Smokin' Dave's BBQ - LYONS — Restaurant in Lyons

Truly horrible customer service... in 50+ years of eating at BBQ joints, this is the only time I've ever walked out of any restaurant prior to being served. Too bad I can't submit the review with zero stars...

I went with my wife and kids to Smoking Dave's miserable excuse for a restaurant yesterday (Father's Day) afternoon. When we arrived I went inside to talk with the host (a teenager that seemed not well suited for his job) and after a short wait, we were seated on the patio. Then the waiting began... We waited about 15 minutes without water or menus, so I went back to the host stand to ask for a server. A server came out, put down some waters and asked if we were ready to order. When I pointed out we didn't have menus, she asked if we'd been seated by the host or just seated ourselves, and saying "we have other people waiting and the host was supposed to bring the water and menus." After I told her that, yes, we'd been seated by the host, she left... She returned a few minutes later to the edge of the patio (away from us) with the host in tow, having a conversation with him, and pointing toward us. I assume she was attempting to validate her claim that we'd seated ourselves, which I could understand would have been annoying, but wasn't what actually happened.

Again, the waitress returned to our table and asked if we're ready to order. I again pointed out that we had no menus. She proceeded to accuse me of not checking with the host and just seating ourselves, which was absolutely not the case. She had obviously concluded that I was lying to her. She then pointed to a party of three waiting, saying, "we've got other people waiting..." I pointed out that I'd watched those people pull into the parking lot after the host seated us... After more argumentative and inflammatory commentary from the waitress, I'd had more than enough abysmal customer service. I sure wasn't going to stay and eat at a restaurant where the staff treats customers with disdain (and to be honest, based on the server's crappy attitude, I was a little concerned about how we would have been treated had we stayed.)

I know waiting tables can be stressful and people can be demanding. I also know that there are many restaurants in Lyons that don't treat customers like we're some sort of inconvenience. Being ignored by staff for 15-20 minutes, then having the wait staff erroneously conclude we'd done something "wrong" sure isn't a way to maintain a healthy business.

This really was one of the worst attempted dining experiences I've ever had. And I'm telling my friends and neighbors to stay away from smokin' dave's crappy customer service. And, just on principle, I'll stay away from the Estes Park...

My family and I went here after spending a full day at Estes, and were told that it would be an hour-long wait for a party of 6 (five and a toddler in a high chair). There was so little space to wait inside that we had to wait outside for a greater part of that time, and finally, my husband and I went inside to wait. That was after about 30-40 minutes of waiting. After another 20 or so minutes, my husband asked how much longer of a wait it would be for our party, and we were told that there were 4 parties ahead of us. We hear six parties called, and my mother finally joins us (as do my autistic brother and my disabled father), and she repeats the question. She is told that there are four parties OF SIX ahead of us--information that my husband and I were NOT told. After a grand total of close to two hours--double the time we were told--we were told that there was a group that had already eaten and paid, but were still watching a game and they were trying to clear up a table for us, but that they couldn't tell that party to leave. Once we were seated, we were also informed when we tried to order an appetizer that they were out of said item (the Smokin' Rings), but we ordered our items and waited. After a decent wait, my father's, mother's, brother's, husband's, and daughter's meals arrived, but we had to wait another few minutes for mine, which was the chicken-fried steak. When my food was delivered at last, it was burnt and inedible. So, we had to return it and wait another several minutes for an acceptable one to be delivered. All in all, I would NOT recommend this location for dinner, unless you're willing to wait for a...

I was pumped to try this place because I love bbq and I was really hungry. Our waitress got us our drinks everything’s good so far. I got an old fashioned. Too sweet, not enough bourbon. Whatever not a big deal. 10 minutes goes by after I’m finished with it without our waitress checking on us. I have to go to the bar to get a beer. I stand there for about a minute while people are rolling silverware and have to get their attention to get me a beer. Food comes out and it was really bad. Nothing tasted smoky. Ribs were tough, barely warm, no bark. Brisket was dry, also no smoky flavor. Both me and my wife got mac n cheese as a side. They came out different. Hers had bread crumbs on it, mine didn’t. They both were cold. Again, waitress did not check on us for at least 10 minutes. Bad experience in every way.

Edit: I accidentally did the wrong location and deleted that review. We were in Lyons. I also want to note there were no customers sitting at the bar while I was waiting. This was today 8/2 around 2:00. I believe our waitress was May. To top it off my son had about half his burger left and we asked for a box when we asked for our check. Didn’t bring that either and I had to go ask someone else for it. The corn bread and cole slaw were...