D's Smokehouse Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Zimmerman

Does D's stand for disappointed? Maybe we went on a bad night, but I have no idea how they have 4.7 stars. I was extremely excited to see a smokehouse coming into Zimmerman. I have been to probably 100+ bbq restaurants across the country. And I heard a lot of good things, and it's relatively close to home. I went with a group of 8. Unfortunately, most of us left disappointed in the quality of the food.

I will start with a positive though. The poutine appetizer was more like a meal than an app, which was a good start. We were pleasantly surprised with that. Their homemade chips were pretty decent. The spinach artichoke dip was alright. But unfortunately every meal outside of the apps had something wrong with it.

Walleye dinner: had a ton of bones in the walleye. When asked about the bones, the waitress said that it happens with their supplier fairly often ... Okay, then switch suppliers....?

Brisket grilled cheese: had a slab of fat the size of a small child (not really) on the sandwich. Literally unrendered chunk of fat. I'd say about 2"X2"X1". I cook bbq often and eat bbq often. A little fat is okay. But a slab is not. Shows there is no care in their kitchen.

1/2 rack of Ribs (3 of us): the ribs were absolutely SCORCHED. They were cooked about 3x longer than they should have been. I love bark on bbq. This was more like eating beef jerky on a bone though. Obliterated. Their bbq sauce was not popular with an of us- too spicey for a rib sauce. One guy couldn't even eat more than one rib, he was so disappointed. The cook on the ribs to me was shocking. That's something you see in a kids first attempt at grilling or a guy that had about 10 too many beers and forgot he had meat on the smoker. Not something you see in a dedicated bbq restaurant.

Shrimp tacos (2 of us): virtually zero flavor.

Hot honey chicken mac: no real complaints other than asking for no jalapeno and getting jalapeno. This was a good quantity for the money and was decent overall. Would likely order this again.

I was also disappointed that they didn't have a meat platter on the menu. That's usually my go to everywhere for a sample of all the different meats they have, so you know next time what you like the best. Those are always popular at bbq joints. Surprised they didn't have that on the menu here.

The sides with the meals were okay.

The canoli's were gross. The apple pie was okay.

All-in-all, once we got our $250 tab for 8 of us (with no alcohol), I would say that none of us really have a desire to go back. But maybe it'll get another shot from atleast me in the future. Smokey's in Wyoming MN absolutely destroys D's. Not even close.

Edit: the owner did see my review and reached out with an explanation and an offer of a $50 gift card to come back and try it again. I raised my review from 2 stars, to 3 stars in the meantime. I will revise my review once we get back in there. Thank you for trying to...

Fantastic service and food. We went in on a Thursday Evening with a party of six. Was told the wait would be about and hour and fifteen minutes. Ended up only being 30 minutes wait. After being seated we were promptly approached by our wait staff. She was very nice and welcoming with a smile on her face. A little time later the owner stopped y to say hello and see if we have any questions about the menu. I had informed him I was looking to try the ribs. At that moment he stated they are about to run out and placed the order immediately for me (securing one of the last three orders of the night) so I would not miss out on them.

I ordered bbq wings as an appetizer and the ribs with Mac & cheese, mashed potatoes. The others ordered brisket with Brussel sprouts and Mac & cheese, D’s burger and Mac & cheeses, pulled pork sandwich with Mac & cheese, the smoked chicken wrap with fries, and then the curveball backed ziti!!!!

The wings have fantastic flavor paired with a kick butt homemade ranch. Ribs were fantastic so was the Mac & cheeses. Brisket was perfect with a great smoke flavor and beautiful smoke ring. Pulled pork was also very good. Burger was full of flavor and definitely worth a trip just for that. The wrap was ok but it is a wrap not great not bad just a wrap. Now onto the curveball backed ziti. What is there to say other then yes please. Did not expect to see that on the menu but so happy we did. After all that we wanted to try the desserts cannolis , cheesecake, and crème brûlée all was very good.

All in all this is a new regular spot I think as it was a great experience. Happy to have D’s...

My oldest daughter and I stopped in here for dinner the other night and all I can say is WOW! We had a good time comparing how well everything was prepared and how it tasted to an overwhelmingly disappointing experience the week prior. I left a review for that one.. Feel free to see the comparison! We got the burnt brisket ends as an appetizer and they were the prefect texture; firm and soft simultaneously, with amazing flavor and even the tortilla strips they were served on were hot and and crispy. My daughter got a smoked chicken salad that popped with color when our server set it down. My daughter raved about how perfect the chicken was cooked and about the perfect dressing for the salad. The advertisement met the standard! I had a bacon and brisket grilled cheese sandwich that came with the house made potato chips. After my first bite, Regan asked how it was and my response was "I think this is the best sandwich I have ever had" It was served on a toasted sourdough that stood up to the sandwich without out getting soggy while remaining soft enough to eat without raking the roof of my mouth. The flavors of the cheese and brisket melted together perfectly with the seasoned mayo. I managed to finish 1/2 of the sandwich and the side of the aforementioned house-made chips before I was at maximum density. I was very happy to see that this spot was nearly full on a Thursday night as there have been several prior attempts at making that location a viable option for dining over the year. We will...