Thomas Smokey Pit Stop — Restaurant in Manchester

First off, brave souls opening right as Covid hit, and cheers to a pretty solid BBQ joint in CT! It's a small place - seating provided for a few people & mostly take-out. It was awesome to see their history & love of barbecue on the walls via photos! BBQ and soul food is family, and they clearly love each other and their craft.

Service was friendly & prompt. Asked for the BBQ 'naked' - aka - without sauce so I could taste the true nature of their cook - but got sauce anyway. No biggie because their signature sauce is really quite good! They call it a "Carolina" sauce but I'm not sure which Carolina b/c North Carolina sauce is heavy vinegar-based with ketchup added in the West of the state, but not the Eastern part. South Carolina is known for their mustard-based sauce. From my geographical living and eating experiences over the years, I honestly feel they'd be true to tag their sauce via TN. Tennessean BBQ sauce takes a bit of sweet from Kansas City and the heat & vinegar from NC sauce to create a masterful sauce - which is what Thomas' serves. It's excellent. Bottle that stuff. Yesterday!

Food wise, I'd eat their collards all day long. Man, they're good and TRUE soul food. SO GOOD! Their coleslaw (also tagged 'Carolina slaw') is delicious but again, I'm not sure which Carolina they're referring to? It tastes mostly vinegar-based like a Texas slaw and it's a fantastic palate cleanser - but if they're referring to NC, it's definitely not a NC slaw. NC slaw is finely chopped and either laced with ketchup (West) or mayo (East). Still, their slaw is solidly delicious. As is their mac&cheese. It's what you would crave at grandmas house, expect at a church potluck, and WISH you knew how to make.

Their brisket is spot on. The pulled pork, on the other hand, maybe needed more time on the smoker. I have no doubt they know what they're doing - just so happened my pork on this particular day was tough and stringy and extra fatty (meats were measured by a scoop. I didn't care to get a good portion of my pork with inedible fat. That was disappointing). Things happen and smokes are never 100%, 100% of the time. I get that, which is why I would totally give Tomas' another try. I can see them being a solid, long term BBQ...

Tried this place out for the first time today and was very pleased with their offerings. Ordered a pound each of pulled pork and brisket, along with a full rack of ribs, and side orders of collard greens, beans, and cornbread. The pulled pork was moist, relatively lean, and tasty. The order of brisket had slices from both the point and flat cuts; the former is juicier but has more fat, while the latter is leaner and a little more chewy. They both were tender and had a good smokiness. But the ribs were the star of the night -- the outside had a crisp spice rub which gave them a real zing. They were smoked to the point of being tender, not falling-off-the-bone (which I think is too much) and still had a nice chew to them. Collard greens were fresh, leafy, not at all bitter or overcooked, and had a tea-like perfume; beans were nicely seasoned with a molasses sweetness; and the cornbread was chewy and moist with a good crumb.

All in all pretty darn satisfying stuff. I've had BBQ all over the country: several places in Texas, the Carolinas, St. Louis, Kansas City, you name it. Thomas' style is more in line with east coast and Carolina type flavors. This isn't the best BBQ I've ever had -- that honor still remains in Austin, TX with places like Rudy's or The Salt Lick -- but I have to say Thomas' is outstanding for east-of-the-river CT. One thing to mention, because I saw another reviewer comment on it: the seasoning rub on the ribs is pretty spicy. My family likes things highly seasoned so we really loved it, but it might be too much for others who are more faint of heart when it comes to cayenne pepper. Just...

While I hesitate to post a not so great review, the attitude and poor customer service of the owner has warranted this one. My aunt and I came in close to closing and each ordered the brisket platter. The brisket did not taste how it had in the past... with this time being extremely greasy and fatty and not as tender as it usually is. I thought perhaps it had been meant for the next day and was taken out a little too early. Additionally, the macaroni & cheese was dry and had no taste. Anyway we had been there a few times and had decent experiences so we decided that we just wouldn't come back that close to closing to avoid spending so much money on food that we didn't enjoy. My aunt wanted to reach out to let a mgr know so they'd be aware and perhaps make changes if they felt it was necessary. It took multiple phone calls over almost a month to finally get someone in mgmt. In this case it happened to be the owner. Rather than really hear her (our) complaint, he was defensive and borderline rude especially saying something to the effect of if he gave free food for every complaint received, he'd be giving away all his food. (I doubt there are that many complaints...if there are then something is wrong). There was no inclination to make things right and my aunt was left feeling like our money didn't matter. From the owner's responses to other reviews/ complaints, I see his attitude is his "norm". Customer service is paramount and should be taken seriously. Thank goodness his staff received that memo. Perhaps he would do well to follow their lead or appoint one of them to field customer...