Swadley's menu describes the ribs as "Hand Rubbed Honey Rib Dinners," and I thought the flavor was one of the best I had tried. Three types of sauce were available, but before applying any of them I tried the "eating the meat plain" test to see if the flavor was worthy of standing on its own, and it passed with flying colors. I thought it had just the right amount of smoke flavor, but it seems that everyone has their own preference, so this is just my opinion. The meat left a smoky aftertaste in my mouth after the meal was finished, but did not overwhelm the other flavors while I was eating the food.

The really important factor of the ribs, though, was the tenderness of the meat (and this is even more of a factor now that my teeth are no longer in the best shape). This is the one thing I most often find lacking in ribs, especially in other parts of the country (but sometimes even in Oklahoma). I would have to judge Swadley's ribs as being just about perfect in every way, although I am sure I will eventually find ones that I like better if I try enough places. Since ribs are on my list to "try occasionally when I am really hungry for them," Swadley's will probably remain my favorite for a while.

Brisket is probably the next most popular item at Swadley's. This meat is "24 Hour Sugar Cured" and while it is not meat that will fall apart when touched by a fork, it was very tender with the kind of barbecue flavor that would be expected in a good Oklahoma "Q" restaurant. I would say that while I also found this to be quite good, I agree with the employees who told me the ribs were really the restaurant's best dish. The brisket was good enough, though, that I would also like to try the other types of meat that are served.

Three types of sauce are served--original, sweet, and spicy. None of them made a big impression with me on the brisket, but I liked the sweet sauce and the spicy one on the ribs. I would say other restaurants have better sauce, but the sauce here was perfectly good and it was certainly enjoyable. Most importantly, though, the meat here is good enough that true barbecue fans probably do not need any sauce to enjoy the food.

Unlike many restaurants that offer beans and cole slaw as sides, Swadley's serves an array of choices that makes it difficult to try all of them. Baked Beans come in two styles--sweet and hot (I was told the hot one was really hot with jalapenos included). The sweet baked beans were not the best I have ever eaten, but were good quality and are something I would order again.

Okra is one of the choices for a side dish. The one here was extremely non-greasy compared to most versions, and I think is one of the best choices for a side dish.