Smokin' Jack's Rib Shack — Restaurant in Bloomington

Great food, loved the pulled pork. I found out about this place at The Taste of Bloomington a couple weeks ago, searching for a place to where I can order food for a party I was having. Very hard to get in contact with someone over the phone, whenever I called no one ever picked up, so I had to send an email through the site. I got a response that way. Out of all the times I've called which was about 6-10 different times maybe more, the phone was only answered twice out of those times. Put an order in for 10lbs of pulled pork on a morning within the 1st hour of them opening. Order was put in, from what I knew. I just had a feeling to call again later that day....and had some questions about my order bread size and what not. They didn't have my order put in, I was told the order wasn't in because it wasn't confirmed. Human mistake, but would've been bad for me on the day of my party. With that being said, I didn't think about an order confirmation, my fault. So finally got my order put in, invoice was emailed to me. I went to the address stated on the invoice, please remit to this address. WRONG! I was sent to the catering hall, when my order was at the actual restaurant. Mind you I drove about an hour to pick up my order, so had to go else where to pick this up. Also was told the pulled pork comes pre barbecued, my order wasn't. But the manager did give me an extra order of barque sauce for free. So staff should be more knowledgeable, cause I was told different things about some questions I had. My overall experience was unpleasant and somewhat stressful. There was a lady that I was communicating with through email, cause I couldn't get a hold of anyone though the phone, she was helpful and explained some things to me, Thanks Susan. Awesome food,...

What an experience. A must for the bbq enthusiast. First and foremost, food was wonderful, more on that in a minute. Staff was friendly and inviting and more than helpful, food was delivered promptly with a courteous smile. Accommodations are rustic, mom and pop-ish, down home atmosphere with a cozy fireplace, warning, you wait for a seat by it. After the staff, seating and atmosphere, i expected to be disappointed with the food, something had to fall. Not a chance. Half Rack dinner with potato salad and baked beans. Beans were okay, not much sprucing up there, but the potato salad, Y.U.M. No question my second favorite potato salad EVER. Only second to my mom's. Now the ribs. The half rack reminded me of Dino in the Flintstone's drooling over his brotasaurus leg. The mound of ribs was much more than expected for a half rack. Meaty, dark smokey crust, nice red ring underneath and meat that litterally falls off the bone and melts in your mouth. No teeth required. The light dressing of bbq sauce was just right to give the smokeyness of the bark a slight mellowing, neither being to strong or to weak by themselves but as a dynamic duo, there was a BAM, POW and a BOOM in my mouth... Honestly, an absolute delight to the most delicate or robust pallet. A very rare ballance of smoke and flavor that is hard to come by. Ribs here make the top five of my all time faves, and being from St. Louis, in the "Show Me State", they showed me why they come with such high acclaim. Only real disappointment I had during my trip was, well, the baked beans(- half a star), and they were out of Budweiser(- half a star)... Will be back next time I am in town... Save me at least a full rack...

Order taken by a recent new hire, she was terrific attempting in any way to be helpful; and she genuinely cared.

On the other hand, her trainer could be lasses faire. Hand a cell phone, seemed to care more about it than training. This was my first time at this establishment.

ONLY when questions were asked was an effort made by the trainer. The new person explained she was new, however made no effort not to help me.

Again, maybe the trainer had other responsibilities that overwhelmed her.

Net, net whoever owns this establishment should do an orientation, then place them in s supportive role to trainer.

First impressions, especially just trying to understand the menu offered, any specials for that day, y Making an effort to 'show' a new t around beverages, condiments, etc.

There was not on table with pepper or salt.

When I asked, I believe the knowledgeable, experienced person as a walk through was being done to avoid confusion on my part, and taking me away from attempting to eat dinner.

My partner indicated her food was warm, maybe, maybe microwaved, my ribs were at best like warm.....

Her side of greens were lukewarm, as she said straight out of a can.

Ribs were quite good...had the food been delivered 'hot'/fresh....

Overall, this establishment has good bones as far as ribs go... Poor preparation, 'iffy' service made this location unremarkable.. wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Regrettable..

Good luck.. ownership either 'steps up' or ownership should consider another vocation/business and SELL.

NORVIN KIRKENDALL

My mother operated a restaurant for 10+ years. I'm no 'nut' job, just giving honest and credible insights and...