Smoke Justis — Restaurant in Covington

Unfortunately, “disability-friendly” is not how I would describe Smoke Justis. Yes, they’ve added a lift so someone using a wheelchair can get in, but they can’t expect to get a table.

There’s a lot to love about this restaurant but they keep making it harder for me to support their business. My husband has a disability that makes it difficult to sit at high bar stools, so we look for a standard-height table. Unfortunately, Smoke Justis only has 4 of these in the main area, so we usually sit outside. On our last visit, which was St. Patrick’s Day, they were not allowing people to eat outdoors for some reason. We might have gone somewhere else entirely except that the hostess had said we could order food at the bar to eat outdoors, then we were later told that eating outdoors was not allowed. After sitting outside for a while, I went in to put our names on the list to wait for a table. The hostess said she could seat our party of 2 immediately but I indicated a need for a low top table, which she noted. After waiting over an hour, I went in to see if the low tables were still full. I saw on the paper waiting list that we appeared to be next and that they were clearing a low table so I got very excited. Unfortunately, we did not get that table. Finally we were offered a table, only to be told that it’s upstairs – and there’s no elevator. Unfortunately, this is not a viable option for my husband.

While I certainly understand that St. Patrick’s Day was extremely busy and crazy, I can’t understand the overall decisions that SJ made. Having a low-top table was clearly important enough to me that I waited over an hour instead of being seated immediately, yet it didn’t occur to them that a flight of stairs might not be an option. After being offered the table upstairs, I spoke to Damien who seemed to be a manager but I’m not sure. I expressed my frustration at the situation and he told me the low top tables are “premium.” If they’re in such high demand, why can’t SJ invest in a few more? Would it have been crazy to let people eat outside where the tables are standard height?!

My husband and I live near Smoke Justis and have raised this concern more than once over the past few years but we are always met with excuses. It’s clear to me that we – and others with disabilities who need low-top tables – are not highly...

I'm so disappointed with this place after building it up in my mind for over a year. Finally got the opportunity to have "dinner for two" here so we booked reservations on google. There were two options with times available when I booked, dining room or club room. I knew this place had a sports bar so when I saw the options, I just assumed the dining room would be where we could dine somewhat quietly.

We showed up and they put us on a table near the door in a room that was a noisy sports bar. So immediately, we were terribly disappointed with the atmosphere. I guess I'm willing to own part of that failure because I made assumptions about the place based on where it's located, the classy architecture and the price they were charging. The reviews on the food were good so we decided to make the best of it and try the food. Also, their reservation workflow sort of led me to believe we'd be in a "dining room".

The environment was way too loud to try and ask questions about the menu. So I went with the burger and fries and my wife had the brisket mac and cheese. We had the fried pickles app and I had the old fashioned cocktail from the menu.

The old fashioned was supposed to be a premium bourbon, but it tasted like someone just threw some well bourbon in there with an orange garnish. Terrible cocktail. Definitely not an old fashioned.

The fried pickles app was okay, but you really needed the dipping sauce to make them enjoyable. Unfortunately, the sauce they serve isn't really enough to make it through the whole app without having to finish it off with bland and soggy pickles.

They were out of hamburger buns, so my hamburger had to be served on a very dry, plain white toasted bread. The burger itself was bland, barely warm and just not good at all. I doubt a real bun would have saved it. The fries were soggy and terrible.

My wife's brisket mac and cheese was not good at all really. The brisket was dry and so was the mac and cheese. I've had freezer meals that end up tasting better after a couple of minutes in a microwave.

I really wanted to like this place. It's within walking distance and I've heard plenty of hype. In the end we felt...

I called twice to make sure that my party of 8 could be seated inside without a problem. Was told each time it would be fine. When I arrived at the restaurant, I was rudely told by the hostess that I could not sit inside and would have sit outside. She was rude and condescending and basically went against everything I was told when I called. After being seated, it took forever to get our drinks. It also took a very long time to get our appetizer. Getting refills of water were extremely difficult. Ice was melting fast in the heat of being outside and yet our waiter did not even seem to notice. We asked for a pitcher of ice water and never received it. We tried to move to a different outdoor table to get out of the sun and the waitress yelled at us for trying to come into her area. She was extremely unprofessional and rude. Food took over an hour to arrive even after I asked about it multiple times. Tables who arrived after us were getting their food before us. Our server seemed clueless and was not helpful. Once food arrived, it was cold, bland, and poor quality. I had chicken, my husband had ribs and brisket, my mom had chicken, and my daughter had brisket and chicken. All of it was gross. Some of the worst smoked meats we have ever had. The brisket was burnt and tough to even eat. Fries were limp and greasy. Green beans had no flavor. It was all just awful. My husband has felt sick all evening after eating the food. He loves smoked meats and BBQ and said his food did not taste good at all and the quality was sub par compared to other places he has eaten. When asked to speak with a manager, one came and was not helpful. Just said they were busy. I will never return and would advise everyone to go elsewhere. Service is slow and inattentive to the needs of patrons, customer service is lacking, management does not know how to treat customers and resolve problems, food is low quality and tasteless, hostess is rude, and person answering the phone is not honest. This place is a train wreck. Go somewhere else for BBQ. This...