American Way Smokehouse — Restaurant in Chandler

When I arrived at the American Way Market, the delicious aroma greeted me from the parking lot. Upon entering, people were milling around finding a spot inside or on the patio to sit. A bakery is also part of the American Way Market, and the smell is very welcoming. Customers lined up around the building, chatting, and waiting for their turn to order. How many BBQ restaurants have you visited that are connected to a giant antique mall?

The two businesses seem to fit well with one another as customers in the mall come in for lunch and when the diners finish their food, they stroll into the antique mall! This is not your typical barbeque restaurant, this is a smokehouse, with original creations like smoked egg salad, smoked corn chowder and ultra creamy mac and cheese served in its own cast-iron dish! Even the salads on the menu contain smoked meats. The large variety of smoked meats is the real deal here. There are fourteen types of Smokehouse sandwiches, and many handcrafted salads. It is no wonder famous people have chosen to dine here.

Once I placed my order, I grabbed one of the last available tables and waited a few short minutes for the food. The environment is warm and inviting, so much so that conversations seem to drift across tables.

When my food arrived, three sauce options were available, each one adding delicious flavor to the meat. I received a sample plate with three smoked meats and several baby-back ribs. The pulled pork and tri-tip was delicious, and the smoked turkey breast was the best I have had in my long 60+ years. The baby-back Ribs were heavenly – the fat is beautifully rendered and the candied bark crackles before tender meat gives way serving major flavor! The food was so delicious that I neglected to save room for one of their freshly baked cookies.

If you are craving a barbeque meal, do not hesitate, give American Way Market a try. You will not be...

Although the food is good, and pricey, they have the new tipping software manipulation tablets. We are getting worse with this type of tipping manipulation to avoid owners paying workers properly. They have it default to 20+%, and goes down from there, with a forced "other" for custom to enter zero manually, or a lesser tip. This isnt a restaurant where they help fill drinks, or serve at the table so why would I pay not only 15%, but your suggestion of 25% default? This is such a huge problem with the new credit card tablet software systems. 1 star for this and only 2 stars if the food is halfway decent. I get my own drink, I wait in a long line to order, and all you do is drop the food at my table. Pay employees better, raise prices more if required! I'll tip after, cash, generally, if the total experience was amazing, not immediately at the software. This is manipulation due to the fact you have to navigate to find the other button and people feel guilty as the employee looks at you and people behind you.. meal in photo cost $24 with tax and the $3 side upcharge tiny chili bowl. You want me to tip you $5 (20%), or more by default, just to bring me my food? I still tip the dollar and the guy changed his attitude when he saw it. It shows that's how they thrive, and rely only on customers at a cash register which should be fully automated...

Tried American Way Market for the first time today. I liked the look and feel right off the bat. Good visuals and smells to go along with it. I ordered the smoked pastrami, slaw on the sandwich, plus a side of potato salad. The marble rye bread was EXCELLENT. The potato salad was very good and went very well with their bbq sauce, which I find is a good baseline test. I will go back and try other sandwiches there. The only issues I had were with the pastrami. It was tasty and had good smoke. The portion on a $10 sandwich was pretty slight however; seemed like 2oz, when 4oz would have been better for the size of the bread and amount of slaw. It was a touch salty by itself, but balanced well with the slaw on the sandwich. It did not have a pepper crust and was made from brisket, not the fattier 'plate' or 'flap' cut that old school purists would prefer (like they use at legendary Katz Deli in NYC). Hence to me, it was a bit more like corned beef than pastrami, but as I said, it was tasty, just not for the purist. I will try other selections and will be happy to upgrade to 5 stars if those issues are particular to the pastrami. Overall, I recommend trying them out for sure. Fantastic selection of vintage sodas is worth trying for...