Smoqued California BBQ — Restaurant in Orange

I came here after looking up best bbq in Southern California. This place was in the top ten. I came all the way from Vegas but I’m born and raised in the Midwest/South. The outside and inside are completely amazing in design and gives me old town vibes. The food I had was fried chicken, burnt ends, mac and cheese, brisket, ribs, pork, sausage, bacon, salad with brisket. FRIED CHICKEN, the brine was good making the meat tender and flavorful. The skin which is the best part kept falling off because it sits on top of some form of mashed potatoes (which we were not fans of) that made it wet on the bottom hence the skin falling off. BURNT ENDS, they had good flavor from being tossed in sauce and bark outside, but you could tell they really needed this sauce because the inside was dry and chewy. They need a cut with higher fat so that it’s tender and more juicy. It needed more sauce. MAC & CHEESE, it was a well made mac & cheese and I’m eating it for breakfast. BRISKET, tender/moist/juicy but two critical things were missing. It had no seasoning on it at ALL or tasted like it, just bland tasting. Didn’t detect salt and pepper even! It needed sauce for real to bring it back to life. And second I could not taste the smoke! It’s called Smoqued. RIBS, same thing as the brisket, where is the seasoning and smoke? I could see bark on it but taste nothing really. The meat was tender & juicy but the way it that it taste and the bone looked, i know it’s not boils for sure but there seemed like there is a cooking process that is used differently? It doesn’t bite and chew and look like, it was smoked 4-6 hrs, wrapped, and finished off on the grill. I almost want to say steamed or braised or something like that after looking at the bone. PORK, it was good, could taste smoke and seasoning. SAUSAGE, this was my favorite and I was sad because they give you 1 with the meat combos. The jalapeño was fresh and definitely forward with great heat and meatiness. BACON, bacon is bacon and it’s candied, you can’t mess that up. Give me a bucket of candied bacon. I enjoy coming here as the ambience was amazing and the old town feel made me feel homesick. Probably won’t make a special effort to come back, but if I was right there and everything else was crowded and I’m starving, sure. I expected more from reviews and the articles I read but I guess as people said it’s “California “ style bbq, whatever that is idk. I smell the smoke outside and inside, I can’t taste any smoke or seasoning and maybe that’s how Californians like their food. As a former French trained chef, culinary school graduate, and Vegas caterer and chef I was taught season everything, so I’m just not sure. There is only two sauces on the table. Both are really good, like I would buy some to use at home. Waitress was super animated and a joy. Medium size inside with a few outdoor...

I was debating on whether or not I should have given this place 5 stars because the food is absolutely worthy of it. As far as a service cuz it's usually staff Chapman University students of course they're just working their way through their degree so it's not always as attentive as you would like. The atmospheres usually lively and the crowd combination of students and families with children but you don't hear the whining and complaining as the music and the sports on TV are great distraction. It's just misses a one-star because they don't have any garlic bread some other typical things that I like from a BBQ smokehouse. But the barbecue tri-tip sandwich is unbeatable! I've tried all their sauces and I'd recommend sticking with the original here it comes without sauce so you can always dip it and eat it and get a menagerie of flavors. Interestingly enough, my girlfriend loved the mustard-based sauce however the original was just too good the pass app my smattering every bit of sandwich with the delicious homemade barbecue sauce. while I have not tried everything on the menu, I have enjoyed every appetizer I have ordered. Just another excuse to go back ensample everything on the menu. They have a moderate selection of beer that pairs well with almost any entree they serve. parking is a little bit of a pain another reason for lack of 5 stars but it's downtown orange at the circle what can you expect for such a great menu and so many students eager to gobble up some of the best barbecue in Orange County. I'm very glad for the new ownership change that happened five years ago or so it's definitely welcome upgrade and I love the furniture and decor. you got a group more than four people you might want to call ahead on the weekends cuz I can get packed. Like me, my father has a highly sensitive taste and smell which makes him hard to please when it comes to food oh, let's just say he goes here every week. Definitely a recommend on my list. one last thing I love mac and cheese but it was a little dry and it definitely could have used more sauce I actually wind up putting the Chipotle BBQ sauce with it and bingo bango it popped that...

I placed a phone order for the smoqued pork nachos while on my way to the Orange Circle. I had never tried Smoqued before, but I was looking for some comfort food and it had great reviews. Well, I arrived at Smoqued 15 minutes after placing the order and was told it would be a couple more minutes, so I sat at the bar to wait. After 10 minutes of waiting in the restaurant I was told that the nachos (which are really loaded fries) had been accidentally burnt, and they were making a new one. I didn’t mind since I was really hungry and not in much of a hurry, though I was a bit annoyed when I had to wait an additional 15 minutes for them to remake it. Meaning that they probably forgot to even start my order until after I arrived, which defeats the purpose of calling ahead and placing a phone order... Anyways that said, the service was very friendly and apologetic, and I left happy and excited to eat my nachos that smelled amazing! Unfortunately, after driving home I began eating and noticed that the nachos were burnt again! The fries were blackened all across the bottom. Now the pulled pork was delicious, so stars for that, but I definitely did not want charred French fries. Like I said, I have never been to Smoqued, so I have nothing to compare this to. But also, based on the menu the nachos are supposed to come with Mac sauce and mixed cheese, which I was really looking forward to, but there was barely any cheese at all. Overall the pulled pork nachos were okay because the pulled pork itself was so tasty, but with the fries being somehow both soggy and blackened, I was sadly...