Noble Smokehouse — Restaurant in Stonington

My first time to Mystic as an adult and on Fourth of July I was craving BBQ! Interestingly enough, Noble smokehouse was close by.

It’s a small restaurant sharing a lot with the Mystic, CT Amtrak stop. Car parking is limited but we were able to find a spot quick. The inside of the restaurant is small for a BBQ joint and we were seated in doors until we converted to Togo.

Service was to the point. Both the tablet server and to go server were nice.

Food: [I got the combination which was $36. You get 2 meats, 2 sides and 2 sauces and jalapeño cheese cornbread]

Cons: Now, I’m gonna grab your hand and say this gently ONCE, don’t buy the collard greens. It was like chewing and sucking on a vinegar rag (today). I don’t know if it’s typically like this - hence the (today)- but absolutely turned off from thinking of trying again another day.

Mac and cheese was white cheddar and lacked flavor. If the Mac had a touch more salt, pepper and another cheese and creamier. It would’ve been fire. I also don’t mentally like seashell pasta for Mac, but to each their own.

The ribs were easy to shred with a fork. It HAD a “bark” that looked good but to my surprise it was bland 😩.

The Carolina sauce (honey mustard based?) was very one note. You could only taste the mustard and no honey and of course, vinegar. I wouldn’t recommend as a sauce

I did NOT receive my corn bread TT

The nacho chips were so basic. Cheese sauce was bland. Chips were unsalted, so that was bland too. It didn’t help but to inform the unknowing reader, we got it plain bc one of our party only eats fish (oh and no seafood here)

PROS:

The brisket was the best part of the meal. Fat beautifully rendered and best without sauce. Super soft and some piece just broke apart in my mouth without much effort.

The ribs were fork tender, so I assume that it would fall off the rib if I picked them up. But— see point 3 in Cons,...

My wife is a North Carolina native and is very very particular about her barbecue. Today was our 7-year anniversary and I looked up the reviews on this place. As a Jersey boy that lived in the South for 16 years like anybody would. I had my reservations but I wanted barbecue. The minute we pulled up. The smell took me back to chapel Hill, North Carolina. I am completely serious. When I make that statement it took me to a different world. That's when you know the food is going to be different. As a chef that has traveled for over 20 years, if you know you know. The waitress was absolutely amazing. I can't remember her name. Please forgive me. She was younger girl. We walked in and she told us to just have a seat. We sat out on the patio. Her attention to detail was spot on. She was attentive enough But also kept our distance. I love service like that. She played our cards perfectly with us. As for the food. We had the pork belly bites which about made me cry. It was so fatty and delicious and amazing and perfect. Chunks of pork throughout the gelatinous fattiness smoked to perfection. Then we decided to go with the smoked brisket nachos. I've eaten nachos in 30 States. Never did I think. Or would I say that the best nachos come out of Connecticut. But they do. The smoked brisket nachos in this place are absolutely Insanity. Then we went with the two pick combo platter with the half chicken and the pulled pork. My wife was completely blown away with the smoke and how it was up front but not abrasive. She fell in love with the North Carolina barbecue sauce as well. I will forever support local business when you can put out food like this. I look forward to spending many more hours and pissing off my doctor more and more every time I come to this place. To the owner if you see this. Cheers to you my friend. You brought Carolina barbecue To Connecticut. Thank you!

Chef...

You can smell how delicious this place is as soon as you park in their parking lot! The inside of the restaurant isn't super big but we were able to get seated right away during the afternoon on a Saturday for 6 of us! We were greeted right away with menus and love the variety of items they listed. My husband got the smokehouse platter which he chose brisket and ribs. Ribs were good but a little firmer than what he is used to. The brisket was good but the cut he got was more lean with a chunk of fat on one side. The rub was great on it though! The macaroni salad was really good and corn bread was delicious!! It was nice and not spicy though it had jalapenos in it. I had the pulled pork platter which was very tasty! I had the sweet potato and Mac and cheese. The sweet potato came with 2 of them and cooked really well, nice and soft! I would ask for extra butter next time, it was a cinnamon butter. The macaroni and cheese was the biggest disappointment as there wasn't much flavor to it. The texture of it was great though! The bbq sauces were also good and they had a large variety of them! My husband got the poblano corn chowder which was delicious! My friends enjoyed their meals too! They got the pulled pork sandwich with the Cole slaw and pulled pork quesadilla with cheese only. We loved that they also serve local beer and craft sodas! At this place you order at the counter and then they will bring the food out to you. The portions are huge! Especially those platter dishes!! The staff is very friendly! We are very happy we found a delicious BBQ joint nearby and can't wait to try other items off...