JD's Smokehouse — Restaurant in Rutherford College

Ok let's start with the atmosphere and service are excellent. You walk up, order, then pay. Go take a seat and a worker takes your number to get your food and bring it to you. Every worker was very nice and working hard. No they aren't servers in this situation. Think of like a five guys to an extent. Ok we got the rib plate with grits and fried corn strawberry cobbler. The pulled pork with cucumber tomato salad grits and loaded. Ok start with the positive, the strawberry cobbler and mashed potatoes id give 5 out of 5. The mustard BBQ, pulled pork and cucumber salad are a 4 out of 5. Just a heads up the cucumber tomato salad has balsamic in it so it's on the sweeter side. The pulled pork was good but didn't have alot of flavor. Ok the grits, me and my wife each got an order and they both were drastically different. Mine were watery spicier than hers and just ehhh. Hers were like good grits decent flavor and not overly spicy. So I am giving them a 2 since there's no telling you what you are gonna get. Now for the bad, the corn and the ribs are 0's. The lady at the counter made the fried corn seem interesting. It is not it's merely an ear of corn quickly dipped in a frier. It tasted like straight frier and was barely even hot. I mean was thinking it would be actually fried and was gonna be a little crispy. The ribs were by far the worst of all. They almost wet like they just came out of a steamer. They were absolutely flavorless and just so fall off and not in a good way. They also didn't pull the membrane off the back of the ribs so that was fun to pick out. I was heavily recommended and honestly I guess if you stick to a few items it might have been better. The only negative I will say for the service was when we asked what type of BBQ sauces they had and no one knew if it was Eastern or western. They all looked like they were dear...

This restaurant was recommended to me multiple times, and I finally was in the area when they were open! I believe they are only open 3 days a week... Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I came in during lunch hours on Thursday at 12:45, and it was not super busy. They had your typical BBQ fare with pulled pork, chicken, brisket, and ribs. I asked the cashier, who takes the order, what she suggested. She recommended the combo plate of pulled pork, brisket, and ribs. It's the most expensive option on the menu, yet she assured me it was the best way to experience all they had to offer. I agreed with her suggestion and chose the beans and her recommendation of the sweet potato crunch. I paid with my debit card and left a $5 tip. I was handed a $5 bill with my slip to give to my server. I walked to the dining room, and a "hostess" took my slip and showed me to my table. The food arrived quickly and was fresh and hot. I was told it came with a half rack of ribs, but it was maybe a third. The ribs had a crust that was tasty, yet a bit dry. The pulled pork was decent but also a slight bit on the dry side. The brisket was phenomenal with a perfect amount of fat on the edges and was super tender. The beans were average but tasty. The sweet potato crunch was the star of the whole meal. Perfectly seasoned and mashed, with a delectable topping that I could put on everything! They offered 2 sauces... a vinegar based and typical tomato based. Both were decent, yet neither were over-the-top. All in all, I will definitely come back for a brisket sandwich for lunch with a sweet potato side! The service was friendly and genuine, and the atmosphere was southern...

The parking lot was packed, for good reason. There's an obvious amount of wood stacked outside for the smokers.

The ordering process is little foreign to me but; it was smooth. You order at the counter and if you add a tip they cash it out and ask that you leave it for your server.( giving it directly the employees kudos to you 👏)

With my drink and tip, plus my personal belongings it was a little precarious getting to my table.

I ordered a pork and brisket plate that comes with 2 sides. I chose loaded mashed potatoes and cobbler.

They give you three barbecue sauces on your table. Regular, mustard and vinegar style. You have to ask for hot.

I tried each one and it's a tie between Regular and hot.(It wasn't too spicy but just right.)

The beef and pork were equally moist and pleasantly smoked. ( They must use all fruitwoods, the smoke wasn't overwhelming. No liquid smoke!!!!)

I have to mention the biscuits, they were buttery and held together nicely. The potatoes were flavorful . The dessert ( cobbler) had strawberries and rhubarb? The dough was well cooked and tender with the perfect amount sauce.

I was impressed enough I got another order of brisket to share at home.

Everything was delicious and not salty. They have a nice presentation of the food, checkered waxed paper in an aluminum pie plate( with one overtop to keep it warm.) The building is a little dark but clean. The staff is attentive and friendly. I was actually headed to another restaurant but turned around because the lot was full; however it wasn't difficult to park there are plenty of spots. Best decision I...