Armadillo Willy's
Los Altos, CA 94022 (650) 941-2922
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11:00 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
225 reviews
Santa Clara, CA
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30 Reviews for Armadillo Willy's
Crap-tastic barbecue, but really good service. Don't come here expecting a good brisket or pulled pork sandwich, either. They're just not gonna come through.
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Part honky tonk and part backyard BBQ, Armadillo Willy's is a favorite amongst my family. In fact, my oldest asks to go there for dinner. The food is ok --- I don't recommend the dry ribs (too dry!)--- but just about everything else there is tasty. I really like the jalapeno BBQ sauce! The corn muffins are terrific. The atmosphere is casual. It's a great place to take kids for dinner.
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Armadillo Willys is located on San Antonio Dr. in California? Los Altos, California? "Yee-Hah, Ride them Cowboy!" Cowboy Matt rode his horse to the South side for lunch. That is the South Bay.
(Some of you Yelpers know what kind of work I do, and indeed I occasionally do wear a cowboy-hat on my job! And also no, I'm not to compare myself to look like Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon, either!)
The restaurant has a daily special for both lunch and dinner. I had the Barbecue chicken Sandwich with a choice of side and endless refill of fountain soda (Pepsi), which is an ongoing weekday special. The $7.99 special had a pile of shredded barbecue chicken on a toasted hamburger bun. I wanted fries with my meal, but it's a $1.00 extra. I guess I got the wrong side with my meal. But the fries was garlic-flavor and tasty. And I thought the Chicken Sandwich was pretty good with their complimentary barbecue sauce on the table, with a fast delivery to my table.
This is the bad part.
After I concluded my meal, my stomach was severely aching, shouting and rumbling. It's a good thing that I have a bottle of Po-Chai pills in my car to relieve my upset tummy.
I thought the food was pretty good and deserve a 4-star review, but after that adventurous moment, it is just a one-star. It's a good thing that I had a tummy ache in Los Altos with my Chinese medicine to my aid, as oppose to receive the bad occurrence in Texas.
Considering that this restaurant has an attractive daily specials, I won't be back here again!
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My band of hungry Southerners were trying to satisfy our BBQ jonesing, but Frank's closed earlier than reported. In a desperate attempt at some hot pork action, we conceded to coming here.
I knew it was a mistake from the first mention. See, what some of you West Coasters may not know is that there are rules when it comes to barbeque joints, and these rules yield some simple heuristics on how to determine if a place is going to be decent or not. RULE #1: If you're going to reference an animal, a real barbeque joint should have some allusions to pigs, not roadkill. WTF kind of name is "Armadillo Willy's"? Was "Possum Steve's" taken?
Outside and inside the restaurant, there was also a conspicuous lack of life-size pigs in neon/ceramic/concrete/wood/stuffed form. RULE #2: it takes country folk to make good barbeque, and country folk have shitty taste in dcor that almost always includes happy, smiling versions of the barnyard animals we love to eat. A real barbeque joint doesn't have to *try* for that down-home feel, it's just got it. So if you walk in and everything is that shiny, red-and-white-checkered, fake-rusted metal sign, generic wannabe Southern couture, expect your food to have the same amateurishness. Good barbeque joints should be decorated with whatever you find in the barn or your grandma's yard, not from the picnic display at Wal-Mart.
RULE #3: a good BBQ joint ain't as clean as you're probably accustomed. If it's good, it should be operating approximately one half-point health code infraction away from shutdown. Dead flies are an unavoidable consequence of proper smoking: they come into the open-air pit, and if they don't meet instant death, they bliss out on delicious pig carcass and then sluggishly coast into the dining room to meet their final end. Additionally, there should be sauce spatters on the tablecloths, some of which should necessitate carbon dating to determine their date of origin. This place was eerily sterile--while I understand that some of you might see this as a perk, this is not a good sign for the quality of the barbeque.
RULE #4: your menu should be about a dozen items. Sandwich, ribs, baked and/or green beans, slaw, greens, potato salad, fried options, maybe some mac 'n' cheese or black-eyed peas, cornbread, and if you're feeling it, pie. Don't get fancy. Armadillo Willy's didn't get too fancy, but I did notice a major menu violation. For an extra charge, you could "Double the Meat" on your sandwich. N-n-n-n-n-no. RULE #5: If you have made a decent sandwich, it should be impossible to double the meat. It should already be overflowing with porkfulness so much that the top of your bun looks like a small island in a meat sea. Just seeing the option made me hesitant to go with a regular sandwich, but I needed to assess the extent of the violation.
Sure enough, when it came out, I couldn't even see meat from 270 degrees of sandwich viewing. I lifted up the bun and there was what appeared to be a small ice-cream scoop of meat plopped in the middle, ringed by a good half-inch of untouched bun around the edge. TOTALLY unacceptable. Tastewise, the meat itself was bland; there was no spice and minimal smoke. RULE #6: Good barbeque is so delicious it shouldn't need sauce, damn it.
Realizing there was no hope for the meat, I reached for the sauce. Holy crap. RULE #7: YOUR SAUCE SHOULD NOT COME STRAIGHT OUT THE KRAFT BOTTLE. That, my friends, was the death blow. I hereby petition my fellow citizens to support my campaign to have any mention of barbeque STRIPPED from this business on account of FRAUD.
Not to say the experience was completely horrible: there is a saving grace that allows them to retain 2 stars (as long as they never use the word 'barbeque' again). Their homemade buns are quite delicious. Again, I'd make the argument that this should be a wasted effort when dealing with decent barbeque, but hey, they don't have that, so they might as well brag about the bun instead. The onion rings were also surprisingly good. So, if you are backed into a corner and forced to eat here, go with an onion ring sandwich. Meanwhile, I'll be nursing my homesickness at Frank's.
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This rating is strictly based on the food. It just sucked.
Doc and I ordered the triple combo plate. I'm usually pretty nice about places I dine. Just in case I'm stranded near the restaurant and have to go there for some reason. I don't want any boogies in my food.
We ordered the smoked pork, BBQ chicken, and wet ribs. The meat was tough and dry. Greasy does not equal juicy. The worst part of our dinner was the BBQ sauce. I like my sauces like my men, SWEET! I guess being Texan BBQ, it was vinegar based because it was like sucking on vinegar water with spices. Just awful. I guess in this case, if I'm ever stranded by a Armadillo Willie's, I'll starve before I choke down any more of their food.
The BBQ was surprisingly good. I am from Texas and was looking for some decent BBQ. I went to this place because of the all you can eat ribs on Monday. Everything was pretty good, and the place itself was OK. Definitely warrants another visit, but I still miss Coopers or the Salt Lick.
I eat here all the time because it's so close to my office, but the 3 stars are more for variety than for any real outstanding dishes.
First of all most of the sides are disappointing. The beans are bland, despite the fact that there's a healthy amount of bacon in them, which would probably be better described as an unhealthy amount of bacon. The good news is that they give you lots of condiments here, specifically chipotle Tobasco, which you can spice them up with. The dirty rice also has lots of ingredients in it (including more pork) but not much flavor. The fries are good, but when I have BBQ I want some more authentic sides than just fries. No candied yams? No mac & cheese? Come on.
As far as meats go the baby back ribs kick the crap out of the other ribs on the menu, but still aren't as good as Frank's or Everett & Jones. They do have a nice rotating selection of sausages including chcicken sausges, which is a refreshing change from the standard hot link.
I've heard some people, including other respected California BBQ joings such as Mo's in San Luis Obispo, claim that Armadillo Willy's has the best brisket in the state, if not the country. Those people are crazy. This brisket isn't very smoky or tasty at all, let alone good.
One of my favorite things here might be the smoked turkey, which again is a healthier alternative to standard BBQ fare. Tuesdays (and only Tuesdays) also feature a damn tasty Santa Maria tri-tip as well as grilled chicken. The tri-tip alone almost, ALMOST, pushes this place up to 4 stars.
Ironically one of the best things that I've had here wasn't even bbq'd but actually fried - the buffalo chicken tenders. They're meaty, savory and definitely more satisfying than the brisket.
I'm not a huge fan of this saucy type of BBQ. When I go with my friends, we almost always get the Belly Buster. It has the most amount of food for your buck, and you get a lot of variety.
Outside of the sausages (which you can buy at a super market), the meat wasn't that great. It was all pretty dry, and if not dry, loaded with chunks of fat. I guess their specialty is their BBQ sauce, which isn't even that great.
If you're craving BBQ, you might be stuck since I don't know where else you can go around this area.
An armadillo is a medium sized rat like creature with thick armor plating. Roadkill and armadillos are usually synonymous with each other. No reason to disassociate those items when speaking of Armadillo Willys.
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We're huge fans of Texas style bbq, but really didn't enjoy the bbq so much here. The briscuit was fatty, so I walked it back up to the counter and asked for a leaner cut. The sides come in huge portions, but all tasted a bit bland and much like the same.
Their Thursday night burger deal, however, is pretty decent. Their burgers run $5.95-$6.95 regularly, but you get them half off on Thursday nights. So we ate there and got out with 2 meals and sodas for about $12. That's a nice change! We'll be back for the burgers!
3.5 stars - been there only twice and their 18 Hour Texas Beef Brisket rocks! It's so tender and tasty - I'm not a big meat eater in general but this was good stuff.
Unfortunately, every location is different in quality. I tried the one in Bridgepointe twice - first time was bad but decided to give them one more try because it's the closest one to home but no such luck.
So enjoy this place if it's in your hood!
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3.5!
Good spicy bbq sauce.
Great fries.
Really good smoked turkey.
Mouth-watering Texas BBQ. Willy's serves up everything from babyback ribs to pulled pork sandwiches and the quality is consistent. Like some of the other reviewers, I can remember when this place used to have a full service wait staff. It was nice to sit by their fireplace while enjoying some good BBQ. I'm not a fan of the new self serve model they've adopted, it cheapens the experience. Just because I'm eating BBQ doesn't mean I want to feel like I'm at a picnic. Because of this its a good choice for lunch or a family night but avoid it for dates or special occassions.
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This is my favorite barbecue joint in the whole world! I just read a review for one of the other locations of this local business and couldn't believe they we're talking about my Willy's! These guys started in Cupertino in 1983 and have always had the best barbecue around. Someone actually suggested going to Tony Roma's for ribs? They bake their ribs! Actually my favorite thing on the menu is their fries - they still make them from scratch just like they always have. I've got a brother that lives in Texas and when he comes out he always says he wishes there were a Willy's in Dallas.
I haven't encountered a Texas BBQ place as all around delicious as Armadillo Willy's. Every single item on the menu is delicious. And that is not an exaggeration! I love their sandwiches, their ribs and their platters too. The two downsides to this place is that the prices are very high for the type of food they are serving and it can get pretty busy on Friday or Saturday nights. If I avoid those nights, I'm alright but every time I go, I always end up spending way too much money just for a 2 meat platter and a drink.
yeah... ya know.... nothing special about this place...
The prices are a bit high. The food is ok I guess... very saucy. There just isn't anything there that says that I gotta go back cuz it's SOOO good.
They changed it around a couple times... the format seems to change...
shrug... that's the best i have to say about this place.
Rock out on the Combo BBQ Platter (choice of meats) or go with a lighter Turkey Burger. Fish tacos are always a great choice here too. Sides are great including the garden salad, potato salad, cornmuffin and more. Daily specials include half price burgers, all you can eat ribs. Dr. Pepper on tap, they also serve margaritas.
Well, Willy's is the middle-of-the-road BBQ place in the area. It's decent quality. Nothing special overall, but if you're craving Texas style barbeque (which I have to specify, since it is totally different from Carolina style, for example), there aren't a ton of places that can meet your need.
Armadillo Willy's gives you a healthy serving of meat and decent sides for a reasonable price. You get good quantity and ok quality, with order at the counter service for $40 (for two people with beverages). Texas Toast and the Peanut Slaw were pretty good.
It's also a decent place for kids, as making some noise isn't much of a problem. I have seen several families here, and the kids menu seems also like good value.
The "spicy" sauce isn't really that spicy. Maybe 3 on a scale of 1-10.
They seem to always be out of Armadillo, so don't go there for that. Ha.
Can anyone recommend a better place for BBQ that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?
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Super delicious, BBQ sauce soaked, crispy bacon topped burgers-that is why I go to Armadillo Willy's. Every time I visit, I wonder why I eat burgers anywhere else. The garlic fries are quite the delight as well. I can't decide whether I am pleased or not that they have converted to counter service....I am much more likely to hit them up for lunch that way....but my lazy butt likes to be waited on at dinner time.
I need to stop writing reviews when I'm hungry.....off to Willy's I go.
This is a solid local chain. Not award winning BBQ, but I wouldn't turn it down. Brisqet was good, as are the onion rings. Service was quite good for a chain place. Haven't explored the full menu. While it is not a unique place, it is consistently good, not the ups and downs some places expereince.
It's been a while since I've had Texas BBQ, and I have to say that this place does it pretty well. The sauce is a little sweet and a little spicy, and both the brisket and the ribs are very tender. No gristle or weird tough/dry cuts of meat, either. I wish the beans were a little softer and sweeter, but that's just my personal taste, they definitely don't take anything away from the BBQ experience. I definitely think it's better than other BBQ places in the area that I've tried (including Uncle Frank's).
I love Armadillo Willys. They have great food and good prices. I suggest getting a basket of fries with a side of ranch dressing......... so good!! This is a great place for a group from work to go to. You order and pay for your own food. no splitting the check at the end of the meal.
I think their ribs are a little over-priced (and better at other places), but given that on Sundays after 4:00 you can get kid's meals for half of the usual kid-meal price, I am sometimes dragged there on a Sunday. I lean toward the sandwiches and think it's worth it to upgrade the side to onion rings (yummy!).
The staff is also very friendly.
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Another one of my guilty pleasures. No one ever wants to go here with me, so I suggest it all the time just in case it works out. I still haven't figured out the exact right thing to order off the menu, but you can't really go wrong with a pile of brisket.
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Fine dining it ain't! But, if you go into your Armadillo Willys experience expecting fast-food, than I think you will be pleasantly surprised. My burger was pretty big and I think it was mostly beef (at least I couldn't taste any gym-mat), which puts it way ahead of other fast-food restaurants. My marketing suggestion: they should have a pet armadillo named Willy greet the customers!
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The BBQ aint that great, but the sandwiches and fries make up for it! Good value for the portion size!
I love that this place does not have table service. I come here fairly often and think the BBQ chicken is probably the best thing they have here. The brisket and pork are too bland for my tastes.
The ribs are good and have a nice smoky taste, but I'm often feeling too cheap to splurge out on the rib plate. However -- the BBQ sauce is good, the sandwiches cost around $6 and the beer is cheap-ish. This place is cavernous, so you can have a nice private time with your BBQ.
Pretty good barbeque but nothing special. Store bought barbeque is generally disappointing. Ribs from Costco actually taste better in my opinion.
I luv me some fried green tomatos though. mmmmm.
They don't have fried green tomatoes.
Never disappointed. Consistent. They formerly had waiters at this location, but now that they're gone, they use flashers to notify you that your food is ready for pickup.
the only thing I ever get here are the onion rings and bbq beef brisket. the two are so good that I don't try anything else since I know nothing would be as good! now if only they could make a low cal version of this...
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