Smoking Joe's BBQ — Restaurant in Gainesville

Camping in Mountain View, AR, for a week, we perused the East Calico Rock ghost town and then decided to visit the nearest town in Missouri. That would be Gainesville unless you want to include towns without businesses.

Now remember- We’d just come from a “ghost town.” Weren’t expecting much. Smokin’ Joes, therefore, was NOT what we expected.

The sign said, “BBQ/Pizzeria,” and we saucily expected that to be analogous with “post office / convenience store,” given the population of the town. But in fact we could have ordered an actual pizza with BBQ sauce and smoked meat.

My wife had a pulled pork sandwich and she ate it all. I had a “moink dog” with sauerkraut. Yum! We each had boutique ice cream cones for desert.

Service was good to the point of being inspirational. Patrons were patronly. Only trouble you might find is finding the place. The sign’s...

Small quaint spot, very clean. Amazingly friendly owner/employees, they were patient while I was indecisive about my to go order. When I got the car the smell was overwhelming so I decided to take a bite of the smoked beans. I inhaled half of them right then and there and debated going back in for a big ol trough of them. I’m sorry I didn’t now. I’m super picky about ribs so I just got one big one and should’ve gotten the two I considered. Fall off the bone, so much flavor and very little fat or gristle. Also had the wings and they were also yummy smokiness, the hot garlic sauce is addictive. Nicest guys running this place too, it was a random stop on a cross country road trip and it was the best food I’ve had on the trip so far...

After showing a property in Gainesville, (I always take advantage of trying a new place when showing), we thought we’d try Smoking Joe’s. I’m glad we did, the food was very tasty! We shared the brisket dinner and a half order of ribs. They were both tender, I probably preferred the brisket myself. Sweet potato fries and fries were good and so were the smoked beans! The waitress was very pleasant and helpful, kept our drinks refilled. Owner(?) was very friendly and was visiting with most of the customers. We’ll be back but I think I want to try a burger and a fried pie next time to see how...