Smokin' Joe's Ribhouse — Restaurant in Bentonville

Tried eating here for the first time today, definitely won't be back. The meats were all terrible, even the ribs - which usually saves places like this (mid to low end BBQ joints).

The hot link was little more than a hot dog with some seasoning, but it was still the best of the meats we ordered. The ribs, brisket, and burnt ends were tough and dry. The brisket was as bad as I have ever had (Rib Crib might be worse, but it's close) couldn't handle more than one bite, wasn't worth eating.

The dinner rolls were pretty good and my 6 year old enjoyed his corn dog. But overall, this was the culinary equivalent of hospital food.

Maybe there are other things they do well here, but I'm not coming back to find out. There are enough good BBQ places around town town to skip this place completely.

UPDATE: I can appreciate the "aww shucks" response I got from the owner below, I get it, bad reviews aren't fun. While I may have lived in California, I'm not from there and I didn't move to NWA from there, but the Internet sleuthing about me personally was a decent effort. I DID tell our server that the food wasn't good at all, that server's response? "Oh, uh, sorry." In fact, it seemed from their response that this wasn't uncommon, so no, I didn't really want any more of that food. None of us enjoyed the BBQ we had, getting more of it in that moment wasn't high on my list, especially when the server seemed to have no interest in it.

To the owner, I appreciate you offering the gift card, I'll politely decline. I do recommend though, that your staff be trained better across the board, because anyone who knows what good BBQ is, and it sure sounds like you do, would have known by looking that the brisket they brought us was not good. Two dry, tough, pieces of meat that looked nothing like even the most mediocre brisket. When a customer tells you the food wasn't good at all, and the server is taking away plates totally full of food that nobody wants to take with them - that's a strong indicator that a (deserved) review like this might be coming.

I enjoy living in NWA, and Southern hospitality, what I don't enjoy is being served low quality food with the expectation that I will ask to have it all replaced when we don't like it. We paid, we tipped, we thanked everyone for their service, I don't need to come back and please forgive me for sharing my accurate response with others who might be considering dining here.

There are several places in town that have excellent BBQ and on this occasion this was not...

The cook, Cooter Bob St. James, (I'd bet a dollar I'm close), is an arrogant prissy man. Even though he tips the scales at 300 plus lbs, (scales only go to 300lbs so its anyone's guess) Cooter wears Bass Pro fishing wear that is a good 2 sizes too small.

Cooter isn't a handsome man, but defying all earthly logic, he married his high school sweetheart Freida Joe. Freida is absolutely gorgeous and is a freak of nature by maintaining her girlish figure after bring 6 baby Cooters into this world.

Folks from area towns have been mystified for decades at how Cooter landed Freida. In years past, the rumor began Freida was "simple" and Cooter was taking advantage of her lack of intellect. The hubbub grew to the point Cooter loaded Freida and the kids up in the truck and drove down to the Universty of Arkansas for testing.

At the end of the day, to the professors surprise, they found Freida exhibited an above average I.Q. and fairly advanced education.

The mystery of how Cooter Bob landed Freida Joe continued to grow and spread far and wide until it reached legendary status.

The locals have mostly always accepted the arrogant and prissy Cooter Bob. And, they know why Freida Joe locked up Cooter way back in high school. Like the locals, she tasted his ribs.

Morale of this story: If you could smoke ribs like Cooter you too would get the hottest chics and could be as arrogant and prissy as you want. Just keep those ribs coming.

The pitmaster may not be named Cooter, but he should be.

Servers are as friendly as two tailed puppy dogs and the ribs...

The teens that work in here have a lot to learn/become educated on when it comes to being a part of conducting a business as a team. Instead of flirting with each other in the back while everyone can still see you, and being forgetful of requests a customer has asked of you because you’re distracted by fresh meat (literally); pay attention to your surroundings and what more there is to be done that you could do for that customer or restaurant. The definition of ‘doing your job’. All in all, the front reception lady with spider lashes for lash extensions has a bad attitude and facial expressions, as well as the other young boy and girl. They all move slowly like sloths uninterested in their jobs or being there. The sweet elderly lady waitress, bless her heart, she does her best but definitely could work on her manners and not touching the guests and plates so much. Cross contamination is an issue these days. The young boy needs to practice his “death stare” a bit more In the mirror at home as it’s not intimidating as he thinks it is. The food was good, could use a bit more Smoke and flavor to the meat as well as being cooked longer in order to “fall off the bone”. Other than that, we would eat here again for the food but won’t be coming back for a while until hopefully these teens and door greeter are properly educated on how to assist with the public and elderly take a course in hygiene techniques. Oh one more thing, don’t forget to ask for a plate for the ranch with fried pickles. They don’t have ramekins and expect you to dip it in your...