Holy Smokes BBQ - Birmingham — Restaurant in Birmingham

Avoid!......been twice in 3 weeks now, first visit on Friday night, mate n me decided to give it a try he came over from Glasgow to Yorkshire. We both drove down over a 100 mile trip to get there as excited to try this offering by Tiberius finally arriving in Brum. Got there and had to wait over an hour which we didn't mind and that the chap at the door promised that they had enough of all the menu items. Once seated at 8:30pm we were told there were no ribs or brisket available so we ended having the loaded fries which consisted of a huge portion of chips with little meat on top. We also ordered 2 burgers which were like kiddies size. We spent £50 and wasn't even full. Luckily went to 3 in 1 burgers a bit futher down Ladypool Rd which charge £5 for a burger which actually was of much better quality and saved the night. We were advised call ahead next time so they can make an effort as we were traveling such a distance.

3 weeks later, I thought I would give them a try again on Saturday with some other friends. We were travelling from far, and Birmingham was an ideal meet up place. All of us were travelling from different locations and looking forward to trying this new venue from London. I tried to call ahead the number which was given to me on the previous visit. However the mobile was unreachable. We arrived at the venue at 7pm, again told there would be over an hour wait for a table. Also advised they had no brisket or ribs. This was unbelievable to hear at peak time / dinner service. Holy Smokes management need to address their policies. This isn't good business practice, doesn't matter how small your premises are or how small your smoker is, it's not an excuse....this needs addressing.

I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone it's just a disappointment. The lads running the place are nice and polite Taha, Kam & Adnan and mean no disrespect to you boys however the taste and the business operation isn’t as good as "Meat n Eat" in Wolverhampton.

Now having been twice, both times, for you to have no ribs or brisket means you are not catering for customers coming from far or locals. It’s further disappointing that I've wasted £120 in fuel, only to get there and then end up having a £5 meal at venues such as khan pizza bar or 3 in 1 burger.

It's a shame that this renowned brand by Tiberius is not worth recommending to anyone as all they offer is Smoke and...

My family and I decided to try Holy Smokes after intending to go to the OG in Bow for a long time but never managing to make it there.

We had booked a table en route to the restaurant for 6pm. We arrived about 5 mins early so ended up waiting outside and eventually got seated shortly after 6. I respect that guests are expected to wait outside for their tables since the restaurant is already pretty cosy and doesn’t need the extra body heat. As for the customers already enjoying their food, no one likes people staring at their food and watching them eat, so it works out for them too!

Once seated I noticed there was a caddy fully stocked with wooden disposable cutlery, lemon hand wipes (big plus for me and the kids) and napkins.

Love that they make the effort to stock less mainstream pops like salaam cola. I enjoy a bit of fizz but will certainly not purchase anything knowing it is funding the genocide in Palestine. Only downside was that it wasn’t cold, but I’m not gonna deduct a whole star for that!

Also love that they play nasheeds rather than load vulgar music! Another big plus for me and the kids.

As far as the food goes, it was absolutely delicious. We got: The ribwich - a little heavy on the pickled cabbage for me but my son loved it nonetheless. Personal tastes are always different. The rib - this was wonderfully meaty with a delicious bark and the perfect touch of added flaky salt. The brisket loaded fries - this was a generous portion of meat! Very yummy in itself and the picked chilli on top cuts it nicely. A portion of chips - loved these. They were on the salty side which is good for me and a good balance of crispy and soft. They’re a bit reminiscent of Five Guys fries. Skin on and actually have some decent potato content.

We just wish we had tried the brisket slices. My husband and have found we are kind of purists when it comes to meats like steaks and brisket. We feel like we might have enjoyed this even more than the sauced up brisket on the loaded fries.

We also wish we had tried a smash burger because we have no doubt that would have been great.

Lastly, the brothers running the shop are super hospitable, kind and respectful. They seem to be doing a fantastic job and hope they keep up the good work.

In other words, we shall have to visit again to try more...

Tried this place for the first time today with the family, was really looking forward to visiting after reading many good reviews & wanting to try a good smokehouse being a massive foodie & a renown British private chef (Dine With Burhan - Instagram)

We ordered the Ribwich, chicken burger, beef shortribs, 2x house fries, 2x tenders, 1x Mac cheese triangles & 1x chilli cheese bites along with 4 drinks, this all totalled to £86 which is steep but I knew this and hoped the food would justify the price tag which unfortunately wasn’t the case.

The biggest let downs was the beef dishes which I was really disappointed with as this is a smokehouse which specialises in beef.

Beef shortrib. -Very very dry & crumbly, not a single ounce of moisture or juiciness in the meat, we found it hard to chew and it just didn’t melt in the mouth, the coffee bbq sauce was lacklustre & bland in my opinion, there was also a overpowering acrid smell/taste to the beef, almost like a chemical taste, the pickles were flat in taste and didn’t compliment the dish at all.

RibWich: -Brioche bread was toasted too much and borderline burnt, the pulled beef inside was lacking seasoning and sauce, it was very average, this was what I was looking forward to the most however didn’t deliver for a £14 sandwich.

Chicken burger: -Again a very average chicken burger, the breast fillet looked and tasted frozen and not fresh nor did it look like a fresh chicken breast fillet, for £10+ you’d expect it to be.

Chips/Mac triangles/Chilli cheese bites/Tenders: -All just average, everything tasted and looked frozen out of a packet, not impressed.

Overall it was a massive buildup of excitement for me to visit this smokehouse, the food looked better than it tasted & the value for money was definitely imbalanced.

The good points: Service was attentive, polite & prompt. Food came out within good time Interior was clean (customer toilet...