Waldo's Barbecue

One of our favorite restaurants in Mesa is a little joint called Waldo's Barbecue. It's tucked away next to the "Holly Jolly Gift Shop", but you can't miss it if you drive by 'cause there's a huge pink pig that's wheeled out to the curb to catch your attention.

Before even walking in to Waldo's you can see that it's an eclectic place. Look at this old pig ride. Looks like it's left over from the 1950's. But it must still work if it's plugged in, right?



There is a wooden overhang covering the front of the restaurant. There are several wooden posts painted a bright green that hold up the overhang. They are covered with beer caps.



At first I thought, "Wow, how cool is that? Customers stick their used caps on the post?" But then looking closer I realized they are too evenly spaced to be placed there by beer swigging customers. So they must have been placed there purposely by some designer. But I liked the thought.



This is the entrance and front door to Waldo's. Not a great angle, granted. I don't know why I just didn't stand IN FRONT of the restaurant. What can I say. I was hungry and not thinking straight. Notice the "Sorry we're open" sign on the front door.



There are wood shavings on the floor and the whole place is filled with funny signs and eclectic things hanging from the ceilings and walls.



You are led to either a booth or a table, and if you're lucky, you won't get this table!



We were lucky (or unlucky depends on your point of view) to sit under the "Head Dude".




This is a close up of the sign under the "Head Dude".



All the servers wear black t-shirts that say "Waldo's" over the left breast pocket. But across the back of the shirt, in BIG white letters are funny sayings like, "I'm new here", or "We're out of that", or "The cook just quit".

This is a javelina (pronounced hav-a-leen-a), a wild pig, hanging upside down from the ceiling. Ugly? Absolutely! Funny? Absolutely!




Here's an ace pilot flying across the ceiling, and the propeller for the plane is the ceiling fan. Notice the clouds in the sky painted ceiling.



Waldo's sells several different t-shirts, all pertaining to pigs in some way. This is just a sample of one.



One of the hundreds of signs posted all over the restaurant:



You notice I don't have any pictures of my food. Well, yeah, sorry about that. I gobbled it up so fast before I realized I didn't take any pictures. Jim and I both had pulled pork sandwiches to die for. They have plenty of side dishes to chose from like spicy fries to regular fries, beans, slaw, or one of their specialties - fried corn on the cob. Also to die for? Their ribs. I'm salivating right now just talking about it. Will we ever stop eating at Waldo's? Well, when pigs fly.