Redsmoke Barbeque — Restaurant in Detroit

🛑🛑🛑WARNING…Read to end! 🛑🛑🛑 Im reviewing as a culinary-trained/college educated hospitality veteran/foodie. Visited 1/4/25 @ 7pm to a dead restaurant with only 6 tables seated for a Saturday Night (flag). Entrance decor and layout nicely done, which slides DOWNWARD as you make your way past the bar into an uninspiring, lackluster “fastfood” vibe in the rear with nothing on the walls and ZERO EFFORT of any decor. Staff notably kind, but preoccupied at the end of the bar in chat (some even seated), as we stood at hostess stand waiting to be seated. Such grouping continued as my water ran dry throughout the meal service. While kind, waitress failed to offer any suggestive upselling/recommendations. Timing from ordering to receiving our paper lined tin plate meal was quick, as one might expect with so few customers. FOOD: STAR OF THE SHOW were the 4 sauces on the table, clearly marked and each strongly flavorful in its own way… from sweet to vinegar based medium to spicy hot (that would satisfy any heat lover)…all excellent. Plates photographed exceptionally well, BUT then SHOCKINGLY FELL TOTALLY FLAT ON ITS FACE FOR FLAVOR. Redsmoke the only BBQ restaurant I ever walked into without a hint of SMOKE aroma (flag), such also was lacking in the food. Barely a scent or taste of smoke on the brisket nor the “Ultimate Pit” burger…hold up, you have a pit here??. The brisket was medium dry, and near FLAVORLESS, with its TOO perfect deli-like slices suggested a mechanical slicer (not by hand) of a wholesaler plastic-bagged brisket reheated in shop. Perplexing, as it totally fell short of my expectations of any bbq place, ESPECIALLY one touting “SMOKE” in its namesake! Sad, especially since we ordered the “fatty brisket” after our waitress assured “its got more flavor!” We all know brisket is the true test and star of any bbq establishment as well! Thankfully, the sauce was able to offer flavor, but we did not come to drink sauce! Comparingly, Cedar Point Amusement Park’s “Back Beat BBQ” could offer Redsmoke guidance on flavorful BBQ. While Redsmoke nails the sauce, the meat FAILS! Coleslaw(sad thimble-size portion) and extra-cost fries were great/excellent….while my chips were mostly shattered as from the bottom of a bbq kettle chip bag, yet notably with more flavor than any meat at our table. Want fries instead, nickel-dime game of $1.99 upcharge appears!! 🛑🛑🛑WARNING: Establishment’s “15% GRATUITY AUTOMATICALLY ADDED TO ALL DINE-IN PURCHASES” rule menu-printed as tiny as possible is UTTERLY RIDICULOUS FOR A METAL PIE PAN SERVICE BBQ JOINT! ⬇️ GRATUITIES ARE NEVER GRATUITIES WHEN FORCED BY AN ESTABLISHMENT MANDATE! They are a FEE, and ALWAYS promote a culture of mediocre service, especially when waitress never discloses such to any table when delivering any bill! ⬆️ 🛑🛑🛑WARNING: Redsmoke’s ridiculous “nickel and dime” game continues with their “2.6% FEE FOR ANY ELECTRONIC PAYMENT METHOD! 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳 The BOTTOM-LINE: -EXCELLENT sauce options -Great slaw and fries -So-so attitude, staff chit-chat (some even seated) at end of bar while my water ran dry a few times -Lackluster food lacking any smoke flavor more suited for a counter service venue. The nickel/dime pricing of extra charge for fries promotes the meal quality more aligned with their standard offering of chips! -Back Dining area lack of any effort of decor/ambiance -Mens bathroom faucet shocking/knowingly leaking with water on floor signs before entry and within -No table stop by/checkin by management (especially on a Saturday night) -FEE TO DEATH pricing structure (both forced gratuity mandate AND forced credit card mandate) makes the guest feel more-so at their bank!!! Dont forget, fries extra!👎 ALL MAKES FOR A MEDIOCRE EXPERIENCE more suited for counter service EXPLAINING WHY THIS PLACE WAS SADLY EMPTY FOR A SATURDAY NIGHT! Try SLOW’s Bar BQ or another venue, in hopes of authentic bbq without the litany of REDSMOKE fee structure smoking its guests more...

I have no idea how this place is rated this highly. One of the worst dining experiences I've had since moving to Detroit a year and half ago.

After walking in and being seated, it took about 10 minutes to get our order in as we combined food and drink orders having been given plenty of time to think about the menu. We were missing a sauce for our table that didn't arrive until the third or fourth request for it.

Food came out a good 50 minutes after we ordered, but was missing the mac and cheese and both of our orders of cornbread. The cornbread came out a couple minutes later while the mac and cheese took another couple minutes to arrive. Unfortunately, it was not worth the wait as it was cold in the middle and ridiculously hot on the outside. If I had to guess, I would definitely say it was microwaved. They took it back and brought out another one that was about 300 degrees, so they did technically fix the problem, although it was inedible until a solid 5-10 minute cool down period.

As for the meat themselves, the back ribs (not baby back as I was pretty rudely corrected on) were not bad, although they were pretty sparse on actual meat. However the brisket was TERRIBLE. No visible smoke ring. No marbling. Super well done and dry as a bone. I mean DRY. I would be shocked if it was smoked the same day... or honestly smoked at all?

So yeah... pretty much everything was bad. We talked to the manager about the brisket and their solution was to give me two rib bones to go and knock a dollar off the price. The entire post-dinner to paying took another solid 25-30 minutes.

While we were there the table behind us sent back it's side dishes as well for being way undercooked, and the table across from us was paying and also speaking with the manager when we arrived, so from what I could tell they were 0/3.

You'll never find me back at Red Smoke, and with all the great BBQ in town, I'd recommend you not go...

I don't even want to give this restaurant one star. We got to the restaurant and asked to be seated outside, the restaurant didn't seem very busy, but it still took our server about 10 minutes to come to our table to greet us and ask what we would like to drink. After we ordered drinks (we had a party of 4), everyone's beers came 10 minutes after we ordered them, but my soda didn't, so I had to wait longer for that. We ordered our food right when she came back with the drinks, because we could see the common waiting theme at this restaurant. I would understand the waiting game if the restaurant was busy, but considering we were only one of about 3 other tables, it seemed unacceptable. I would say 15 minutes after we ordered our food, our server came back and finally told us that the loaded french fries me and another woman in my party ordered, were unavailable because they were OUT OF FRIES. I'm not sure why it took her so long to relay this message, but it was terrible. After changing my order and getting fried pickles, they arrived and were practically empty. It was almost just pieces of the breading, and a few of them did have pickles inside. I became very frustrated after waiting again for more drinks, and asked to talk to the manager. I explained all we had been going through in our experience with Red Smoke, and he said "I'll definitely take care of you guys". I appreciated the fact that he was willing to make some kind of gesture, but only taking off 3 beers didn't really seem like much of a compensation for all of the waiting we did and having to wait for our food and drinks. I will never recommend this...