Smoked Creations — Restaurant in Ottawa

Prices are good, food is great, service is great. The key word is “Creations”, and they live up to their name. This restaurant is a masterclass in what you can do with smoked meat. Sauce is on the sweet side of KC (similar to Baby Ray’s); but they offer spicy and mustard styles as well. Almost everything on the menu is good to great. The pulled pork and chicken are good, the Turkey is very good, and the brisket is excellent. Heads up, the burnt ends are not worth it at all; it’s more like higher end pulled pork on white bread (based on the first and last time I ordered it, which was a long time ago.) I genuinely have a hard time deciding on what to order, because so many things on the menu could be my favorite item.

Some recommendations:

The Longhorn Sandwich, which is their version of a Z-Man. I personally like theirs more than Joe’s KC.

The Cyclone, like a pulled pork chimichanga with black bean salsa and BBQ sauce drizzle. You want believe how good it is until you try it.

The Attack Dog, All beef hot dog with brisket, cheese, bbq sauce, and jalapeños, rolled in a tortilla. Fried and topped with bbq beans and cheese. Need I say more?

Loaded Baked Potato, exactly as it sounds, a baked potato piled high with choice of smoked meat (I always do the brisket), cheese, and sour cream. SO GOOD! They also offer sweet potatoes, because, why not?

Turkey Club Sandwich, a double decker sandwich with smoked turkey on top layer and lettuce & tomato on bottom layer, with cheese and bacon crumble. Not as good as Joe’s KC smoked Turkey; but Joe’s KC has the best smoked Turkey that didn’t come out of my dad’s smoker. This is still my second favorite smoked turkey sandwich from a BBQ joint; and I highly recommend it!

These are just my favorite items. There’s a lot more that I’ve tried and liked! Just check out...

I went as part of a party of 4 adults and 2 kids to Smoked Creations. Their onion rings were some of the best that we collectively had ever had. The jalapeno poppers were nothing to write home about, however and were relatively standard fare.

I had the O-Town Burger. As a rather large man (6'4" 275 lbs), I had difficulty finishing the burger, and my recommendation would be to order this burger with a side of to-go box. I also had the Cajun fries, but only managed to eat about four of these delicious fries before recognizing I was far too full.

Other items ordered around the table were the Bienie Burger, a Texas corn dog kids meal with fries, a grilled cheese kids meal with fries, a pork tenderloin sandwich (half of which was saved by the person that got it as well), and a pulled pork sandwich.

Of note, the pork tenderloin sandwich appears to be approximately 1/2 lb by estimate and could easily be partially saved for the next day.

The Texas corn dog was fun, as it is a foot long. The kids and adults alike at our table were laughing about the size of the corn dog.

Without the tip, it was an $80 ticket for our table with two appetizers, 4 adult entrees three sides, and 2 kids meals, which isn't that bad for a quality barbecue restaurant.

If you're counting calories, the portions are large enough that cutting your meal in half would be a very viable option.

Our service was fantastic as well, nearly instantly replenishing drinks as they became empty and pre-bussing the table through the meal.

Overall, if you're in the KC Metro area, Lawrence, Topeka, or looking for a meal as you travel I-35, Smoked Creations is...

It's ok. There for lunch. Was quick. The staff was friendly. Seems like a nice place. We were able to sit outside. That was cool. Bet the place gets hoppin at night by the looks of it. Our group like the food, no complaints. BBQ was just a bit bland for my taste. In all fairness, I'm in KC, so they would have had to beat Gates, Famous Dave's, Joe's for me to rave about the BBQ. It was a good place to grab lunch. Very cool. Would love to check it out again and try some of the other eats.....update. We did come by again to try some of the other food. Sat down with the owner and his wife for a bit. Talked about food, bbq, and the bar. Good stuff. Could talk about that all day. I did try the Longhorn. Blown away. We got a chance to try some of his sauces which we figure out that we didn't have last visit. Wow! He did some showing off for sure. "Made us" try the nacho fries. His fav. I can understand why. Proof that if you cover it with bacon, It HAS to be good. To make things worse, he "forced us" to eat some of the home made raspberry filled donuts. You have to save some space for those which we didn't. Worth it! Had to roll us out of there. I didn't think about food for 2 days. We are going to drag our wives and kids back there to endure another meal as soon as we can. Shame with winter on the way, we won't be able to sit out on the deck and eat. Well done guys. VERY nice to meet you....