Champs Smokehouse BBQ & Catering

Stopped by for dinner and I was pleasantly impressed with the food. I ordered fried pickles which were delicious and it was paired with a creole dip and a ranch dip. For dinner I had a pulled pork plate and added a spare rib, had a side of potato salad and baked beans which the beans were really flavorful which is a plus. And my waitress gave great customer service as well. Only missed opportunity was the cornbread but with that I give this establishment a solid 4.5

Brooklyn is a wonderful waitress. She's friendly, always smiling, and quick to serve. We love coming in every Friday. She knows our order, as we sit. Brooklyn always suggests something new for us to try. The food has been amazing. Thank you again Brooklyn

Great smoked platter waitresses friendly fair prices

Tri-tip I got was tough, dry and cold. Sorry to say that, but facts are facts. Macaroni salad and fries were okay, but nothing special. Dinner roll was a little bigger than a golf ball. I would describe the BBQ sauce as sweet and smokey, loved it. Service was good and our server was very pleasant. The atmosphere is casual and the patrons I talked to were friendly. Parking is convenient.

Excellent smoked tri tip! Try the Mac n cheese and mashed potatoes. For a little more kick, try the spicy BBQ sauce. That chicken sandwich rocks. Bridget and Hope are amazing and such great service! 👍

Decent BBQ joint near the airport. Good mix of meats and sauces, including smoked wings. I had the BBQ baked potato with pulled pork. Delicious. They have a good selection of craft beer, too. Two thumbs 👍

This place's food was not good. I got a 2 meat plate and added 2 spare ribs. I chose pulled pork and tri tip for my meats, then sides were macaroni salad and mashed potatoes... at least the ladies up front were nice to me. The ribs and tri tip were just OK. It's not good or bad. The pulled pork was probably my favorite part. That pork was legit good food. The sides were kind of bad, though. The macaroni salad was just undercooked spiral pasta tossed in what seemed like creamy Caesar dressing. The mashed potatoes and gravy were exactly that. I don't think they put anything in the mashies except potatoes. They were drier than a spoonful of sand in the desert. I didn't taste butter, cream, or even any salt at all. The gravy was an afterthought, lightly coating the top of my foam cup. Pickings in this area were slim, so I guess I understand why this place has been around so long. Then again, maybe they just had the B team working the kitchen today. I can't be sure. If you made those sides and you read this... do better

Caught up with some coworkers over beers and some pulled pork sandwiches, food was amazing but a wider variety of beer would be greatly appreciated, blood orange beer was good, Firewalker hazy IPA was better and prices were good, extremely hospitable service! Onion rings 10/10

Been a local fave of mine for ever. Our hostesses Hope and Brooklyn were wonderful to us for dinner this evening. Champs will be busy as all heck during lunch but it mellows out a ton for dinner. Always worth the trek to the edge of town. My favorite is the pit beef and carrot cake for desert!!

Some of the best BbQ in town. Always delicious and perfectly cooked. We got the smokehouse nachos and the 2 meat meal. We picked pulled pork and the hot links with Mac and cheese and potato salad. All of it smelled divine and didn't disappoint. The nachos had fresh house made cut and fried chips and chip beans. The meets were so good and especially loved their homemade BBQ sauce. The place is cute inside though my table was a little sticky but that could be overlooked for the good food. The service was good and the sever even brought me a to-go soda. Tip: put three BBQ sauce and the nachos for a special treat.

Well, the owner, Chris and I, go way back to our paramedic days at the ambulance services in our area. Chris was able to break free and find his true passion, but still serving the great people we live around, just in a different way! BBQ?!?! Who would have known? I come here frequently and have tried most everything on the menu and must say there isn't a single thing I'd give a bad review! This time I got my order to go, but eating in is always a great experience as well. Staff is always very attentive and constantly filling your order with a smile. The business itself is always clean and decorated with similar items you'd find in many other BBQ places across the country. Don't be afraid of take out, because they don't skimp on the portions in the slightest. Pictures don't lie. Got half rack of baby backs and half rack of spare ribs this time because I couldn't decide which I liked better. PS...sorry no pictures of the poutine as I was devoured to quickly to take a picture!!! This time I had my staple, ribs, wings and corn muffins. Also tried the poutine with pit beef on top for the first time. The ribs are some of the best in town and always perfectly cooked and sauced. Soft flavorful meat, with that AMAZING BBQ sauce drenched along the edges. I always get a full rack, to share and have some left over for later. The wings are great covered in sauce and the honey buttered corn muffins finish off a well rounded BBQ dish! I really enjoy every trip I make to Champs BBQ! Don't miss this hidden gem in the Bakersfield area!! The only thing I could add is that it could use some signs off side of the freeway to pull in more people passing through the area that are unaware this AMAZING place exists!

The chicken patron wrap is my favorite! All Of the food is really good and the service is excellent. Top 3 Bbq Places in Kern County

Worst BBQ sandwich I have ever had. I ordered a Pit Beef Sandwich and I received a piece of bread, a cup of boiled meat and a container of BBQ sauce. I had to assemble it. The meat was tough. I couldn't just eat it like a sandwich because I could not bite through the meat. I had to cut it with a knife. The fries were not very good too.

Had the taco salad with chicken had a wonderful aroma but the helping of chicken was cold It was served in a fried flower tortilla that tasted like old grease.

The food is pretty tasty but too much salt! My parents get the bbq pork and potato salad all the time. I found them pretty expensive for the size of the containers given. Not sure if it's worth the cost.

Great ribs good customer service , take their time explaining menus . Will be back here

This place is nostalgic to me. I use to work around the corner and would come here often but I hardly ever get a chance to stop by these days. Whenever we do come I always get BBQ Salad with either tri tip or deep pit but after a full day of golfing and drinking, the hubby went a tad overboard on the ordering. He ordered the poutine with deep pit and the smoked chicken wings as well as our usual salads! Everything was delicious but I really enjoyed the poutine. I've been wanting to try it since I've never had it before and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The smoked wings was good as well and so we're our salads. We will continue to visit this place, hopefully more often than we do now.

The restaurant looks to be locally owned, owner/operator which I prefer. The Service was good, the restaurant was clean & uncluttered. I ordered the sweet mess/hot mess spicy with fries.The portions were generous, the bread and other items in the sandwich tasted fresh and well proportioned. The only complaint I have was the meat was bland. Like boiled bland. There was plenty of other seasoned ingredients between the bread to make up for it such as the coleslaw, onion rings etc, but it's the meat that should drive the flavor... imho. Maybe it was just that particular sandwich that has bland meat but I admit that I was a little surprised and disappointed. Although I was disappointed, it was good enough to think I'll try again!

I wanted to like this place. I'm a barbecue snob that loves barbecue, so I always look for a good barbecue place when I'm out traveling for work. The mashed potatoes and gravy just okay. The mac and cheese is absolutely horrible. The hot links taste like they just bought the cheapest hot links they can find and throw them on the grill. The ribs a were actually pretty good. The only thing bad about the ribs is that they didn't take the silver skin off. The ribs were bite off the bone and had a good flavor to them. The pulled pork was actually decent. I like that the pulled pork was resting in the liquid from the drip pan. I love that flavor and just added some barbecue sauce to it and it was really good. I wouldn't recommend this place, but if all you know is California barbecue thenyou might be okay with it.

Food was good...when we got it. Our order was ready 20-30 minutes past the estimated time. Then when we arrived, we found out they couldn't completely fulfill our order because they ran out of pickles for the fried pickles, and meat for the tri-tip French dip and meat sandwich. Then when we were there waiting and waiting for our order, we heard them say they ran out of chicken. How does a bbq restaurant run out of meat?!?! The two ladies serving were extremely nice and friendly, no issues there. The cooks had a long day or something because food was very slow coming out. Like I said, ours was 20-30 minutes late. The place was not even overly busy either. Even with all of that, I would still give them a second chance when I'm in town. But definitely out if I have to go through all of that again.

Definitely recommend the smoked chicken and the tri-tip the pit beef was not for me but still delicious with the salsa. The corn mixed with the mashed potatoes and gravy was a great combination. The service was amazing the waitress was on top of her game the ambience was relaxing and welcoming.

After giving them a second chance I'm updating it from 1 to 4, the angus hamburger was great ,customer service nice and friendly, only their chicken wasn't so good... everything else was great

Food is great, service was great.I'd go back for the salad with meat on top. Concerned about cleanliness though. Bathrooms were not good.

Had the rib meat sandwich. The bun and slaw were very good, unfortunately the meat didn't have much smoke flavor or seasoning. It also could have used more barbecue sauce and I wasn't offered any by the waitress so I was sure if any was available. I might be back to try something else but I've heard that much of their meat does lack smokey flavor.

Nice spot for lunch. I ordered the turkey wrap and was quite pleased. Smokehouse Nachos ($14) were kickin! Hand cut, fried and seasoned corn tortilla chips with cheddar cheese, house made chili beans, jalapeños, grilled chicken, sour cream, and topped with a spicy creole sauce! Turkey Wrap $11.50 : smoked turkey, romaine, onion, tomato, avocado, cheddar cheese, ranch wrapped in a warm chipotle tortilla, served with seasoned fries. Food was solid -- pretty simple place. Nice unpretentious spot on the west side of Bakersfield for BBQ. Recommended.

Came here on a business trip. Waitress was very friendly but first things you notice are a bad smell coming from the bathrooms. Then very sticky tables. Ordered tritip and chicken. Chicken and tri trip were cold. Trip tip was also very dry, lacked flavor and had to chew it "forever" to swallow it. Not coming back.

The Best BBQ in town! I would drive 20 minutes to pick up lunch for my staff and inhale it the last 10 minutes during lunch hour. That's how good it is! And the service is to the line!

Service was horrible I ordered online a hour ahead of time and food was ready 20 minutes late and made me late to work and the food wasn't even good horrible never coming back

Great BBQ! Everything that I have tried here has been great. The flavor of the BBQ sauce is the best that I've tasted in town.

Place is empty and ordered a head of time still had to wait another 30mins making me late for my lunch break

The pulled pork was outstanding, and the coleslaw was delicious. With the surprise of a little cilantro, the barbecue sauce was on point. I ordered a side salad. The ranch dressing is definitely made in the house. Disappointed that I didn't receive my cornbread with my order.

Was craving a baked potato, so I ordered using a 3rd party delivery service. Potato with pit beef was pretty yummy, I wished it was cooked a little longer though. I only have two draw backs about ordering it again, the potato was kinda small for 11$ and the second one is only 1 little pat of butter not a scoop of butter, a little pat like you get for your bread and the butter was already melted. I will defiantly order again, maybe just something else.

I do not suggest this place at all!!!!! The bathroom is disgusting. Food is way overpriced. Meat wasn't even hot! Meaning the lazy girl doesn't care to clean. Shes to busy lolly gagging around when she should be working. The order took forever. I would never go to this dirty place again. The cook is running out the door to go get a bag of cheese from...I don't even know where! These ppl are dirty.

I used to work near there so had the bbq a number of times. The food is good, but over priced. With so many places to get good smoked meat these days near where people live it doesn't sit right with me to pay that much for truck stop food. They were always grouchy too. Seems like.

Great place for lunch. Stopped here while in town and was very pleased with our nice & attentive waitress. I ordered the smoked Turkey salad & wings. Both were delicious and well priced. A great place to have a quick bite if your traveling through .

This place has gone downhill, ordered pit beef last night and it was rotten. I set it aside and the waitress takes it away and brings me the bill, never even asks why I didn't eat it.

Stopped in for lunch; very busy place. Orders the BBQ Chicken Wrap, Rib Meat Sandwich, and Chicken Sando. Really good food and service. I'll be back to try more items.

I would be here more if they weren't so far. They food is always good. As for the service it has improved over the years.

My son and I were in town overnight, and we decided to try Champ's for dinner. We both love BBQ, and I like to smoke meats, so we thought it would be the perfect choice. The restaurant was on the corner spot of a building, and it was well-lit and easy to find, When we walked in, the décor was what I was kind of expecting with brick-red walls, wooden tables, etc. It did feel like a BBQ joint. The dining area was open and did not feel small nor cramped. There were some TVs up as well. We were immediately greeted with a smile and seated. Let me start off by saying that the service was easily 5 stars! Every person that interacted with us smiled and was super friendly. They were very attentive, and we never had to ask for drink refills - they were taken care of almost before we noticed. Kudos to those women for sure! The BBQ sauce on the table in squeeze bottles was okay, just a little sweet for my taste. Not bad in any way, I just like a little more heat. My son ordered a western-style burger with BBQ sauce, bacon, etc. - it looked good, and he loved it. I ordered the 2 meat plate and picked pulled pork and pit beef with slaw and chili beans as my sides. My reviews for each component of my plate are as follows: - The coleslaw was decent. It had a creamy-style dressing and it was not over dressed and soggy. The cabbage mix still had a nice crunch, and the dressing was a compliment to it. - The chili beans were a little different for me. The overwhelming flavor was concentrated tomato. There were definitely other spices and seasonings going on there, but the tomato flavor was clearly dominating. I wish there was more balance to the chili beans and more of an opportunity for the seasonings to come through. - As for the meats - as you can see from my photo, they were both served in liquid - maybe they use that to keep the meat warm without it drying out? In any case, I am used to my bbq being served "dry" meaning the pork is pulled and then put on to the plate with the excess liquid. That definitely took away from both meats for me. In the case of the pork - there was no bark nor real way to taste the rub (if any) that was used, There was a mild smokiness to the meat, and there was some bbq sauce added to the top. I'm sad to say that it was at best mediocre to me. The pit beef was the same in that it was served in liquid. It was a step up from the pork for me in flavor. There was more smokiness with the beef, and I could definitely taste more seasoning in the beef. They were out of bread so I got a dinner roll. Not a big deal except that the roll was hard all the way through. When I went to pull it apart it broke instad of pulling apart like fresh bread does. This was a small part of the overall plate, but disappointing nonetheless. So in summary, the service was SUPER and the food was OK. Would I go back? Sure. I would like to try again and order something different - maybe a burger or something.

We stopped by yesterday Our normal place was closed so we wanted to try something different I got The Tritip an turkey breast The tri tip was so so needed more flavor and a little overcooked Tri tip Doesn't need to be cooked like a brisket Yes the smoke ring looked good But the flavor profile. Wasn't And the turkey breast was awful Is super dry and no flavor at all I would probably take that off the menu and wouldn't serve it If you guys are looking for the best barbecue place in town, just go to angry barn yard

As always the food was great. We ordered ribs. The beer on tap was really cold and refreshing. The staff was courteous. I don't understand all the 1 reviews. I could see if they are really busy some things could go wrong. After all, they are a busy place.

Champs is very consistent quality and flavoring. Most of their menu items are great and they offer a 1/2 size lunch portion which is great for a single meal for a single person.

My grandson and I have a tradition of hunting out the best burgers in Bakersfield. I saw a post on Facebook with a photo of a burger that looked awesome so we decided to try it out. Disappointed to say that the burgers didn't match the photo. Bun was not fresh, and lettuce had a black edge on it. Meat on burger was good, but cooked past my desired "medium." Fries were respectable but tasted like they'd been in a warmer for a while. Service was so-so, possibly because we were obviously not regulars (oil and AG guys). I won't write Champs off until I have tried the BBQ meats but I don't recommend the burgers, or showing up at 1:30 for lunch. As for the environment, I suggest resurfacing the tables as the varnish is sticky and setting the thermostat lower.

Servers are friendly. Honestly though the food has no flavor. Idk who wanted to call it bbq but it doesn't taste like anything is smoked. No Smokey flavor to the pork. Turkey is fry every time I try it. Tastes like food you would get at a nursing home with the lack of seasoning. Wish I could say something better about it but you're probably better off trying another place.

One would think any BBQ place located on Merle Haggard Dr might be pretty good. Gotta admit I was less than impressed. Sticky tables slippery floors (from grease I am sure). And playing Blondie and Billy Joel didn't add to the ambiance either. But that is not even the worst part. The meat in the Pit Beef Melt was not PIT. In fact I don't think it was BBQ or smoked on any level. Mine was stewed. I was not bad, but it wasn't BBQ OR PIT. I was disappointed at the lack of effort the staff put in to include the cooking. And the fries I received? Would have never served them at any restaurant. These were the scraps. Unsure how other items are on the menu, but Chili's gets better scores from me- and THATS NOT GOOD.

In town for work, Champs BBQ was recommended by our contractor. Only a couple blocks from my hotel, I went for "Dinner to Go". From the initial greeting by the pleasant young woman behind the counter, to the decor inside and ordering process, everything was excellent!! My order was ready in less than 5 minutes (ribs, beans, mashed potatoes). Upon returning to my room, the food was hot & delicious - all at a very reasonable price!! A definite "Don't Miss"!!

My mom and I came around lunch rush and it was nice seeing how well the waitresses worked together and how nice they were even during the chaos. The fries were incredible and the sandwich was very tasty too. The mac was kind of bland but it was a perfect mix with the other food. We'll definitely be back !

The food was not hot and lacking flavor. I have to admit that the service was good. When we came in the bathroom door was open and this is a small place, so the small lit up the whole place. this is a shame because the service was great.

First time in Champs BBQ and YOU have to go! It's the cool little spot with amazing food. The Smoked Chicken Wrap is to die for. IT WAS FIRE!! The service we received was so amazing and we will definitely be back again. They made us feel welcomed and gave us an amazing experience.

4-8-23/3:00PM...For it being our first time trying Champs we decided to order the nachos, turkey, tri tip and spare ribs. The sides we chosen were coleslaw, Mac and cheese, and bbq bean. Before we ordered and ate we were greeted and welcomed. The host/server was nice and attentive and asked if we needed anything often making sure our drinks were full and everything was fine. The location is right by my job, so that was a plus, and the inside was clean and also with clean restrooms. The nachos were very good, and I would order these again. Turkey was on point and tasted great. Now for the ribs; I would pass on these next time because they were tough to eat, we had received some rib tips it felt like, small and sad. The tri-tip was tender and good, but more on the colder side. The bbq beans were good, coleslaw was delicious, and the Mac and cheese disappointed. All in all Champs is a good spot. Some people might like what we didn't care for, but we can only tell you what we thought for our dining experience...

Dont get the Tri Tip it was seriously beyond dry and you had to chew it forever. Ended up just spitting it out in a napkin. It tasted as though they may have cooked it really fast, because there is nooo way that was slow cooked! Waste of money. If you choose to waste your money here The deep pit beef, ribs & fried Okra weren't bad but just not amazing. The nachos that one of my family members had came with a such little amount of cajun if sauce for the amount of chips served with so it was really dry as well. Just really disappointing because we wanted to like this place.

I had the chicken plate with 2 baby back ribs, my husband had the 1/2 rack of baby back ribs plate, each came with 2 sides and choice of bread. They had a large variety of sides to choose from which was nice. Thought the barbecue was very good and tasty ! Our waitress was friendly and very helpful. The ambiance is very nice and clean. Will be revisiting real soon !

Bottom Line: Not bad at all but I was hoping for a bit more for the cost I had been on the dirt bike for about 7 hours when I rolled into the parking lot. I was sweaty, tired and very hungry. I saw the BBQ sign and pulled in immediately. I was the first person into the room, ordered and sat down. Within 30 minutes the place was PACKED. It was pretty impressive really. I ordered a burger and plowed it down. It was good, but I don't really think that it was $12 good. $12 is a pretty penny for a hamburger so I was really hoping that it was going to be something really special. There's no doubt - it was a killer burger, but it didn't quite make it to 5 stars. The place over all is great - the people are friendly, its clean, and love the decor. Next time I'm up there, I need to check this place out again

Ordered through Uber eats, they didn't give us half our order, no no warning. No utensils. Called to see what could be done, lady said nothing. Chicken wing sandwich had ZERO sauce on it. Sitting at a hotel with no car and crap food. Good also tasted old and had poor presentation. Will NEVER order again.

Great food great people We ate here on our way to Cambria California excellent barbecue.

The first time I tried this place, I wasn't too impressed. That was about 4 years ago. However, I saw a salad that my coworker was eating at work, and it immediately caught my attention. It had big chunks of steak and loads of blue cheese on top. I had to have it. I asked him what it was, and he told me the Smokehouse Salad with blue cheese crumbles. I ordered it the following week. I will say that his salad looked way more appealing. And that's probably why I wasn't as satisfied as I thought I would've been when I got my salad. There were hardly any blue cheese crumbles on it. But, it was tasty nonetheless. It comes with a corn bread muffin, as well.

Food was amazing and server was outstanding! Order tri-tip, Mac n cheese and fries. Food was out in less than 10mins