Smokehouse Barbecue - Independence — Restaurant in Independence

To be completely honest I consider Myself to be abit of a BBQ connoisseur and the food in My opinion was great and under nornal circumstances I would have more than likely been a frequent and loyal Customer but there was a Customer Service issue that left a repugnant taste in My mouth. Smokehouse has been on My "BBQ List" for awhile and Sunday is a fickle day for BBQ as Kc Joe's(The Best Customer Service and BBQ experience KC has to offer) and SLAP's BBQ two of My local favorites are closed. I decided today was the day. I debated dining in as it seems to be a far more accurate first dining experience but ultimately elected to grab carryout instead. The young Lady who took My order was super nice and sweet and did nothing to diminish My first and only visit, it was a large black gentleman in a sky/light blue shirt whom I could only assume was the acting manager or lead. He wasn't particularly disrespectful or anything but had a snide, arrogant and condosinding attitude and demeanor. He swiftly intervened when a Friend of mine simply asked Our Server whom You could tell was either in training and/or still fairly new if She could substitute Her side dishes for another item. To which She replied yes but there would be an upcharge. To which My Friend agreed but seemingly out of nowhere this manager in question bellowed that it could not be done! To which from a business standpoint I understand but He didn't even attempt to offer an explanation, show any sort of empathy or even try to honor the statement His employee had just made. All of those would have been fully acceptable scenarios in My opinion. As a person that has Managed in the Customer Service field for almost as long as I have been employed in My humble opinion it was unacceptable, unprofessional and did not promote goodwill for the said Customer to ever want to return to thus establishment. I honestly expect this kind of downtrodden, disrespectful and lackadaisical Customer Service from BBQ places the likes of Gates or Arthur Bryant's but this place looked at least on the surface like an upstanding establishment that would remember to treat Their Customers like They are the most important commodity in business.Although I wasn't satisfied with that situation and decided to let it go, the icing on the proverbial cake was after I received and began checking over Our collective orders I noticed that My Friend only had one of Her side items and it looked as though I had less one serving of fries instead of the two portions I ordered but before My Sever whom I was having this conversation with could even reply this manager apparently eagerly waiting in the wings like a belligerent child yet again jumped at the opportunity to intervene and stated They gave Her the larger container of said side item because She ordered two portions instead of one because once again to clarify She could not be accommodated for what She originally wanted. Which ultimately led Me to wondering if You could slightly augment the order to suit Your personal business needs than what was wrong with satisfing a potential repeat Customer? Or any Customer for that matter? And as for My Kid's Meal equivalent of fries He simply stated that what I received was two portions! I was absolutely flabbergasted but as a Customer Service Representative Myself there was no need to argue, cause a scene or try to make a statement because He had spun so much ill will that I knew no matter the outcome I would not ever return. It's a real shame too because I found the food to be pretty good but needless horrible Customer Service is a deal breaker for Me. Maybe someday I'll try a different location and hopefully have a better experience. The more I have the opportunity to dissect the situation it felt racially motivated. I am large Black Man Myself and maybe He has had issues with serving black males in the past but even that is no excuse as if He was chosen to be a lead or manager He should be able to vet any and all situations and I was as respectful as a person can be especially considering how...

Ordered ahead online. Arrived to pick up my food and everything was ice cold, like it had been made when I placed the order, 3 hours ahead. Asked to be remade and not just reheated. Employee took the food to the back to "throw it away" while my order was being remade. I could literally stand on tippy toes and see into the kitchen where they were opening containers and placing them in the microwave. I was a little upset with this after spending over $80 and giving them a tip. Asked for a refund instead of my food remade because I didn't want reheated food. Employee got the manager and the lying started then. She claimed that she was the one who took my food back to the kitchen and threw it away personally but I physically saw the employee do this. Lie #1. Then she claimed that when my order was first made, there was absolutely no way, that it was made ahead of time. It was made and brought out at the scheduled pick up time. That was lie #2 because I pointed out that I arrived 15 minutes early for my order time and it was ready and on the shelf, ice cold. After that, she then told me that I could not get a refund for my order because it was an online order and it was the weekend. I asked for another manager and she went to the back to get them. She reappeared and told me that the other manager said the same thing, that they could not refund my order because it was the weekend. How?!?! So I'm expected to take my microwave, reheated $82 order or walk out with nothing, no food and no refund..... The audacity of this place. It's not even good barbecue. I took the food because I needed to feed my family and could not leave without the money or the food. Unpacked it when I got back and the styrofoam containers were melted in places from microwave reheating, my fries were soaked in oil from just redropping them in the fryer to reheat, and my meat was all tough, dry, chewy, and overcooked. Probably from the microwave. My children both asked to please not eat dinner, my dog wouldn't touch the brisket, and they still got our money and A 15% TIP FOR CARRYOUT! The management called me a liar on the phone to my husband when he called and tried to reconcile everything after the fact. Sure eat here if you like reheated,...

I wanted to take my stepdad for a late Father's Day dinner here. I loved the interior. As well as the smell of wood coming from the back as you enter. The seats were amazing. I was happy that the tables were not bolted to the floor like most other restaurants tend to do. Now for the food. I ordered the potato skin appetizer. Came out nice and hot with melted cheese and bacon, served with ranch dipping sauce. I was confused about what came with the appetizer. It came with shredded lettuce, jalapeños with sour cream. Sour cream was fine since we were about two steps from eating a twice baked potato. Other than that, good start. Since it was my first time here, I decided on a three meat platter with pit smoked beans and Mac n cheese. Thank you for having baked potatoes as an option. I would've went for that if I hadn't gotten the potato skins. The meats I tried were the brisket, smoked ham and sausage. The sausage was very tasty. Full of flavor and that nice smoky goodness. The smoked ham was just mouth watering good. I should've asked if you sell it by the pound. Because I wanted to take some home for sandwiches and breakfast. The brisket, unfortunately didn't have what I was looking for. There was a nice beefy flavor. Very little smokiness to it. Not sure if it was in a part of the smoker that didn't get enough smoke to it. It was also not as tender. You can still cut it easily, but it was just outside the border of tender. The pit smoked beans were so delicious. For those out there who want dessert after your dinner, you may want to take the dessert home. Because those beans are sweet. They helped out the brisket a lot. The Mac n cheese, unfortunately was bland and didn't have much flavor. Was hoping for an interesting twist. Like having the smoked ham cooked in with it. My Stepdad enjoyed the Crispy, which is the burnt end sandwich. He loved the beans and the fries. He thought the burnt ends were okay. Overall, a good first time. I would like to try your chicken and turkey as well next time. I hope you make improvements to the...