Smoke On the Water BBQ & Catering — Restaurant in Port Huron

We were pretty excited to have a new BBQ place in town. After Kelly Joy's left we were pretty bummed. We also own our own smoker but sometimes you just want someone else to do the 8-12 hour cook. So we were ready to get some good BBQ. We decided to try the Family Meal #2 (with pulled pork as the 1 lb meat option) so we could try several things. Here's our verdict: Get the beans. They are VERY good. The coleslaw is generic but not bad. The mac and cheese needs texture. A little bread crumbs will go a long way. Good slider buns and cornbread but nothing to write home about. The pulled pork was good I suppose but even when smoking meat, smoke shouldn't be the only flavor. It doesn't taste like an injection or even a rub was used. The ribs were okay as well other than the couple on the end of the rack which were thin and therefore dry. Again it's hard to tell if a rub was used. (I would suggest to the owner to have the waitress ask the customer what sauce for the ribs and then use that sauce to get the ever-important glaze) The chicken was TERRIBLE. Undoubtedly the worst chicken I've had at a restaurant. Not only was it super SUPER dry but the skin was leather. On top of that the skin had a flavor that tasted chemical in nature and makes me think that lighter fluid, charcoal briquettes (which often have lighter fluid in them) or direct propane flames were used. At the very least it could be that one of those things were used in the smoker at some point and the flavor is residual. We've come across this before. The sauces available were...something. On a slider bun with pulled pork and coleslaw all three were passable. But just on the meat the korean one tasted like a spicy version of Burger King's Sweet and Sour sauce which wasn't my cup of tea but some people like that. The house sauce tasted like sweet cinnamon and in my opinion was not good at all. The bourbon was the best of the three but I wouldn't go in asking for a pint to use at home. Oddly enough the korean and house together were not too bad. All in all, if I'm hankering for pulled pork but don't want to cook that long I may go again but use my own homemade sauce. Also the prices were good for what we got. My final thoughts are don't ever go there for the chicken. Just don't. Get it takeout and use your own sauce. Don't...

We used to come here when it was Fuel Woodfire. So glad to find it open again as SOTW.

Dropped in today (Sunday) right at opening time for lunch. I think there were even more menu options than we remembered from our past visits. Between two of us we had brisket, pulled pork, St. Louis ribs, mac & cheese, fries, onion rings, and cornbread. Huge portions of excellent BBQ. Everything was delicious. Two standouts that deserve special mention - the mac & cheese which was the best I've ever had, and the cornbread - slightly sweet and very moist - with icing it could have been a dessert but alongside the BBQ it was the perfect partner. The sides definitely aren't an afterthought here.

Service was quick and friendly, prices reasonable, and portions more than ample. Lots of free parking right out front on the street.

My only reason for not giving five full stars was that more attention needs to be given to the overall cleanliness and ambiance of the restaurant itself. The menus - badly worn to the point of being hard to read - whatever they're printed on and with is wearing down - you shouldn't have to feel like you want to wash your hands after holding the menu, which I did. The tile floor on the way to the restrooms was so slippery I nearly fell - I've worked in greasy kitchens but the front of the house shouldn't be slick. And the restroom was grubby and I had to disassemble the paper towel dispenser to get at the towels.

All in all, the food is truly fantastic and deserves a sparkling setting to enjoy it in. I'll definitely go back, but meanwhile I hope the owners take these...

Pulled pork was juicy and tasty. This is worth making the trip for, and you can stop reading right now, jump in the car, and scramble right down to Smoke On The Water.

We ordered a half pound each of pork, chicken, and brisket, so a fair sized sample of all three. While the pork was outstanding, the chicken seemed to be all white meat(?) which made it quite dry. The brisket was definitely tender, but it was dry, too, like all the juice had been cooked out of it.

Would definitely recommend the pork. Would definitely try the chicken again if they were to make a juicy dark meat version from thighs and legs.

Service was very friendly and laid back. Nice people, for sure.

The atmosphere is a mix - funky old brick building with classic old bar and wood floors sounds perfect, right? The look and feel are great. The music, though, was one of the oddest mixes ever concocted: hillbilly songs interspersed with 1970s Boomer rock. Merle Travis followed by Led Zeppelin? Yikes and yikes again! 🙉

Still, finding real pork BBQ in the North deserves a lot of credit. Do yourself a favor and stop by to check it out for yourself. Trust me, the BBQ is tasty and the experience will...