Brothers Andy and Glenn McDaniel may have changed the name of their Sandy Springs barbecue restaurant to McDaniel’s QN2, but they’ve kept customer favorites while putting their spin on the menu.
The brothers began at this location as a Slope’s BBQ franchise 20 years ago in March. They had the chance to make a change and jumped at it.
“We decided to change the name, rebrand it and … stick our family’s name on it,” Glenn said. The new name also plays off the restaurant’s most popular meal, the “QN2,” which is a meat and two sides.
Long history in the community
The brothers were born and raised in the Sandy Springs area. Their restaurant was previously a Happy Herman’s before they took over the space. They were frequent customers the entire time it was open, he said.
“Practically our entire adult life, we’ve been in the business community here before we even were a city,” said Glenn, who has been in the restaurant industry since 1994. “My first restaurant job was at the Derby on Hammond Drive at Perimeter Mall back in the old 10-cent wing days.”
Glenn’s kids now work at the family restaurant — the oldest a senior in high school, another a high school freshman, and his youngest, an eighth-grader.
“My oldest son has been running my cash register since he was eight years old. So all of my customers have watched my son grow up behind the register,” Glenn said.
The brothers also support the community. For about 10 years, they’ve provided food for the Boy Scout troop that serves food at the Dunwoody 4th of July parade, Glenn said. So on Monday morning, they’ll be feeding roughly 900 people.
In addition, they’ll be selling food at City Springs in a tent across Johnson Ferry Road from their restaurant for Sandy Springs’ July 4th celebration.
What’s on the menu for McDaniel’s QN2?
Glenn said brothers aren’t trying to turn anything upside down at the restaurant. They want to offer customers the same favorites they’ve been enjoying, but with a little more of their personality on the menu.
“Pretty much the expectations are the same, as they have always been, just some tweaks, just some more daily specials,” he said.
The standard is their pork, ribs and chicken brisket, plus all the side items. McDaniel’s QN2 menu features chicken on the bone, chopped chicken, sliced brisket and St. Louis cut spare ribs. They try to do a special side every day.
“Our big hitters are [the] chicken salad sandwich… smoked meatloaf, smoked tenderloin. We have fried catfish night on Friday night,” he said.
Wednesdays are for sausage links with sausage sliders on Friday. They offer rotating specials Thursday nights, which is trivia night.
“We do fried green tomatoes two days a week. We do a lot of barbecue potatoes called the cue-tato every Monday night,” he said.
Four barbecue sauces are available, including a regular sauce that’s sweeter, a mustard sauce, a spicy vinegar sauce and a hot wing sauce.
McDaniel’s QN2 also sells everything in bulk for customers to take home.
“Every time somebody goes to a party, they stop by here to grab a quart of beans or a quart of coleslaw,” Glenn said.
When they want to offer comfort to friends or neighbors who are having a tough time, such as an illness or death in the family, they’ll buy a family pack with meat and two sides.
“You drop it off for a family so they can have a nice meal with no work. We sell tons of that,” he said.