Taste of Smithfield Restaurant — Restaurant in Smithfield

Taste of Smithfield is the genuine article—so dependable over the years that I am amazed I haven’t reviewed it before. How many restaurants nowadays actually make all their own dishes from scratch? And always successfully?

The Coronavirus has reshaped Taste of Smithfield: it was always scrupulously clean and shiny, but now it is scrupulously socially distanced as well, so the racks of gifts and nuts and things are no longer edging their way through the dining areas. The building was always a spacious one, and I find the restored vistas refreshing. Real restaurants suffer when they are part grocery stores . . . .

Taste of Smithfield has always been user-friendly. Whether you wish to sit at a comfortable counter and join a small Smithfield community, or share a comfortable table with friends you have already met, you can count on alert and courteous waiters and meticulous chefs to guarantee you enjoy your meal! The waiter I had today was a sterling example of what I have always found at Taste of Smithfield: although he has not been working there long, he seems completely invested in the restaurant and impressed as one should be with the quality of the food he is serving. Even the photograph I took of him as he was—almost running out of the kitchen area in his attentiveness to see what I wanted next, was impressive. His name, I learned, is Nick Paraskevas, and I was glad that I had visited in a quiet period so that we could chat a little without interrupting the flow of commerce—I did want to be sure he would not mind being mentioned in the review I knew I would be writing!

It happens that Smithfield welcomes many elderly visitors such as myself to dine at its splendid tables, and Taste of Smithfield has always offered meals for appetites large and small—my favorite for lunch is the soup and sandwich, which offers wide variety at a VERY modest price. Today I chose a Country Ham sandwich on toasted rye with a (generous) cup of their excellent Tomato Basil soup, and it was all so delicious I finished with their own Ice Cream Sandwich dessert. Honestly I am glad I did—I should have photographed it for you, but I was too busy enjoying it—right down to the vanilla in the ice cream! Come on down—you can’t go wrong! Bring...

I am actually super sad to be leaving a three star review. I was here back in May with some friends and we had ordered the "pork wings" which are tossed in a sesame soy glaze. Our wings then were cold in the middle and the chef came out to apologize and cooked us some ribs in the glaze as a replacement. Those were the best ribs I have ever had. A little sweet, a little salty, with finger sticking glaze that turned their ribs (I sampled the plain ones that day too) from ok into WOW amazing.

It was so good I convinced my boyfriend to drive us out there today for our joint birthday celebration. We both got a full rack of ribs in anticipation of the culinary glory that awaited our palates. They tried. But it fell so short of expectations. The last set of ribs were fork tender. This time we needed the knife they gave us. The glaze is sharper, saltier, thinner with not even a hint of sweetness to balance out the salt. (I even asked for a side of the sauce to dip in, also a mistake).

Overall, my sides were great - I chose the mac and cheese and green beans and onions and bacon. The sweet tea was perfect, fresh and sweet and not too much. My boyfriend chose the 18hr collards and sweet potato fries. I give the fries a thumbs up but for me the collards were a little too vinegary. He enjoyed them though.

Overall I wouldn't say no to eating here again, but at the same time I won't be making a special trip out...

This evening, my fiancé and I wanted to celebrate a late valentines celebration. We decided to come to Taste of Smithfield since our first experience here was absolutely amazing. We left wanting to try everything on the menu because it was incredibly delicious. With us being relatively new to the area we were excited to come back to try their dinner menu. A young lady sat us after a few minutes of trying to figure out where to sit us in what looked like a relatively empty restaurant where only 4-5 tables were filled. We sat down and handed menus. After about 15-20 minutes of waiting for what seemed to be an inconvenience for the waiters/waitresses walking by we decided to leave. Not once did someone ask us if we were helped, took our drink order or even smiled as they clearly looked at us sitting down. Staffing didn’t seem to be a problem this evening as there were more employees than guests at tables and the two guest sitting at the bar. As I went to leave I handed the menus to someone who looked like a manager and he said to us thank you and have a good night. I simply responded saying we didn’t eat and left. This whole experience leaves a bad taste and i was incredibly disappointed. Fortunately another restaurant down the road was friendly and way accommodating. However still disappointed because I was looking forward to coming...