Blue Ember Smokehouse — Restaurant in Hot Springs

Blue Ember Smokehouse Hot Springs, AR

service 4/5 food is served cafeteria style, and drinks are self-serve, but the stuff I did meet were all very hard-working , friendly and patient with the newbies.

atmosphere 3/5 call me old, but this is my review.. way too bright, way too loud music. the restaurant was also very cold because they were busy and the main entrance goes directly to the lobby. ( now there is a group seating area that was open that has doors that separate it from the main entrance so probably would look at that next time )

food: 4.75/5 place was busy so I had to wait 20 minutes for my wife a potato, no Biggs we just got a side salad for me in a couple of drinks while we sat and waited... potato was definitely worth waiting for. I went with a half pound of ribs which was three very meaty ,very tender ,very juicy, very flavorful ribs that didn't actually need the only downfall of the night which is there house sauce which is super sweet.. if you're into that. wife got the potato which despite other people's reviews, was extremely adequate. only downside is all the sides are served in thin flimsy paper bowls including the beans and coleslaw... now they do have to go bowls,l so I don't know if you can ask him to put your food in that or not it doesn't affect the flavor anything it's just it was awkward for me.

overall about 40 bucks for two people.... meat is Weighed right in front of you In options of third pound half pound, or full pound.. so price can vary by a little bit but they're very courteous and making sure that you're okay with the meat being a little bit more than a third... not sure how you going to take weight off ribs lol and then because it is by weight they actually put a little price weight sticker on your tray ,kind of neat.

definitely will be back. I don't feel like this would be my particular dinner destination but I suspect that's what people will be coming for , but they are open for lunch as well. they're open from 10:30 till 8:00 during the week , and 10 to 9:00 on the weekends.

( oh and they have ice cream.. which I certainly didn't have room for... and they will...

My family and I visited this establishment to celebrate my birthday, but unfortunately, my experience was dampened by the cashier's attitude. While I was paying for my food, I politely requested a blue cup, which I find the cutest. Instead of accommodating my request, she blankly stared at me for a few seconds and forcefully swapped out the cups. I thanked her, but she merely continued to stare at me for another ten seconds. Thinking she hadn't heard me, I repeated my "thank you." She then replied, "Go enjoy your meal."

In hindsight, I probably should have asked for a refund and left, but then a gentleman named Julius B. approached my table to check if everything was okay. I explained the situation to him, and he kindly offered to speak with Nathan on my behalf. Nathan later came over to chat with me. He assured me that he would look into the incident and offered me another blue cup, which I happily accepted.

Even though I felt unwelcome and my "special" day didn't end well, I truly appreciate the efforts of Julius and Nathan for listening and trying to make things right. Kudos to...

We decided to try it while on vacation. My wife ordered the brisket and I had the burnt ends. Unfortunately, both meats were a let down. While the brisket had a nice smoke ring, there was absolutely no bark and the brisket was overcooked and dry. The paper on the tray wasn't even the slightest bit wet where the brisket was placed. The burnt ends were very hard, and as another review mentioned, seemed like they had been stuck in a warmer and dried out. Again, there was no bark on the burnt ends, and hardly any flavor to the meat. They tried to make up for the dryness and lack of bark with BBQ sauce.

The service was ok, but it's like a cafeteria line. Also, they were a little skimpy on toppings on my loaded baked potato.

The building looked rather new with a very sterile atmosphere. Definitely not what I imagine for a BBQ joint. There was no character or life to the building. But then again, maybe it's not a joint but just another basic restaurant.

Overall, it was ok, but I...