Back Forty Smokehouse — Restaurant in North Richland Hills

My first experience with this place was trying the takeout. I was super impressed with the turkey sandwich. The bun was awesome, the meat was moist and there was a ton of it, and the bbq sauce wasn’t too sweet. I really enjoyed it. I wish I could say I enjoyed my second experience as much.

The second time, we ate there. We went during the early evening and it was pretty empty. We walked in and the people behind the counter were busy making orders. I’m not sure who the orders were for (maybe a lot of online orders?) because like I said, it was pretty empty. An employee behind the counter let us know they would be with us in a moment. My party just stood there for probably 10 to 12 minutes waiting to order. After we did order, we got a couple of items right then, but also got a number tent to bring to the table for the sides and a meal. Which is fine, no big deal. But after a couple of minutes it felt like they forgot about us. We had to remind them about the rest of our order before the sides came out. Let me say right here that the fries were superb. So good! The turkey sandwich was ok, but not nearly as good or loaded as it had been the first time. The dining area was really, really warm. Like flushed cheeks, light sweat warm.

Things just got weirder from here. There was a party of three that seemed to be getting personally served from the owner or manager. They came in after us and had very large drinks from the bar and HUGE platter (delivered with a smile) from the apparent manager before we even had all of our food. We were told that the cashier was new and had forgotten to put in one of the items we ordered. After waiting again, the item came and the manager was honestly really rude about it. The fries weren’t with the burger and he straight up blamed a person in our party for telling him that someone else didn’t order fries. We weren’t pitching a fit or anything and he decided to snap at us. He also very loudly called an employee from across the restaurant at one point. Between blaming his own employee and then blaming us, it seemed like the guy just couldn’t take responsibility. It just all felt very disjointed, unnecessary, and awkward. It was a very poor experience and we won’t be back because of it.

The photos are pictures of the super gross sink faucet in the women’s restroom. Another member of my party said the paper towel holder in the men’s bathroom had been torn off of the wall and the paper towels were just sitting in a puddle. If this is the cleanliness of an area the customers can see, what does the...

We have been here many times and have always had a great experience until today.

We ordered food for the family for dine in and the adults had almost finished our food (two two-meat plates and two chicken cobb salads), yet the two kids meals (cheeseburger w/fries and macaroni and cheese w/fries) hadn’t been brought out as well as a side of onion rings and two side salads that went with the two-meat plates. I went up to the front counter and was told they would be out soon. Almost 10 minutes later we had finished our food and needed to get going, so I went back up and asked if we could get the kids meals, onion rings, and side salads to-go. The young lady rolled her eyes at me and said, “Well, it’s almost ready and there are to go boxes over there (pointing to where the tea and condiments were). I acknowledged her and said I would wait for the food. She then went in the kitchen and told the staff, “They want it to go now. They could’ve said that in the first place.” When she came back out I explained that we had already finished our meals and had somewhere to be and that was the reason we needed it to go. She told me that they only had one cook in the kitchen because the other cook had to leave because of a family emergency. I told her I complete understood, yet she rolled her eyes at me again and seemed annoyed toward me. I was not upset at all, but we didn’t have time to wait any longer for the kids to get their meals and that is why I asked if they could be packed up to go. I thought I was being pretty reasonable, especially considering it took almost 20 minutes for the two kids meals to be ready along with a side of onion rings and two side salads. Lastly, she brought out the food and I mentioned we were missing a side salad and she again rolled her eyes towards me. I understand they were short staffed, but it didn’t warrant the behavior she exhibited. We’ve always had excellent service here and I understand folks have bad days, but this experience just didn’t sit well with me.

Five stars would be my typical rating for this establishment, but the disrespect from this employee dropped off a star...

It was my first time to visit this establishment. It is a nice little rustic place situated right off Main Street in NRH. Upon entering, there was a line to get your food and I noticed it wasn’t moving very fast... at all. It took us about 20 minutes to go through the line to get our food. The menu and prices seemed to be pretty much in line with other BBQ places no no big surprise there. I got a two meat plate and chose chopped brisket and jalapeño sausage. My two sides I got were pinto beans and potato salad. It also comes with a buttered and toasted piece of Mrs. Bairds Texas Toast which I found very appealing. My girlfriend got a one meat plate, chopped brisket and green beans and Mac n cheese. I do wish I could have gotten another piece of toast though. I didn’t ask, but they didn’t offer either.

At the area to get your drinks it also has some warm bbq sauce you could get... original and spicy. I chose original. We found our seat at a booth, good crowd and even had a lice band playing some classic rock like the Eagles and such. I started off with my beans. Very good! I added a bit of bbq sauce to them and they didn’t last long. Then I ate my sausage. It had a kick bc it was jalapeño, but lacked any kind of other Smokey seasoning. Then I ate the potato salad. This was by far the worst thing that I chose. Very, very bland. It had good texture, but lacked hard any flavor. I finished off with my chopped. It looked really good and I prefer my chopped with the sauce mixed in already. It was a good cut of meat and ground well, but it too was a little bland and the taste was a bit disappointing. I ended up adding some of the bbq sauce I got and finished it off.

It was nice to eat and have the band playing easy listening music while we ate.

There is also a full service bar in the rear, but we did not try that.

Overall, I give it a 3 out of 5 stars because of the potato salad and rather avg chopped, plus the slow service. I would have preferred a little more meat fir the...