Van Smokey Meat Shop, Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Town of Rockland

Jerky from this place gave me listeria poisoning. Both my partner and I were violently ill, and without exaggeration, if we were not in good health I believe this could have killed us. I contacted the establishment to let them know, and they never responded. This was in 2022. I am sharing this now because only in hindsight do I realize how unsafe it was, and how non-community-minded it was of the establishment to not even respond. I get that things happen in small-batch food production, but this was irresponsible to not even acknowledge our severe distress. (Please see my other reviews for proof that I'm not someone who delights in giving one-star reviews.)

Edit to address Van Smokey's response, below: You had an opportunity to respond to this "years old incident when it occurred," and you did not. As I wrote in my review, I emailed you directly after recovering from the listeria poisoning, on July 28, 2022. (Note: Upon retrieving the email, I see that I then thought it was staph. I don't know what it was, only that my partner and I had to explain damages to our Airbnb host because of the severe distress your goods caused.)

You did not respond then. It was only when I posted this, publicly, that you are responding. That is of deep concern to me: that when my severe distress was private, I did not warrant a response. If your customers' experiences matter that much to you, you would have...

We are LM locals and have been buying our meats at Van Smokey for 5 years now, we loved coming here and bringing friends to shop on their way out. Today we stopped by to get some tacos and food, I have no idea what has happened, but we walked into the property and the pit outside the entry way was full of cigarette buds, boxes, shards of glass all over the floor and on the steps to the entry door. The yard where people are supposed to eat outside is filthy, full of wood chips, glass, cigarettes, garbage and weeds and grass growing everywhere, the whole place outside is disheveled and so poorly maintained. We were shocked, the front of the business always gives a first impression and if we were new customers this was not a good one. We stayed because we have been loyal customers of VS. The food was subpar, the tacos were soggy, the steak was not of quality, the guacamole was chunky ( I am Latina so trust me on the guacamole) it was missing that zest of lime and salt, the onions were cut far too chunky, it was not good. The wings were dry, the vegetables with the wings stale, the burger was a hockey puck. So in all, the atmosphere and food are no longer there. The mens bathroom was gross, it was all so sad. We feel bad, but seriously what happened here, it's as if no one cares, just the disaster outside will deter you from entering. Unfortunately we will no longer be patrons of VS and...

This place is NOT good! I went online to look for restaurants in our area open on a Thursday and came across this AWESOME website! Don't be fooled! It's NOT a restaurant just a bar.

The bartender was amazing but the food was just horrible! We ordered a $21 valentine day burger with crab... No one asked how we'd like it done and we got a small burnt , dry burger with potato chips on the side for $21.00! ...at least have fries on the side.

We also ordered the short rib tacos and it was evidently old and re-fired, making it crispy and dry. It was the WORST taco I ever had in my life! It cost me $7.00, usually cost $8 for ONE taco! I ordered because I thought they'd be amazing at that price.

I blame myself for not saying anything and paying the bill. I'm not into confrontation and was only trying to eat local and support the local Sullivan County community.

VAN SMOKEY MEAT SHOP restaurant? & bar is a place I will Never go again! BE forewarned!

Bar person was awesome as well as the Margaritas but they were a little on the...