Angry Smokehouse — Restaurant in Town of Van Buren

We finally made it to Angry Smokehouse. The first things we noticed upon coming in were just how amazingly bright it is in there. There are so many windows, and with the high ceilings, there is a ton of natural light. This was amplified by the weather - It was sunny and the sunlight was radiating off of the fresh snow.

It was around 2pm, and they were able to seat us immediately. The dining area actually doesn't accommodate that many seats, so try to go at a quieter time like we did if you want to get in right away.

She got the Adult Palmer and I got a Pepsi. The Adult Palmer was pretty good. Flavorful, but didn't hide the alcohol behind layers of sweetness.

The food:

We started off with the BBQ Smoked Chicken Nachos. Nice big plate of nachos, but not too big for two to share. We powered right through it. Awesome cheese sauce, tender smoked chicken, and the corn added a nice sweetness. The seasoning on the chips was 10/10. Reminded me slightly of Doritos.

For the main course, we shared the "Meat Sweats". It's a platter that gives you your choice of three meats and three sides. For meats, we chose the pulled pork, ribs, and brisket. Our sides were hush puppies, brussels sprouts, and mac & cheese.

The pulled pork was tender without being mushy. It was moist and seasoned well enough that no sauce was needed. Of the three meats, though, I would say it would have benefitted most from some sauce just to kick it up a little bit.

The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender - not overly so, but just right. There was still some bite there to let you know you were eating something. Again, no sauce needed.

The brisket was the star of the show. The smoke flavor was strong. the crust was peppery and salty. One of our pieces had some fat near the bottom that melted like butter in our mouths. Not only did the brisket not need sauce, adding sauce would have been an insult.

On to the sides...

I don't like hush puppies, but they were still the best I've ever had. Can't say much about them other than they were executed well.

The mac & cheese was creamy, rich, and filled with small pieces of brisket.

Speaking of rich, try the brussels sprouts. The person that plated then for us totally buried the lede. Our first bites were of very tender, perfectly cooked, but not well-seasoned brussels sprouts. It took us a moment to realize the magic was below - the bacon cream sauce. Absolutely DECADENT. An incredible way to prepare these things that so many people hate, but I've grown quite fond of recently.

She also ordered a banana bread pudding to-go, which we are yet to try as we are stuffed.

If I had any negative feedback, it would be that the music in there is just way too loud. Turn it down a few notches.

Overall, we had a great time with easily some of the best BBQ I've ever had. I'm not a connoisseur by any means, but yeah it was very good. Prices were very reasonable. I even remarked at how cheap my Pepsi was - $2.50. Most places will gouge you for $4-$5 nowadays. Our total - with cocktail, soda, appetizer, large platter, and dessert,...

I have some mixed feelings about Angry Smokehouse.

Let me preface this by saying: I don’t like complaining. I don’t like making a fuss. I love to go out, enjoy great food, chat with the server and have a great time. I very rarely complain and never send things back.

Last Sunday I managed to get my dad to finally broaden his horizons for barbecue. He’s been going to Dinosaur BBQ since it was overrun by bikers and the hipsters hadn’t found it yet.

We arrived at Angry Smokehouse and I loved the atmosphere - the blues and the decorations were perfect. The server was quiet but friendly, which I don’t mind. I suspect she was relatively new.

Here is where our visit went off the rails. Fun fact - I worked in a steakhouse many years ago. We had a lot of similar foods so I have en eye for when things go awry. When our food arrived, it had very clearly been sitting under the heat lamp. The beans were congealed, the brisket and fries lukewarm. My dad’s wings were overdone and chewy.

When the server returned, I let her know about it and she brought the manager over. The manager was courteous, offered to replace the beans and fries which we accepted. She discounted them, which was a pleasant surprise.

Now here is where my inner conflict starts. I love me some malicious compliance. There’s something so glorious about it, like finding a loophole in your taxes that saves you $400 for having a three legged horse while throwing up a middle finger to the government. I’m here for that. But I’ve never had it turned against me.

When the food arrived, the beans were so hot they must’ve been scooped from the depths of hell. The sweet potato fries were burnt, just shy of black. Well played, line cook. Well played. You’ve got to respect that level of pettiness. I got a good laugh about it while I ate my cold fries, chasing them with our nuclear beans.

The manager never returned. I’m not sure I would’ve complained again, but it was pretty hard to ignore the color of the fries.

All that said, the brisket was decent. Wouldn’t call it down home southern, but pretty good. The au jus was a nice touch. The house sauce (Texas style) was sweet and delicious. My dad didn’t care for the fried green tomatoes, but I thought they were pretty good. The beans had a great flavor with a bit of heat (no pun intended) at the end.

Would I go again? Maybe. There aren’t a lot of barbecue options in the area that aren’t chains and don’t rely on liquid smoke to get that smoky flavor so probably. Maybe it was an off day. Maybe the server was slow and no one was working expo so it didn’t get out in a timely fashion. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the...

I grew up in Alabama and have lived in Texas and Tennessee...so I've had a lot of BBQ from places known for BBQ. Coming into my meal at Angry Smokehouse, I was skeptical. I've had other BBQ places in Syracuse hyped up to me that fell completely flat. I'm going to get it out of the way before I dive in, ASH is hands down the best I've had in Syracuse. They opened with a win when we parked, because I could smell real smoke outside, something other places up here don't have.That said, I have some critiques. First off, I asked if they had sweet tea...they claimed to. Good sweet tea should be very sweet, but it should also have a strong enough tea taste to carry it. What I got when I ordered sweet tea wasn't the right level of sweet and DEFINITELY didn't taste like tea. It was at best a 2/10, but it was hands down the worst thing I had that day.

I ordered the meat sweats and got what I consider to be the holy trinity if barbecue - Ribs, pulled pork, and brisket.

The brisket was good. My piece was on the fatty side, which I'm ok with, but some people may not love. It had a good smoke ring and overall good flavor. Not going to win any awards in Texas.. but it was good. I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10.

The pulled pork underwhelmed me. There was zero bark in the portion I got. Good pulled pork should have bark. Maybe I just got a bad portion, I can't say for sure - but I had what looked like seasoned ends and it wasn't cooked to the point of giving a great bark. Also, the portion I had was too fatty for what you'd expect with good pulled pork. I think it was pulled before the fat had mostly rendered and a true bark formed. It was disappointing, but no more disappointing than the "famous" Syracuse BBQ place. I'd give it a 4 out of 10.

The ribs start out with already a strike against in my mind - they're baby back instead of spare ribs. The ribs didn't have as much chew as I like. They weren't fully "fall off the bone" over-cooked like some people rave about like it's a good thing, but they were a little past what I prefer. I would give the ribs a 7 out of 10.

The sides I went with were the Roasted Brussels with bacon cream sauce (9/10), Mac and cheese (8/10,) and hush puppies with Bama white (7/10.)

I was underwhelmed by all of the barbecue sauces. I prefer barbecue sauce to be more on the spicy / tangy side than sweet.

All in all - it was honestly better than I expected after the hype of other places up here. I'll definitely go back, and you should check it out. Don't go in expecting to get the best BBQ you've ever had if you've visited the meccas of BBQ, but for somewhere outside of that, it's honestly...