Big Blue Smokehouse — Restaurant in Hazard

Lots of creative writing going on with the menu. "Smoked 'Burnt Ends' Bratwurst"=a lightly-fried bun-length hot dog with sauerkraut on a cheap bun with mustard in little packets. The "Pulled Chicken Sandwich"=dry overcooked chicken on a equally dry bun. Smothered? Nah, here's a bottle of bbq sauce. Food arrived not as described and cold.

The only thing worse than the food (aside from the pineapple casserole, which was excellent) was the service. From the time that we arrived and ordered water as our drinks the server apparently wrote us off. Keep in mind we were there pre-dinner rush, and were the only customers on that side. 25 minutes to get our food and another 15 to get the items that were ordered but not brought out. When we tried to order dessert we were told that he didn't think there were any desserts, but when I mentioned that the peanut butter pie was on the "specials" board at the hostess station he said he would go look. Another 15 minutes pass before he returns and tells us there is no pie, and offers alternatives. We pass on those and ask for the check and a box. More waiting, but when he returns with the bill he immediately asked for payment. Maybe they were getting busy or maybe he just wanted to clear our table to get another person in the booth; I don't know.

Overall it was a poor experience. We had high expectations from the menu and were let down by the food quality which was only made worse by the extremely slow and...

Went on a weekend during the day with my wife. Restaurant wasn't busy at all but took a while to just receive drinks and appetizer. Pretzel bites and beer cheese (the appetizer) were absolutely delicious, food had a little delay as well and my pulled chicken sandwich arrive room temp with not nearly enough sauce, side was smoked bbq beans in a tiny little dish/cup similar to what sauce is served in and they were meh (family cookout quality). Wife's blackened white fish tasted good but was a very small serving and not hot either, she also got sweet potato fries but the restaurant insisted on covering them with sugar so they were more like a dessert item than a meal side. After some more sauce, the sandwich was ok at best. Bits of hard grisel and tendon could be found within a few bites and that's never something you like biting into.

Overall I'd say between 2-3 stars, long wait times for food when the restaurant was nearly empty, portions arent what you'd expect from a southern bbq joint, room temp meals, stingy on the sauce (granted upon asking for more they did give me the whole bottle). I think it's a good foundation for a bbq joint but it needs some tweaking and fine tuning. I can't recommend it simply because it was just "at or below average". Remember who your clientele is, you're catering to southern boys here in Kentucky, pile it on there and sauce it up. Also a little more prep on the chicken before pulling, tendons...

Spare yourself the sticker shock when your bill arrives. I'm staying in a hotel nearby and checked out their menu online. Decided to go over and get some brisket. The online menu said $13.99. When I got there, all the menus had a thin white tiny ribbon at the very top saying how the price of everything is an additional $2. So I assumed that it was $15.99. When I got my bill (see attached), all of a sudden the price of my meal was almost $24. They even added $2 to the salad bar (which I substituted for one of my sides) even though the menus says $4.99. Then, I paid with a $50 bill. The waitress brings me back $20. I told her I want my 76 cents. At this point, it was the principle of the thing. For the time and effort that they invested altering all their menus with this little white strip of paper, they could have just had new menus printed off that weren't misleading. I would have just preferred they pulled a gun on me and asked me for my wallet when I walked in there and spared me the time. I gave the waitress a $5 tip. My meal cost me almost $35 for me alone. Eight slices of brisket, a tiny bowl of beans, a bun, one trip to the salad bar, and a beer. And then on top of it, if you look at the receipt, they charge you extra for paying with a card???? What kind of restaurant charges a different price between cash and my card? Think about that. Talk about a nickel and dime establishment. Go...