Smokehouse BBQ — Restaurant in Winter Park

This place is not worth the money imo. Maybe I’m bias because it was far from southern bbq. Me and my bf went here for lunch and as soon as you walk in the door you order from the counter, it came out to around 50 dollars for 2 small portions plus a tip of 10 plus dollars. We go sit in the dining room and I realize it’s basically a self serve. There were signs up stating that they were short staffed and we would have to clean our own table and we would have to go back to the counter if we needed anything. I normally have no problem doing that, but it should have been stated at the counter before we were forced to give a tip. It’s like tipping a McDonald’s worker 10 dollars for doing nothing ,but taking your order. They did bring the food to the table, but that it. Nobody asked if we needed anything thing the staff just kinda stood around. It looked like there was more than enough staff there to accommodate guests. The brisket was dry af, the wings tasted like dirty smoke, and the sodas in the cooler were not cold. I watched other guests walk in and have to wait on the girl at the counter while she just walked around the back. The point of going to a sit down restaurant is to be able to sit down and enjoy the meal, this was not the case here. Absolutely horrible way to run a restaurant and I can see why the parking lot was empty and everywhere else was packed. The only thing good here was the pickles...

🔥 Brace yourselves, BBQ fans, because this smokehouse is next level. Let me break it down for y’all – the chicken thighs here? I mean… juicy, tender, and smoked so perfectly I almost felt guilty putting that hot BBQ sauce on ‘em. (But hey, I did it, and no regrets.) It's one of those rare moments where the meat is the star without needing to be dressed up.

Now, let’s talk brisket. This was melt-in-your-mouth perfection. You could taste the hours it spent soaking up all that smoky goodness, and when I hit it with the Texas Sweet Heat BBQ sauce? GAME. OVER. It’s that exact combo of savory with a kiss of sweet heat that had me in full-on food bliss. Honestly, I’d come back just for that sauce alone, but pair it with brisket that good? It’s a must-try.

And let’s not forget the sides – crispy AF steak fries that crunch in all the right ways, with soft airy insides. You know those fries you keep sneaking more of even when you’re stuffed? Yeah, those. Oh, and the mac & cheese? They did not skimp on the cheese. Creamy, dreamy, and made every bite a little adventure.

This spot has straight-up mastered the BBQ game, and the vibe matches the food – laid-back, but serving up serious flavor. If you’re not here yet, what are you even doing?

(It was so good I’m ordering more Mac and Burnt Ends...

We ate here on Sept 3, 2021. 5 stars for the brisket but 2 1/2 stars for the sides. The brisket was some of the best I’ve ever had and the bbq sauce choices were great. Their effort is all on the meat, maybe that’s all most care about, the MEAT! I like meat too but I want my sides to compliment my meal. The potato salad was bland. I never season food in a restaurant but I put salt on this. The red potatoes were cooked fine but the Mayo was not seasoned. I make a really nice potato salad that would knock this one off the table. My husband also ordered the brisket and said that it was really good, he had fries on the side, they were fine, potato wedges. He likes his fries. The cornbread muffins we were given had a good texture, not too grainy but were small and room temp. No honey or butter offered. We were given home made pickles, a nice touch but I don't like sweet pickles, not my thing, wish I had been given a choice, I love dill pickles and would have been pleased to get a commercially canned dill pickle spear over sweet pickles. Can't please everyone. My husband ate both of our pickle servings. The customer service was fine, they were busy and taking care of customers a quickly as possible. I feel that I was generous...