⚠️ Both branches of Dickey's closed earlier in 2023.  They claimed they were opening new stores in March but this never happened.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

⭐⭐⭐

🍖 BBQ / 📍 Meguro/Yoyogi

📓 Visits: 2 (Meguro: 1, Yoyogi: 1)

Dickey's Barbecue Pit opened two branches of their American franchise in Tokyo this year.  I visited the first branch in Meguro a week after opening in June 2021.  A second branch opened in Yoyogi in September which I've now visited too.  Both restaurants are quite small with the Meguro branch seating 15 and the Yoyogi branch just 12.  On my visit to the Meguro branch I left smelling like a BBQ pit myself but that wasn't a problem on my visit to the Yoyogi branch where the door was left wide open, which left both the restaurant and the food to get cold.  Staff on the register didn't speak English when I went but there's a bilingual menu, which you can preview on their website.

The menu's changed a little since my first visit: fewer items are available now and prices have gone up.  I failed to save a copy of the original menu but there are pics in the review on RocketNews from earlier in the year.  Sides are up by around 130 yen, burgers are up by up to 400 yen, wings up 50 yen a piece and ribs up 150 yen each.  The meat plate now has a complicated pricing structure depending on what you choose.  I went for the 3-meat, 2-side plate with beef brisket, beef brisket burnt ends (pulled chicken on visit 2) and pulled pork.  This was JPY 1,880 on my first visit and should have been JPY 2,180 on my second but I noted 1,880 at the time so perhaps they undercharged?

The food took about 5 minutes to arrive after ordering.  The pulled pork was a bit salty on my first visit but I didn't notice that second time and the single type of sauce didn't have the 'plasticky' quality it had the first time.  The pulled chicken had no taste and all the meat was quite dry on visit 2, completely lacking in fat.  The brisket was completely different from my first visit and even further away from the brisket pictured in the marketing.  Portions are a decent size and (even with the increases) it's much cheaper than Smokehouse and unlike with Freeman Shokudo (review here) one plate is enough.  But overall I felt this was a drop in quality so for that reason, the cold room and the fact that somewhere better opened this year I've lowered by overall score.  Still no oshibori.

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1316/A131601/13257858/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.65

📱 Booking:  🟩 Easy.  Bookings for two or more are taken via Tabelog.  Both my visits were walk-ins.  A limited amount of meat is smoked per day so if you go late they may have run out of some options.

📍 Location:

Meguro: 2-17-4 Kamiosaki.  2 minutes' walk North from Meguro Station, West Exit.  Dedicated street-facing entrance.

Yoyogi: 1-36-12 Yoyogi.  2 minutes' walk from Yoyogi Station West or A3 Exit.  

Map data ©2021 Google 

 📅 Visit November 2021 (Yoyogi)

3-meat plate

💴 Damage: 1,880
⏱️ Time taken: 20m

📅 Visit June 2021 (Meguro)

3-meat plate

💴 Damage: 1,880
⏱️ Time taken: 40m