Canyon Smokehouse — Restaurant in Bluff

UPDATE (06/22/2024) Since my first visit and post, I have made several trips to this place. Each time has been a better visit than the last. Today I'll say that you need to make a stop here and fill your bellies. Everything has gotten better. Of course due to meat prices, be prepared to pay out. BUT, the portions are appropriate to pricing and the flavors make it even more worth it. It does have a rustic kind of log cabin feel, which I felt relaxed in and enjoyed my meal. There fries are always good but the Jalepeno Mac and Cheese..mmm..mmmm..mmm goood. I will be coming back again and again, just gotta make sure I don't start tapping into my retirement. We also took home a Loaded Fries w/ Brisket to my son and his wife to share. Even a little cold, his first words were "wow, this is amazing". So overall, great job guys, loving the food and your place. The last three pics were our order this visit.

(11 months ago) This wasn't a bad stop but there wasn't any wow moments either. Let me break this down. I feel the food to cost ratio might have been about right considering specialty meats costs. Flavor was good on both the ribs and the brisket. Im not sure about their sauce mixes but I did like the Mango Habinaro and my wife liked the Carolina Maple BBQ Sauce. My wifes Potatoe Salad side was a little questionable as she said it had a little bite to it, not like Spicey or a hint of Vinager either. Just wasn't sure so she didn't finish it. I did love the coleslaw and Brisket Baked Beans. Aside from the Baked beans and the potatoes salad we got the same things, so I wonder a little about the brisket cuts. They were not consistent. As far as service there wasn't any. We did pay a 15% tip when we ordered but we did all the work. Picked up our food, drinks, condiments and even cleaned off our table. Why did we tip? Hmmm. The atmosphere was rustic? Not sure what to call it...

This delightful and simple restaurant is a nice place to stop for a solid meal. The star of the dishes, which are the meats, were absolutely delicious. Perfectly cooked and well seasoned/flavored. One does not even need the bbq sauces for added flavor because it's there. The sauces overall were good. The Carolina sauce is a bit too vinegary and watery. The house sauce was delightful. The sides were fairly underwhelming. We had bbq beans, the mac n cheese, slaw, and the cornbread. The bbq beans were really good, but the other three were not at all special. The slaw was bland, and the mac n cheese seemed to be a salsa verde mixed with a basic mac n cheese. The cornbread was objectively cooked well, but even with the special jalapeño jam, it was just okay. The meat stands out for sure as being excellent. I have traveled across America and have tried bbq from North Carolina to California and every state in between. The meat is legit, so that is a great positive. In terms of service and atmosphere. The service is basically a self-serve of everything but the tray of food. The customer picks their food up and takes care of everything themselves. Servers, however, do come and check on everything regularly, which was nice. The atmosphere was good, but the restaurant was so air-conditioned that our food cooled with 15 minutes of getting it. My wife and I can deal with that without much issue, but this could be an issue with other guests. Overall, I think everyone should stop by if traveling through. The meat is...

Overall I wish I could give 4.5 stars. This place is absolutely worth stopping at if you're close by. It's also worth going out of your way if you're just really craving good southern style slow cooked meats. The bbq sauces fall a bit short of what I'm used to from Georgia and other nearby states but for the area it'll likely blow anything else out of the water. The value is about what you'd expect. Not cheap, but not expensive considering what you're ordering. Service was fast. Utah is weird about alcohol but this place does serve beer.

The Good: The meats. Pulled pork and brisket were both cooked fantastically. Seemed like an excellent rub was used. Both were tender and hot. No gristle. Just enough fat.

The Bad: Honestly nothing.

The Meh: Not really "bad", but if you're hoping for bbq sauce that reminds you of that shack in nowhere Mississippi (or other Southern state) you might be disappointed. Their sauces are House, Maple, Texas, Carolina, and Mango Habanero. Of these I feel like Texas maybe hit closest to the mark for me. If you like Carolina Vinegar it may also hit close to the mark, but was never one of my favorites so I hesitate to pass judgement . Maple seems like it should've been molasses based more akin to Chattahoochee Mud. The house, while decent, has no tang - perhaps not enough (or any?) mustard. Mango Habanero didn't seem spicy to me but this is so far outside of a "normal" BBQ sauce that I'm thinking they probably achieved what they were trying to...