Tolacca Smokehouse BBQ — Local services in San Ignacio & Santa Elena

We saw photos of this place online and it looked so tantalizing and decided to try it. I had the smoked pork chops and my wife had the porter house steak. They're were 3 others in our group who all got the sticky garlic chicken. The presentation it great for all the plates our group ordered. My pork was just the right amount of tenderness and flavorful. I could definitely taste the smoke. My only complaint is that the 2 pieces were lined with about a half inch thick piece of fat halfway around the cut so I decent amount was inedible. The potatoes and salad were good but the amount they give is negligible. My wife's t bone was very flavorful but for some reason the meat was very chewy. When you have to chew on a piece of steak for more than a minute you know something ain't right. She ate what she could but was definitely disappointed. I did try a bite of someone's chicken and it was good. The cocktails are also presented very well and are good. The service can be sparse. We had to ask for silverware as our food arrived. It's a bunch of young kids(15 years old more or less) that wait the tables so don't expect world class service. I would not call this a romantic place as it's outside and they play early 2000s rap and hip hop at a rather high volume mostly with curse words. This is not a family friendly place as they have nothing for younger ones. Overall I was not impressed enough...

Been here a couple of times but not too often (due to its location). I would say that's it's definitely one of those places you don't mind going once in a while but not too often - maybe due to the fact that their food is a bit on the heavy side.

Do not order too much food because they do give out a lot of meat especially if you're getting a platter. It's advertised as one person portion but it's definitely for two. The quality of the food is definitely quantity over quality but it's still good - just don't have super high expectations as it's quite cheap for the price you are paying vs other steak and grill spots.

The atmosphere is great as it's not too crowded the times I visited. The only complaint is that there's not much vegetable options. Would prefer lighter appetizers as well as well ordered two appetizers (wings and salpicon) and that filled us and we had to get the platter to go.

Anyways, I would recommend this place to others if they are around town. You definitely get your...

The "fish and chips" batter was too greasy and they need to learn what makes fries tasty. My order was ready with the rest of my table's but they gave it to a larger group who had ordered beforehand. They didn't apologize but explained the "group-beforehand" and "my order wasn't ready because they are now preparing it". I THINK they made up for it but adding a tiny serving of sweet bowtie pasta, but I remember why I haven't been back in years (the steak had been memorable, the burger not so much, but the service was much kinder back then).

The setting and mood are pretty good, but the staff are just filler, no personality. It's just a job and that's fair. Don't need photos: it's just the filet o fish from McD's and poor fries for $17 USD. This was January 3rd or sometime. I'll try their steak next time if it's what they're good at. Or I can try plenty of other steak restaurants in downtown...