Midwood Smokehouse — Restaurant in Raleigh

I've been here three times the first time we sat inside we got a well fed. it feeds two and the food was good everything was fine with our food. But there was a lady that ordered online and picked up her food at the window next to us. She was very upset and made a big deal about it. There was also a guy that picked up food and seemed pretty angry. We thought people were just having a bad day.

I say this because the third time, this past sunday I was at a friend's apartment nearby, i ordered online and picked the order up. We got a well fed again. I waited about 20-30 extra mins before picking up the food. To ensure the food was ready and because i was busy and trying to finish some items before my deadline. When I got there they couldn't find our order. The first guy said it wasn't made. Another lady came and asked about the order and couldn't find it in their system. I showed her my order. Then one of her coworkers told her the order was sitting right next to the window. Someone gave it out. They remade our order and we waited. This all took about an extra 30 mins total that i really didnt have to waste, which was why i ordered online. They bring the food out to us and we head to my house which is in durham. What they put into my box was unacceptable. A well fed is about $40 and It looked like they basically threw table scraps of meat in my box. The portion size was nothing like my first experience. There was a small tablespoon worth of pork. 2 tiny less than an inch in size pieces of brisket. And 3 small pieces of burnt ends which were almost completely cuts of fat. Also about 3 or 4 hush puppies the size of a dime or penny. The half rack of ribs, Mac n cheese and broccoli were fine. The scraps seemed hidden under the ribs. Rather than properly remake our order they just threw scraps in our box to get us gone. It wasn't worth my time to comeback since I live 30 mins away and didn't have an hour to waste in the drive there and back. I just won't comeback since 2 of the 3 experiences i had here were negative. Granted the food is good if you can actually get it. I also don't know if they frequently mess up online orders but check your food before leaving no one wants to spend over $40 for table scraps and still have to make food anyway.

Rewind to the second time I came here. I walked in by myself, waited to be seated and ended up standing at the door for maybe 15 minutes. At the 5 min mark i asked a waitress if i could sit anywhere she said someone will seat you. At 10 min mark a lady finally came over and told me she was told not to seat anyone but she would ask if it was OK to do so now. It wasnt very busy there were many empty seats and tables. I waited around maybe another 10 mins and another couple walked in. We just waited there maybe another 5-10 mins before I turned around...

Midwood Smokehouse located near the Publix in downtown Raleigh is trying to hit that Smokehouse BBQ target that it's lacking in downtown Raleigh. Is it a hit or a miss? Here's what I think. Parking for this area is a mix of street parking which can be difficult especially on busy downtown evenings. While you aren't supposed to, there is the Publix garage parking which is for 2hrs and in theory only for those doing at the grocery store. Upon first look, Midwood had an appealing exterior, even boasting a section where you can get a drink from the bar right outside.

The decor inside is pretty standard fare for BBQ and Smokehouse joints. It's clean and new and was quite busy when we arrived. We chose to sit at the bar, otherwise on the Friday night that we went, it would have been a 45 minute wait. The bartenders were quite nice and very attentive throughout our visit.

But let's talk about food... That's what you are really here for isn't it...? If I could choose one word to describe our food, it would be bland. The brisket didn't really hit with a smokey beef flavor, it wasn't salted enough, and the typical slices were cut in half and a little on the dry side. The fat however was rendered for most of the cuts, but some was not. The sweet potato fries must have absorbed all of the salt because they were far too salty to enjoy eating. The last thing was the BBQ beans... The problem here is that they have a very strong flavor, but that single spice is all you taste. You don't taste the smoked meat in it, or the spiciness, or the beans for that matter, you just taste the one spice they drowned the beans in. I would say it was like a chili powder flavor, but I couldn't pinpoint it. The Mac n cheese was one of the better sides, creamy, but not just mush. Lastly the pork was not bad. It had more smoke than the brisket, but still managed to not wow the taste buds that much.

Overall, I had really hoped downtown Raleigh would have gotten the smokehouse it deserves, but maybe we will in the future. For now, I'll continue going to Prime BBQ to get my smokehouse BBQ.

I'll give Midwood another try, however I won't get the same items and might try a...

Okay so after coming here a few times I can give an honest review. The food is good. But it is not good after like 6pm. I don’t know if they change shifts or what but it’s like a night and day difference. Every-time I’ve ordered after 6pm, the food tasted really bad, my order is wrong, and I have a horrible experience with the to go person working. This has been on multiple occasions. They usually have an attitude and clearly don’t want to be there, will make direct eye contact with you and then look away really quick and ignore you or just are overall really rude and I’m at a point where I’m scared to approach the to go window. Now if you order before 6pm and especially early afternoon, the to go people are really nice, food taste amazing and I never have Order mess ups. I’ve dined in once and Kendall was our waiter, she was great and the food was great so maybe it’s a difference if you dine in or take out but i don’t usually have the opportunity to do that so I don’t feel like the service should be drastically different because of my work schedule. But definitely with to-go orders I would avoid going after 6pm. Just some examples, I ordered birria tacos before 6 and they were probably the best I’ve had in my life, fries were crispy everything was great. I ordered after 6, there was no cheese on the tacos, meat was dry and tough, the stuff you dip the tacos in was missing, the fries were soggy and fat and different fries then my other experiences it was such a waste of money.with the Mac and cheese when I ordered earlier on, it was amazing, not the soggy kind but nicely baked, full of flavor, just amazing. I ordered after 6 and it was SO SALTY like all I tasted was salt, it was really soggy/soupy just overall disgusting I threw it out. it could be such a good restaurant if they were more consistent with food...