Blue Smoke Artisan Pizza — Restaurant in Wakefield

Having a brother who is now a wheelchair user means I view places through a different lens than in the past.

First off, the food was excellent. The starters were superb, the staff were wonderful, the pizzas were great.

Blue Smoke is listed as wheelchair accessible and it just about is. However, there were a few niggles, hence the 4 stars.

The path from the car park to the entrance is very narrow. Due to his size, my brother uses a narrow wheelchair but even so he was one wheel on the path, one wheel off it. Someone in a wider wheelchair would straddle the path.

There is an accessible toilet which is brilliant, but as with many places, no thought had been given to gaining access to it and a table was blocking the entrance to the accessible toilet. The family at that table were wonderfully understanding and moved out of the way.

The path again. Where it meets the car park should have a hashed zone; a car was parked right at the end of the path and I had to lift my brother and his chair around the car to get back into the car park.

This might seem trite given the percentage of customers who are wheelchair users but being in a wheelchair is hard enough without getting in and out of somewhere being a struggle.

The whole idea of a business listing itself as wheelchair friendly is so that access should be as easy as it is for able bodied people. So many places pay lip service and token gestures towards wheelchair access that it was a tad disappointing that a couple of little things that could be easy wins weren't considered.

If Blue Smoke read these reviews, then excellent pizzas, bravo. But please consider making a few changes to be as wheelchair friendly...

We had the pleasure of dining at Blue Smoke recently, and we’ll definitely be back soon. From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by Tommy, a friendly young man who showed us to our table. After a brief moment, he offered us drinks and then service was taken over by Lucas. We ordered a selection of pizzas and a chicken parmo, and we were blown away by the quality of the food. The ham and pineapple pizza was hands down one of the best I’ve had in a long time—huge credit to the chef for that! Throughout the evening, we were mainly served by Lucas and Ryan, who were both incredibly polite, friendly, and attentive. It was clear they went above and beyond to make sure we had a wonderful experience.

We also had our one-year-old with us, and the waiting staff were so kind, making an effort to chat with him and acknowledge his little waves. It’s always nice when the team takes the time to engage with little ones!

The atmosphere at Blue Smoke was perfect—not too busy, which made for a relaxing dining experience. The pricing was very reasonable for the quality of food, and overall, it was an excellent value. We highly recommend Blue Smoke to anyone looking for delicious food and top-notch service. Lucas, Ryan, and Tommy are a true asset to the restaurant. Keep up the...

Stopped here for some food while walking.

Lovely smart pizza restaurant, with the added bonus that it's above their other restaurant Blue Bell) so you can order the roast dinners on a Sunday from downstairs.

I chose a pizza and my wife chose the Sunday roast. The person serving us gave my wife warning so she could go down and get her food for when my pizza was ready, which worked really well.

I had the 'Yorkshire' pizza (with Swaledale sausage, oak smoked Wensleydale, Yorkshire ham, red onions, San Marzano tomato sauce) It was a good size with very nice toppings and really good dough. No complaints from me!

Unfortunately the roast dinner wasn't up to the same standard. The roast beef was sliced in front of her, yet was still very dry and overcooked. Not the juicy pink beef you get in most restaurants on a Sunday. The carrots/parsnips were good, as well as the stuffing , roast potato and Yorkshire pudding. But the mash was very very plain.

The service was very good, and we'd happily come back for pizza. But you can probably get a better roast from a well known carvery for less money and...