Fozzie's Smokin Bar BQ — Restaurant in Bemidji

I was here with some friends after a round of golf in the summer of 2021. Admittedly, we were a bit liquored up, but it was arguably one of the best BBQ experiences of our lives. The Big Daddy feast kept the three of us fed for days afterward. It was perfect.

This first experience set the bar quite high. Unfortunately, this high bar left me quite disappointed with my return in January of 2023.

Local legend has it that the cook who delivered greatness in 2021 moved onto different ventures sometime between then and now.

Unfortunately, the chef packed up and took the recipe box with him, along with the morale of the wait staff.

The last time I saw somebody more disinterested in life than our waiter was in line at the Grand Forks post office. Until requested, the kid didn’t even bring waters to our table.

John and I both ordered the prime rib special, which arrived picture-perfect. Seriously, look at those pictures. It looks incredible. Unfortunately, good looks done equate to a good meal.

All three of our sides arrived cold. Like, not even lukewarm. Have you ever had cold corn on the cob? Let me save you the misery. Don’t do it.

And before you say, why not just have the waiter take it back for a warm-up? Umm, how bout no? Once food is delivered to my table, it does not leave my sight. I don’t want some kid waiter, resentful at his father for not approving his desire to be a snake-charmer instead of a banker, to launch a loogie in my au jus. Also, I didn’t go out to spend $100 on microwaved food.

You get one shot. If you can’t move food 40 feet from kitchen to table while it’s hot, on a night when 70% of the tables are vacant, it’s time to reassess your operation.

Not all was lost in this sandwich of disappointing items, however, we still had the prime rib of redemption to save the day.

When I attempted the first cut, the knife wouldn’t penetrate the meat. I suspected I was holding the knife upside down. Nope. I recalled that I am indeed an adult. I know how to wield a knife. That was not the problem.

It was the meat! My glorious prime rib! The one that could have adorned the cover of a magazine, had the texture and consistency of a leather jacket. Instead of a slight smoke flavor, it tasted as if the chef held the beef in front of a Buick Lesabre tailpipe with his tongs.

How could something look so breathtaking but taste so mediocre? How did Fozzy’s fall from grace faster than the Roman Empire?

Why, God, why?

Thank heavens for Los Ranitas across town.

Without it, there would be no reason to visit Tough...

I was greatly disappointed ☹️ the food I ordered took over an hour and a half to make- for a 🍔 cheeseburger and fries 🍟… let that sink in. And I ordered a brownie while I waited which came out relatively fast at around 25 minutes later but missing ice cream etc. The smell inside the room was sooo disgusting, hard to breathe. I felt like I was going to have an asthma attack and decided to wait in my car because I was stuck there since I had already prepaid.

But yes, don’t do it! Food is good but everything else sucks. I was charged full price for my dessert even though they said they’d discount it because they didn’t have all of the ingredients. I didn’t argue because I just wanted to leave by that point.

If the service and ambience wasn’t so disgusting I’d be back. Cheeseburger was the best I have tried in town full and meaty. You can tell it was real ground beef and quality cheese 🧀. French fries were not overly salted nor overly greasy. Does not taste like they reuse their oil. I genuinely enjoyed the food and the flavor like fresh off the grill. I would have been looking forward to exploring the menu without the long wait issue, even if I couldn’t dine in because of poor ventilation.

Cornbread was also delicious and tasted homemade.

*I don’t have a picture because I ate it too fast.😅

Mind, I don’t drink alcohol I came for the food. The water 💦 I drank tasted foul and contaminated though. Since city water has PFOA purchase bottle water if they have it because the city water is very unhealthy and contaminated.

Plenty of parking 🅿️ Waitress will ignore you and I don’t know 🤷‍♀️ if the fact I don’t drink alcohol has anything to do with that because she seemed oddly unhappy when I explained that was all I wanted (food) and I noticed how she served many others after me; taking their orders and bringing them drinks 🍺 but I had to wait a long time just for water.

I can understand that the owner has a passion for his business but he should take constructive feedback and improve. I would order takeout if he did! 😏Perhaps I misunderstood that the place was a restaurant- maybe it’s more bar with food on the side whenever...

On Wednesday, August 29th around 1:30 in the afternoon we ordered ribs, pulled pork, chicken wings, brisket sandwiches & tacos, Mac & cheese, corn bread, and the bacon jalapeño Mac & cheese egg roll.

The good:

The service was good and our waitress was attentive and worked effectively to to take our order and deliver food.

The bacon jalapeño Mac & cheese egg roll was the best thing we ordered. An order will get you two of these scrumptious treats. 9 out of 10 stars.

Wings - It was a Wednesday afternoon so the chicken wings were on special for a dollar each. One order equals three wings. We ordered three dry rub and three hot wings "buffalo style". The wings were good sized and had lots of flavor. 8 out of 10 stars

Mac & cheese - Everyone thought the Mac and cheese was good enough to earn 7 out of 10 stars.

Just okay:

The brisket was decent, but was missing the smoky flavor I was expecting since the restaurant had a pleasant smoke aroma. I've had brisket in Texas and Kansas City and this didn't come close. I'll give it an okay grade, but only because the restaurant is knowhere near KC or the lone star state. 6 out of 10 stars in MN. 4 out 10 vs real BBQ restaurants.

Bad:

Corn bread - You gotta have good corn bread to go with your BBQ, but this was dry and nobody liked it. 2 out of 10 stars.

Pulled pork - It didn't have much to offer. This was a miss scoring 2 out of 10 stars.

Ribs - Save yourself some money and dental floss and make your own ribs at home. These were the worst ribs I've had anywhere and my mom used to make some awful no flavor ribs when I was a kid. The ribs were cold and chewy with no flavor. It was if they were reheated leftovers from the prior weekend. Embarrassing. No stars to award here.

Overall impressions:

If you're a BBQ joint the best thing on the menu should be your BBQ, but that didn't happen here so this place isn't worth your time if you're looking for legitimate smoky BBQ. I was hoping to find a hidden gem in northern Minnesota, but that high hope faded after one bite...