Smokehouse 91 — Restaurant in Mayfield

I don't hand out five-star reviews often but this place was so good I couldn't find a reason to deduct a star.

For the past couple of years, I've been on the search for the best BBQ in the Cleveland area. See my other reviews for my thoughts on Mabels, Smokin' BBQ, Woodstock, Landmark, and some others.

My search might be over.

To date, Smokehouse 91 is the absolute best BBQ in Cleveland, but it's not perfect.

It's located in a small strip mall on Route 91. The parking lot was full and very difficult to find a spot. In fact, my wife almost got hit by an Amazon driver pulling in and another driver backing out--so be careful!

Outside of that...Smokehouse 91 knocks it out of the park.

The service is great and set-up the way a BBQ joint should be.

Pick your meats...add your sides...hit the sauce station...and then eat.

As always, I try to sample as many meats as I can during my BBQ visits, and today my party had a turkey sandwich, baby back ribs, smoked turkey, sliced brisket (fatty), a smoked poblano pepper sausage, and the star of the show--a beef short rib.

Our sides included macaroni and cheese and the collard greens. You also get a small sampling of cole slaw pickles, and white bread with your meats.

I'll start with the sides, because as I've said in my other BBQ reviews, if the restaurant puts the time in to make quality sides, then their meat is usually fantastic.

My daughter and I both gave the mac-and-cheese five stars out of five.

"It was so creamy, powerful, and it had the right texture," according to my daughter.

I'm a huge fan of collard greens but every BBQ restaurant in Cleveland has let me down. Smokehouse 91 came up with an excellent collard green, filled with meat and just the right spicing. Five stars.

The cole slaw gets four stars. It hits the right texture--I like mine a bit runny--but was a bit off on the flavor.

Now for the meats:

Brisket This is hands down the best brisket in the Cleveland area. It could use a bit more pepper--again, I inject my personal preferences--but it had a great looking bark and held up to the bend test.

I read one review that stated the brisket didn't have a smoke ring. My brisket certainly did...not that it matters outside of appearance.

The brisket was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door, and I immediately could tell this place was going to be legit.

Five stars.

Turkey The turkey had a great flavor profile along with being very moist.

"It's the best I've had" said my wife. "It was really juicy and had a nice flavor."

Five stars.

Poblano Pepper Sausage Where is the eye-popping emoji when you need it?

The sausage was pulled out of a vat of juice. My first thought was the sausage would be waterlogged...and it was, to a point.

Much to my surprise, it worked well.

Every bite included a splash of that poblano pepper juice and it was fantastic.

Five stars.

Baby Back Ribs I saved the ribs for last because it was the only part of the meal that isn't getting five stars.

The ribs had a softer texture than I like and the flavor was off a bit (I didn't add any extra sauce).

I'd have liked to see a bit more bark as well as a stickier texture, but that doesn't mean we didn't like the ribs. I'd certainly order them again (and spoiler, I will!).

Three stars.

Overall, our visit to Smokehouse 91 went very well--and there's a bonus butcher shop next door.

There are only about four square tables and three high tops inside, so seating is very limited. I think that's going to become a problem as word spreads about this place.

We already know the parking lot is an issue, but don't let that deter you from giving this spot a try. I think you'll...

I wanted so much to like it. I was so excited having lived in the Carolinas for almost 20 years, good BBQ was needed around here. I tried to get here several times unsuccessfully until tonight. I guess the delays were a sign and I didn't listen to them when I should have. To start, I arrived just past 5:30 to a line just about out the door; however, not one person was actually eating in the restaurant, which I thought odd. Anyways, waited about 15 minutes before service. While waiting, looked around and the decor and setup was cool, inviting, and on theme with some bookcases for sales of dry supplies. Ordered 3 1/2 lb meats, all in stock, and was cut and served promptly. Then at the next station it took about 5 minutes for someone to acknowledge me and ask me if I wanted sides, etc. Ordered that and began the checkout process. No issues there. Grabbed a few sauces and headed out. Arrived home and unpacked to find my family was shorted 1 coleslaw, pickle, and bread sides. Not hard. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Proceeded to eat and, again, not experts by any means, but 20 years of eating BBQ, we know a little about this and the food was simply not good. I'm sorry. It just wasn't. Far too much salt, pepper, and vinegar. Seasoning is one thing, but eating a salt lick that I grabbed out of the backyard isn't my cup of tea. Is the pepper and vinegar supposed to hide that? Not sure. Anyways, just off-putting. We couldn't finish the dinner. The mac and cheese is far too salty, the brisket barely, and I mean barely has a smoke ring, either because it isn't really smoked at all or well or because it just sits all day and essentially browns and covers it up. The turkey was moist but, again, just had a poor mix of seasonings. The baby backs weren't terrible, seriously, not too bad. The coleslaw is swimming in vinegar, the toast is whatever, it's white bread. The sweet and smoky sauce is nothing but pepper. The Alabama White, ironically, has a lack of that zing. Just not good, but the cost wasn't exorbitant for what you are supposed to receive, but with effing $15+ an hour fast food workers that can't count working behind the counter and the continued waste of vinegar, salt and pepper, those will skyrocket soon. I guess we'll keep the hope alive that maybe someday, someone, somewhere nearby will figure out BBQ. Good try though. I applaud the effort and we are always willing to give you a shot for the effort, but we won't be back and we won't...

We Love both the Village Butcher and Smokehouse 91. Brad and his crew are always fun and pleasant and a joy to visit. We have been going to the Butcher since its opening and can’t say enough good things about all the meats, the prepared foods and the sandwiches! Please do yourself a favor and grab a cheeseburger! As for the smokehouse, we just catered my birthday party with the brisket and pulled pork and sides of Mac n cheese and cheesy potatoes. Everything was amazing!! The choice of sauces were excellent as well. Andrea made us some of her delicious key lime bars for dessert. I wish I didn’t have to special order those. Hint hint. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, you might drop in when she makes a batch of the cheesecake cookie bars. One of my favorites of all time. Seriously amazing food and seriously amazing people! Get in and grab some of the best local grub you’re gonna find in Cleveland! Yes, all...