Fire-N-Smoke Wood Fired Kitchen — Restaurant in Troy

Only visiting for the night. There are 5 hotels in the area. I showed up 1 1/2 hours before closing. I walk in the door and to the immediate left was a pile of bags 40 to 50 at first glance I thought it was garbage. But maybe it was a food or clothing drive. No sign if it was some donation drop off there really should be a sign.

I walked in the door tables were on the left a big bar on the right. There were three staff members plus one behind the bar. No signage saying please be weighted or any type of direction. So I made my way to the bar. No acknowledgement from the person behind the bar, then the phone rang and she immediately answered it. I stood awkwardly in front of the bar looking around to try to determine if I was supposed to order or sit down. One of the staff members was running orders back-and-forth the other two were just standing around. A regular walked in behind me was greeted by one of the two servers standing around and I felt like I was invisible. As though regular literally walked around me and was served. The other waitress went to the back of the house. Finally I was acknowledged by the waitress that was taking the regulars order with “have you been served“ to which I replied no not even greeted. She pointed to the bartender on the phone and said she’ll take care of you. At least 10 min went by. I was finally greeted by the bartender after her phone call and I explain to her that I’ve never eaten here before and should I sit down or place my order. To it she replied place your order with the staff and we will bring it out to you. Which I did. I was handed a stick with a number. Finding a table was certainly A challenge as no tables were cleaned or previous orders were removed. It shocked me that at least half the tables weren’t cleared especially when I walked in and two staff members were standing there chatting. I managed to find a place to sit on a long communal table. The orders came out quickly and smelled good. I ordered the three meat combo and it’s a good thing I did as the pulled pork was dry and hard. The ribs were OK and the brisket was good. The saddest part was the barbeque sauce taste like store-bought. I flagged down a waitress a young girl she was quick to bring me better tasting sauce. But sadly it didn’t make the pulled pork any better. The potato salad and coleslaw also tasted store-bought lacking flavour. While I was sitting there eating I realize that regulars came in cleaned their own tables like a cafeteria also they didn’t tip. I now understand the lack of motivation on the staff. I flagged down the waitress that helped me with the sauce and handed her a tip and she was totally surprised she got a tip.

The price for the food was average as I felt you got average food. I still have no idea why the platter came with two un-toasted...

Food is good but not next level great.

The large over sized portions are great you might think to outweigh the higher price.

But $35 was my base price for nachos that were soggy and cold before I could eat just a quarter of them.

As a big guy I have a good appetite and will stuff my self in order to finish my plate.

But by the time I was excessively over stuffed my food was cold for quite awhile.

I wanted a 1/4 pound of the burnt tips and a small side of beans.

It would have been nice to have a price to match 1/4 pound for $6 I wanted to try the foods you make.

The beans were great but also had burnt ends in them too. Kinda funny I got more of the same stuff.

The nachos were also full of the burnt ends also.

Wow I was overwhelmed with the same thing over and over.

I need stand at the cashier counter for 8 more minutes after making my order and oops forgot to get a drink.

My bad .... But was ignored for continuing to stay in front of the register.

I wasn't given any more attention to order a drink. And even after the next person walked up ordered and walked away I was still ignored. So I finally found a place to sit to wait for my meal.

I then walked over to the drink and zone to get a drink. But no cups.

No worries I had to wait till another employee came and asked me if I needed help.

I asked 3 times if I could get a drink before they gave me a cup so I could choose to get some water.

I need ended up choosing some tea. After some sips went for water again. Tea looked to thick and although sweet was way too sweet and I gave up.

I decided to go get my drink from my car.

After eating my fill.

I used the restroom and the door looked like it was busted so I gave up and used it none the less I just couldn't care by then.

The brisket burnt ends were good but after they were cold I put them the the side.

The nachos had good flavor and I really wished I could get a more even flavor on all my nachos but everything was piled on it..

Poor lighting made it difficult to see my food or the bathroom.

So very dim the lights in the bathroom were barely lit.

I really like trying a good BBQ place but this place is really nice outside appearance but just so so inside.

The football game was on but no sound and all the tvs were muted but still no real enjoyment came from the visual of the game so I ignored it afterwards.

Soon the place got so cold I had to leave. I...

First, I’ll say that I am a fan of the ribs served at the FnS in Troy. While it is nice to have a new (non-franchise chain) restaurant in Wood River, I don’t think the food quality carried over to the Wood River location.

The ribs are average and the ones sold at Dierberg's under the Bob’s banner are better tasting. The fried potato twisters are a novel idea but just flavorless puffy fries. The potato salad and cole slaw are prepared with what seems to be mayonnaise, but they also lack the mayo flavor and are just bland. I tried the sweet potato casserole with high hopes and it was covered in marshmallows and apple filling and just tasted like sugar. My overall impression after two visits was disappointing.

The Wood River location is in a non-descript former KFC location that also housed a failed restaurant prior to being changed into the FnS. I almost drove past it because the easily readable signage says Frozen Custard in big red letters. They use a cluttered and hard to read logo on their signage as many businesses do. It looks nice on the menu and web site but does not translate to a easy to read street facing sign.

When you entry the building there is no visible menu board. You have to wait until you get to the register to actually see the menu board. This slows down the ordering process and makes for long lines. They have added some laminated menus but they are located by the registers so they really don’t help the situation. There is a full wood rack that (I guess) serves as a line direction barrier, but in reality, it just takes up space. It would be nice to see a stand with menus you could look at while in line, or for them to install another menu board.

The drive thru is poorly defined and customers park in the drive through lane making it almost impossible to exit to the roadway behind the business or circle around to use...