Kettelhut's Smokehouse — Restaurant in River View Township

Today was our second time at this restaurant. Our first time was amazing truly deserving of 5 stars. But unfortunately today's experience was super unpleasant. I ordered the pork steak dinner platter with baked beans and a loaded mash potato. Everything on my plate was cold. I just don't understand how it all could of been cold unless its was cooked yesterday or in the morning. Now it did have good flavor but it was cold. My husband ordered the pulled pork sandwich with French fries and fried corn on the cob. He said his sandwich was nice and warm and tasted good, his fries where hot and tasted good but his corn was also cold and dry. He could eat the corn. I called we called over the waitress and explained to her that my dinner was cold. She asked me if I wanted it warmed up. I said no. (As honestly not going to pay $16. For a plate of food that isn't fresh and is being reheated) I asked her to please just take it and make sure that got credited to the bill. I only took 1 bite of everything on my plate. The waitress apologized and took the plate. We saw a lady with black hair ask (why she send back the food) our waitress said (she said its all cold) the lady with the black hair with out even touching the food said (give me a thermometer). The waitress returns to our table with the bill and said (I'm truly sorry, I took off your plate) we said (thank you). My husband was finishing his meal when the lady with the black hair walked over to our table. This is the 100%reason for the one star. She claim to be the manager. She was super sarcastic. Says to me I'm sorry you didn't like your food. I said (I never said I didn't like it I said it was cold, did you touch it?) She said (yes) I said (then, I'm not going to pay for something that is cold) she said ( I don't know why it was cold, if the waitress left it to long at the window or what?) My husband the goes to tell her that the first time we were there the food was amazing but this women interrupts him and says (now you listen to me). This is what truly turned this into a completely unpleasant experience and would not recommend for anyone to go. Because like I told her. NO REASON to be nasty. As a matter of fact no reason for you to have come over here the waitress already took care of the situation. Then she had the audacity to tell me (well we took off your plate) I said (ma'am I would hope so as the food was cold and all I was able to do was taste it) she then says to me (well what do you want for us to give you a free meal) I said (okay now thats enough.) My husband stopped eating that he was up to now still eating his food. Said to her (you need to just go) we got up to go pay and she runs to the register. My husband hands her the bill and asked her to add $5 for the waitress as she wasn't at fault. She threw the receipt and walked to the back. The waitress and another staff member came over to finish up our tab. Our waitress again apologize for everything and we could tell that she was extremely embarrassed. We will never sponsors a restaurant that treats their customers in such a way. I don't know if she is the owner or who she is but that lack of respect for your customers will cause people not to come back. I know that I have been at restaurant where everything of mines have been good but seen someone else be treated the way this lady treated us today and I not just wrote a review about what I witnessed but never returned. Your offering a service for which we are paying our hard earned money for. You can't treat people like that and expect them to return. But...

Stopped in for a bit of brisket on the way back north.

Easy to find, clean parking lot and clean dining hall. Was promptly greeted by the hostess and they were happy to give me a menu for a Togo order.

I chose the brisket sandwich and was not disappointed but not blown out of the water. ( Texan here whose family owned a BBQ place in Texas, and I went to HS with Aaron Franklin, owner of Franklin Bbq in Austin. Grew up eating the best of the best) so do not take this as a slight, nor the four stars. For BBQ, if I give five stars it is something special.

The brisket was ok. The bark half formed. No smoke ring at all was found. The brisket was cut at an angle not cohesive to the meat as a whole and was too thick for my taste. Just three biggish cuts thrown on a bun. The flavor was ok, yet could tell that lower quality spices were used. Not bad, at all. Thou shall not hear me curse the name of BBQ, yet many small improvements could be made. Not sure if left or right flank brisket was used.

The meat quality was fine but could probably be improved by a longer cook time at a lower temperature. Could not taste any specialty woods used in the firing process. It was just BBQ.

The bun was fresh and soft and held together well. Top knotch in that direction.

The sauce, I received was ample and not serviced on the sandwich to cover the flavor or quality of the meat as some places do. Bravo for that!

I digress, I procured the spice sauce and it was OKish ,and Maybe a bit lack luster, bit still good. A lot of places just order a five gallon bucket of cattleman's from a restaurant supply company and might add a little something to it to make it more their own. I suspect this maybe the case.

The okra I order was good, not great , but good. The quality was there, the breading was good and the ample amount was very satisfying. ( I ordered double okra as my two sides. It was slightly north of golden brown and I always remind anyone frying anything to gain experience with such delicious delicate items. If they are pulled twenty seconds earlier, and allowed to finish cooking with the residual heat then they turn out much better. Might just be the cook, might be the way they prefer it. ( Some like it a bit more cooked, not this cowboy, I personally prefer protection)

The oil it was cooked in did not taste like a quality peanut oil, which is perfect. Instead it was of a lesser quality of another oil, IMO. I could be wrong, yet I doubt it. The oil was not Burnt, I will give it that.

Overall, not a bad bit, just noticed nothing special. I will go back to see if there is an improvement. I suggest you do give it a try and see if it is to your liking. Happy Hunting,...

I got the brisket sandwich withe coleslaw and baked beans for sides. Service was great - I ate at an outdoor table because I had my dog with me. The server was polite and helpful.

The meat was plentiful and tender and had a nice smoke flavor, but I found it to be too salty. Also - and I know this is a personal preference - I like to have a few BBQ sauces to choose from, and those weren’t provided. Towards the end as the meat cooled down, it started to dry out — a little sauce would have made the meat less dry. But my dog didn’t complain, as she got the last couple of bites!

The least impressive part of the meal were the sides. They were mediocre. Neither had a lot of flavor. They tasted like baked beans and coleslaw anywhere else. I know people usually go to a BBQ restaurant for the meat, but tasty sides can lift a place from good to great.

As far as atmosphere is concerned, it’s hard to say since I didn’t eat inside. The outdoor dining area is just a few tables around the outside of the building; not much ambiance, but it is what it is.

UPDATE: Business owner's response is helpful. I've upgraded my review to to 4 stars.

It's on me that I didn't ask about available sauces. I guess I assumed since there was no mention of them on the menu and the server didn't offer them, that they were not available. It's only after seeing them mentioned in other people's comments that I became aware that they were available. I suppose I should have asked. Since this was my first time there and I spent less than a minute inside the restaurant, I did not see what other diners had on their tables. It would be helpful, though, if servers would make a point of asking outside diners whether they want any BBQ sauce, just so we know it's available. My comment stands, though, as to the meat being too salty for my tastes. Sauce would not have solved that issue, and might even have made it saltier.

As far as sides go, yeah, that's personal preference. I might like some of the others better. But I wanted sides that were relatively healthy, preferably vegetable-based sides, and nothing fried or containing potatoes, pasta, or cheese, so green or baked beans, coleslaw, or cucumber salad were my only choices.

So maybe I will try again -- perhaps I can order two servings of the...