Quite possibly the worst experience in a restaurant I have ever been to. I have worked 25 plus years in the restaurant industry, both Front of House and Back of house manager and helped open restaurant's all over Texas but this one takes the cake as the worst in the business. I am born and raised from Tyler but had to relocate due to my job and also because of Covid but moved back to Tyler to be closer to family and such so we asked around and heard about Poke in Da Eye from friends. Upon entering the restaurant we were met with a loud argument from inside the kitchen between who knows who but it was extremely loud and uncomfortable. It was me, my wife, and our two kids, so this initially gave us a very unwelcoming feeling. We were never greeted nor did anyone said hello or tried to help us when we came in. Being in the restaurant business this is a huge red flag to any new or frequent customers. We waited roughly 15-20 minutes and decided we should go somewhere else since they were unaware of us in the front area. Just as we were about to leave an employee asked if we had been helped yet. She was an older lady that seemed disheveled and looked as if she was crying. We responded to her very nicely and told the lady we had not been helped yet and that we had been waiting for about 10-15 minutes. The lady laughed at us and said that we had not been waiting that long and pointed us to the front of the ordering window. As a new customer to this place I felt very unwelcomed and made me feel like I was the one to make the mistake even though we had been waiting for service. After further inspecting the ordering counter I was extremely confused as to where to order from because there was no sign explaining where to order. I asked the same lady where I need to order and without saying anything she pointed and a closed sign? The layout of a restaurant is very crucial to both the customer and employees and should not leave any room for confusion on the customers end. I feel as if this place was hastily thrown together with no thought or inkling as how a restaurant should be put together. As we made our way to the counter to order we were then greeted by an older gentleman coughing loudly into his hands and proceeded to take our order. (He did not stop to wash his hands which is a health code violation) When taking the order he seemed a bit annoyed when asking about the menu since we never dined in before and we felt rushed even though they only had two other tables in the building and no one was behind us waiting. i ordered the "award winning" ribs with sides and both the kids and my wife split the three meat plate. There can be no possible way that these ribs I ordered won any awards. They were slathered with their signature sauce which just tasted like ketchup and brown sugar and the ribs themselves had no taste or flavor. I have been to BBQ championships in Dallas and San Antonio and this is by no means "award winning" they probably got a participation trophy for being there. Now let me go over the sides. Being a southern born corn fed guy I think the sides should just be just as good if not better than the meats themselves. The Mac n cheese was mostly liquid and did not seem quite well made, little flavor, and just was not cheesy. The "Amazing" poke in da eye pinto beans were far away from being amazing. As a chef and Restaurant owner if you are going to name something "award winning" or "amazing" they should be advertised as such. Overall the pricing was not too bad considering how awful the experience was and the food was utter disgusting. Later that day I did some further investigation and I found out that the lady and gentleman we had talked to were the owners of this establishment. The next day of eating there both my family and I became sick and went to the doctor. Both my Wife and I have food poisoning and this is the first time in all my years of being in the restaurant business have had food poisoning. Mr. Joseph Koricanek if you are reading this I will be contac
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Audra Bryan
Delicious BBQ and sides. Good service. Good atmosphere. The sign on the side of hwy 64 is a little hard to see. Use your maps! Check it out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mary Roberts
Not sure where the world champion bbq came from but they got it wrong. You should never have to put sauce on brisket. It should be delicious just plain. This that I ate was soooo dry and had zero flavor. The younger guy at the window was rude as heck. Tried them at Tyler Bergfeld Park but never
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Bird Man
Brisket and sausage were ok, but the Mac and cheese was a runny mess and tasted terrible. The potato salad was a 3 out of 10. Their bbq sauce is not very good either. Overall, the food is not worth the price. Paid $10.50 for 2 ribs. They were pretty bland. There are plenty of other options for BBQ.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Lizabeth Marquez
We enjoyed the cool Texas bbq atmosphere of this place! Wonderful and friendly customer service and the food was very good; we just couldn’t try the dessert because they didn’t have any left that day we went but normally they do. Sounds like a good reason to come back ?!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Alfred Weaver
Had the hot link plate . Sides of house tater salad , mac and cheese and baked beans . Just right spicy ! Neat tables and benches . Great place to go .
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
ASHLEY
Great people. There are a ton of trophies from places he's won bbq contests. His wife said there's another 500 at home! They do catering too! Check it out. It's out of the way some but with goin
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sliced Brisket, Pecan Pie, Award-Winning Ribs with Sides with 3 Sides Pickles Onions and Jalapenos BBQ Sauce and Toast, 2 Meat Plate Double Ribs, Brisket Sammich, Banana Pudding, Da Plate 6 Meat Sampler
corey nicholson
Absolutely not don’t waste your time
Billy Golden
I payed 23 dollars for a child size chopped beef sandwich. The pinto beans undercooked. Felt like I was eating 2 day leftovers.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Official Kurama
Atmosphere is what you make it, service is good, bbq food is good
I was invited from the owner thru a local East Texas Facebook post. It was decent/average BBQ but not life changing championship BBQ! I'll try them again later to see if it improves with time.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Tiffanie Beasley
I’ve never tried this so I shouldn’t be leaving a review but….While attending the Piney Park Lights in Marshall Texas they were one of the food trucks that was in attendance. While waiting on our food from another attending food truck I look over at theirs and the older gentleman that was at the window taking orders from customers was also smoking and coughing!!! That would turn anybody way! That has to be health code on operating a food truck that serves the public!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Nancy Boone
I ordered barbeque plates for my coworkers. Uber Eats way overcharged me. The owner? Ms. Laura took the time to get everything straightened out and make everything right. She didn't have to do this. Poke in da Eye has a life long customer! I'm going to ask them to cater my next party. They gave great BBQ and tasty sides. This, in addition to the phenomenal, over the top customer service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joyle “JoJo” Avritt
So I went and got a 2 meat plate yesterday. I'm craving BBQ and this was the nearest place from Arp. I got Brisket and Jalapeno sausage. Double potatoe salad, pintos and banana pudding.The sausage was on point. Brisket was super small portions and fatty. I'm ok with it because it was like $20. NOW I'm a potatoe salad girl and what I was offered was pre frozen baked potatoes mixed with very little. The texture of the potatoes and the wateriness of them was gross. The pinto beans was lacking seasoning but I doctored them up with SP and BBQ sauce. Until I took a bite that had off putting meat in it. I'm sorry but that meat was rancid and spit it out. The Nanna pudding was actually pretty good it tasted like scratch from a roux. Like my Mommas.I'm sorry to leave this review but as a single female eating everywhere, just save your coins.UPDATE: I ate what I ate. I tasted what I tasted. Your list of ingredients was not in the food. I'm someone who will go to Pat G's and then go get my sides from CT.Now I will go back and try your other side of fresh food. I love catfish (Uncertain TX) but you tarter sauce needs to be on point.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 2
Kathleen Masenburge
Original plan was to go to Country Tavern, so glad we didn't!!! They had over an hour wait, so we drove on over to Poke in da eye and it was WONDERFUL !!! Joseph and staff catered to my family like royalty! We bought all the meat they had left and coleslaw,green beans also baked beans, and 3 slices of pecan pie right before close. Our family will be back again, we had a hankering for some good food we got GREAT food and more ! Thank ya'all for the hospitality and delicious food.
Quite possibly the worst experience in a restaurant I have ever been to. I have worked 25 plus years in the restaurant industry, both Front of House and Back of house manager and helped open restaurant's all over Texas but this one takes the cake as the worst in the business. I am born and raised from Tyler but had to relocate due to my job and also because of Covid but moved back to Tyler to be closer to family and such so we asked around and heard about Poke in Da Eye from friends. Upon entering the restaurant we were met with a loud argument from inside the kitchen between who knows who but it was extremely loud and uncomfortable. It was me, my wife, and our two kids, so this initially gave us a very unwelcoming feeling. We were never greeted nor did anyone said hello or tried to help us when we came in. Being in the restaurant business this is a huge red flag to any new or frequent customers. We waited roughly 15-20 minutes and decided we should go somewhere else since they were unaware of us in the front area. Just as we were about to leave an employee asked if we had been helped yet. She was an older lady that seemed disheveled and looked as if she was crying. We responded to her very nicely and told the lady we had not been helped yet and that we had been waiting for about 10-15 minutes. The lady laughed at us and said that we had not been waiting that long and pointed us to the front of the ordering window. As a new customer to this place I felt very unwelcomed and made me feel like I was the one to make the mistake even though we had been waiting for service. After further inspecting the ordering counter I was extremely confused as to where to order from because there was no sign explaining where to order. I asked the same lady where I need to order and without saying anything she pointed and a closed sign? The layout of a restaurant is very crucial to both the customer and employees and should not leave any room for confusion on the customers end. I feel as if this place was hastily thrown together with no thought or inkling as how a restaurant should be put together. As we made our way to the counter to order we were then greeted by an older gentleman coughing loudly into his hands and proceeded to take our order. (He did not stop to wash his hands which is a health code violation) When taking the order he seemed a bit annoyed when asking about the menu since we never dined in before and we felt rushed even though they only had two other tables in the building and no one was behind us waiting. i ordered the "award winning" ribs with sides and both the kids and my wife split the three meat plate. There can be no possible way that these ribs I ordered won any awards. They were slathered with their signature sauce which just tasted like ketchup and brown sugar and the ribs themselves had no taste or flavor. I have been to BBQ championships in Dallas and San Antonio and this is by no means "award winning" they probably got a participation trophy for being there. Now let me go over the sides. Being a southern born corn fed guy I think the sides should just be just as good if not better than the meats themselves. The Mac n cheese was mostly liquid and did not seem quite well made, little flavor, and just was not cheesy. The "Amazing" poke in da eye pinto beans were far away from being amazing. As a chef and Restaurant owner if you are going to name something "award winning" or "amazing" they should be advertised as such. Overall the pricing was not too bad considering how awful the experience was and the food was utter disgusting. Later that day I did some further investigation and I found out that the lady and gentleman we had talked to were the owners of this establishment. The next day of eating there both my family and I became sick and went to the doctor. Both my Wife and I have food poisoning and this is the first time in all my years of being in the restaurant business have had food poisoning. Mr. Joseph Koricanek if you are reading this I will be contac
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Delicious BBQ and sides. Good service. Good atmosphere. The sign on the side of hwy 64 is a little hard to see. Use your maps! Check it out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Not sure where the world champion bbq came from but they got it wrong. You should never have to put sauce on brisket. It should be delicious just plain. This that I ate was soooo dry and had zero flavor. The younger guy at the window was rude as heck. Tried them at Tyler Bergfeld Park but never
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Brisket and sausage were ok, but the Mac and cheese was a runny mess and tasted terrible. The potato salad was a 3 out of 10. Their bbq sauce is not very good either. Overall, the food is not worth the price. Paid $10.50 for 2 ribs. They were pretty bland. There are plenty of other options for BBQ.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
We enjoyed the cool Texas bbq atmosphere of this place! Wonderful and friendly customer service and the food was very good; we just couldn’t try the dessert because they didn’t have any left that day we went but normally they do. Sounds like a good reason to come back ?!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Had the hot link plate . Sides of house tater salad , mac and cheese and baked beans . Just right spicy ! Neat tables and benches . Great place to go .
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great people. There are a ton of trophies from places he's won bbq contests. His wife said there's another 500 at home! They do catering too! Check it out. It's out of the way some but with goin
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sliced Brisket, Pecan Pie, Award-Winning Ribs with Sides with 3 Sides Pickles Onions and Jalapenos BBQ Sauce and Toast, 2 Meat Plate Double Ribs, Brisket Sammich, Banana Pudding, Da Plate 6 Meat Sampler
Absolutely not don’t waste your time
I payed 23 dollars for a child size chopped beef sandwich. The pinto beans undercooked. Felt like I was eating 2 day leftovers.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere is what you make it, service is good, bbq food is good
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Sliced Brisket
Restaurantji Recommends
I was invited from the owner thru a local East Texas Facebook post. It was decent/average BBQ but not life changing championship BBQ! I'll try them again later to see if it improves with time.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
I’ve never tried this so I shouldn’t be leaving a review but….While attending the Piney Park Lights in Marshall Texas they were one of the food trucks that was in attendance. While waiting on our food from another attending food truck I look over at theirs and the older gentleman that was at the window taking orders from customers was also smoking and coughing!!! That would turn anybody way! That has to be health code on operating a food truck that serves the public!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I ordered barbeque plates for my coworkers. Uber Eats way overcharged me. The owner? Ms. Laura took the time to get everything straightened out and make everything right. She didn't have to do this. Poke in da Eye has a life long customer! I'm going to ask them to cater my next party. They gave great BBQ and tasty sides. This, in addition to the phenomenal, over the top customer service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
So I went and got a 2 meat plate yesterday. I'm craving BBQ and this was the nearest place from Arp. I got Brisket and Jalapeno sausage. Double potatoe salad, pintos and banana pudding.The sausage was on point. Brisket was super small portions and fatty. I'm ok with it because it was like $20. NOW I'm a potatoe salad girl and what I was offered was pre frozen baked potatoes mixed with very little. The texture of the potatoes and the wateriness of them was gross. The pinto beans was lacking seasoning but I doctored them up with SP and BBQ sauce. Until I took a bite that had off putting meat in it. I'm sorry but that meat was rancid and spit it out. The Nanna pudding was actually pretty good it tasted like scratch from a roux. Like my Mommas.I'm sorry to leave this review but as a single female eating everywhere, just save your coins.UPDATE: I ate what I ate. I tasted what I tasted. Your list of ingredients was not in the food. I'm someone who will go to Pat G's and then go get my sides from CT.Now I will go back and try your other side of fresh food. I love catfish (Uncertain TX) but you tarter sauce needs to be on point.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 2
Original plan was to go to Country Tavern, so glad we didn't!!! They had over an hour wait, so we drove on over to Poke in da eye and it was WONDERFUL !!! Joseph and staff catered to my family like royalty! We bought all the meat they had left and coleslaw,green beans also baked beans, and 3 slices of pecan pie right before close. Our family will be back again, we had a hankering for some good food we got GREAT food and more ! Thank ya'all for the hospitality and delicious food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sliced Brisket, Sausage, Brisket Sammich