Buddys, Matlock in Derbyshire Dales

The staff were so friendly and accommodating. We didn't book ahead but we were seated within minutes. Food was super tasty.

We bought take out for 3 people and it came to around £50 and there was a medium sized pizza box with barely any food in the box itself. That’s utterly disappointing, the photo is of the take out which is £38

I got a food infection shortly after eating here. We can't never know for sure, but I advise caution.

Overcooked burger, mac & cheese tasted like it was out of a tin and poured all over the burger bun making it inedible, pulled pork was all fat and the bacon was sooo salty I couldn't eat it. Very expensive for a meal I couldn't eat. I'd like to suggest they visit a proper burger place to at least learn how to cook a burger..... try Beefy Boys, hereford, Shrewsbury or Cheltenham. Won't go back here and certainly wouldn't recommend To the owners reply. I did tell the person at the till, who wasn't interested and said I will tell the chef. Thank you for your rude and uninterested reply

Sadly we had over cooked burgers which tasted like that had been sat under heater lamps for days, dry and burnt. Mac n cheese tasted like it hadn't seen cheese during its preparation. The bacon and pulled pork was so salty it tasted like it has sat in a salt bath for a week. Would not recommend this place to anyone. McDs is better than this place, wish we had gone there instead.

This place has an amazing vibe. The food is absolutely delicious. Get the garlic tater tots, they were amazing! It was our one year anniversary and the staff made her feel so incredibly special, and they even bought out this amazing waffle and ice cream dessert. You will not be disappointed here. Everything was full of favour, and came out hot! Will be back, but probably don't need to order as much food next time.

Did not live up to the reputation other than the portion sizes being as massive as we had heard. Food was mediocre at best, meat arrived barely warm. Rib was nice, beef ok, some like the pulled pork were cold and unpleasant. Turkey was cooked beautifully but sadly came drowned in mustard (not on menu) which I did not enjoy. The volume of this mustard resulted in it getting on all the rest of the meats. Staff were nice enough but the service was slow and they seemed overwhelmed despite having barely a third of the tables full. They did comment on how everything had gone wrong that evening so probably not the best night to judge normal service standards.

Great food, but service needs to improve now they're not packed the whole time.

Had a mini work night out, we arrived late just before closing due to the train being delayed, and they went above and beyond. Best burger I've ever had 😋

Love this place, a carnivores dream. Food was amazing, and the atmosphere in there matches it. Staff really friendly and service great. Will definitely go again. Pitmasters burger was amazing.

We had food at Buddy's earlier today, when we walked in the lady at the till didn't even acknowledge us, I understand she was busy but I would have expected a just a moment please. We were eventually acknowledged after a couple of minutes which honestly was really awkward because she was standing right in front of us. We were shown to seating outside, where another couple had a complaint about the brisket, 3 different staff members had to come and talk to them and then they were also lied to after another member of staff had already told them the truth about the brisket. Then the manager threw the chef under the bus saying that they were clearly lying to her. Anyways we ordered our food and thought we would make up our own mind. Our Mac and cheese was forgotten, the brisket definitely tasted oven cooked, the Mac and cheese was watery and honestly everything was just very underwhelming. (We had the pit tray which was mostly dry and the ribs were really tough) The pork belly was just covered in oil - I know it's fatty but still. When we went up to pay, we just got the receipt shoved at us and no one at any point asked us how our food was. Honestly I wouldn't come back and I would advise no one else bothers either.

Great place to pop in for a drink

Class food, friendly staff great playlist

Walked in off the street staff asked if I'd booked I said no seated in less than a minute menu followed by drinks we ordered the American buddy .. fries double burger and ribs absolutely spot on staff we're Amazing and you can watch your food being prepared... would highly recommend Will be coming back again

Nice little place. Your usual American BBQ/smoked meats type restaurant. So stunning looking food being made from the open plan kitchen. Sadly some of the menu items were not available (looking at you peanut butter milkshake). Food was quick to be brought to the table. The burger was great and expect to get messy eating it. Servers seemed to just disappear when you needed them. At one point the chef had to serve food because nobody was about. And when they were about, they were almost trying to hurry us out.

Buddy’s was recommended to us by a friend of my husband’s and we decided to book a table for 5 to dine on a Saturday evening at 7pm. We arrived promptly to be greeted and shown to a small table in a corner that was dirty and was missing the condiments, napkins, cutlery and a drinks menu. The chairs were not comfortable at all, one of them was not level to the floor and my husband tried to do a temporary fix. We ordered the drinks first - 1 jug of beer, 1 lime & lemonade and water for the table. When the water was served we all noticed that the glasses were cloudy and one had something on it. The waitress said that they are not dirty and she would only change them if they were. We decided to leave it and went on to order our food. At this point it is worth mentioning that none of us had dined at a smokehouse before and we were excited to taste the different smoked meats. Our first order was 2 x The Original Pit Trays, 1 x Porkapalooza Pit Tray 1 x The Hungover Buddy and 1 x The Disorderly Buddy. The waitress informed us that they had run out of the pork belly which was included on the Porkapalooza Pit Tray, so the order was changed to 3 x The Original Pit Trays instead. She then said that they had run out of chilli which was on The Original Pit Trays but they can add some extra meat to compensate for the missing chilli. We waited for over an hour before the waitress returned to inform us that the chef had now run out of pork ribs and smoked turkey. We were very annoyed and hungry by this point and the only substitute meat that was offered was chicken tenders!! This therefore meant that the trays would be missing half of the meats as mentioned on the menu. At £30 per tray this was exceptionally poor and surely it should have been taken off of the menu?! The waitress then informed one of us to go and speak to the chef… My husband spoke to the chef who blamed the lack of meats on another table of 7 men that had all ordered the pit trays and that they had been very busy during the day! Surely as a chef you plan in advance and order enough meats etc to fulfill your reservations? We asked for a few moments to chat about what we were going to do because it was suggested that we could order different meals from the menu e.g a burger because this will still be available or we could have 25% discount off of the food that we had originally ordered. Before we had chance to discuss and decide, our food was served. The food had clearly been cooked before we could give our answer and had been on the hot plate for a while. The burgers were poorly presented and the fries were missing the Buddy’s red salt but the worst plates had to be The Original Pit Trays! No extra meats were added as previously mentioned and the items that were on the plates were dry, the beef brisket was thinly sliced and had a bit of sauce over it - one of us commented that it looked like cat sick! The portions were tiny! You do not expect to be served such poor quality as such a premium price when you are paying £30 per Pit Tray and £16-18 per burger!! This was the final straw for the five of us! We got up out of the uncomfortable chairs and walked out! We will NEVER return to Buddy’s and personally for me it has put me off of the whole smokehouse experience. To point out that only once we had walked out of Buddy’s the manager came to speak to us to offer us a 25% off voucher to return in the future or she could give us a table at the Remarkable Hare. She also admitted that she hadn’t been informed of our poor experience and lack of communication on what was or was not available. We rate Buddy’s Matlock 0/5.

Burger Wednesday are really good and the wings are amazing really good staff

WOW. AMAZING Walked in off the street as a party of 13 they could not do enough to make room for us and make us feel welcomed. We loved the vibe of the place. Great atmosphere and music. We had a small wait for food but as an unplanned party of 13 that was expected. The food was to die for. Hands down the best meal I’ve ever had. Great price too!!!! We went to somewhere similar closer to home and paid almost double what we paid here and the food wasn’t as good. The staff were so friendly couldn't do enough for us. Wanted to check everything was ok. Will 100% be back! Thank you.

Food 5 star. Absolutely delicious. Definitely recommend a visit.

Faultless ! Beautiful food, cooked to perfection 👌🏻

Don’t go here if you have young children. We walked in earlier to loud house music; the speaker by the entrance strobing and blaring. The atmosphere would’ve been immaculate if it wasn’t *checks watch* 2pm on a Saturday. We had our young daughter with us and it was simply far too loud for her without ear defenders, so we asked if the music could be turned down. The server obliged and turned it down to a decent level, which was lovely of him. We sat down, took our seats, and they took our order. Then, the music got turned up again. Then the server turned it back down. Bit of music volume table tennis. The young cooks then called the server over and clearly demonstrated that the music was to be set at a loud level, and that this isn’t something customers have a say in. The music had switched to country at this point - a nice consolation - but the volume was still outrageous. The tension rose and it became evident that the young, clearly immature cooks wanted their own way. We asked several times for it to be turned down, and, while they did eventually keep it to an above average level, the back-and-forth didn’t make us feel particularly welcome. That’d all be passable if the food was elite. It wasn’t. I got the original which included ‘brisket’. As you can see from the picture, this was actually just strands of overcooked beef. The rest of it was lovely though, especially the cornbread and ‘slaw. Nice place all-in-all, and the Buddy’s pale ale was elite. It’s just not somewhere to go if you have young children, and certainly not somewhere to go if you have a request that goes against their weird core beliefs, which appears to just be overcooking the red meats and playing music really loudly.

Empty (only three tables taken) but no room for table of 6

Blown away by the whole experience firstly a great atmosphere as soon as you walk in ,the food and service is excellent

Absolutely stunning food, left feeling satisfied and stuffed! Well worth the price.

Have been to Buddy's once before and had burgers which were delicious. Wanted to try the Original Pit tray.... Wish I hadn't the Chilli, corn bread, and chips were all nice. Unfortunately the pulled pork, turkey, brisket and ribs were dry and overcooked. To cap things off the guy plating the food, don't know if he was the chef/cook. He was constantly shouting and very rude to his staff.The guy and girl who served us were both very nice. Very disappointing after looking forward to coming here.

So glad we booked a table here. The staff are lovely and the food is utterly delicious. It was our first visit so didn't really know what to expect. We both ordered burgers which when they turned up were enormous, we'd also ordered a side of pork belly bites that quite frankly you could get an addiction to. I would definitely go back as they really know what they're doing and they do it well.

Excellent food and great staff. The sharer was a beast of a meat plate and thoroughly recommended.

By far the best BBQ food I've ever had and cheaper than some of the BBQ chains I've been to before. Definitely would recommend.

Amazing food and atmosphere. It's rare to find a proper smokehouse, and this is the real thing. We had the pork belly bites for starters which were brilliant. Philly cheese dog (sublime flavours, the beef was so tasty) and the pitmasters cob (brilliant selection of tasty meats). The mains were huge, lots of succulent meat. But we had to try the chilli, and that didn't disappoint. The chips are dusted with red salt which gives them an amazing flavour. Staff were great, the place was a delight, and the atmosphere made it feel really comfortable. Will definitely be back!

I went for my birthday a few weeks ago, we were told when we sat down that we needed to go fairly quickly as another table of 11 booked, we had no problem with this. I was really looking forward to this as it was my birthday meal with family. I had the pit master, all the meat was dry and hard, including the brisket which crumbled the chilli was awful and inedible. My wife ordered the chicken and waffles which were not fresh but hard dry packet ones which my wife couldn’t eat. The servers were quite defensive about them being Belgian waffles but this isn’t written on the menu. The waiting staff did give us a very large discount and I was pretty impressed that our food was reimbursed. The sad thing is i wanted to enjoy fantastic bbq but got tough as old boots. Hope it improves and this was a one off.

Absolutely amazing for someone who's is not a burger fan the amigo smashed burger was amazing really enjoyed it will definitely be returning

Stopped for a Spud with garlic butter, cheese 🧀 and baked beans 🫘, absolutely gorgeous. Only one other that excells and that's my wife who's obviously second to none. Your food is amazing many thanks for the experience and so well priced too. 👌🏻🙏🏻

Definitely wouldn’t have The Bird is the Word again, literally everything was deep fried & rock hard. The “slaw” consisted of pieces of spring onion & red onion and that was it, very disappointing meal for £22.

2nd time visiting buddys and the burgers are excellent, large portions, decent Ale as well (brixton) definitely Recommend!

Love Buddy’s. If you’re a meat lover then this is the place for you.

We were very lucky to walk in and get a table on Saturday lunchtime, as the couple that came in just after us were told there was no room at the inn. I am so glad we made it! We had the Philly Cheesesteak and the cob with all of the meats, and it was absolutely delicious. The staff were really nice and attentive and the place had a nice buzz to it. If I was to be really picky I'd say the chips were a bit over seasoned and quite salty, but with a Philly cheesesteak that big I was hardly sad. What I am sad about is that I don't live in Matlock so can't go here every weekend. Really do recommend!

The music was so loud we had to shout to one another to be heard. The waiter was lovely but seemed to be the only one working. The waitress was too busy outside with staff from other restaurants. The OG platter was very disappointing. Not enough for two to share. They didn’t have any corn bread but nothing was offered in replacement. The beef was dry! The ribs tough and only got two when it’s advertised as a half rack. The chilli was also far too spicy. The turkey was lovely but one tiny slice was is not enough for two to share. We were left sitting for 10 minutes with no one offering dessert menu or the bill. More work needs to be done and maybe need to have a manager on duty to make sure things are getting done properly.

Really nice food and a great place to eat,loads of staff serving and food was quick and delicious.

Amazing food with great service, will be going back again asap. Just need more of the glorious smoked meat .

The lady serving us was impolite and inattentive, the place closes at 11 and we were rushed out at 9.30, it felt as though they wanted to get rid of us so they could close early. 3 of our party didn't get what they ordered, the kitchen didn't have in what was requested so instead of asking them what they would prefer the kitchen just gave them chilli .The fries were great and the music was good, some of the other staff also seemed really good perhaps we were just unlucky on our visit

Terrible service will not be back.

Fabulous! Just about the best beef burger I’ve ever had. Delicious, and generous portions. Great service too!

Firstly we were able to make a reservation on a busy Saturday and they were able to accommodate four adults and four kids. So that was great. Then when we sat down we had specific requirements our fussy kids which they adhered too with the things they had in the kitchen. What was nice was the chef was talking to us from over the counter (based on where we were sitting) and he would ask us our dietary requirements for everything on the list before he made it, whilst making everyone’s food first. Service was great. Kids were asking for a lot they didn’t complain once. I even wanted extra crumble on my apple crumble and they gave me extra crumble and custard haha they didn’t make me feel ridiculous at all. I’d be happy to go again based on how we were treated. Also they didn’t have their the options of what we think you should try but they had the hungover burger which was really good. The garlic tots the mash was delicious and chicken tenders were fab.

Tasty food and very nice staff! 🍔🥤

1st time eating here last night and it was amazing!! The staff are all super freindly. Great relaxed atmosphere and the food was outstanding. (The mac and cheese is to die for ) spot on table service too , highly recommend!!!

Amazing, lovely place amazing food and nice atmosphere, staff are also all lovely had to give props to chefs , best food out in a long time.

Best jacket potato ever. Have the Pit Master, go on, you deserve it. It's £10 but you get loads. Top lad serving as well. Keep it local!

What a great food experience. Hats off to Ben and Louis for cooking such wonderful delights. Great environment, great beer, food unbelievable and so damn tasty. The staff should definitely get free food though!

Top notch. Come eat and drink here. Superb and abundant food, great attitude and class. Love it. Imagine if Derbyshire was actually in the States, and you wandered into a grill pit/smokehouse joint... better accents and black pudding obviously... good, fresh food and no one leaves hungry.

Must visit place when in Matlock or make the trip just to go here! Lovely food served by great staff ..

Fantastic food and friendly service

Best burhlgers inbthe East midlands

Absolutely epic food at this authentic American style BBQ establishment. Best American BBQ in the UK. Even the desserts are epic

So sad to leave this review, my wife's 2 patties in her burger were raw in the middle 😔 Think this is something that doesn't happen often as they all work hard, just spoilt our experience..

Absolutely amazing food, great staff and fantastic atmosphere. Definitely recommend

We visited this place last Saturday 7th of October with two good fiends. Now then I must admit this has got to be thee best place I’ve eaten in a long long time.! Entering the place is mesmerising as there was so much to look at with ambient perfect lighting, perfect music playing and the atmosphere was amazing.! Ordered a drink and the peanut butter milkshake was out of this world.! To watch the young chef cook was awesome and very professional he was, the food we ordered was ‘outstandingly amazing’ I had the The Original wow the palate was salivating from start to finish can’t express how extraordinary this meal was.! Staff are amazing and friendly even the chef came over to talk to us which I thought was ‘going above n beyond’ 5stars kiddo 👊. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to family and friends and we will be coming back I can assure you. If you have not visited then get ya send there and try the menu.! Great value for money just 🤩

Sensational food. Really friendly staff and atmosphere. Place looks fab and great music too.

1st visit here. Had the Buddy’s All American Hero platter. Will happily go back and try other items on the menu

Really friendly staff, really awesome food & really reasonably priced. The holy trinity 👌🏽

Brilliant American BBQ in the fairly unexpected setting of a Peak District town. Amazing food, can't recommend enough.

A really nice BBQ place. The food is tasty and portions are very generous.

We came in her on route. £20 for dry ribs. Not impressed and got seated on an old garden bench. So uncomfortable..

Unfortunately we found all the meat except the bbq pulled pork to be extremely dry. Great concept and sure when they hit it correct it’s brilliant. Sides, slaws and fries all good.

Loved the food, which is all that really counts.

Part of a group of 4 it took 20 mins to take our drinks order which took another 20 mins to arrive. Then our food order was taken as we waited for our food to arrive we could see other tables becoming frustrated with the length of time it was taking for their food to arrive. After over an hour of waiting I asked the table server how much longer the food would be and he was unable to give a definite answer. I'm not joking when I say it was taking around 45 mins for the chef to prepare each tables food. It was an absolute shambles our food took over 2 hours to arrive and every table was being offered discounts for their wait. Ruined our night as we had planned to go for drinks afterwards. I would ask how long your food is going to take before ordering. Maybe they need to get Gordon Ramsey in to get some sense of organisation.

I really enjoyed the meal and the staff were great. Provided some where for us to put the push chair and gave us a table with plenty of room. Is a small place but food and people great.

Some of the best, if not the best BBQ food I've ever had. Service was a bit slow at times but they were young kids, probably working a summer job. Would have been nice to sit outside but it was closed off. But the food alone is 5 stars

Lovely food, very worth the visit

Visited it about a year ago and then went again last week. First visit was great but this time, not so much. Prices gone way up. Food is ok but nothing like it was. Front of house felt like Tesco staff. Shame, as the winning formula of 12 months ago, has been changed.

Excellently cooked meat, it's really worth it. One comment only, the ventilation is not very good so our clothes got the grilled meat smell.

Been to a few smokehouses, the food here is as good as any I've had, and better than many, the pitmaster sandwich has some great brisket, very tender.

Disgraceful, takeaway service shocking ordered the Mac and cheese with meat on, didn’t even have meat on and was half full, no sauces with the chicken tenders and a pinch full of chips on the sharing platter

Honestly.... Probably the best burger I have had in 2023. The place itself is very inviting and enticing! Once you make your way in, you are greeted by the atmosphere and the lovely people waiting to serve you. We were a big group and we were dealt with very swiftly. After we place our food order, you can see the chefs (who I must say, are very knowledgeable in gastronomy) prepare the best of a burger right in front of you pretty much. Would I recommend it? 100% Would I recommend you to book a take before hand.... Certainly!

Great food, service and a really relaxing laid back atmosphere! The food was amazing!!!!! with big portions and we was regularly checked on to see how everything was and if we needed a top up on our drinks! Would definitely recommend coming here, not bad prices either! I had the pigs can fly burger and side of Mac and cheese for just over £20 ! Amazing !

Excellent food, decent service and a fair price. Very impressed. Better than both Reds and Hickory’s in my opinion.

Probably the best burger I've ever eaten 😋 and I've had loads of them

Was lovely staff was great definitely go again as the food is lovely

It was nice, my partner had some fluff in his burger but he just pulled it of and devoured it. Was a bit disappointed that rosemary fries had no rosemary on as I changed my meal just for that reason.

Excellent little place to visit, excellent service, accommodating with the menu, friendly staff.. Fabulous food ! We will definitely visit again, if you haven't been yet, Do !

Great surroundings, lovely staff and out of this world food at a great price! What more can u ask for

Just been, had the All American platter. The portions are ginormous. The quality of the meat is excellent as is the service and very reasonably priced. Will be returning quickly.

Lovely place, great food although we had to send food back once after we'd requested no cheese and Mustard.. it then came back with mustard on and we didn't have the fight to send it back a second time. Food is tasty, fresh and good value. Less the confusion a lovely evening.

Having lived in Texas for a while I was excited and sceptical when is saw a BBQ joint in Matlock, but I finally visited and tried a platter to sample a few meats at once. Everything was great and the reviews are well deserved. Real BBQ on the edge of the Peak District! If I were to make a suggestion it would be that the sauce, albeit great, could be served on the side, as the seasoned, smoked meat doesn't need it. A lot of US BBQ places serve their sauce in a bottle at the table. Anyway, I will be back whenever I remember to book ahead!

If you want the best burger on the planet then ask for the Pitbull. It's superb. Excellent food, great prices, great staff.

Absolutely delishious, friendly staff, great prices, my husband said it was the best burger he'd ever tasted

Having to update this review. We've had several great meals here but sadly the latest... Very disappointed. 17:45/18:00 might be an early start to evening dining but I don't think anyone in was enamored. 2 out of 3 of our dishes had significant problems, Smoked pork with a good bark sadly dry as old wood. Eaves dropping on the next table their cheese burger dishes had no cheese. It just felt like disinterested staff disappeared around the corner to the kitchen after taking order not to reappear until the end.

Never got a hello as we walked in just a "have you booked" 4 of us put in a corner table very cramped. Waitress came to take our order everything we asked she didn't know we had to keep suggesting she to go and ask for us. You cannot order anything without it being in some sort of bap/cob which I don't eat much of. The food came my husband and son liked their burgers but my daughter in law asked for no sauce and it was put on we asked for it to be took off and was told that's what you ordered, my meat was dry and chewy we asked for pudding which would have been just pancakes but none left. There was no atmosphere. Needless to say we will not be back.

Amazing portions..some of the meat was a little dry..but very tasty

After initially getting turned away due to how busy the place was, we got served by Sophie who was absolutely lovely, she went out of her way to get us in and constantly was checking to see how we were getting on, food was lovely, ordered a short rib cob, the short rib was a little tough/crispy but still wonderful, found it strange it came on the bone but that’s really minor if anything. Highly recommend if you’re a meat lover, definitely book ahead!

Absolute amazing place!! I have been several times now. Staff are always fantastic, can't do enough for you. My only advice is don't have much to eat the day in which you go you won't be hungry afterwards!

Lovely food, been a few times now always enjoy it

Absolutely outstanding food and great atmosphere! The staff were so accommodating to us this afternoon, even let us move table so we could let our nervous dog lay on the floor in peace. We traveled an hour and half and wasn’t disappointed. Authentic taste, great portions and brilliant atmosphere. We will be back and i will recommend to any big foodie!

As a keen 'smoker' and bbq lover I have been wanting to go to Buddy's to sample their meat for quite a while. Today was that day. Naturally I went for the Pitmaster Platter. And I was very disappointed 😞. The brisket was very smokey but there was no smoke ring! (Anyone who knows about smoking meat with know what im getting at but as im not 100% sure ill leave it at that) 😉. The brisket was also chewy as the connective tissue hadnt broken down due to not being cooked long enough. The pitmaster wraps were too garlicky (and garlic is amazing with smoked meat if done right). The St Louis style ribs didn't have the sternum bone removed or the silver skin removed from the bone side which would be the beginning of st Louis style ribs. The fries and macaroni fries were nothing special in the slightest. Overall very unhappy. There are a lot better smokehouse out there

Great atmosphere and even better food. I ordered something 'small' for a really reasonable price and I ended up not being able to finish it! Which is a real shame because the food was absolutely amazing. If I'm in the area again I will definitely re-visit

Good food, recommend the Bacon Double Cheese burger, but platter was a little overpriced tho, not full portions off the main Menu.

Been 3 times and the food is always amazing! The burgers are great and the breakfast is incredible (Lumberjack!) - whilst it may take a bit of time to arrive at the table, it's worth the wait!

Went the other day for a friend's birthday and was very impressed. Loved the decor music and of course the food 👌 will definitely be going again soon, good value for money for the amount of food. Staff also very friendly

Absolutely superb, came here 5mths ago back again last night with son, partner & 3 grandchildren, service, food and price etc 😀 brilliant 👏 loved it, booked again for May sons 30th birthday

Amazing food and service, perfect birthday meal🥳🥳

Came here for bbq and wanted to try pitmaster tray but the menu has changed and is mainly burgers and sandwiches. The food was still amazing though but expected more items like ribs, wings etc.