Smokin Bones BBQ — Restaurant in Bountiful

I was sooooo excited to see that everyone loved their gluten free food. My family doesn’t typically love BBQ but I insisted because I do. There was a line in front of us but we had some time so I wasn’t worried. I got the turkey sandwich and was so excited to see that they used Mrs. Hewitt’s bread because that is my absolute favorite. I hate Udi’s. So we waited and waited and waited. Watched several to go orders being picked up. The boys working there were kind of all over the place. No assembly line style or anything. Seemed chaotic. Then my family was served and the young man said my turkey sandwich would be right out. They finished their food and all other parties before us and 3 parties after us had gotten their food and left. The place had basically cleared out in the time we were there. Now I’m so mad and hungry I can’t even. My husband, now also getting impatient, asks them if my sandwich is coming. They said, OH yes, it’s coming. Another 10 minutes goes by. The young man came out from the kitchen and apologized for it taking so long. I’m like you’ve got to be kidding me. What is the hold up. You just put the meat on the bread. It’s not anything more than that. My husband had a turkey sandwich in regular bread. Another 5 minutes later they bring out my sandwich. I am now starving!!!! I go to dig into my sandwich, the bread was frozen. Like hard as a rock center. Unbelievable. I was about to lose my mind but I was so hungry and angry, all I wanted to do was leave so I didn’t make a scene. I hurried and finished the coleslaw (yum) and the little bit of meat. I saw my husbands sandwich and it looked like he had way more meat despite them weighing it. Plus after making me wait an hour for my food it seemed to me like there should have been a pile of meat or at least an extra side offered. The turkey was good. It’s such a shame that it turned out to be such an awful experience for my family and me. If you cannot serve up the gluten free sandwiches in a timely manner than do not offer them. If I was told it would take an hour to thaw (actually over an hour since it was still frozen) the bun in a warmer, than I would have 100% been totally fine with getting a plate with an extra side instead. 100%. Left still hungry and had to rush to my son’s soccer game because we did not expect it to take that long. After dropping him off I had to run to get something...

I really wanted to love it, but I was disappointed all around.

I wanted to get some BBQ before the ASU @ Utah game, so I stopped there on my way for takeout.

I ordered the two-meat plate, which came with two sides. I ordered the brisket, the sausage, the potato salad, and the fries. I was told that it would be ready at 7:16pm.

The Service: When I got there, the hostess told me that it would be another 10 minutes. The restaurant was NOT very busy, but it was a Saturday night- whatever the reason, I wasn't upset. I sat down on the bench, and watched the Cubs @ Brewers. At 7:35, I had still not received my food. Nobody was in line. It seemed like the staff had a bit of downtime. So I stood up, and moved closer to the hostess area. When I did, a guy (I presume was a manager) looked at me, and said "Who is that?" They called over a few other employees, and came to a consensus that I was "Rob". The hostess came and said "I'm SO sorry. We lost your order, somehow. We're making you a fresh order, and we'll have it for you in like two minutes." I was annoyed, but I thought "Well, at least it will all be hot and fresh." And they brought it to me, shortly after that.

The Food: • The sausage was cooked, and then wrapped in tinfoil, and then returned to some heating source. Unfortunately, once it returned to the warmer, half of the sausage was so burned that the tinfoil was totally stuck to the burnt side. I used the plastic knife to cut the burnt part off off, and what was left was not bad. • The brisket was the worst part- by far. There was a very tasty piece of smoked, charred beef, maybe an inch long, but the rest of it was 90% fat. It was inedible. • IF the fries had been hot, they would have been good, with the fry sauce. But they weren't. They were barely warm. • I have to admit- I didn't eat the potato salad. I was irritated. I was in a hurry. It's possible that the potato salad was great... but who is going to go to a BBQ joint for potato salad? I threw the brisket, half of the sausage, the potato salad, and half the fries in the trash, as soon as I got to the stadium. And I got two hotdogs that were vastly better than anything I got at Smokin Bones.

I LOVE local restaurants. I don't like chains. But in this case, I'd suggest anyone in Bountiful just...

really do love the food at Smoke N Bones—it’s consistently great and that’s why I keep coming back. But unfortunately, the pickup experience has been disappointing more than once, and I think it’s fair to share some honest feedback.

A couple of months ago, I ordered through the Toast app. It gave me a 30-minute pickup window, so I showed up right on time. The lobby was packed, and I was told they were running behind. When I asked how much longer it would be, I was told 30–45 more minutes. That felt excessive. I asked if I could cancel, but no one directly responded. Instead, they offered me a soda while I waited—which was nice, but didn’t really address the issue. I waited another 30 minutes before finally getting my food.

Tonight, I gave it another shot. I placed an order around 7:10 PM, with a pickup time of 7:43 PM. I ran a few errands and ended up arriving a bit late—at 8:22 PM. Still, I was told they hadn’t even started my order yet because they’d been “busy.” But here’s the thing: the lobby wasn’t full. Maybe 3 or 4 tables were occupied, and there were no pickup orders waiting.

What really stood out—and honestly concerned me—was seeing two young girls behind the counter, who didn’t appear to be staff, scooping food from the prep area and eating it. It didn’t seem sanitary or in line with food safety practices. Meanwhile, the staff didn’t seem in a rush to get orders out. It felt disorganized, and the lack of urgency or communication was frustrating. On top of that, the sides I ordered were not right and I wasn’t aware until I got home, also - this was for the 2nd time in a row…very frustrating.

I’m not trying to be harsh—I enjoy this place and want to support it. But if I’m going to spend 30–60 minutes waiting for food (especially after the quoted pickup time), I at least need realistic expectations. If the kitchen is backed up, that’s understandable—just please update the estimated pickup times or send a notification. Communication goes a long way.

Hope this helps the team improve—because the food deserves better...