Low and Slow Smokehouse — Restaurant in Wilsons Mills

I've updated my review to five stars because they now have real menus and real silverware!!!

First of all, this isn't a "bad" review, it's an honest review. And I'll start off by saying that the food is very good. It's not the best, but I wasn't expecting the best. I was expecting the food to be very good, and it met my expectations. And by the way, get the hushpuppies. They are delicious.

When we got seated, we weren't handed menus, we were handed a laminated card (like a menu) but it had a QR code on it. You have to scan the QR code with your phone if you want to see the menu! This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. My mother-in-law doesn't have a smart phone. How is she supposed to see the menu? My brother-in-law works for an unnamed three-letter government agency involving National Security and he has told my wife and I to get rid of our smart phones. He doesn't have one himself. He told me to NEVER scan a QR code because you don't know what website it's taking you to and scammers can use a malicious QR code to install software on your phone. I honestly have no idea why restaurants are all going to this model because what's the difference between handing me a laminated piece of paper with a QR code or an actual menu printed on a regular piece of paper?

I asked the person who seated us if I could get a real menu. He told me they don't have real menus. I have to scan the QR code. Every other restaurant I've been to has some regular menus for people who don't have smart phones, but this one does not. I was literally about to leave because of this one issue, but I had already checked out their menu from my computer at home and knew what I wanted to order. I had also emailed that menu to my wife, so she was able to see the menu on her phone and neither of us had to scan the risky QR code.

Our waitress took our drink order and dropped off silverware and napkins. I mean, plastic utensils and napkins. They don't have actual silverware. Seriously. I understand wanting to cut costs, but between my wife and I, we spent $100 at this restaurant. I think it's not unreasonable to expect metal utensils when the entrees are between $20 and $40.

Along with the drink order, I asked for the fried pickle chips appetizer and hushpuppies. The hushpuppies were delicious, as I mentioned above. The pickle chips were meh... They weren't crispy as I've had in other places. They were rather limp and soggy with oil. However, I brought the leftovers home and cooked them in the air fryer. They were much better as crispy, air-fried leftovers than they were at the restaurant.

I ordered the Texas Sampler. It's the $40 item on the menu. I also doubled the meat for an extra $20, and my wife and I split everything. we also had plenty of leftovers because the portion sizes are very generous. This item comes with brisket, pulled pork, smoked sausage, a quarter chicken (times two since we doubled the meat), and two ribs (also X2).

On a scale of 1 to 10. The brisket was an 8, chicken was a 8, ribs were an 8, pulled pork was a 4, and the sausage was delicious! It was a 10! I might go back just for the sausage. The pulled pork was a disappointment. It was rather dry, and the two types of barbeque sauce they offered didn't really make it any better.

The quarter chicken was a thigh and a leg, and since I doubled the meat I was kind of expecting a wing and a breast in addition to the thigh/leg, but we got the thing and leg twice. I had to pull out my own pocketknife to cut apart the thigh and leg because it just wasn't happening with the plastic knife.

The service was fine. Our waitress was attentive but busy. The food came out quickly, but when we were ready to leave we had to wait a few minutes for the check, but that was no big deal.

Will I go back? Probably. But now that I've essentially sampled everything, I'll be more selective about what I order. And I'll bring my...

Went here for a family member’s birthday. Walking in it seemed clean—except for the constant flies buzzing around, which sort of made sense since people were coming in and out constantly and it is humid out. After my fiancé and I found our table (we were the last to arrive; the rest of the family were already seated) I looked over the menu and did not see any obvious options for gluten free food (I am intolerant of gluten, not celiac). I decided to walk up to the front to ask for a gluten free menu and stood there looking like an idiot waiting for one of the staff members to acknowledge me (I counted 5 at this time). Finally, I just butted in their convo and asked, “Excuse me? Do you happen to have a gluten free menu?” The host just blinked at me and kept saying, “Uhhh..” I could tell she was very young (maybe a teenager) and after a while one of her coworkers spoke up and picked up a menu saying, “lemme see. My brother’s girlfriend is allergic to gluten so I know what would be safe.” Unfortunately, she was not able to give me an answer either. The first girl then said she will ask the manager to which I responded with a thank you. The girl returned promptly and told me that a manager will come talk to me about my question. I asked the girl if I could sit back at my table and she once again could not form words so I turned on my heels and walked back to my table. By this time I noticed the whole table STILL hasn’t been given their drinks. After our drinks arrive, a woman shows up to answer my gluten questions (didn’t catch her name but she had a short haircut with pink in her hair and she was super knowledgeable on the menu and was honestly the only positive experience about the place). I thanked her for her time. Fast forward and throughout the evening the whole family and I came to a consensus: the service is terrible (many drinks without refills, slow food service even with it not being busy, and the attitudes on all the servers when asked literally anything and overhearing them talk about their tables in front of us), terrible food (our appetizer was cold and the chips were “floppy”, and all of our meals were disgusting and cold), and definitely overpriced and gaslighted. Should’ve listened to one family member who’s been here before and said it wasn’t a good place to eat. Keep in mind, I have worked in the restaurant industry as a server, Togo specialist, and management. I may be picky when I sit down to eat somewhere, but my standards are not attainable. This place made me feel out of place, a burden to ask for small things, and sick to my stomach. Don’t waste...

Went in for Dinner to go. Where do I begin. First things first, Megan at the bar was awesome and gave me great conversation while I drank my Double Barley Thrilla’ in Vanilla pint while I waited for my food. Food came out pretty quickly. It wasn’t that busy in the dinning room. I ordered a Smoked BBQ Plate and Smoked Brisket Plate (Meat, Slaw, and Two Sides).

Let’s start with the meat. The brisket was very dry and lacked any flavor. It didn’t even have a smoke ring. It looked like it was cooked in an oven. The pulled pork was slightly “mushy” and was overly salty. It didn’t have any smoke flavor as well. After adding their “signature” tomato based sauce, it had that “smoked” and/or bbq flavor.

As far as the sides go…the baked beans and string beans were straight out of a can. The string beans didn’t have any flavor and needed salt and pepper. They are a southern restaurant…they could at least added onions to the string beans or even to the beans to add some flavor. The bacon added to the beans was good, but it seems like that’s the only thing they added out of the can.

The mac & cheese tasted like it was a frozen brand (Stouffer’s) that was heated up. They could have at least added in some bbq sauce and then “smoke” it to heat it up to give it some flavor. The collards were bland as all get out and had terrible flavor. Again, you are in the south…collards are suppose to have apple cider vinegar and salt. After adding their “signature” vinegar based sauce to the collards with some salt and pepper, it tasted a bit better.

I was suppose to get slaw with my order, but no slaw was given. Didn’t bother calling them to see if I could get some (I live 5min up the street).

Lastly, the cornbread tasted like Jiffy and it was on point!

Also, their “signature sauce” can be found online from Smokin Southern BBQ (smokinsouthernbbq.com). Bob’s BBQ sauce is made by an Iraq Veteran, which is awesome. I have seen this sauce at the NC State Fair in years past. It’s good sauce, but I figured since again this is a smokehouse, they should have homemade bbq sauce. 🤷🏻‍♂️

All-in-all, for $32, I felt like it wasn’t worth it at all, especially with the lack of flavor. With the name “Low and Slow” you’d figured that it would have that smokey flavor associated with BBQ joints…sadly, this misses the mark. I feel like this is almost like Hospital food where you have to season to taste. If you are looking for BBQ in this part of Johnston County, try J-Top’s up the street or even BBQ Provision at the Outlets or Redneck BBQ Lab in Benson. Sadly, I’d rate this...