Smokin Woods BBQ — Restaurant in Oakland

I was craving BBQ but didn't have the energy to make any and so I invited my friend to meet me and my husband at Smokin Woods for dinner. A women named Natalie ( determined by the receipt, no nametag) was working the register. They had a small crowd at the pick up window which someone else was working but she was just standing there when I walked in. Natalie did not even acknowledge my presence. I hadn't been there before so asked so I sit down or so I order with you. In her too good to be at work and talk to customers even though i am in customer service she replied "through me". I noticed a menu on her podium so took it to study it, she did not offer it to me. My husband, friend and I look at the menu. Our friend is a pescatarian so it was easy for him to decide, he went in and placed his order while we determined our selections. Half slab of ribs with collards and potato salad and a salmon order with green beans and baked beans. a couple of beverages. Okay so we go back in and go to the podium and Natalie as engaged in conversation with a co-worker. She did not again, acknowledge her customers, we waiting about 20 seconds which is actually quite long, count it before we said, "excuse me we'd like to order." Her response, was ," Hold up a minute can't you see I'm talking?" We said to each other let's leave she clearly doesn't want our business but stayed because we realized our friend already placed his order and was waiting in the parklet for us. So we ordered the above, she whispered her responses so we assume she got our order right. The sides were not correct. Anyway, we go out and asked our friend, was the order lady super freaking rude to you too. And he was like "yeah, so rude". Now, onto the food, the servers that delivered our food were very friendly as anyone working in customer service should be. I wish I had those two ladies names. The salmon was excellent, very flavorful and succulent. The ribs were very tasty but not fall off the bone tender but not tough either. The collards were nice, not too salty which I really appreciated. The beans were sweet and crave-able. The potato salad was tasty too. Our friend had the salmon and mac n cheese and found all was quite tasty. Natalie really marred the experience. I would go back again for the tasty food but since i am a self respecting adult and will not allow myself to pay to be treated like trash. Natalie should not be working in customer service, she has terrible communication skills and a nasty attitude. if she reads this I would say to her, Be a professional, leave personal problems at home, come to work to be great...

Hey guys hands down this was one of the best BBQ spots I’ve had since being in the Bay Area, and trust me I know great BBQ being from the lone star ⭐️state. I visited this spot on a weekday so it wasn’t really busy but there was a few people there hanging out at the bar. The waiter was really nice and explained the menu and ordering process to me. I ended up ordering the Three meat combo which included the moist brisket, pork ribs, and boneless chicken thigh. For the sides a got the collard greens with turkey and the baked beans. The seating and ambience was really nice and they even had a really nice outdoor seating arrangement that I could see being really great when the weather warms up. My food took all of 10-15mins to be prepared and arrived to the table piping hot with wonderful savory aromas filling my nostrils. I also tried both sauces one was a sweet and spicy and the other was the signature sauce. I preferred the sweet and spicy sauce over the signature sauce. Moving on to the meats. The brisket was cooked almost perfectly and had a nice smoked bark on it and tasted just ok without the sauce but when the sauce was added it took the experience to a different level making this brisket damn near perfect. I feel like If they would of sauced this brisket with that sauce while it was smoking, the brisket would have easily been a 10/10. But right now it’s a 8.5/10. Moving on the ribs. These ribs were the best thing on the tray and required no sauce. They were perfectly seasoned and cooked I ended up giving them a 9.8/10. The boneless chicken thigh was just ok in my opinion. I prefer the skin and bone on my chicken I feel the bone makes it juicer. But it was a 7.5/10 with-out the sauce and 7.9/10 with the sauce. My sides were also cooked well but I think I fell in love with the baked beans!! When I tell you them beans were made like someone big momma was back there cooking they were absolutely damn near flawless. I ended up devouring the entire side. Easily a 10/10 for me. The collard greens were just standard collards with turkey pieces. They were ok I gave them a 6.8/10. I ended up adding hot sauce to them. Lastly the cake was a decadent 7-Up cake which was cooked well and very moist and flavorful I gave it 8.5/10 and the blackberry lemonade was also very very good 9.2/10. All In all this was a great experience and I will definitely be back. If you are in the area definitely give this place a try trust me you...

Presentation is lacking. My food was kind of thrown on the pan.

Pulled pork was 10/10 flavor, smoke, & tenderness were all incredible

Chicken thighs were juicy and charred to perfection.

Unfortunately the brisket was abysmal. Dry, hard, and didn’t last the limp test. Dipped into some bbq sauce it was edible. Definitely stay away from this.

Mac & cheese was surprisingly good. Nice roux and decent cheese pull.

Greens didn’t disappoint but wasn’t a must have. Should have more turkey in the juice.

The 7UP cake was moist, dense and aromatic.

Lemonade had actual chunks of lemon. It was delicious as chick Fil a or hot dog on a stick. IYKYK. There are no free refills so drink your beverage sparingly.

Very inefficient operation. They don’t take cash. Parking is very tough. Only street parking is available. They do have outside seating with heaters. You have to order before sitting down. This reduced the tip because you don’t know what kind of service you’ll be getting. I still gave 15%.

$41 for my meal of a 3 meat combo, 2 sides , lemonade and 7 up cake. Not bad IMO.

Music is a nice volume. The chairs need to be cleaned. It’s an old church pew for the back part of the seat has dirt, debris and food crumbs.

It has about 10 televisions and a bar area. There’s about 22 tables in the dining area. I was told there would be a 20 min wait to get my food. This is fine except you don’t get any part of your order at all. I was promised a roll but didn’t get one.

So you can get water from an iced dispenser.

It’s a missed opportunity to not have a server who just takes bar drink orders and check on customers.

I didn’t see anyone cleaning tables. The host was also taking orders and picking them up from the back for to go orders. This reduces the speed of service and diminishes the overall experience.

I like the rustic look and exposed wood. Ambiance was nice.

The kitchen are is dirty and dusty in the overheads.

Overall this is a must visit for anyone looking to try bbq in the Bay Area. The sauce was really good.

Customer service 4/5 Food 4/5 Parking 1/5 Return value 5/5 Time to...