The Q Smokehouse — Restaurant in Ludington

A very cute and delicious BBQ joint. I had the pastrami sandwich which was perfect. The pastrami is very high quality, flavorful, and tender. The sandwich absolutely holds up to what you'd find in an East coast Jewish deli. My partner had the al pastor sandwich, which was also very well done. Just the right amount of spice and sweet. For sided we had the piggy egg thing, which came with a delicious dipping sauce. Somehow they managed to keep the cooked jalapeno spicy, which is a hard thing to do and that was a pleasant surprise. Our other side was the collard greens which were just okay—room for improvement for depth of flavor, but not too bad. One thing we noted is that nothing was too over the top. A lot of BBQ places conflate the sheer number and decadence of ingredients with quality—but that's not usually the case. The dishes we ordered were rich (which is appropriate for BBQ) but showed enough restraint to keep the flavors from competing with one another.

Something to note is that we ordered carryout, but we weren't able to eat our food for about an hour. A lot of takeout doesn't age very well after an hour, but this held up reasonably during our drive.

Service was great. You order at the register and then take a seat. The cashier was very friendly and helpful with the menu, and explained that the art on the walls could be bought then invited us to take a table while we waited. It was a perfect spiel, just enough to give us the rundown but not overbearing. Our food was ready pretty fast, we only waited about 10 minutes even though it seemed like they were fielding a lot of to-go orders.

Overall it's a great little barbecue spot and well...

★☆☆☆☆

I had a disappointing experience at The Q Smokehouse. Unfortunately, I left feeling underwhelmed and dissatisfied with several aspects of my visit.

The food was mediocre at best. The flavors lacked depth, and the dishes were dried out, leaving me craving more. The cornbread, in particular, was heavy and dense, not what I would expect from a BBQ joint.

The overall ambiance of the place was also disappointing. The random art hung on the walls did not contribute to a BBQ joint atmosphere, and it felt disconnected from the theme. It left me wanting a more authentic and cohesive experience.

Additionally, I was disappointed to find that The Q Smokehouse was still adhering to strict COVID-19 guidelines. While I understand the importance of safety measures, the use of Styrofoam plates, cups, and plastic cutlery was off-putting. It detracted from the overall dining experience and felt environmentally unfriendly.

Considering my overall experience, I will not be returning to The Q Smokehouse, and I cannot recommend it to others. The mediocre food, lackluster ambiance, and the use of disposable items left me dissatisfied. I believe there are better options available that can offer a more enjoyable...

Firsts time coming here, My husband and I wanted to try somewhere new for our weekly date night and after looking up places to go in Ludington ( we're from Manistee so food options there consist of pizza mostly just pizza places) this place looked promising and offered something unique, the guys were super nice, the food was amazing and fast really fast! We both had the Brisket Sandwich and some water. I want to add that their BBQ sauce is probably one of the best Ive ever had. And I'm kind of picky about my BBQ sauce. Only thing if say con wise is the chips were kettle cooked so they were not something that were easy to eat having had dental work and hubby having no teeth. But that could have been our fault for not realizing it before we ordered. But it's all good because we will definitely be back to try more of their delicious food. If you're looking for something fast but more satisfying than your run of mill fast food joints this is the place to go, you can grab and go or sit at a table, we went outside in their covered area and ate picnic style and loved it!...