Bill Alexander

Returning after many years, everything has improved including a bar and sit-down dine-in area. Better food, larger portions reasonable priced and excellent service from waitress Mars. Wife's favorite Cab and a nice Malbec on the new menu economically priced. The photos speak for themselves. Not shown Phil's Phabulous Onion Rings!

Danny Real

Phil’s BBQ always good bbq with great service and they have the coldest tap beer in town. If in San Diego a must try also appeared on tv series multiple times.

M McKnight

The 3 Beef Rib dinner was great! I enjoyed macaroni salad. The baked beans were a little running for my liking but tasty nonetheless. I highly recommend!!

Ju

Must-go place in SD! I ordered beef rip dinner (3pcs) with coleslaw and fries, and onion ring. The bbq sauce tastes so good. The ribs are kinda big probably 2 pcs are good for 1 person.

+2

Omar Ramos

Great legendary place. I was introduced to this place almost a decade ago by a really good friend. The quality of the food and the serving sizes have not changed. The food is amazingly delicious and rich. Not for the faint of heart. Customer service is always excellent and the line moved pretty fast. Would definitely visit again when in the area.

Ruth P

First time here and I really enjoyed it. Our party took up a long sized table. I ordered the quarter chicken. The meat was so delicious 😋 and tender. I was actually surprised how delicious. A great price. The leftover potato salad is almost another meal!

Felix G

A standard stop on any of our trips to SD. Been going for an unknown amount of time and it’s become almost tradition for us to stop at this Phil’s location before we drive home from SDCC. We eat there and also take some Togo orders. Food is good days later Parking is very easy at this location and the place is always clean. Plenty of seating and on thing that always stands out is the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff here. Tip: when you order you can order, I recommend you order with Sauce on the side. They dont necessarily drench the proteins in sauce, but I like to have some control of how much sauce I add. For orders, we always get the three beef rib dinner (my personal bias), and full baby back rib dinner. The dinners include two small sides or one larger side. One of the dinners, we’ll add the link & drink. Both ribs are tenders, pretty much come off the bone. Side recommendations, after years of coming here, my two favorite sides are easily the macaroni salad and Cole slaw. Those are pretty much our go to sides Get the colossal onions rings. While portions of these gotten smaller over the years, they’re still delicious Other portions are fair for the prices in my opinion. Staff is generous if you ever need more bbq sauce or ranch, feel free to ask! This place will always be part of SD trips!

+2

Vinh Ly

The cuts of meat were great! One of the few places that serves BEEF ribs. The line was out the door but it was worth the wait. Other than the meat, the sides were just okay. Fries were stale and the onion rings were too breaded. I didn't mind the sides too much though because the MEATS were so good.

Peter Csanadi

Very courteous and friendly staff, ready to help in any way. Special shout out to Alyanah and Conner for being really attentive and just being on top of things. Food is always delicious. Parking was super easy just before it opened (on a weekday).

Bee Man Dan

Full disclosure, going to a BBQ place at 8 PM on a Tuesday night might not be the best showcase of what they can offer. Would consider going back another day but also standing in line doesn't sound appealing..first world problems 😂 Food was ok across the board. The first two onion rings, we enjoyed the crunchy and slightly chewy batter texture but then became a grease bomb. For two of us, that was a bit much and I ended eating most it. Chicken flavor was good, but dry...and lonely from not being eaten by my fiancee. Assuming they've been sitting under a heat lamp for a full day, the thicker ribs were perfectly tender but as the ribs digressed in size, we got too much char and pockets of dryness. Still, it's BBQ so can't reaaaaally go wrong..saving grace would be the servers and BBQ sauce with a nice bit of sweet heat.

WOOCHIKA

Had to stop by Phil’s BBQ while visiting San Diego — and of course, they had the classic long line. You really can’t say you’ve been here unless you’ve waited in it at least once. It had been a while since I last came, so I wanted to retry it. The service was friendly as always, but the flavor felt a bit stronger than I remembered — maybe my taste has changed over the years. Still, it’s an iconic SD spot and worth trying at least once if you’re in the area.

+2

Debisree Ray

We stopped by this BBQ spot for dinner, and one of our friends who’s local said it’s one of the most popular barbecue places in the San Diego area. That seemed true right away — even on a weeknight, the place was packed, and the air was filled with that amazing smoky, slow-cooked meat aroma. I wasn’t too hungry, so we decided to order a few things and share. I had just one barbecued beef rib with a side of baked beans, while the others ordered multiple ribs and added potato salad and beer. The meat was incredibly tender — juicy, smoky, and literally falling off the bone. I usually prefer pork ribs, and I’ve had some great beef BBQ in Texas, but this place came impressively close in flavor and quality. Overall, the ribs were excellent, the sides solid, and it definitely lived up to its reputation. A great spot for serious BBQ lovers.

Marc. Wise

Solid barbecue place. You walk in and you have to order from the counter and then you pick it up when it is ready. Quick service and very reasonable prices. There are lots of great choices on the menu. We got the half baby back rib dinner and a tri-tip tickler dinner, which was not on the menu. We got the barbecue sauce on the side with the ribs, which I would recommend. The barbecue sauce is not super sweet, and it is good, but they do slather a lot on there. The cornbread was fantastic. You must get it. The sides were also very solid. We got fries, onion rings, and coleslaw, which were good. My wife’s steamed vegetables though were a little undercooked and had no seasoning. I can’t fault them too much for that because who really orders that at a barbecue place anyway. Go check it out.

+2

James Sommers

I want to start out by saying that being from Texas we're BBQ snobs. We've been living here for 6 years and finding good bbq has been challenging to say the least. Unfortunately, Phil's BBQ didn't live up to the hype. With that being said, Phils is the 2nd best BBQ we've found in SD. I won't mention who's #1 in this review but read my other reviews if you're really interested. Now, on to the review of Phil's. #1 No Brisket??? Are you kidding me. You should not even be allowed to call yourself a bbq joint if you don't even have brisket. That's blasphemy. #2 The chicken was bland and tasteless. Thankfully they have all sorts of hot sauce and seasoning on the table to make it at least edible. #3 The ribs were just "okay" nothing to write home about. They tasted baked instead of smoked. #4 No onions, pickles or jalapenos available which was VERY odd. #5 The BBQ sauce was amazing, probably some of the best we've ever had. So, if you're looking for "okay" BBQ then Phil's is for you. If you're looking for really good, Texas tasting BBQ then you might want to search Google or read my other reviews.

Vanya Wise Elizalde

This was a to-go order, and I understand it was around 6pm on a Friday and busy. That’s why I was patient and tried to be understanding at first. I was told my order would be ready in about 15 minutes so I waited. After 20 minutes went by, I started noticing people who ordered after me receiving their food. After about 30 minutes, I asked what was going on, only to be told my order had never even been started because it was never submitted — even though my payment was taken immediately. I ended up waiting over 45 minutes for a to-go order that should’ve been ready in 15-20 minutes maximum. They tried to make up for it by giving me cornbread, cookies, and a soda, which I appreciated, but when I got home I realized my onion rings were missing. After waiting that long and dealing with that many mistakes, I couldn’t even enjoy my meal. I usually go to the Santee location and have never had an issue there. Unfortunately, this experience was frustrating from start to finish, and I will not be returning to this location.

RRS Reviews (RRS Reviews)

This was our first time trying Phil's out. As we walked in the atmosphere was great. The menu sounded delicious but... once we got our food it was terrible.... so far the worse tri tip I have ever ate! The meat and buns where soo burt i felt i was eating coal. I had bad stomach aches after and my wife threw up the food that same night. Unfortunately it was a terrible experience for us.