Stephen M.
Yelp
A weak 3 stars...I should give 2.
According to the signage hanging in the restaurant, Wolfgang Puck says Oklahoma Joe's is the best BBQ he has ever had, and Anthony Bourdain (RIP) says Oklahoma Joe's is one of 13 places to eat before you die. Maybe the original location, but definitely NOT the Omaha location. I've spent enough decades living in Texas and Oklahoma (and traveling the country and world) to know good BBQ. And lousy.
The family had a Carolina brisket sandwich, a pulled pork sandwich, and a burnt ends sandwich. All were mediocre, kind of bland. The fried okra was not sliced, but fried whole and kind of bland. The Freedom fries were good. The sweet tea was lame...weak and not sweet. And none of the BBQ sauce options impressed me. Good BBQ doesn't need sauce, but my brisket sure did.
Lastly, I wasn't tricked, but the tip options on the iPad-style register screen probably gets a few people. It goes from no tip, to 25% tip, to 20% tip, to 18% tip (and maybe a custom amount...don't recall). I bet a lot of people see "no tip" and expect the next option to be the low end...not 25%. Seems sketchy to me.
So the Omaha location is not great, not even by Nebraska BBQ standards. Try over in Millard or Bellevue for better quality.