C&B Barbecue — Restaurant in Smyrna

As a Yelp ambassador, I try to review as many establishments as possible and like to lean from reviews which establishments I’d like to do business with. With that said…

I was looking for some good rotisserie chicken in the area and enjoyed the reviews so I dropped by at about 3pm. I walked in and immediately noticed how nostalgic the decor was, “very family oriented” I thought. I walked up to the counter and there was a man with a gray hoodie pulled over his head. I greeted him with a “good afternoon” and not only did he not respond, he didn’t even look at me. He then (while still never looking at me..) said, “what would you like?” I said, it’s my first time here” and he now looks at me staring blankly. I said, does your half a chicken come with sides? He turns around motioning to the illuminated menu above us and says, “yeah, it comes with 2 sides”. I said, “I’ll have the half a chicken with Mac and collard greens”. He doesn’t ask me if I’d like a drink with that. I pay, he hands me my recipe. I sat down on the really nice bench near the register and chatted with another gentleman waiting for his order. I remarked to him that I heard someone say about restaurants in Atlanta, “if the food is great, the service will be terrible, and if the service is great; the food’s probably terrible” he laughed said, “I haven’t been here in quite awhile but it “varies” here from time to time.”

Now I noted that when the man at the register would call out other individuals “numbers” when they were ready but once my order was ready. He blurted out “2piece chicken!” I went to the counter and extend my hand to get my bag and he puts it on the counter and backs away.

I see from the majority of reviews that they are (overall) known for their ribs but the chicken was COMPLETELY dried out and the collard greens were completely tasteless. The Mac and cheese however was pretty good. I always like to support black owned businesses but unfortunately; I’ll never come back here. The service AND the food was bad. I’d give them an “F”🙁.

In conclusion; I’m a pretty friendly guy. It takes absolutely nothing to put a smile on your face and greet your guests with a smile and a “hello or welcome” but I was treated by the guy at the register like I was interrupting him or something. Definitely not the hospitality that people associate...

Where do I begin? I had been attempting to try this establishment for some time. However the limited hours during the pandemic had prevented me every time. Upon entering I was immediately greeted by Carroll. As I approached the counter I realized I stumbled upon a gem in Cobb county GA. I glanced at the written articles and pictures along the walls. This is definitely a family business with some good history behind it. Carroll puts his heart on the line for it. Customer service exceeded my expectations. I had decided I was not getting anything food as I was in a time crunch and riding my bike. Carroll told me I should sit and at least have a sandwich. I looked at the time and said no…I have an appt in 35 minutes. It’s going to take me all of that to be on time (again I am on my motorcycle.) He asked me would I like to sample something. I said sure. At least I will have a better idea of what i would come back to get. To my surprise…the best bbq I have had in ATL since my place in Gwinnett closed. I love bbq and you can tell Thompson BBQ does too. The smell simply makes you want to sit and try it all. I sampled the short ribs. To my surprise he gave them to me with the sauce on the side. On thing for certain is a great rib need no sauce. These are some great ribs. I don’t even care for BBQ sauce but always taste them. He gave me a sample of a sweet which was very sweet to me, Medium which is a mix of their sweet and hot. And hot which was amazingly tasteful. My favorite is the mix as I can imagine that on several proteins. I left with a pound of country ribs just to try something different. Besides, I could not show up to my meeting late without a good excuse and empty handed. I shared my ribs with them and they forgot that I was 2 minutes late. Lol. Overall the greatest carry out experience I have every had. I rode about 30 miles and Carroll had wrapped the ribs so good that they were still warm when I arrived to my destination. Looking forward to my next visit. The customers who came in after me advised me of things to try and honestly it’s simply everything on the menu…you can’t go wrong. I will capture pics…the...

This place has been around for years and I’m not sure how i missed it.

While i was here i got a few things

Smoked chicken The chicken was pretty good. I’m not a big fan of sauce so i think the chicken could have taken a tad bit more seasoning, but since this place really recommends their sauce i see why it’s not seasoned more heavily. The mixture would have been too much.

Ribs Theses weren’t my top choices. They lacked seasoning to me as well. The meat was juicy but they tasted kinda bland. I tried dipping the ribs into the sauce but it didn’t add any level of excitement to the ribs. I had two sauces one spicy, one sweet . After some discussion with friends i think my issue is smoked ribs. I like on the grill/ bbq ribs, these were smoked. So this is a pass. I had a taste for ribs so this was a little disappointing.

Mac and cheese Yum! The sides were the highlight in all honesty. The Mac and cheese was cheesy and was seasoned well.

Baked beans These were THE highlight of the whole meal! They were perfect! After the first bite i ate the entire container. They were sooooo good. I’d need double beans if i ever went back.

Greens These were pretty tasty as well. I normally don’t order greens when I’m out, but these were a pleasant surprise!! I’m not sure what meat was in there but they were really good.

Lemonade Whew! This lemonade was bomb! Like i think about it randomly 😂😂 i love chick fila lemonade, and this may be better! Now o doubt they are using real lemons, but this lemonade is bomb! You will definitely want seconds.

The service was A1! Everyone who worked there was really nice. I was there close to closing time and everyone was still nice. They started cleaning while i was there, but they didn’t sweep my feet or...