Radd Dews BBq conway sc Radd Dews BBq pit conway South Carolina

My last visit with Radd Dew’s bbq in Conway will be my last.

I have never been insulted more in a restaurant in my life than I have been at Radd Dews in Conway sc. I pass by frequently and I am almost always hungry by the time I pass this run down establishment. Of course because of their erratic hours I infrequently get to eat there. Several times I have called ahead before showing up to make sure they were still open only to get there half an hour before closing to arrive and have them already closed. So it’s a crap-shoot to get in the place unless you stand out front in a line, the food isn’t that great so I wouldn’t be waiting at their front door to open.

Then I found out that I could just buy pints of Radd Dew’s bbq at the local Food Lion right up the street near their restaurant. I have purchased their bbq at Food lion several times as it was much more convenient. Also I find the actual restaurant to be very unsanitary with poor service and rude employees. The problem with buying their bbq at the store is that it has no expiration date or tamper evident seals of any kind. I am always afraid I will get a food borne illness whenever I eat it. You never know how long it’s been sitting on the shelf. 

On Friday the seventeenth I decided I wanted to take the family to Radd Dews Restaurant. I called ahead to make sure they would be open. I did not want to get there too early because old man Radd Dew wastes very little. If you get there too early you get the leftovers mixed in from the last few days. If you get there too late you get the food that has not been rotated all day with crusted food on the sides and hard bits in your food from having dried from the steamer heat all day long. I figured we were getting there in plenty of time since they still had several hours before they closed.  So we arrived very hungry as you normally do for an all you can eat buffet. I really brought my appetite with me today.

I loaded up with rice and a large serving of their original bbq and then there was another kind of bbq with a reddish tint so I figured it had to be tasty as well so I loaded up with a large serving of that as well topped with some sausage pieces and thin biscuits with a side of macaroni. I’m sure I get too much food but it’s a very expensive buffet for the food, service, sanitary concerns, and atmosphere also I like to get all my food in one trip. I rarely make a second trip to the buffet and I have a rule for buffets where I try to get only one plate so as not be too much of a pig but that one plate usually has plenty on it. I did however get a small bowl of sausages on the side. I’m a meat eater and all I really like to eat is meat with a little side of meat and maybe some macaroni and rice on the side. I rarely get desert as I usually fill up with meats.

I eat my way three quarters through my plate but I can’t manage to stomach the taste of the red tinted bbq. I try several times with little success. I am a little embarrassed to have a lot left afterwards  although it is a all you can eat buffet and I do want to get my money’s worth but no matter how much I want to I just don’t want that red bbq. Red bbq in other places usually would be my favorite but there’s something off with this variety. I cover my plate with a napkin to hide my shame of wasted food. My wife finishes and  offers to take my plate for me and old man Radd Dew comes waddling up taking the plate out of my wife’s hand mumbling hold up a minute I want to see something. He lifts the napkin off my plate and begins to scold me for having too much waste.

I do my best to remain calm while he asks me “what was wrong with this bbq.” I explain that, “ I did not like the red bbq and could not finish it.” He scoffs and says, “ then why did you get so much.” I explain, “ I normally like most kinds of bbq but I didn’t quite like this one.” He continues to bereave me in public about wasting his food and I try to sit calmly and quietly.  He hasn’t finished trying to upset me yet, He goes on mumbling something about how he doesn’t like people coming in to his place wasting his food. I begin to get more annoyed and say something like, “well you won’t have to worry about that any more as we probably won’t be coming back.” He remarks, “well I don’t want customers like you anyhow and I don’t want you coming back.” He then continues to offend me by mumbling about wasted food so I again get more annoyed as this man will not leave me alone. I remark, “If you are so worried about it then why don’t you finish it.” “You’re welcome to it.” He raises his voice saying, “I’m not going to eat this; I’m not going to eat this after you.” He finally starts to walk away and I try to stay calm and begin to get ready to leave.

As I set there rubbing my forehead he begins to start heading back towards me mumbling, “And another thing...” By this time I have had enough of his belittling comments. I am standing and getting ready to go he is very close to me and his words are starting to jumble in my head as my blood begins to boil. I turn around and he is right in my face again and as I begin to snarl and grit my teeth preparing to give him my rebuttal with a fist to his jaw my wife come over , while he mutters, “ now wait just a minute.” My wife explains that we have had quite enough and it is time for us to go. He then exclaims, “ yes I recon it is time for you to go. You had better leave now.”

While I turn away to refill my Pepsi before leaving I can still hear him mumbling, “I’ve got something for you,” as he wobbles behind the counter acting like he is going for some sort of weapon. I never turn around to see what he finds I just seem him at the corner of my eye staying closer to the counter now. We leave quietly with a full drink. My wife is so flustered with a baby carrier in her arms that she can’t remember where the exit is. I have to turn her back around to tell her the exit is that way. Then old man Radd Dew points towards the door reminding us unnecessarily that “the door is that way.”

I believe that this last bad experience with Radd Dews will indeed be my last. No longer will I ask for Radd Dew’s bbq pizza from three guy’s pizza. Even though I must admit it is quite good. No longer will I take my chances with Radd Dews undated unsealed mystery meat from the food lion up the street. I will no longer frequent this establishment and I would advise you to do the same. I would take some of the blame to say yes I may have gotten too much food and that occasionally my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Regardless the case, this man has no business running a buffet if he can not deal with the fact that in a buffet, there is waste. This man is very unprofessional and that extent of bad behavior should be avoided at all costs and with that so should his restaurant. It seems to me that this is probably not the first time he has offended a customer and I wouldn’t  be surprised if you may be next.