Russell's Rising Smoke — Restaurant in Haleyville

My husband and I are from out of town, and stopped for lunch on our way through town. Once seated, they gave us a paper lunch quick menu. We asked if we were able to order from the normal menu that is on their website. They said that would be fine. I ordered the BBQ nachos, and my husband ordered the 12oz Ribeye with a baked potato, mayo slaw, and a salad. They failed to bring the salad out before our meal came. When our meal arrived, they still forgot to bring the salad. They also did not give my husband a steak knife. My BBQ nachos was not what the menu said it would be, and it was cold. The menu said it came with their queso cheese, as well as Shredded cheese. It did not have queso cheese. It had plain canned high school football game nacho cheese, that was cold. It had cold pulled pork, and Shredded cheese. It was so cold that the Shredded cheese wasn't even the slightest bit melted. It also came with a packet of sour cream. The nachos were dry because it had very little of the canned cheese on it. My husband's steak was extremely dry, hard to cut, and almost impossible to chew, with a very bland flavor. The slaw seemed to be mixed well, but was just not a flavor that I was hoping for. The salad( which was priced for a salad bar, but the bar was closed due to Covid, so it was made by the staff) was small and not what the menu said it was. The menu said they have lots of toppings available, but they said all that their salad comes with now is lettuce, tomato, one slice of cucumber, onion, and Shredded cheese. I can say that the salad dressing was pretty good. The staff seemed to be young teenagers, but they were very polite. The only problem I had with the server, is that she had on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, but the shorts were so short that you could not see them under the shirt, so I am saying she had shorts on, since we never actually saw them. Just her t-shirt. The only thing that I can say is that the baked potato was very good and warm. They did ask us how our meal was, and I wasn't going to say anything, but I didn't want to lie to her so I let her know that my nachos were very cold, so they decided to comp the nachos. I would have paid for them, but it was nice that they offered to do that, however, we will not be returning to this restaurant on our...

I've eaten at this location many times and the food has been good. I'm not sure if they have had a lot of staff turnover but today was extremely disappointing. We ordered BBQ ribs, pork and fries. The ribs and fries were cold. The pork was very dry and lukewarm. We asked for fresh fries and received them. I ordered the homemade banana pudding and it was the worst i have ever seen. It was very runny like soup. No one ever came back to ask how the food was and when we got up to pay, the girl at the register was very nasty. We told her that the food was not good today that it was cold. She said that it was warm when the waitress brought it out. My friend asked her if she was the cook and did she touch it? Her facial expressions said it all. She got loud and said that she would take the fries off and I told her no! They brought hot fries and I didn't understand what she was being so nasty when we were just letting her know that the food wasn't very good and we eat there often. She then snapped and said well you're taking the food to go and She just walked off and left us standing there. I asked the girl behind the Buffet counter who the manager was and she said "well, she is". I said a few choice words and that this was not her forte!!! She needs to find another job. I have never been so angry at a restaurant. All because we wanted them to know that the food wasn't great....and yes we got Togo boxes for the dog. That little 12 year old manager needs to work at...

I'm giving this a great rating because even though I had some things that weren't right; the food really was very good... But because of the mishaps, the staff and restacking was even more attentive to the immediate need.

We ordered a variety of food, we had driven past Russell's many times and never went in because is the small, always full parking lot. Don't let that for you, they is plenty is seating inside.

We started with Alabama Twisters and smoked chicken wings for an appetizer: each is and tastes exactly as you would think.

Dinner was a slab of ribs, 16oz Ribeye, 12 piece of butterfly shrimp, baked potato man & cheese and both creamy/vinegar slaw. The rice we're done very nicely and the steak was good too. As usual ( we have not had a bad shrimp in Alabama yet!) The shrimp was tender and nicely done with a light breading.

The mistake was the Mac was on the cold side and the hush puppies were not done. This is very unusual for anywhere, and they themselves were even surprised.

Over all... This establishment takes great pride and is serious about keeping their customers satisfied. I will be back again for Ribs, Ribeye, and shrimp. The salad bar is separate if desired... I'm not a big...