Just as I love the variety of buffets, I'm a sucker for a sampler platter. Load me up. Ranch House BBQ & Steakhouse off Highway 8 West does not disappoint, with an enormous platter filled both vertically and horizontally. I'm talking meat, baby. There was moist pulled pork piled against beef brisket; three-bone pork ribtip so tender the meat all but slid off the bone; and a juicy smoked chicken hindquarter with amazing, lightly-glazed skin. I like barbeque sauce, but not as a drowning pool; I'm pleased that award-winning Pitmaster Amy Anderson goes easy with the ladle, allowing the meat's natural flavors to do the talking. 

[10841 Kennedy Creek Rd SW (off Hwy 8 West), Olympia, 360.866.8704]