Northern Smokes — Restaurant in Toronto

So this is some all-around, damn good bbq. Hands down the best bbq meats I’ve had in the GTA so far. My other top bbq joints either closed down or just eventually turned me away with lack of consistency. We just had bbq last night at our regular joint and I had to saw at the brisket. Ew. Forced me on a hunt for good bbq, which led me here, and I’m so glad it did!

Just like other reviewers have noted, there are little things to work on, but the star is clearly the meat. It’ll get us coming back just like it will get others back I’m sure.

Service - the guy at the front was prompt, helpful and kind.

Atmosphere - the place was in good order. I’d eat in. Bbq joints have a tendency to be a little run down even if the food is great. Wasn’t the case here. Was busy at 530pm on a Monday with almost all tables full. Nice to see it!

Brisket - little on the spicy side with all the peppercorn in the crust, but it was juicy and flavourful AF. Mixed with the bbq sauce and pickles, that spice gets tapered down, which I assume is the idea there. They cut a nice thick slab of it so it’s still juicy by the time you get home if you’re doing takeout. The worst is bbq joints giving you thin slices of brisket that dry out by the time you open up the bag. This was the star for me. I love spice. My lips are still tingling as I’m writing this lol

Korean rib and Miami short rib - these were the stars for my folks. Marinade was top notch on both, and again, juicy and so flavourful. My folks are not big on spice, so this was a reprieve for them from the brisket although they did still love the brisket!

Fries & Mac n Cheese - not much to these. They have so much potential to be better. Again, perhaps the idea is to mix it all up? 🤷🏻‍♂️ It’s sad to see sides be sort of an after-thought. You may as well offer less options, but make them top-notch. Maybe season or coat the fries? You could do a seasoned panko crust on the Mac or add some meat to it? You could test things out with limited specials and see what your customers tend to like. Experiment and I’m sure you guys will figure it out, but wouldn’t recommend leaving them as they are - my two cents 🤷🏻‍♂️

Maple Smoked Beans, Coleslaw & Mash w/ smoked gravy - the clear stars of the sides. Literally all gone in 60 seconds. Creamy coleslaw vs vinegar is always the way to go in my opinion. The smoked gravy is magic with the mash. You could actually taste the maple in the beans - unreal. Writing this out now gets me thinking you guys should just offer these sides lol we’d come back just for these! Will try other sides on the next visit 🙌

Thanks for a great dinner and keep it up 👍🏻

• Edit: have been here about 10 more times since my last review. Consistently so damn good.

Finally got the scalloped potatoes and beef brisket and chicken patties. No notes. NO. NOTES. Incredible.

I’ve had a lotttt of patties in my life. These are thin pastry, the filling isn’t runny, but isn’t dry, baked to a perfect crust, brushed with spice, great balance of herbs, veg, spices and meat. Just… wow, wow, wow. Wow.

The scalloped potatoes… like a great, Montreal poutine. Cheese at every layer. The way it should be. Slightly broiled, and a little herb and spice through it. Again, well done!

And these guys just got their Michelin star last week! Not surprised - absolutely well deserved!...

Update- came here again today to order some other items off their menu. This time I ordered: awoke chipotle brisket sandwich. Montreal smoked sandwich. My Uber tasty regular big burger. The apple chipotle was extremely tasty! Probably better then the pulled brisket. The Montreal style smoked sandwich was okay. Now the big burger - last time I came it was amazing. Today was just as tasty but they forgot my Mac/cheese in my burger 😞 super unfortunate. After an 1h of wait burger was missing a part. Hope they can make up for that.

Came here based on reviews. They serve halal. The meat is from St. Helens. This can be confirmed as there were a lot of boxes in the seating area from St. Helens. I don’t remember seeing a halal sign though but maybe I over looked it.

I ordered the pulled brisket and the big burger. The pulled brisket was okay - the meat is very well done and definitely smoked. Wished it had more spice or sauce to add to the flavour a bit.

The big burger was definitely a lot more tastier. It included the 6oz sirloin steak. The pulled brisket and some Mac and cheese. This burger was amazing with a variety of flavours. For the cost of $15 it was a bit smaller than expected but as it was my first time it was definitely worth the try.

The location itself is pretty okay. There is no indoor seating but they did have one set of chair s/table outside. There were boxes piled in the seating area not a pretty sight but no one was sitting inside so it was okay … I guess… they have a second set of windows where you can see the work being done behind the scenes. Kinda cool.

The customer service was okay. They were kind courteous and respectful.

Will most likely go back to try...

I ordered 1lb beef back ribs over the phone and the guy who picked up my call had such an attitude and it really upset me. When I came in person to pick up the food he still had the attitude with me. But when my boyfriend spoke, then the guy loses his attitude. Honestly feel like it’s because I’m a woman, I don’t know but I definitely felt an unnecessary attitude both times I spoke to the employee. These days people seriously don’t prioritize customer service and it’s disappointing. Food was good, I’ve had better ribs at Affys and halal rib fest.

*Edit: so because I never came here before that warrants me receiving an attitude because I didn’t know which type I wanted? Your reply just makes your business look so bad, thanks for zero empathy, no apology and blaming me for not knowing what type of ribs to order. You checked the cameras but you didn’t hear the conversation over the phone. I asked over the phone what are the options and the guy tells me however the phone line cut out so I couldn’t hear and I asked him to repeat and he had an attitude because I asked him just to repeat even though I couldn’t hear him and I’ve never been here before. I was nothing but polite to him just to receive rude customer service. And now you’re trying to blame me too because I didn’t know what type I wanted initially? FYI I AM the customer here, it’s your staffs job to provide good customer service to all customers even new ones who don’t know what to order. I was so excited to come try because I saw it on tiktok but never coming here again due to your unempathetic response and your staffs...