Spitfire Barbecue in Bristol, City of

We have been to this place 3 times now and we absolutely love it! Absolutely amazing food, can be expensive but is worth it! The cocktails are not great unfortunately so stick with spirits or beer. We did have ONE slightly disappointing experience last valentines day however they were extremely busy so we gave them, the benefit of the doubt. It was an hour wait for food then when it came was slightly overdone. Again we put this down to it being an extremely busy day. The ribs, pulled pork burger and mac n cheese are our personal favourites! Definitely the best bbq/grill place in the centre. Just wish they did better cocktails! Also the parking isn't great but that isn't their fault.

It felt very American, that being a good thing 😜

Had a nice time at spitfire. We thought the meat was a bit tough and not too flavoursome unfortunately and were a bit gutted as were looking forward to it. Not sure it is Smoked for hours/days/whatever it says! The cocktails were OK but they are reasonably priced for Bristol so can't complain, does the job lol! The atmosphere was a bit quiet but maybe that was the time of day and it is winter in January after all! Our server Lucas (apologies if I got your name wrong!!) was very friendly and efficient and I think that's quite rare these days, so we were grateful for that :) I will probably be back in the summer as I want to try the ribs!!! Overall - had a nice time and will be back to try other items :D

The food was amazing, as were the drinks. A nice chilled atmosphere for some BBQ. Country music playing, not overly busy and tables not cramped. We were served by Ellie who was helpful with explanations and recommendations. Always seemed to pop by to check on us at just the right moment. It was all great but particular shoutout to the cinnamon cheesecake! (Which we had to share one slice between 3 people because we were so full of delicious meat!)

We went here on a Sunday early evening. The service was good and the food was excellent.

Good food and great BBQ meats, too cold in the restaurant. Shivering while eating isn't fun!

Spitfire gets better every time I go, but the quality of the meat is still lacking to me - a lot of incredibly fatty cuts

16 hours smoked meats are to be tried here. Never had smoky pulled pork or beef that tasty

I’m slightly concerned about the negative reviews I’ve heard about the spitfire in Bristol the service very welcoming I brought my best friend and fiancé and treated them to lunch due Saturday before Christmas being his birthday.. the service was very friendly and the food was cooked very professionally, all three of us were thrilled with our food.. our only regret was there was no room left for pudding.. I even brought my best friend who’s birthday was a spitfire cap as we had such a great experience.

Went here over 20 times in the pass three years, however, the food last time I came really disappointed me. I believe the restaurant has changed all the staffs and chefs as I can’t see any similar faces. The food also changed with the new chefs where the meat such as punk chop and back rib are totally overcooked, taste hard like biting rocks. Prices also increased by 20% which’s unacceptable with the food quality. The new staffs are very rude, definitely not recommended for this restaurant!!!

Been here a few times and it the food has always been amazing! Will definitely be back

Tough and grainy ribs & brisket. Not recommended at all. Overpriced for the quality of meat. Manager couldn't help us beyond a partial discount.

If I could give 0 stars I would have. We came here a year ago and it was very good. We came back today with family visiting from overseas and it was extremely disappointing. The food was tough and hard to eat. We ordered a full rib and it was very tough. The manager was extremely rude when we called her to help us fix it. She was defensive and wouldn’t hear a word. I won’t recommend it at all and would never return.

Ribs and brisket were very tough and grainy. Not recommended.

If I could give 0 stars I would have. We came here a year ago and it was very good. We came back today with family visiting from overseas and it was extremely disappointing. The food was tough and hard to eat. We ordered a full rib and it was very tough. The manager was extremely rude when we called her to help us fix it. She was defensive and wouldn’t hear a word. I won’t recommend it at all and would never return.

Best night out in a long time, busy evening - waiting staff on point, not rushed and very relaxed. Everyone of our party of 14 had no issues whatsoever- food was amazing. Hats off to kitchen team.

Gran comida y gran servicio. Todos elegimos una carne diferente y cada uno era igual de bueno. Una mención especial a nuestra camarera Liliana. Que era muy acogedor profesional y fue más allá para garantizar que tuvimos una experiencia gastronómica maravillosa

I enjoyed this food. Chicken was succulent and cooked to perfection. For me the half bbq chicken portion was sufficient and reasonably priced at 10.00 chips and slaw were extra but it was certainly enough to share with another person. Service at times was a little hit and miss but I understand it's Christmas but at 7.30 the venue wasn't overly busy. Yes I recommend and yes I would return.

Amazing BBQ food. We booked a table for 16 of us, and pre-ordered. The staff were very efficient, friendly and very organised. They knew who was having what food from our pre-order, so just in case we forgot, which some of us did, they knew. The food was incredible. The meat fell off the bone, perfectly cooked and seasoned, and loved the creative flair which came with the sides. Once we arrived, the food started to come out within half an hour, and everyone was served at once, and for a table of 16, I must take my hat off to the chef and the organisation of the place, that is certyainly a rarity. Spitfire was recommended to me by a friend, and will certainly go back.

Always good food here and can highly recommend! The food is always tasty and the ribs are always juicy & tender.

Great food busy need to book in advance

We dropped in on a Saturday evening and we're warmly welcomed. I have an allergy which was handled so professionally and comfortably. Staff were really lovely. Food was excellent and good value. Would recommend.

My daughters been raving about the Spitfire for years,so I thought i would give it a go with my birthday coming up we booked Ordered our food and waited watching all the other food going past made feel hungry and looking forward to mine. I ordered the Texan Ribs which very spicy hot,but unfortunately that was the only thing that was hot cutting into the ribs I found they were uncooked and cold so I sent them back. 20 minutes later they arrived and they were so hard to cut the meat off the bone I gave up and just ate the chips that aren't included in the meal only as a side. The manager took it away got a small apology and it was taken off my bill. I thought the food was definitely over priced due to the small portions and everything are side orders No apology when we were leaving infact she stayed in the background Throughly disappointed especially on my birthday

Highly recommend!!!! The food is so so good and the service is amazing. Beth and Boti are rly lovely :)) The cocktails are out of this world ❤️

Staff and food was good, only one vegetarian option and they didn’t have everything required for that so the burger was dry. Had quite a wait for the food but otherwise was good. Non vegetarian options were good

A real shame that a number of items on a relatively small menu weren’t available, food that they had was average at best.

Just wow. We are so full we now can’t walk back to the car. We ordered items from the pit rather than meals and shared and my god it is well worth the money and the drive here. Incredible food that melts in your mouth. Half of the items on the menu are Gluten free or can be gluten free. Everyone was so lovely and accommodating. Shout out the the lovely Lucas!! Great selection of drinks and even brought my husband a little brownie for his birthday. Will 100% be coming again with friends.

1st visit to spitfire, I thought the food I had ( pulledpork) was the nicest I have ever tasted 😋 friendly staff and quick service... excellent

The staff were great. Atmosphere was very quiet on a mid-week lunch time but I reckon it would have been a good atmosphere even if it was much busier. The beef brisket was great - really tender and tasty! The coleslaw and fries were great! I was bit shocked at getting a single stem of broccoli for £2.95 though! Will definitely be coming back.

Amazing as always. Beefy fries were amazing.

We have walked past this place so many times and the smell coming from it has been delightful. Finding ourselves back in Bristol and a special occasion we decided to book a table. Good job we did as it was very busy.. so busy you could hardly hear the music over people talking. It was very noisy. The lemon meringue cocktail was amazing and I had noticed there was Sticky Toffee pudding in the dessert menu which I was really looking forward to. The garlic type bread arrived, mine with cheese and the other half had it without. It was amazing and we were really looking forward to the rest of our meal. However, this is when things started to go wrong. An hour after ordering the waiter came over very apologetic but the belly pork I had ordered along side my dirty fries was not available. I politely said I will just have the dirty fries then (thinking about the sticky toffee pudding that was still teasing me from the dessert menu) thinking possibly would be a side plate as they came with pulled pork on. Not long after my dirty fries arrived along with my husbands wings and coleslaw … no sign of his fries or sausage he had ordered. By this time we were starving so we started eating … when we had finished the sausage turned up. We didn’t end up getting the remainder of our meal or the Sticky Toffee Pudding. A big thank you to the gentleman (possibly the manager) who had seen we were upset and just wanted to go, who spoke to the kitchens to see what had gone on and was very apologetic on the restaurants behalf. The food we had was very tasty but took so long and most of it never appeared! There were a number of larger parties there and no one else seemed to be having the issues we did. So maybe it was just bad luck. Thank you again to the gentleman that spoke to us so calmly even though I initially wasn’t the politest person in the world after being so disappointed. Maybe at some point I will return for the sticky toffee pudding.

Great meal, fantastic service from Luca!

It was a Wednesday evening booking for a small group of people. We were seated rapidly and after about 20 mins our food and drink order was taken. We then had to wait for one and a half hours before the food finally arrived and certain items arrived cold. Although after complaining the cold items were replaced, I can say this was not the idea situation. Apart from the bad service I have no other complaints, the food when hot is very tasty. The beer choices are quite good. Just one final point, I recommend that you check the bill carefully. Will I be going to the Spitfire again? I don't think so, mainly because of slow service on a Wednesday. Imagine the waiting time on a busy day..

Fantastic food, highly recommended

Suuuuper yummy food, barbecue sauce is amazing, loved the wings

The portion sizes are crazy, think a single is a good option to share for two people! But v tasty and great value

Fab place, great food and atmosphere. Lukasz our waiter was superb excellent guy and great recommendations.

Disappointing and Overpriced I recently visited this smoked meat restaurant and was left underwhelmed. I ordered a variety of items including a burger, corn ribs, and pork rashers, but all were served lukewarm and lacked flavor. The biggest disappointment was the “brisket mac and cheese” at £8.40—no brisket, just a tiny portion of mac and cheese. When I raised this with the manager, I was told the high price was due to importing the brisket from the U.S., yet there was no brisket in sight. While they did offer a discount, it didn’t make up for the poor value. For the price, I expected far better. Sadly, there are much better establishments out there for smoked meat lovers.

Food absolutely delicious, good range of alcoholic drinks and staff friendly and professional

I came here with my family for my 30th Birthday meal. Hands down the best restaurant experience I've had, the staff were so kind and accommodating, the food arrived very quickly and all together, there was no mistakes at all despite it being a large order. The quality of food was great, portions were great and the food was delicious. The atmosphere was great it was easy to talk to the people at your table without having to shout over loud music. The location is fantastic as well right on the harbourside. I can't recommend going here enough! I already can't wait to go back!

Felt pretty mugged off frankly. They ran out of their top 3 mains meals so my friend and I went for belly burnt ends, they were absolutely delicious. However within several small bites they were gone - this can not be considered a main meal! Mearly a side especially as they come with nothing else. Just 3 small cubes of meat on a metal tray. My friends order came with raw onion and some pickles, mine did not? When there are litterally 3 components to a 'meal' how can some raw onions and pickled from one out of two meals be forgotten? The mac and cheese we were told would satisfy two people, I think most people would argue it's definately for one person. Again, very delicious and you can see a lot of time goes into preparing very tasty food here but we left still feeling very hungry. Almost £40 we paid - for two half pints, 3 pieces of meat each, some raw onion and gherkins and a singular side of mac and cheese. The menu could also do with graphic clarity as the extras are specifically just for the burgers but this is unclear, the waitress agreed. They're charging almost £7 PER sausage here! I mean come on! Such a shame. Is this a place to get a good value for money full sized delicious bbq dinner, or bbq tapas dishes?? Maybe we didn't do it right but from this experience we left in disbelief.

This place was amazing, we got quite a few sides rather than one big main meal and they were such good portions and delicious. Very filling and we'll definitely be going again.

I've been in the past and was always impressed. Came recently and the food was nice, but not as fantastic as I remember. The waiting staff just loitered by the bar chatting, leaving us with finished plates in front of us for ages! Also, the manager on shift was eating a piece of meat in the kitchen - where food was being made. He then put the bone in the bin, licked his fingers clean, and went back out on the floor to serve customers, NOT washing his hands at all! This had definitely put me off returning or recommending any time soon.

Mejor comida barbacoa en Bristol, tenía las alas de búfalo con las costillas y la comida era increíble, he estado aquí tantas veces, muy bien situado al lado del río, la comida algo cara pero definitivamente vale la pena

It was good to go but if I'm being honest I've tasted better meat and pulled pork at home 😬

Amazing tasting BBQ and great service. Good view of the harbour as well.

Visited multiple times. Every time great experience. Amazing favours

Had to wait for the table , Then long wait for food

the half chicken was excellent, the front of house very attentive and the chef who cooked my food very sexy

Sat outside and had a few small bites ..what we had was very nice ..staff were friendly and helpful would go again

Nice food. Bit pricey. Staff were very friendly.

Saturday work together. Service great, beer great, food exceptional. Would go back again👍

The food was amazing. The Mac ‘n cheese is something else. Lily who was our waitress is a legend!

Great choice of bbq meats and sides. Very tasty signature house sauces and seasoning. Reasonably priced. Would definitely recommend!

My partner and I went for some lunch on a Saturday and it was incredible! Very helpful staff and the food was incredible, we will be back

To this day it’s the best I’ve ever eaten for the price I paid. You meat eaters have to try this fantastic restaurant. Four of us felt like proper carnivores and ate very very well for only £147. We definitely could have fed bears with the amount we ate!

Live this place, great food and helpful staff with seating indoor and out. Right on the river too

Now in a meat coma!!! The food, service and atmosphere were on point. Our meals were amazing. Will be coming back again for sure.

Mixed experience. The ambience was really nice outside (by the river) - although it didn't feel as good inside. The food was pretty good, although it takes quite a long time to arrive (which to be fair, they warn you is the case with that Texas BBQ style cooking). The price I thought was pretty fair for the meals. Staff were friendly and helpful, although a bit rushed off their feet. Overall it was pretty good, but didn't blow me away.

The food was good but not great as the bill would suggest. Bathrooms could be cleaner.

I don't even know what to say about this place, it's so good! The food is simply spectacular and the price is super fair;

It’s great if you’re fancy to eat burgers. Good food, nice atmosphere and staff!

A little hidden gem. Lovely food and beer, and if you like country and western music even better.

Great food/drink/service and location...highly recommend

Great service and delicious food.

Pretty disappointing. Portions were small for the price, (£7.5 for a single sausage that came with nothing!) presentation was clearly not even a consideration l, the meat was meh quality at best, and didn't taste, look or feel like it had ever seen a BBQ. The smoked hard lemonade was amazing though.

Their chef recommended medium rare roasting of their Rump steak, so of course we ordered that. Unfortunately, it was probably not the same chef who was at work, because he had at least cooked them both through. There weren't many chips either. There was shade on the terrace and when it was windy it also got cold and it would be nice if there were blankets to borrow. Got a reduction in price because the steaks were overcooked

Wandered in on the off chance for lunch, fantastic barbecue food plenty of choice, wings and currywurst were lovely. Would make this a regular if i were local.

This was our second visit having come here previously a couple of years ago. We thought that the food was great, it can appear expensive from the menu but the quality justified it and it was good value overall. Authentic BBQ food and friendly service.

Great atmosphere, pulled pork lush ,Great Gluten free options. Including beer 🍺 😎

I am an usual Spitfire's costumer, i love go at least once a week. Delicious food, friendly staff and fast service! I have never had a bad experiences during my visits, quite the opposite!! Highly recommended!!!

They forgot to bring one dish. Fries were lukewarm. Small portions for the price. Food tastes good though.

Delicious and not bad service but very small portions for the prices.

I really enjoyed this place and I would definitely recommend it, the food was delicious, right on the banks of the river and you can see they are really into their BBQ. It could be a bit expensive depending on what you are used to, but you get good food in return. If you are in the area and looking for BBQ, that’s the place

Great barbecue restaurant and along the waterfront

Really good food, I was impressed, friendly staff too!

Constantly looking for staff, very slow service and portions for cost are terrible . Having said that the food was tasty but just not enough. Poor value

Not the kind of place we’d usually go, but we had such a great time! Good vibes, decent food & lovely staff. Had a really good, fun evening, thanks!

Nothing to rave about portions small and only worth trying thing was mac and cheese the wings were not worth the money same as the ribs.

Booked for 6 first time visit. The positives were the staff were friendly and helpful. The food is the issue. The portion sizes for everything was ridiculously small and for a high price . For example one typical sized sausage on a plate nearly 9 pounds. Half rack of ribs that looked like third racks, Nine ponds for loaded chips that were in a small pot and burnt ends that did not look like the portion size online, a small chicken piece on the plate. The food quality was just ok but this is really not what I expect from South African hospitality or from BBQ restaurants. The next day we went to St. Nicks market to show the family how BBQ is done for 11 pounds which put them into a meat coma as there was so much. Showing that it is possible to provide quality food and fantastic value for money.Really disappointed as was so looking forward to our visit but what we found was tapas size portions at high price and lacking the quality.

I recently visited Spitfire Barbecue with my family on 19th of July. While we enjoyed the food and overall ambiance of the restaurant, our experience was marred by an incident involving one of the staff members that I feel compelled to attention. As we were seated outside, it was not immediately apparent to the waitstaff that we were ready to place our order. In an effort to gain the attention of a waiter, I raised my hand. The waiter in question approached me and, to my dismay, responded in a highly inappropriate and discriminatory manner. He said, "I am very busy," and followed this by stating, "We don't do this in this country, go home." As an Asian individual, I felt extremely disrespected and targeted by his comments. This experience was deeply upsetting and left a negative impression on what was otherwise a pleasant outing. Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable, and I believe it is important for such behaviour to be addressed promptly to ensure it does not happen to other patrons in the future.

We’ve been here once 6 years ago and came back recently and the food is still amazingly good. Food is seasoned very well….i recommend making your own platter with the barbecue and adding different meats to share. LOVED the burnt ends, spitfire sausage and beef brisket. One thing I would not recommend is their Brazilian Lemonade. It tasted nothing like how a Brazilian Lemonade should taste. It was SO bitter like all they did was add lime zest and I could. It taste the condensed milk whatsoever. Other than that, everything was wonderful and I’d come back again…I just wouldn’t get that drink.

A temple of the flesh. We tried the ribs and they were very juicy, the pastrami sandwich was also tremendous. Highly recommended.

This place really blew my socks off tbh. We had a large work outing of over 20 people and the staff were all over it. Food was great, drinks were plentiful with a good choice of beers. Would definitely return next time I’m in Bristol.

I was craving steak for a long time and this one just hit the spot. Food delicious, drinks fancy and tasty. The Spanish waiter was very attentive and friendly. Great lunch experience, I can only recommend!!!

Kitchen closes 2:30h before closing time

The food at this place is phenomenal. We arrived and the table next to us had ordered the St Louis ribs as a double so they had virtually half a pig on their table. As a group of 4 we ordered the same ribs double, the belly pork burnt ends and the beef brisket slices along with chips and drinks. All in all, the food was great, service was fantastic and the walk along the waterside was needed to walk off our food babies!

Spitfire is great! The staff are very welcoming, accommodating and efficient. Alejandro was our principal service and he was amazing. He went out his way to accommodate our 2-year-old granddaughter. The food and drink were all excellent. I had the half-chicken, which was exceptionally succulent and tasty. Others had ribs, burnt ends, brisket and other meals, all of which were excellent. We’ll be back soon.

The atmosphere was perfect for our family group booking. The food was very tasty and service very good, but we all left pretty hungry and at an average £25 per head that was disappointing and will stop us returning

Wonderful service, the staff were absolutely amazing. Food was super delicious. We had the ribs, some sides and a burger and all were cooked to perfection. Love the modern but cozy atmosphere of the restaurant as well.

For what was a quiet Sunday afternoon service, I couldn't understand how everything was taking so long. We had a main course and a dessert which ended up taking around 2 hours, it would have been longer if we didn't go up and order/pay yourselves. The food itself wasn't cold but wasn't hot either so it feels like service was the issue again, with it being sat around waiting to get taken to a table.....the dessert was ok, but didn't really taste of any sort of peanut which was disappointing. All on all it feels a bit over priced. I can totally forgive a longer time if the restaurant was busy....but at one of only 5 tables outside. In the past it's been great here but I won't be back after this experience. Oh...and to top it off there was a mouse running around outside

Really like Beef brisket burnt ends and Corn ribs. They are amazing

the BBQ was nice. the pork belly bites and brisket were lovely and the potato salad was great. the tater tots were amazing! the chicken was also lovely. it is quite expensive though for what it is and i didnt really like the sausage. but overall its a nice place to go if you want BBQ food.I also think the interior was lovely and i like that they have a cute swing in the outdoor seating area. the also take blue light card which is great.

The meat was quite dry, it may have been a bad day...the truth is that I expected more. The portions are not very big

The spitfire barbecue was absolutely amazing!! The service was lovely,welcoming and helpful! The food! Was absolutely amazing! The meat was second to none!! So tender and tasty! And on top of that today,being fathers day,almost us dad's received a lovely box of two sauces and a seasoning 👌🏼 what a lovely thought and nice gesture from spitfire,thankyou and I will be definitely using these during bbq season 👌🏼🥩🍔 highly recommend this place to anyone who loves they're meat 🍖🥩🤤

My attched photo is £25.40 worth or food, 2 slices of brisket (£8.95) that were about as thick as cheap gammon and cowboy fries (£7.50). the food did not match the price point in size or taste, this was not value for money.

Amazing food 😋 staff friendly and a lovely place would recommend.

Very good, very large selection of meats and sandwiches. Friendly staff. Really very nice location with a view of the river and several colored lights to create atmosphere. I advise!

It's 5 years since my last visit but this time it was slightly disappointing. Had baby ribs for £12.95 as a shared starter and they certainly were baby ones, unfortunately they weren't really cooked properly, as you would expect the meat to fall off the bone, and were tough to eat. Had burgers, 2 sides and 2 nice beers but overall it was expensive for what it was. Wouldn't rush back.

If Wetherspoons did BBQ and massively overcharged for it. Food was all barely warm, even the fries were cold so they couldn't even be bothered to do the easiest of items fresh. I would be very surprised if this wasn't all frozen.