4 Rivers Smokehouse — Restaurant in Orange Park

I'll start by saying that my wife and I have been going to various 4R locations for about 11 years now since they opened in Gainesville on Archer Road. We've eaten at 5 of the locations and there has typically been consistency across the footprint. We feel like we understand the 4R standard. We live in Jax and go to the OP location once a month or so. The last few times, there has been a noticeable decline in speed and food quality. The line has become increasingly slow. While the employees seem to care, they operate with little to no urgency in moving trays through the line. Often times the cash register is unmanned creating a sizeable backlog of folks of whose trays have been filled and are ready to pay. Now to the food. The green beans have been undercooked and literally crunchy on our last 2 visits. The brisket has gone from consistently cut (regardless of moist or lean) to coming out in different forms. The 3 latest times, the brisket came out in irregular blocks rather than sliced like it traditionally has been and is at any other place that knows brisket. Not only that, it has become dry (got the moist today with the extra fat and it might as well be lean w/ how dry it is). With respect to the bark, the flavor depth on the bark has subsided and there's hardly a noticeable smoke ring anymore within the meat. Maybe demand is driving quicker smoke times which is driving the inconsistency (aside from the weird cutting). During our last visit, we connected with a traveling gentleman who was well versed in Q. He referred to the brisket as more of a roast. Marinate in that a bit - it speaks to how dry it has become and how incorrectly it is cut. The pulled pork tends to be on the drier and blander side as well. Burnt ends are good, but frankly that could be masked with the sauce they're tossed in. Fried okra continues to be nice and crispy, and the bbq beans and mac 'n cheese has been consistent. Not sure what's going on with the meat quality, but I hope it's fixed. Mojo's doesn't have fried okra as a side - so the fried okra is what's keeping us...

We love the Orlando location and make the 50 minute drive to University Blvd to eat there frequently. We were coming home from a trip and on 295 and saw there was a 4Rivers and decided to stop. It was 7:10 on a Saturday night- they close at 8:00- we were not sure if they were going to be in “shut down” mode.

THEY WERE NOT!! Full on greetings, courtesy, and more food coming out than most other BBQ places serve when they are busy!

I ordered the 2 meet plate- lean brisket and smoke turkey. Sides of greens and sweet potatoes. Hubs ordered a Cuban sandwich, and two sides of beans & cole slaw.

My meat plate was amazing! The brisket was so lean, I literally had an almond sized piece of fat, and that was it. So tender it just fell apart. I used some of the signature sauce on it, man, that was a treat to my mouth. After that the smoked turkey was consumed, and it was very good, but not nearly as good as that brisket!!! (Wonder if they would have traded me the turkey for more brisket?) the greens were really good with nice chunks of meat. The sweet potatoes were very sweet, too sweet for my liking but I have been avoiding sugar so it may just be me.

Hubs Cuban sandwich was really large! He did not think it was pressed and I didn’t see any press marks, but the cheese was melted. He said it was good, but could have used a bit more meat for amount of bread. Both of his sides were good. We got a bread pudding to split for dessert. We both agreed that the bread pudding was a little sweet, but it was good.

We both love 4Rivers- the mission, the founders story, the wholesome atmosphere, all of it. Definitely will be back- at least to the Orlando...

I stopped by for a quick late lunch. There wasn’t anyone there so the service was quick. You have to order at the bar and check out and take your food to the table; cafeteria style. The tables for the most part are communal which goes with the community bbq vibe they promote. Although the southern stacker meal looked good, the bar server couldn’t tell me if it was really cheesy or not. It comes with cheese grits that are square patties wrapped in tin foil so it wasn’t possible to see what they were like. In the end I ordered the pulled chicken platter with southern corn and collard greens. Personally, the pulled chicken had way too of their signature bbq sauce. I couldn’t even taste the chicken, just the sauce. It had an intense peppery taste and is a bit sweet for my liking. The chicken was a little dry, which is probably why it’s drowned in sauce. The corn was great. You can tell it is really fresh. The only thing that would have made it better if it were actually smoked. I think that it was just boiled. The collard greens were okay, not amazing but not bad either. I have to say it terms of texture it was spot on, not over or under done. A friend ordered the pulled pork and that was fantastic. I liked it better than the chicken because it was really juicy and plain - no sauce added. They are really allergen friendly. There were a lot of gluten free choices on the menu. I didn’t try but they even have dessert options. They even had vegan options both for bbq and dessert. For the amount of chicken I got, I did feel it was a touch over priced. If it were $5 cheaper, it would be a...