SmoQue N' Bones — Restaurant in Toronto

Summerlicious it was not.

We sat down and was ignored for a good 5 minutes, no water or menu was brought out. We sat on the patio.

We had the rib tips, pulled pork tacos as starters. Both were flavourless and dry as cardboard, the rib tips in particular was drown in a spicy sauce with batter. All you could taste was the batter. It was horrible and tasted like it’s 3-4 days old food. The tacos was slightly better but that’s not saying much.

We also had to grab our own plates by the cutlery station as the waiter was nowhere in sight. The runner brought out our food and literal ran back to the kitchen and not even asking if she could bring us napkins extra sauce. We saw more people grabbing their own cutlery and more plates as well.

The mains were the beef brisket and chicken. These were also dry and flavourless, with no taste at all. We’ve had much better BBQ brisket and chicken elsewhere! The mains were such a letdown that we had to pack it to go. And about that, having it the day after, the meat was even more dry and tastes like cardboard paper, may even smell like it too. I can’t believe the food was devoid of taste and moisture! Did they make this a week ago and are now serving it?

Javier, our waiter’s name on the receipt, bless his soul because he was nowhere to be found during dinner. It’s like they needed more staff on a steady evening and were nowhere to be found. Inside when I went to the washroom, there was at least 7-6 other people working and management couldn’t allocate 1 extra person to help outside?

To add insult to injury, our dirty plates sat around a very long time after we had stopped eating. No one came by to check on us, and we didn’t see anyone check in on others diners either.

Such a terrible experience; we’ve had better from lesser places like an office building cafeteria!

These ‘Licious evens are use to draw new customers to try the main menu. Needless to say, the Baldwin location of Smoque & Bones has put us off from ever returning. It had the opposite effect. Too bad.

We asked for the dessert to go as dinner was running over 2 hours at this point. It took 10 minutes for the dessert to be ready. It sat behind the counter inside waiting for someone to bring it out…

Not worth the $55/person dinner at all. Frankly, I feel insulted by the experience of having dined out here for...

I have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Smoque n' Bones' second location for quite some time. As a frequent visitor to Baldwin Street, I am thrilled to see this culinary hotspot continue to evolve with even more amazing food options.

Smoque n' Bones is already renowned as one of the best American BBQ spots in Toronto, and their new location is a brighter, fancier, and more inviting space compared to their original establishment. I arrived at 12 pm for their soft opening, only to discover that, as is often the case with such events, things didn't go exactly as planned. However, soft openings allow for these hiccups, and the staff kindly asked us to return at 2 pm.

To pass the time, we decided to visit Butter & Blue, a new cafe that also recently opened on Baldwin Street. It's fascinating how this street continues to attract such amazing restaurants and cafes.

Before I get too off topic, we decided to head back to Smoque n' Bones at 1 pm, hoping they might be ready earlier than expected. Fortunately, they were indeed open and ready to welcome us.

The staff at Smoque n' Bones were incredibly friendly, attentive, and had a great sense of humor. Despite the delay in delivering our food, they made sure we were still enjoying ourselves with their witty banter and attentive service.

We opted for two share platters so that we could sample every type of meat on offer. As for the sides, we indulged in mac 'n' cheese, tater tots, sweet potato waffle fries, coleslaw, cornbread, and grilled corn reminiscent of elote.

The meats were truly outstanding. They were juicy, smoky, and packed with flavor. While some items could have been slightly juicier, overall, everything was quite solid. The beef brisket was tender, the mac 'n' cheese was delightfully cheesy, the tater tots were addicting, and the ribs were succulent, complemented by a well-balanced tangy BBQ sauce.

Having missed out on the opportunity to try authentic American BBQ during my Chicago trip, I can confidently say that Smoque n' Bones is as close as it gets in Toronto. I had a fantastic time with friends, relishing in great food and charming service. For now, I would rate it 4/5. Hopefully, as they settle into their new location, things will pick up and be just as exceptional as their original...

I have been to the original location on Queen and had a great experience with excellent service, so I was excited to try this new location since it's closer to me. I was very disappointed. The service was truly bad. Despite making a reservation several days in advance, we were seated at what was undeniably the worst table in the restaurant. We were squeezed in an area where in my opinion, no table should even be. It was next to the narrow walkway where all the staff and patrons frequently need to walk through as the go between from the bar/kitchen and the dining area, and it was also right next to a metal beam which further restricted the walking area, so each time a server walked past us with food they would be brushing up against us and hovering trays above our heads. We told our server we felt uncomfortable and asked to be moved to another table but he said there was no other table, even though we had seen many empty tables on the other side of the restaurant. The food was fantastic, but at the price point I would expect better service. The server misheard me several times and I had to correct him on my cocktail order (I ordered a bourbon sour and he thought I said bourbon smash). That would be fine if it only happened once, but later I ordered a cabernet sauvignon (red) and he brought me a sauvignon blanc (white). He was so inattentive that it would have taken too long to get it fixed, and I was frustrated so I just drank it and left it alone. After finishing our food, we wanted to stay to order more cocktails and we really felt like we were being considered a nuisance because of how slow/inattentive the service was. A large bachelorette party came into the restaurant so it was clear that things were busy and maybe they wanted to get rid of us, but as someone who made a reservation and was racking up a large bill ($100 platter, 6 cocktails, wine, and beer) I would still expect decent service.

I will not be returning to this location, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. This was really a disappointing experience since we are big fans of smoque n bones and dine at the Queen location and order from...