Full Moon Bar-B-Que has no secret menu. No chain this size does — thirty restaurants run store by store cannot maintain a hidden list, and any website telling you otherwise invented the items. What Full Moon does have is a menu with unusually interchangeable parts, and a counter staffed by people who will build what you ask for. These are the off-menu orders that actually work.
The builds worth asking for
Chow chow on everything
The pickled cabbage-and-pepper relish comes standard on the pork sandwiches. It is not standard on much else, and it should be. Ask for it on the Bar-B-Que Pork plate ($14.99), on a burger, on the Smoked Pork Links plate ($14.99), or in a container on the side. It cuts fat the way Carolina vinegar sauce does, and it is the single most Full Moon thing in the building.
Pimento cheese where it does not belong
The Pork Links & Pimento Cheese Plate ($9.99) means there is pimento cheese in the kitchen. Ask for a scoop on a Kickin' Cheeseburger ($7.49 quarter pound) or on the Loaded Baked Potato ($6.99) and you have built the most Alabama item on the premises. Availability varies by restaurant, and there will usually be a small upcharge.
Chopped pork on top of things
Pork is the volume item and it goes anywhere. On the Loaded Baked Potato it turns a $6.99 side into a full meal. On a house salad ($8.89) it approximates the Pork On A Salad ($11.99) — price it both ways, because the listed salad is sometimes cheaper than the build.
The rib sandwich as a taster
Ribs sold by the bone is the most useful quirk on this menu. A 1-bone Rib Sandwich at $3.69 lets you add a rib to any other order for less than the price of a side, which is a far better way to find out whether you want the $16.99 rib plate than committing to it. Order a pork sandwich and a single bone and you have eaten the two things Full Moon is known for, for $10.68.
The upgrades and downgrades
- Swap the side for a cup of Brunswick Stew. A Trimming is $3.99 and a cup of stew is $3.89 — near enough identical money for a far more regional dish.
- Order the 4-vegetable plate as a side platter. At $9.99 for four vegetables against $3.99 each, it is the cheapest way to put a spread of sides on a table for sharing. This is covered in more depth in the sides guide.
- Ask for the pork sandwich on Texas toast. The Open-Face Pork on Texas Toast ($11.49) proves the toast exists; some locations will use it on a regular sandwich for a small charge.
- Two regulars beat one large. A large pork sandwich is $8.29 against $6.99. Two regulars at $13.98 feed two people; one large is just more bread.
The free thing nobody has to ask for
The Half Moon Cookie is a large chocolate chip cookie given free with every meal. It is not sold as a menu item and it is barely advertised, which is why people who have not been to Full Moon assume it is a secret-menu rumor. It is not — it is simply free, and it is the best-value item at any chain covered on this site. If it does not appear with a takeout order, ask, because the counter will hand one over.
What does not work
Being honest about the limits saves an awkward exchange at the register.
- There is no off-menu brisket deal. Black Angus brisket is $21.99, the most expensive plate on the menu. Nothing hidden makes it cheaper, and this is a pork house — order the pork.
- No refill on the cookie. One per meal is the convention.
- No secret sauce. The house sauce is a sweet-and-tangy tomato sauce. Alabama white sauce is a north Alabama, smoked-chicken tradition and is not the Full Moon house style — some restaurants carry it, most do not. Ask rather than assume; the sauce guide explains where each one belongs.
- No bulk wing discount. Twenty Buffalo Wings at $39.80 is $1.99 each against $2.00 for the ten-count. Nothing you say at the counter changes that.
Every item and price named here is on the Full Moon Bar-B-Que menu. Upcharges for off-menu builds are set locally.