FABD Smokehouse — Restaurant in Louisville

On first impression, this looks like a real authentic BBQ place offering meats smoked on site and an authentic atmosphere. But true to it's name, it's more of a tavern than a restaurant. That's not bad if it's what you're looking for.

Typical of a real Southern BBQ joint, it's definitely very casual and not a fancy place. It appears to be a shabby old building with numerous additions and lots of outdoor seating.

The menu offers smoked beef, chicken, salmon, pork, ribs and brisket. Available side dishes include baked beans, slaw, potato salad and a lot more. A few soups are available, including burgoo. Burgers and a fish sandwich are popular. Not a place to go for a salad.

Wine, beer and mixed drinks are served.

Service is very casual. Some servers better than others. Presentation is typical of a BBQ place, on plastic and paper.

They will not provide separate checks for groups of ten or more, which can be very inconvenient. Seating for larger groups is limited. I don't recommend this venue for larger groups.

In my opinion, the "brisket" was excessively fatty and the flavor OK but not great. "Sliced brisket" was wet and sloppy; chopped, not sliced, the texture not at all like good sliced brisket. Not even sure that it was real brisket. Baked beans good, potato salad rather bland. Plenty of pickles and onions were provided on request but with an upcharge of two dollars. Overall food quality not as good as some other BBQ places. I repeat, this place is more like a tavern than a restaurant.

The BBQ sauce OK but unremarkable. Only one sauce was provided. I prefer having a selection of sauces from which to choose, or one really great sauce.

Carry-out is available in bulk quantities as well as individual servings and catering can be arranged.

There are very few parking spaces in front of the building and limited on-street parking. When they're busy, expect to park on the street and walk a block or more.

No parking reserved for handicapped patrons. Facility is crowded and barely wheelchair accessible at best. Restrooms are cramped and not handicapped accessible.

Cash, credit and debit cards accepted.

Even if this place only rates three stars, I will choose it before I go to a big franchise restaurant that represents itself as a BBQ place.

Please mark the "thumbs up" icon below if you find these...

I usually love coming here, and I will definitely come back, but I had to mention a couple things because they definitely took away from the dining experience.

1)We had to leave the outside patio and go inside to eat because apparently people are allowed to smoke while sitting at the outside tables that are inside of the enclosure. Other patrons went all the way outside to smoke, but there were tons of ashtrays sitting around, so I guess this is a common thing and I’ve just never had to deal with it before.

2. A fly flew right into the side of my head, and I had to bat it away, and another patron commented that it happened to him, too, and we laughed, but even when we moved inside, we were still dealing with flies and gnats hovering around our food and face. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that I’ve had to deal with flies inside the restaurant. I suggest that they get one of those blue light Zevo catchers and plug it in.

3. The smoked salmon is my favorite, and I ordered it again, and I asked the waitress how large of a portion of salmon it was, because my friend and I shared, and she said that it was 8 ounces, but this time it was more like 4 ounces at best. It was as delicious as it always is, but $18 for a teeny piece of salmon like that is overpriced. We also shared the pretzels and beer, cheese, and while the sauce was very tasty, it was super watery, and barely stuck to the pretzel balls. Our sides were excellent as usual.

The thing I always appreciate about FABD is that the servers are incredibly attentive and engaging. Our server had recommendations for us, and was very attentive, even though we didn’t order a whole lot. The food took a very long time to get to the table, but the server was constantly checking in with us and she let us know when they were working on our food which was very nice. We actually didn’t care that it took that long because we were talking, but it’s probably the longest I’ve ever had to wait...

We recently moved here and have been searching for a great barbecue restaurant in Louisville. We had high hopes that this would be the place, especially when we smelled the magnificent aroma, which others have mentioned. Unfortunately, it isn't. I recommend spending your money elsewhere.

The waitress did an abysmal job. She took our order, did not come back to refill our drinks, another waitress brought our food out, which wasn't prompt but came out in a reasonable time. When I did need a refill, I had to ask another waitress. We had to call the waitress over to get the checks. It's been a while since we've experienced service as bad, but we later discovered that many of her family members were outside on the patio, so she chose to focus her time on them and chose not to be bothered with serving us. Even this could have been excused by great food.

Two people in our party got pulled pork sandwiches, which they were pleased with. It's not an easy thing to mess up. Some of the other reviews knock the brisket. It isn't the best you will ever have, but it's better than Feast and makes a decent sandwich. We also ordered a rack of ribs which were significantly overcooked, which other reviewers have mentioned (they are apparently not getting the memo). I would not recommend them for anyone. The mac and cheese is very bad. Most certainly don't get it. Overall, the food was just mediocre. Louisville, in my experience here, does not have a strong barbecue culture. Places like this pass as good eateries but wouldn't survive long in places that had more competition and a higher standard. Even in Owensboro, this place probably wouldn't have lasted.

If you want top shelf barbecue, neither the service or the food is going to live up to your expectation. Spend your money in one of the other great restaurants...