Bull Smith's Tavern — Restaurant in Town of Smithtown

Let’s start off with what is good…

Still not sure if it was the right move to completely renovate the place… it was a nice looking older building before, old style small tile floors, half walls with glass partitions, drink shelfs… it had an old tap room style feel to it… but the new building is very nicely done, big open floor plan, great looking bar accessible to the outside patio as well, very nice outdoor patio area.

The service we had was fantastic… we were seated immediately. Our server was Brittney and she was an absolute professional and knows what she is doing. She got to the table for the drink order in under 4 minutes… checked in on us often but not over bearing. She was clearly annoyed at the speed at which her orders were coming out and apologized for the wait on the appetizers ( we weren’t complaining… but it was taking a long time for apps). We watched closely everything going on in the dining room… there was a clear disconnect from kitchen to dining room. Server helpers shouldn’t be going from table to table asking if you got the nachos ( or whatever else they might have been holding ) they should know where it’s supposed to be. We watched that one plate of nachos circle the entire dining room go back into the kitchen and comeback out with the same routine all over again till they finally figured it out. We lucked out with Brittney… she was on her game 100%.

The not so good and most important part… The food…

Appetizers…

We ordered the Korean Bbq riblets and Macadamia encrusted fried oysters…

The Korean BBQ riblets,

not sure how the plate could be hot as hell but the ribs themselves be barely warm… whatever… that wasn’t even the part that bothered me… they were just ok… my wife and daughter were equally unimpressed… nothing about them was even remotely Asian flavored and as a matter of fact it was bothering me the whole time that they tasted extremely familiar… and then it hit me… I know this sauce… it’s sweet baby rays, I use it all the time at home… I would almost guarantee it… maybe some extra spice thrown in… but I know that flavor for sure.

The Macadamia encrusted fried oysters with mango chutney,

Very long description for sure… they were an absolute disappointment. Not even warm, very tiny, mostly breading that had no trace of macadamia at all in its makeup. Yes it’s fish but the smell shouldn’t be off putting either. The mango chutney should’nt be put on with shovel… half a teaspoon full would have sufficed.

My daughter had a fried chicken sandwich that she described as “generic fried chicken sandwich” when I asked her how it was … she is easy to please and tiny… anytime I ask her how something is she usually says I like it or it’s good… this time I got… it’s a generic fried chicken sandwich and… the bun to meat ratio is ridiculous… the bun is huge for how small the chicken is and it’s dry… like I said… she’s tiny… and the sandwich seemed small to her.

Me and the wife split 2 different orders of slider and an order of fries,

Hot fried chicken sliders and the Jack Daniel’s Bbq beef sliders ( that wasn’t the real name more on that in a second ),

Hot fried chicken sliders… nothing to write home about other than the fact that once again if it’s going to be the smallest piece of meat you could find USE A SMALLER BUN… the meat gets lost in the bun altogether… there were trace elements of slaw but hardly enough to get a taste of and the sauce was nearly non existent… again… dry.

The short rib sliders… my wife tried these before I did… I could see the look on her face… not pleased… I said so what do you think… she said I think they pulled it out of the fridge section at the supermarket… it’s Jack Daniel’s Bbq beef in a tub… she can be more critical than me… she was not wrong… it s exactly how I would have described it… it’s ok for a Tuesday night when you worked late and have to nuke something quick so you can eat… not for a restaurant.

Last thought…

Valet parking unnecessary… nice place, step up your food game… it shouldn’t feel like a hotel bar restaurant at an...

I made a 6:30 reservation and was seated at a wobbly array of 3, 2-person tables, situated together. Someone recently wiped them down and didn’t bother to dry them so they were wet with menus on top. If your business is open air style and you wet wipe a table, maybe dry it before seating people at it. Also manage your tables and the adjusters on the bottom so they’re not wobbly. The next issue at that table is that the sun is beaming in the window behind it and shining in the eyes of 50% of the people in that party, maybe you take notice and 1. put a shade on the window or 2. Don’t sit people at it. The place is excessively loud, as they have a DJ blasting music in sports bar type place with no acoustics and an outdoor space with no DJ. Admittedly they had a mostly full house with some sort of party for the horse race going on.

The waitress showed up at 6:43, approximately 13 minutes after we were seated and asked us for our order, she asked if we’d like to order food now, and since we had plenty of time to peruse the damp menus we chose to order figuring we may not see here again anytime soon. Who would’ve thought that this would be the most accurate occurrence of the entire experience? The first round of margaritas tasted like iced down tequila and yellowing limes. We returned them in hopes of having actual margarita tasting margaritas. They did bring back better tasting margaritas subsequently but completely forgot a drink for one of the people in our party of 6. Only when reminded that he didn’t get it did they remember to bring it. We primarily ordered burgers and a salad, with one order for a buffalo chicken pizza, to which we were informed they were completely out of stock on. But no suggestions for similar items were offered by the waitress.

At approximately 7:30pm we had not received food or a revisit from the waitress with regards to maybe seeing if we needed a drink refill or anything at all. The only time the waitress came over was when she brought some sort of ice cream brownie combo as an apology for not having our meal ready, she said the manager sent it. I politely declined the item but she left it anyway and it remained uneaten there.

I had to get up from my seat and locate the manager who was dressed similar to a patron with no professional appeal whatsoever. He was polite and receptive and apologetic and on two subsequent occasions came over assured us that our food was coming out, although it took an additional 15 min to receive the cheeseburgers and salad. I mentioned the dessert that was abandoned on our table and he was surprised at its existence and said he didn’t and wouldn’t have sent that, and he came over and removed it. During the prior 30 minutes or so the place emptied out approximately 50% of the prior patrons as the horse race was over. The table next to us who also had a party of 6 was complaining similarly and were being told by the same waitress how it was not her fault and that she was overloaded with tables and doing too much work herself as well as now my table was causing their table to be delayed. She was observed multiple times crying at the bar I guess due to the stress of her life choices. I mean come on, you’re not defending the country in a foreign land, you’re waiting on tables, get yourself together.

The manager told us he would take 50% off our bill, which I said was nice and all but i had no problem paying the full amount if I could get my food in 50% of the time. I explained that I’d never visit this place again and that he’s losing a customer and anyone else I can warn to not waste your time going there.

Let me also point out the pathetic parking situation that includes what appears to be mostly employees parked in the closest spots. Have your employees park in the train lot and let the people footing the bill park close but I’m sure this notion goes hand in hand with all the other lack of consideration shown throughout...

I was going to leave this place a 5 star review due to the atmosphere and community, however after an unfortunate experience at Bull Smith Tavern I regret to inform I will not be going back there.

I was there on a Friday night when someone walked up to me outside and put a glass contraption in my hands. (something that covers the fire pit I believe) The person who gave it to me DISAPPEARED. The glass COLLAPSED in my hand and shattered all over ME and the pavement outside. Who would intentionally do this. Run the cameras back. I was asked to leave the bar after this, glass in my legs. Respectfully I left.

I do understand how this incident may come off as reckless, however even the cameras should suggest that no part of the situation was reckless, and that is also never an intention of mine. First of all, maybe let’s not have huge glass contraptions lying around outside and accesible to customers in your outdoor area.

Tonight is Tuesday and I went to Bull Smith for Trivia night, unironically with no expectation of being confronted because in my humble opinion what happened was an accident. My friend and I ordered the nachos which came out COLD with shredded cheese on them, and our beer, which was warm. It must not have been that big of a deal if TWO hours into being there, and after my friend and I had racked up a bill, the owner confronted me about the incident that had occurred a few days prior. Rightfully so, as she owns the place, and I respect it. Of course I admit to dropping the glass because I did, but please don’t wait until I’m spending $80 at your bar to scold me over some broken glass.

I also thought it was funny how the woman said to me “It’s fine if you’re here during the week but you can’t be here on a Friday or Saturday” If you don’t want my money on a weekend, you won’t get it during the week either, so I’m good I actually will not be returning at all it was fun while it...