Smokin' George's BBQ Restaurant — Restaurant in Nanaimo

Stopped by here for lunch this afternoon, expecting a delicious bbq lunch with my partner. We got the bbq combo. My partner got the ribs and brisket with beans, fries and coleslaw. I got the smoked chicken with beans, fries, and cornbread. We were told to pick a table of our choice. We had to pay for the food before we even got the food and additionally tip before witnessing any service, which is odd. The ambience was okay. We had to grab our own water from the plastic glasses next to the filter, which is fine but the glasses did not smell clean.

The food showed up in under 5 mins of sitting at the table. I don’t mind waiting for my food as long as it’s good but when food shows up early, I was questioning the quality of the food.

My partner found 4 pieces of hair in his food. 3 from the brisket and 1 from the fries. My partner excused the first hair he found from the brisket. But then he found another two and the fourth one that he found from the fries looked like dog hair. The ribs were tough and dry and did not have a nice smokey flavour. The smoke tasted like burnt rubber or chemicals. There was very little sauce on the ribs with little flavour and no char marks.

The beans were decent but not groundbreaking, almost tasted like the chilli from Tim Hortons. The fries were served in a steel cup and the brisket and ribs were served in a plastic bowl with paper on it when it should have been the other way around. This is because the sauce ripped the paper in the bowl and the steel cup made the fries soggy.

The smoked chicken was anything but smoked. It was served with white Alabama sauce. There was no flavour to the sauce. The flavours had only one tone to them and it was FLAT!! The chicken was on the dry side for sure. And definitely could use more salt and pepper. Same goes for the brisket. The brisket was surprisingly tender and somewhat juicy, could’ve been more juicy. They mentioned in the beginning that the bbq used was their own in-house bbq sauce. It was BLAND and bitter and tasted of malt vinegar. There was nothing smoked about it and lacked flavour. I was also expecting the brisket to be somewhat pink looking on the inside but it did not have an appetising colour and was grey. The fries could’ve been more salty.

Ps: the only saving grace was probably the cornbread. It was sweet and somewhat moist and was a lot better than everything we ate but was served cold.

Overall, my experience was extremely poor. I don’t understand how people were generous enough to give this place a good rating. I was utterly disappointed and I hope they make the necessary changes. Even if the food was off putting, the hair on the food is just...

I’m a bbq junkie and have eaten it all over North America. Favourite style is Texas, especially beef ribs. I love what these guys do, and i love the hustle and passion that’s evident when you watch them get through a busy evening service. But I definitely feel that for the commitment and dedication they have, the meat needs to be better. Last night was my 4th or 5th time ordering, and we got the dinner for 4. Cornbread, fries, and slaw were on point. Pulled pork was good. Ribs were tender, but lacked smoke flavour. It’s almost like they’re baked then given a quick hour in a smoker near the end (or vice versa). Made me wonder what kind of smoke they’re using; maybe mesquite? Which isn’t a great match for side ribs. Brisket was very tough, which was foreshadowed by the guy sawing at it after he’d pulled our piece out of some kind of plastic (never seen brisket ‘held’ in plastic before; usually butcher paper). Sausage was very dry and cut into little pieces. Chicken was just odd… i’m a big fan of Alabama bbq sauce, and make it myself at home. The sauce is great, but the chicken itself seemed to be pulled pieces from a thigh? Zero white meat. Had noticeable tendon. Nobody in the family enjoyed it. I’ll keep supporting because they’re Nanaimo’s only bbq joint, but I hope they’re genuinely comparing themselves to the best southern bbq and figuring out how to close the gaps. Tough brisket should never leave...

I was very excited about trying smoking George's out since I moved here last year and finally got the chance to! I ordered the BBQ feast for takeout. It comes with BBQ ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, pulled chicken, and a bratwurst sausage. Accompanying the meal was cornbread, fries, beans, and slaw. We also got BBQ sauce with our meal. Overall good portions for the price and super friendly staff! Pickup from the restaurant was easy and efficient as well. However, I was a bit disappointed with the meats. The pulled pork was tender and juicy, tasted great with the sauce. The BBQ ribs were dry and underseasoned, any meat that didn't touch the outside was flavorless. Similarly, we expected the beef brisket to be juicy and smokey, but it was dry and rather bland. It was however, quite tender. The chicken was nice, I really enjoyed the pickles with them. Chicken could have been juicier too. The bratwurst had good flavors and a nice crunchy skin. We enjoyed our sides a lot, the cornbread was moist, beans were delicious, and the slaw's acidity was perfect with the heavy meats. The fries were half burnt though, but the unburnt ones were crunch and fluffy! Overall, it was a decent meal, a bit monotonous with the flavors and bland, but great service...