Smoke Shack BBQ — Restaurant in San Antonio

Haven't written a review in a while, but I also haven't had food that blew me away in a while.

I forgot to take pictures because that's how into the meal I was... Imagine that.

What I ordered : Brisket, Sausage, Fried Okra, Cream Corn

What Wife ordered : Ribs, Quarter Chicken, Green Beans, Potato Salad

What we experienced : Meat Euphoria, A meat high, Whatever you want to call it, our hearts melted, and we were reborn.

I have to say, we showed up at 11:30AM on a Saturday, we thought we were crazy for showing up so early for BBQ, but by 12, that place was getting packed.

What was meh? The cream corn and the green beans were honestly passable, not much flavor, and didn't add to the experience.

What was good? The Sausage

What was great? The Fried okra was PERFECT, delicious, and crispy. It served as a perfect break from the meat flavor while maintaining the experience. The brisket was great as well, I got it lean, and it was exceptional. The burnt ends were just heavenly. The potato salad also brought a welcome break from the meat flavor, and it just kept the party going.

What was other worldly? The chicken, Holy Mama, I almost slapped the chef it was so good. The smokey/salty flavor could be found all the way through the chicken. Did they inject smoke straight into the DNA of this chicken??? It was impossible perfect and now I get to disappoint my wife weekly by cooking chicken at home that will never compare to this.

The ribs, though... Those darn ribs, man... I met BBQ Jesus when I took my first bite. Never, and I mean never, has food made me feel what I felt. I asked my wife to give me a moment, and during that moment, I went to a higher plane of existence, I imagine I was (For a brief moment) where god sends all of his best pitmasters to dwell. It was paradise. It was meat heaven.

Smoke Shack, you have made a fan out of me, I will return to experience the ribs for the rest of my life, I will retire one day and still talk about the moment I had. Thank you to the pit master, the staff, and everyone who made my experience other...

So I'm from out of town so I looked up some great BBQ in San Antonio, and this place came up! With Guy Fieri being one of the most popular guests that has visited Smoke Shack, I knew this had to be a good pick. Therefore, we ordered a plethora of options. We ordered beef brisket (marbled) which was amazing!!!!!!! Mac and cheese, just okay. Potato salad, which was not my cup of tea. Speaking of tea, I mixed the tea and lemonade...... 😘😘😘😘 Perfection! Ribs, which were theee best ribs I EVER HAD!!! They were tender, falling off the bone and had a little bit of a smoked brown sugar like crust on it. Just delicious!!!! I ordered the marble beef brisket and the pulled pork, which I thought the pulled pork was a tad dry. But had I known the ribs we're going to be as good as they were. I would have got the Pick 3 meets two sides of ribs, one side of marble beef brisket. For one of my size. I had the mac and cheese which I've already mentioned, and the season french fries, which were just okay. Beef brisket grilled cheese, because apparently that's what they're known for. It was pretty good but it was on Texas toast so I felt like it was a lot of bread. I'm really here for the meat. We also ordered the kids meal of the chicken tenders, of which these were not regular size typical chicken tenders. This was real cuts of chicken that was seasoned and fried perfectly. Very large. But Very good. I gave the atmosphere three stars because it was a little dirty inside. I'm sure this place has been around for a long time so it was really probably just the wear and tear on the building and the window seals and whatnot, but I had a hard time not looking at that while I was eating. However, the staff was very friendly in explaining the menu and the food was super speedy! Overall, I would definitely recommend and be back!

Bee stamp...

Consistency is key. However on this visit, it was nothing but. I came here and dined in back-to-back days - Wednesday and Thursday. Ordered the meat plate with ribs on both days. Wednesday was phenomenal. Ribs were juicy, fell off the bone and tasted amazing with the hint of maple wood flavor. They also looked like they were put in the smoker to achieve such look and taste. I was so pleased, that I came the next day - today. Taste and consistency was not the same. Not even enjoyable. Ribs looks like they were thrown on the grill and overcooked. They had a hard exterior and a tough interior and only edible when putting BBQ sauce on them. Mind you I don’t even like their sauce. It’s too tangy and thin for my taste, but the only thing available. Check the pics and see the clear differences in both plates. Intrigued by the audacity to serve inconsistent food, I asked an employee about them, to which she waved me off, because she didn’t understand English. At that point I didn’t even bother to ask another employee. To the regulars, the foot traffic on both days was also completely different. Busy Wednesday and slow on Thursday. Is there insider knowledge to avoid eating here on certain days? As for my rating, minus a star for the inconsistent food (turkey, chicken and brisket are also nothing to brag about), half a star for lack of support from the non-English speaking employee and another half star for their bbq sauce and lemonade. The latter tasting like cheap Minute Maid, when I was told it was fresh squeezed. Stick with beer. The bottle that looks like a throwback Astros jersey is 💯 and pairs well with the BBQ, but this place is definitely hit or miss and they...