Brushy Mountain Smokehouse and Creamery — Restaurant in North Wilkesboro

Ate here on Saturday, while visiting family in the area. It was one of the few places in town that looked open and the parking lot was almost full. We decided this must be the best place in town. Man, I hope it isn't. As someone else mentioned, the tables are not bussed/cleaned very well. They were too worried about turning tables to properly clean them. When we sat down at our table, we noticed the previous occupant's tip was still sitting there, meaning no one wiped the table down before seating us. The whole menu was basically just different smoked meats offered as either a platter or a sandwich. Both of us got a pork BBQ plate and salad bar, but got different sides. The BBQ was underwhelming. I have eaten a lot of barbecue in many restaurants across the Carolinas. This was nothing special. The salad bar was just ok; only iceberg lettuce and a few toppings. Nearly half the salad bar was dressing choices. I would have preferred more veggies. If you want a better salad bar, go to the Ruby Tuesdays down the road. My biggest complaint was the sides. The options were not very good. Most of the sides were fried. The slaw and potato salad were not house made (like what you get in the tubs at grocery stores). I also tried the "Brushy Mountain Caviar," which was a bean, corn and pepper salad. Unfortunately, for a dish named after the restaurant, it was bad. It was a mixture of canned beans and corn, swimming in store-bought Italian dressing! If you are going to name a dish after your restaurant, at least make it from scratch or with fresh ingredients. In fact, I didn't see much on the menu that was made-to-order. Almost everything could be prepped ahead and slapped on a plate. If you are gluten free, definitely do NOT eat here. I got really sick after eating here, and I am not sure which item was the culprit. the only redeeming feature of this restaurant is the service. Our waitress was very nice and she checked in on us just the right amount. Not too often to be annoying, but just enough to refill our drinks before they ran out. The food came out quickly too (though I assume this is because everything is pre-made). We hadn't taken one bite of our salads before our main dishes arrived at the table. All in all, I...

You have a lot of choices here - all manner of smoked meats, some daily meat & 2 specials, a salad bar, and absolutely delicious house made ice cream - all of these are good things. The service is friendly if a bit unfocused, time out of the kitchen a little on the slow side, orders not dealt with in the sequence they were received. The interior of the restaurant is large, bright, & airy - very open, and thus a little on the noisy side as the seats are filled (think school cafeteria).

We tried the Beef Brisket (about $8 with 2 sides), a BBQ Pork Sandwich (about $5), and a Shrimp Burger (about $8 with 2 sides). The brisket was nicely flavored with the house sauce, but it was not especially tender, the slices were fairly thick, much like you would expect pot roast to be cut. There was very little fat in the slices we received, and no outside char, at all. Not likely to order this dish again.

The Shrimp Burger was one of the strangest we've encountered. The un-battered shrimp were encased in a thick breading, so that it ended up somewhere between a fritter and Thanksgiving type dressing. The shrimp were not the freshest. Another dish we'd not order again.

The Pork BBQ Sandwich was very nice once properly sauced. The texture is that of pulled pork, but not in the long, and usually dry, strands encountered often these days. The house sauce is a tad sweet, but still with some nice zip to it - a hybrid, definitely not Eastern style (no vinegar hook), and a little thicker & sweeter than Lexington style, but good. We'd reorder the pork. The FFs were simply awful, the Fried Okra was superb, the Baked Beans nice, and the sweet potato was - well, a sweet potato. The Hush Puppies were very nice.

We'd also tried the made in house ice cream, and it was outstanding, A fresh waffle cone with a scoop of Butter Pecan & a scoop of Mud Pie (Alice picked the combination) was $3.05, a nice bargain, we thought. The taste was just perfect, even in that odd combo.

Bottom line: this is not a destination barbecue spot for us, though we stop by if any the area, especially for the ice cream, and probably the...

6-24-22

Busy place. Parking was tough but we managed after a few minutes. Seated immediately.

Our server was outstanding and our food came out super quick. Awesome. Home run here.

I got the Smokehouse Platter (18.99). This comes with all the meats of pulled BBQ, sliced tenderloin, smoked chicken, and 5 ribs. I did the okra for a 1.99 upcharge. The puppies came with the meal. Breakdown:

Pulled BBQ: Moist and tender. The vinegar sauce was needed and a good addition.

Sliced tenderloins: Holy heaven on earth, Batman! Tender. Moist. Awesome flavor with the sauce. By far the best part of the plate. The slightly crunchy edges do it for me!

Chicken: Moist but needed something else for flavor. Bland perhaps. The meat itself was a good cut and cooked perfectly.

Ribs: Torn on these. Very lean and fell off the bone nicely. This part was excellent. Somewhat bland and needed some more sauce for my liking. But cooked perfectly. I did the vinegar sauce on the table to give it more flavor. Almost! This could potentially be a game changer with some more sauce.

Okra: 1.99 upcharge but a great version.

Puppies: Freaking awesome. I wanted more of these. The best version I can remember having.

Their ice cream made Our State Magazine at one point. I did a Red Velvet milkshake and this was heaven. Yes yes yes. Well priced at 3.99 and this was a great value for how fantastic it was. Simply outstanding. Get the whipped cream for added consistency. You can mix ice cream flavors to make a concoction but it would take parting the Red Sea for me to not get this. Wow!

I mentioned the quick turnaround for food and friendly service. Thought the upcharge of 1.99 for one side was a tad too much. Mostly good but potentially great....