Smokin' Dave's Backyard BBQ & Grill — Restaurant in Oxford

Oct. 18, 2020 - Hunger pains while driving through western Maine, convinced us to take a chance on Smokin' Dave's BBQ in Norway. ( Strange all the Internationally named towns of Maine . . . Paris, Mexico, Oxford, etc. ) We almost drive past this big white New England style house, until we spotted the two large smoker grills in the front parking lot! We thought this joint deserves our serendipitous BBQ stop.

My nose caught the smell of the two smoker grills wafting Texas-like aroma of pork, and chicken . . . My brain said, "be patient"! Let's give the Maine BBQ Pit masters a chance . . . So what, if this 5 year old BBQ establishment is now located in a large 1884 white New England style house, that use to be a funeral home? It's lunch time, let's step inside.

Once inside, looked much like a home with small tables & chairs spread apart throughout the different rooms that would have been the living room, den, front room parlor, etc. Once seated, we removed our covid maskes, our masked server ( I think her name was Chloe) handed us a menu to share. I asked for a dark beer, and Chloe recommended Mr. Grumpypants. Then we settled on a combo plate that included pulled pork, chicken, and brisket with a side of fries, and complimentary cornbread muffins.

I enjoy barbecuing ribs, chicken, pulled pork, and brisket at home often . . . So my "bar is high". Only 10 minutes into enjoying my full bodied Grumpypants stout beer, the combo plate arrived. We lathered up our chicken, pulled pork, and brisket with both the sweet & spicy bbq sauces. ( Both sauces are similar to Stubbs, which is very good) My wife liked the warm cornbread muffins. I liked the crispy french fries, as our side.

A wonderful lunch experience! The owner and BBQ pit master, Dave appeared in his apron and talked a bit about his barbecuing background. . . mentioned learning years ago in a Florida BBQ establishment. He also mentioned the history of his current location.

Overall, I would rate the BBQ foods as DELICIOUS . . . I need to come back and try the RIBS, and other sides ( potato salad, cole slaw, etc.) I only can give 4.7 out of five . . . until I return and sample ALL the choices on the...

I don't even want to leave a bad review because we so badly wanted to like this place but the food just didn't taste good to us. The mac and cheese tasted grainy and I can say without a doubt it was the worst mac and cheese I've had in my life and I've had frozen dollar store mac and cheese before. We ordered two pulled pork sandwiches and sliders for my son and it was very bland and the buns were soaking wet. Additionally I tried the cheesy potato bake and it was also not very good at all! All of these foods sounded delicious and I was so excited to try them for the first time but unfortunately was highly disappointed. I will say I did like the chocolate cake dessert which tasted like dark chocolate and I really enjoyed it, the fries were also not bad but I couldn't eat my meal or sides so I ate a few fries off my boyfriends plate.

I really hope these things can change in the future! I see great reviews about the service and I think there is potential here but for the time being we wouldn't want to...

Results were much lower than my expectations. I got there around 1230pm, waited to be seated til 110pm only to be informed they were out of several items(burnt ends, pickle fies, rib eye steak and baked potatoes). My friend got the meat sampler tray...the chicken, brisket and the pork were all shredded/pulled....was hoping the brisket would be sliced, NOT shredded. The textures of the meats were all similar. She got the mac n cheese side dish and said it tasted like "frozen mac n cheese" and wasn't impressed. I got a rack of ribs, mac n cheese and baked beans. The ribs were cooked pretty well but not trimmed properly prior to being smoked/grilled. The mac n cheese was less than stellar...the pasta was way overcooked, under seasoned, and "grainy", not smooth. The baked beans tasted like they came from a can. After spending nearly $100, I can say I was truly disappointed, especially after driving almost an hour to get there, JUST to go there based on...