Collins River BBQ & Cafe

First time at Collins River yesterday, lunch and went on a recommendation of our daughter. Let’s just say, we we not disappointed!
Lori showed up at our table with full energy and a smile and with a little guidance from her, we landed on a choice. There were so many great options! Food came out fast, Lori was fantastic! The food was SO good!
Note: Best potato salad we’ve ever experienced and I’m fairly certain it might be the Worlds Best!
We’ll definitely be back!
McMinnville, itself, is a hidden treasure! Great shops and wonderful people! Planning to go back to see at all Christmas-time! 🎄

We had the most incredible waitress! The service was unbeatable! The food was excellent! The restaurant is really cute and cozy in a historical building. It was fun to learn that it used to be a drug store back in the day.
I highly recommend a visit! Possibly call ahead as I hear that it can be extremely busy.

Whenever we return to McMinnville, we make sure we dine at Collins River BBQ & Cafe. Service is unbeatable, the atmosphere is friendly & welcoming and the food is absolutely delicious!! OMG the Peach Cobbler and the Hot Fudge Cake Sundae were sooooooo yummy!!!

This place has some of the best barbecue, pulled pork and beef brisket is amazing and their coleslaw and potato salad was so good 😊 also pickles 🥒 were good! and when it came to desserts, blueberry 🫐 cobbler with vanilla ice cream 🍨 was absolutely fantastic!! Friendly service, great atmosphere and spacious interior - this place has all the boxes checked ✅ and we had a blast here, dining with a group after a busy day of exploration of waterfalls and Cumberlands plato

Had the ribs and brisket wrap. Also had the amazing apple pie. This place is great!

What to say about Collins River BBQ...
-Some of the best catfish and baby back ribs you can find in the area
-The cobblers are DELICIOUS (but who am I kidding... All the desserts are delicious)
-The atmosphere is inviting and fun (think Cheers-where everyone talks to everyone)
-Finally, Jim... Who I think has never met a stranger (kinda like me). He remembered us as soon as we walked in and talked to us as if he has known us our entire lives. Not being from the area, it can be hard to feel a sense of community or belonging but when you walk into Collins River, that's exactly what you feel. The staff that Collins River has are awesome!! So friendly and attentive. The environment that has been created there, should be modeled after.

Large loaded baked potatoes. Good barbecue and fried pickle spears. Caramel pie was excellent. Baked beans nothing to write home about. Large portions of food. Great vegetable brisket soup. Egg rolls and pickles were excellent

Must try when visiting McMinnville!! The best food, the best service, and the best atmosphere, hands down of any place I have been to in a long time! Food was OUTSTANDING! Well seasoned! Portions are on point and all the staff were friendly and always willing to help! Definitely will be there again!

I had the pleasure of dining at this small town restaurant. The food was absolutely amazing. The service was outstanding, some of the best service I have had in Tennessee. The Manager Jim came to the table and checked on us and I have to tell you he made us not only feel like we were at home but had a way about him that he made you feel like you have known him forever. What kind man he is my wife and I watched him go from table to table checking and talking to everyone. Needless to say we will be back.

We're new to the area, so this was our first time here, but definitely not the last! The food was delicious, and the service was excellent. I was impressed that the servers helped each other by bringing things out and by busing each other's tables as we cleared plates.

The three of us had the BLT, the catfish, and a Cuban sandwich. All of us were very happy with our choices. The squash casserole and the corn bread salad were both tasty. Oh, and we had fried pickles and deluxe nachos for appetizers, which were also very good. (Yes, we took a bunch leftovers home! lol) The Moon Pie at the end was a tasty surprise. I haven't had one of those in years!

Amazing food! Great people and the service was outstanding. Visiting from FL and came across them by chance. Extremely happy we found them and will visit again before we leave this part of TN. Don’t change a thing guys.. you are nailing it!

We can’t say enough good things about dinner and the customer service tonight. Hands down the best wings I’ve had in a long time. The dry rub was my favorite! Wife got the loaded nachos and Neice got loaded bbq potato. Try the white bbq sauce! The owner worked right along with the friendly staff and was so genuine. He loved that our Neice picked here for dinner and he was so generous in sending us home with our favorites of the night. Blackberry cobbler, moon pies, wings, and potato salad! It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a great experience dining out. We will be back, esp for $1 wing night!

Collins River BBQ was awesome! Service was helpful, friendly and efficient. Ribs were fantastic and the beans were delicious. Had the brisket Cuban as well which was an awesome twist on one of our favorites. Will definitely return when in the area! Can’t forget the pecan pie and caramel pie, both amazing!

Excellent food and atmosphere! I had the Bbq wrap with baked beans, coke slaw and pickles with fries. Had the brisket wrap with Buffalo sauce. And a side of Gouda Mac and cheese. Everything tasted great. Didn’t have to wait long. Waitresses and owner were nice to talk to. Would recommend and we would come back.

Very nice little BBQ place! It has a very quaint, country-style charm to it inside with the decorations. Our server was very nice and very good. She was zipping around table to table and always seemed to show up just when you wanted her to. The food was good as well. My son loved his BLT and the loaded potato salad. He said it was one of his all time favorite sandwiches and he liked the potato salad even more than the sandwich. I enjoyed the beef brisket wrap with some of the white barbecue sauce on it. However, my side of cornbread salad was amazing! I would go back again just for it! Highly recommend!

I can’t say enough about how great our experience was. Food and the service was amazing! We had the Pulled pork nacho appetizer. Gouda Mac n cheese was to die for. Ribs, pulled pork and brisket, we tried it all. We will definitely be returning. We took desert to go, Chocolate Cobbler and Pecan, both served with ice cream. Sooo yummy. The manager wanted all of you to know that he is “a very handsome single guy who just grew a beard”. He was absolutely charming. I look forward to seeing him again. This place will not disappoint and did I say we bought T-shirt’s!

Kayla and Laurie were our servers with Trad going above and beyond helping. They all had smiles on their faces and as busy as they were they stayed on top of everything. We had a very wonderful lunch thanks to them.

The food was amazing! The Hush Puppies reminded me of supper at grandma's house. The staff was super friendly and the atmosphere was great. We would highly recommend stopping by if you're in the area.

Well, I can't believe I'm writing a review about this, but I gotta say, I have had my share of onion rings, but WOW!!!! These were the bestest I have ever had -- as in EVER...! I mean, just onion rings right??? NO.... these were like no onion ring I have ever put in my mouth!!! And the wings.... and then there was the cobbler... the atmosphere. AMAZING!! Yeah, I'll drive the 2 hours it took me to get here to eat here again!!! Thank you!!

I am from the South and have never heard of cornbread salad... amazing! Most tender onion rings, good beer, and great friendly staff! Took the pies to go so csnt comment on them but sure they are delicious hahaha!