Sweet Magnolia Smokehouse

I made my first visit to Sweet Magnolia Smokehouse today. I went after seeing the high reviews, putting it at the top of the list on both the organic rankings and in collections for BBQ on Yelp. The restaurant was strong on the ancillary areas of service, staff, and ambiance, but it fell short in the core competencies of food quality, taste, and price.

Sweet Magnolia is located on Chandler Blvd just west of I-10 about 1/2 mile, placing it just inside Phoenix city limits (the Ahwatukee area). Since this was a 25-minute drive for me, I went expecting something very strong. But I was disappointed. I arrived at 12:30 pm on a weekday, right during lunch hour. Normal assumption would be that it would be full or very busy. But it was empty. One customer picked up a togo order, and we were the only other customers for the next hour! Woah. This isn't a good sign.

We ordered two 2 item plates with 2 sides each. We tried the brisket, chicken, and baby back ribs for meats. We got the mac & cheese, baked beans, and potato salad for sides. The best meat, by far, was the ribs, which were juicy, plump, and meaty. The chicken was dry. The brisket was ok, but not cooked to the point of being nicely broken down by good long process. It was ok flavor but not fall apart moist. Overall, great BBQ should highlight great brisket, and this failed. All the meat was only lukewarm or cold. Nothing came out hot. The sides were good, but not surprisingly good.

The meals cost $20 each, with drinks, tips, and tax on top of that. After all that and a generous tip, our food for 2 people was $60 out the door. This was far too expensive for lackluster food.

The dining area is a standard single row of tables, and the room was nice and clean. The staff was very polite, kind and helpful.

While this BBQ joint shows excellent review rankings from many, either those were old experiences or the day I visited was a one-off flop. Either way, this place was below average and not good enough to warrant a second visit. I can find an excellent brisket at Caldwells, a great rib rack at BobbyQs, and hot food almost anywhere else. I do hope they can turn this around and meet up to the other review and rankings they seem to have. I wish them well, but I won't be returning.