Center Street Smoke House — Restaurant in City of Batavia

We stopped by on a Saturday to use a meal deal from an app called Local Flavor that was close to expiration. I think it was $20 for $40 worth of food. The restaurant itself has a really cool vibe and an awesome looking bar area. The bartender who waited on us was awesome. He was extremely attentive and made our dinner more enjoyable!

My husband and I ordered a 3 meat combo with ribs, pulled pork and brisket. The sides were hush puppies and smashed potatoes. My husband ordered a Hayburner beer and a BBQ burger with a side of dirty rice and extra hush puppies to take home. The bill before the discount was a little over $40. Decent price for the amount of food.

Before your food arrives, you are given complimentary cheesy biscuits. They were soft and pretty good. Although, I prefer the red-lobster style ones...haha! We used a couple of their house-made BBQ sauces to dip the biscuits in. One was dark, sweet and had a molasses flavor while the other was tangy with more vinegar and a lot of spices.

The burger and rice were okay. The burger was not overly flavorful and the roll was kind of gummy and soggy. I wasn't into it unless I drenched it in their homemade BBQ sauce. The rice was pretty good but I prefer Cajun style dirty rice because it's more flavorful. I'll give the burger a C.

The 3 meat combo was pretty good and I'd grade it a B+ because those hush puppies were really good and the ribs were tasty. I do a lot of my own smoking/grilling, so I feel like I can be pretty honest in my review here. The brisket was nice and tender with only a hint of smoke flavor. I prefer a nicer smoke ring but again with enough sauce, it was tasty. The pulled pork was a bit dry until I sauced it up and then it was good. The ribs fell off the bone and were pretty tender. I appreciate the option of ribs with a dry rub, so I can choose to add sauce or not. These were a little on the dry side but I enjoyed the flavor and fat to meat ratio. The potatoes were okay but nothing to get excited about. I'd suggest BBQ saucing them up too! The hush puppies were so good, had a major crunch but were soft in the middle.

I'd maybe go back if I was in Batavia but I don't think I'd travel to just go to...

Food was great. Portions were great.

I wanted to give this place a 1star but decided to sleep on it.

Maybe im wrong... im mindful enough to know im not perfect...

I am a very picky eater. Id almost call it a phobia as silly as it sounds. I cant eat anything with onions in it... even if they have no taste and cooked down... i instantly feel sick and full. I got real sick when i was younger and eating onions... and it juwt stuck with me.

This was the 1st place i was ever at where basically the waitress denied checking for me. She said that unless I had an allergy and was going to die, she wasnt going to check. Mind u im with 6 other family members and now feel very embarrassed and uncomfortable.

I cant find out whats in the food im paying for?

Then i ask her about the 3,3,4 meat special... my point was to get 2 ribs and a pulled pork for 19.99. I think this part was a misunderstanding... but again... i felt as if i was being controlled and restricted to what i want to eat... She said... if u want 2 ribs... get the full rack... And I replied... well thats $25... i can get 2 ribs for the 2,3,4 meat special price.

She replied... "thats not how it works here"

Completely puzzled and anxious infront of my family... i said i dont think im that hungry anymore.

It was one of my worst experiences ever... but i think there were a few misunderstands and communication... I felt like the bad guy for asking 2 simple questions...

And then i have family members joking saying... as long as they didnt do something to our food and we are not sick 2maro they will forgive me.

Listen... the food was good to great.

Maybe im being a bit to picky... but again, i have asked 30-50 spots if they have onions in their meal, and never was refused or told they would check only if i would die.

If this didnt happen... id give it a 5... And if i made this review after i left there... it would have been a 1... Take it for what its worth... i think im fair...

Waitress Lacie was RUDE! We waited 15 min for her to come to our table to ask what we wanted to drink... after waiting 15 minutes for a table. When we asked her what beers she had on tap she says "I don't know I've only been here a month" After finding out tap beers and placing order waitress put drink orders in on computer which must link up to bartenders computer where he instantaneously poured the drinks. We watched them sit there for 15 minutes before she picked them up to bring to us. When we mentioned they were warm she suggested maybe we just try a different beer on tap. When we went to order our meals every question we had about the food she said she doesn't know. She had no clue about anything on the menu or about center Street in general. When we were waiting for our meals we noticed other waiters bringing complementary biscuits to other tables so when we asked if we could have some it again took an additional 15 minutes and she rolled her eyes. Then when our dinners came there was no mild sauce with the wings and we asked her for them she then replied yes I will go down and get some but she continued to take orders from other tables and get drinks for other tables while we waited for our wing sauce. When we asked her again she slammed her menus down and slammed a door in the little waitress station on the second floor. About 10 minutes later she returns with THREE mild sauces and slams them on table and walks away. When we talked to the manager about our experience she offered to take 10 percent off.. but not after she says "what do you want me to do about it??"... REALLY???? HORRIBLE! Will not be back because besides the horrible service our pulled chicken was cold and dry, and the wings...