The Smokin Birds — Restaurant in District Municipality of Muskoka

I don't even know what a brisket is but I'm telling you THAT MEAT WAS DELICIOUS!! As was the pulled pork!! We were looking for dinner for four people on a Saturday night and there was a concert at The Kee so we were stumped for dinner choices then I saw this!! OH ... MY .... GAWD, we left there with a massive tray of meat that was absolutely ridiculous. The men even got a tour of their smoker and let me tell you, they were super happy men with the WHOLE EXPERIENCE. We had samplers when we got back to our rental cottage, then feasted on it at dinner, had leftovers for lunch the next day and still there was more left this morning which we decided we would share with our dog and she was most grateful for the end bits! The sauces on the side were delicious. The salads and buns were a nice accompaniment. Bonus points as the LCBO is nearby. Made for a perfect dinner at the cottage.

I understand the beef ribs need to be ordered in advance and my husband has already texted his buddies and is planning a motorcycle road trip (Durham Region to the Muskokas) one afternoon in September and will call in advance for an order to be set aside for us.

The owners were super sweet. Service was awesome and the...

Better than expected! Their aesthetic isn’t exactly wonderful, in that you’re literally sitting in a gravel parking lot with cars coming and going. Additionally, although it’s great to see them smoking their products close by, it’s not ideal for you to have seating only available beside a smoker on a hot day. That being said, the food is actually quite good, if not inexpensive. Specifically, I had the deluxe hamburger and french fries, which came to over $25, which I consider on the high side for this kind of set up. However, both the hamburger and to a lesser extent, the french fries were quite enjoyable. What was most memorable about the hamburger, is the combination of flavours, including relish ☝️, which I historically have never enjoyed, were balanced to perfection. Even the bun which had plenty of dough in it, didn’t bother me, whereas most do (ie I hollow them out typically). The fries were apparently cooked in beef fat, but were not overly flavourful. The best thing about it all, was after feeling quite full after this lunch, I got no gut rot, which would often be the case with this kind of food (i.e. hamburger and fries)...

With all the rave reviews and the intriguing back story of The Smokin Birds, I really wanted to love this place, but was unfortunately quite disappointed. Although the fries (cooked in beef fat) were hot and nice and crispy, we found the 1/2lb brisket and brisket sandwich very disappointing. I was expecting a hot meat sandwich, but the thick slices of brisket meat was actually cold, and the BBQ sauce is only added to the bun, not cooked (or caramelized) in with the brisket. I did not like the pickled coleslaw at all (very sour), and both the bbq sauce and the coleslaw made the inside of the brioche bun a soiled mushy mess. To add insult to injury, for a 1/2lb of brisket, a brisket sandwich and only 1 order of fries the total came to just under $60! Very overpriced in my opinion. The staff were very friendly and they had a nice set up, but I would not recommend The Smokin’ Birds, and we won’t be returning. Sorry ladies. When we get a hankering for smoked meat we’ll stick to The Smoke in Collingwood, where the food is immensely better at a fraction...