Smo-King Pit — Restaurant in Peoria

Haven't eaten at this long established restaurant inside Northwoods Mall since it was a set down restaurant with waitress/waiters to wait on you. The experience was much different then as it is now after the restaurant was reconfigured into a walk up, order and set down yourself style with plastic silverware, etc. They have a very large menu and have weathered the pandemic ordeal well it seems or they wouldn't have been able to expand and continue in business. I'm sure they have done what is prudent with what today's customer expects. I'm not a today's customer, but more old school. They continue to be quite popular in this market and that is very good, since I don't like seeing any business fail. Just isn't proper to want that to happen. As I've become older I find that BBQ doesn't appeal to me as it once did and even upsets the stomach. I continue to hope that this condition was short term, but afraid not. This being said I found the BBQ today no different. I found it strange that they piled the meat and sauce on the tray and not on the bun. You have to place the meat on the bun yourself. The fries were some of the best I've had in a long time. Home made and very good. I long for the old style restaurant, but I'm just old and times are changing and one has to change or go out...

I tried to be patient with these folks, I really did but enough is enough. I’m guessing the good reviews have made them complacent. I try my best to support Black businesses like I’ve been supporting this place for years now but I have to call them out. In the last TEN times I’ve gotten food from them, they’ve messed something up probably 7 times. I don’t live nearby like I used to so I can’t just double back when they’ve left something out of my order. I shouldn’t have to check my bag and open up every styrofoam container either. Whether it’s the young guy at the register or the woman who seems to be the owner, they DON’T LISTEN. I care very little that people know your name or you know theirs. Get it together. Pay attention to the order I’m giving you. If I ask for a sauce on the side, I should have that sauce in my bag. Instead, I have dry plain chicken with nothing to put on...

Staff was very friendly and informative but the pulled pork and brisket were quite dry (brisket only coming chopped doesn't help that) and designed to be eaten with a bunch of sauce. Sauce should be an option to good BBQ to enhance the meat, not required to give it moisture and flavor.

The chicken also had no real flavor other than the sauce. Maybe a little smoke flavor at the end but it was hard to tell.

The rib tips had ok flavor but they are sauced and you couldn't really separate the meat flavor from the sauce but the fat and moisture content were good.

The hot link was quite good and at $6.50 for a large link and a side, it was a decent value.

My wife ate the sides and said they were ok but nothing to write home about.

At $50+ for the 2 of us I don't feel the price was unreasonable, just that for BBQ, it just isn't something I would go...