My wife ordered a brisket sandwich, and my son had their steak sandwich offering - but theirs was made from brisket.

The interior of the restaurant has a nice barbecue vibe to it - lots of wood. The waitress was very friendly and accommodating, and the overall vibe was inviting.

My burnt ends platter was absolutely scrumptuous. The meat was super tender - like butter, and I also love what they do with their baked beans. They add a bit of vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, some pork bits, etc. The beans had a slightly tangy taste, but boy were they good. Coleslaw was just as we prefer ours - that is, finely chopped. Needless to say, I devoured my Burnt Ends platter. And for lunch, the portions were just right - enough to fill you up, to be sure.

Now as for the pulled pork, we were a little disappointed. You see, they served us the pork that must have been sitting out all day in their kitchen warmer, and it was totally dried out. It looked as if they left it out all day in the kitchen. We had to add barbecue sauce to get some moisture in there, and when we did, it tasted fairly good. We can only imagine how it would taste after first being made. My recommendation would be to come during normal lunch-time hours if you are going to order the pulled pork.

My wife and son enjoyed their meals to be sure. So, the bottom line is that we were looking for a barbecue place like this because Fuquay-Varina is sorely lacking of BBQ restaurants. I wish a "City Barbecue" chain would come to Fuquay as they have some excellent offerings. But right now, as far as BBQ establishments go, Daddy D's is it (for both Fuquay and Varina), unless there is something else that we're not aware of.

Will we come back? Why yes we will (looking forward to it), and other than the dried-out pulled pork - which I can't imagine they would serve like that every day - their menu offers quite a bit of variety that should please most folks.

We're only giving it 4 stars because of the dried-out pork. But everything else was perfect! I can change my review the next time we go and try to order the pulled pork again. If all is well then, changing it to 5 stars will be easy to do. Looks like we found our local BBQ home.

We used Daddy D’s to cater my daughter’s wedding— food was great- hot and plenty of it. Blake was easy to work with, flexible, professional and an all around nice person.
I would use this restaurant again for any barbecue event!

Daddy D’s has provided dinner for two of my daughter’s weddings. Their food is amazing! Everyone was raving about it! Their service is excellent as well. We were certainly pleased with our experience. And we would definitely use them again!