Despite its lackluster location in an old strip mall on the southwest corner of Hayden and Thomas roads in Scottsdale, Waldo’s BBQ is surprisingly charming.

The floors are lightly dusted with sawdust, the tables are covered with red and white checkered table cloths and white twinkle lights circle the restaurant. And the art? It consists of all things pork — porcelain pigs, plush pigs and drawings of smiling, little porkers, blissfully unaware of their sad, albeit tasty, fate.

Drinks come in giant canning jars with generously sliced lemons straddling the lip and Waldo’s sweet ’n’ spicy barbecue sauce is served in heavy iron skillets.

As for the sauce, itself, it’s dubbed “Western-style barbecue.” Kind of vague — but so tasty.

I happened upon Waldo’s on a Wednesday, when the daily special consisted of a barbecue chicken sandwich, side and a drink for a cool $6.95. The meal also came with a square of Waldo’s moist chili corn bread, which was sweet and spicy in the same way a quality tamale is.
Waldo’s offers 11 different sides, including three varieties of fries (spicy fries, hand-cut fries and potato wedges), a baked potato, mashed potatoes and potato salad. (In other words, Waldo’s is not exactly an Atkins-friendly establishment.)

I opted for the homemade cole slaw, but was served grilled veggies — a medley of green and red peppers, onions and zucchini — instead. No matter, the sandwich was too tasty to be bothered with a side, anyway.
My enormous shredded chicken sandwich was accompanied by that aforementioned skillet of sauce. And when I saw exactly how much sauce was in the skillet, I thought: “No way I’ll finish that.” It turned out I could only handle half of my sandwich, but every last drop of sauce was gone — it was just that addictive and delicious.

The verdict: For a hearty lunch that won’t be too hard on your wallet, Waldo’s is the place to be. The ambience is homey and charming and the barbecue sauce can’t be beat.