Backwood Smokehouse

Heard great things about this place and decided to try it out. It took our waiter 45 minutes to finally take our order, which by the way, took at least an hour to finally bring everyone’s food out!
The food was very good, I enjoyed the brisket which came with an amazing sauce and carnita tacos that had an Indian-​spice twist to the «shell».
Sadly, I must give a 2-​star rating because we had waited so long for our drinks and food and not once did our waiter check up on us (it wasn’t even busy!) After the bill came. we noticed a 18% gratuity was already charged to our bill! For the service we got. it was terrible.

Their ribs are the best in Toronto. Brisket isn’t top notch when you compare it to places in The South but still better than most other BBQ places in Toronto.
Go with the ribs and you won’t go wrong.

We ate here when they first opened and absolutely loved it. We were in the neighborhood so decided to drop by. They completely changed their menu. The brisket is pretty much the only staple that remained. So we ordered that as well as the carnitas, the mackarel and the Mac and cheese.
The carnitas were not as good as we expected, the meat was dry. The brisket was good but served cold.
Unfortunately this experience did not match our first one so I don’t think we will be rushing back.

I would NEVER come here again.
Avoid this place. Paying $ 30+ PP for a meal, you’re better off going to a place with great service and at least good food.
Service was really bad ⁰⁄₅. Walked in and waited 10 min just to be acknowledged while half the restaurant was empty. The lackluster service has been noted in other reviews. We were interrupted THREE times during our meal for them to validate a Travelzoo coupon I had purchase. After the first time, I asked them to wait until the end of the meal to figure it out. Definitely ruined the experience for me. In addition, between interrupting our meal, Sara (our waitress) was taking shots with her friends at another table.
The food was a 3/​5, and really hard to justify the prices they are charging. On top of that, sides were extra. $ 5 for one corn on the cob? $ 4 for three TINY biscuits (the chili-​lime mayo for the biscuits was tasty though)
We both ordered the ribs and as noted in other reviews, the meat was lacking. (We both got one rib that had a reasonable amount of meat, and the rest were 75% bone). The meat wasn’t very tender.

Came here for a friends birthday. Didn’t know about this place from before so I didn’t have any preconceived notions about the place. I was just hoping for some good smoky flavored meat. Wasn’t disappointed. Ordered the chicken wings and the chicken quarter. The wings were flavorful and had great smoky taste. The chicken quarter meal was presented well and came with mango slices which were delicious. I do wish it was a bit spicier. But I’m brown.

Had a delicious dinner here tonight and wonderful whiskeys although we did miss the Irish ones but that’s not to say we didn’t enjoy the American and Japanese whiskeys!
My husband had the smoked brisket and I had the Shepherd’s pie, both were yummy and would definitely order again. My husband also got the Hot Mess which I had just had to help him eat because it was out-​of-​this-​world amazingly delicious. Also, Matt who served us was great, a really down-​to-​earth, very attentive and genuinely friendly guy.

Came here for my mom’s birthday for a party of 6. We had purchased 2-​for-​1 groupons. Looking at the menu, everything looked good; mains are $ 16-​$ 24 but doesn’t include any sides. Sides are additional $ 3-​$ 5. I shared an app with my brother, and got the shepherd’s pie for the main while he got the ribs. We got mac&cheese and pickled mangoes for sides.
The app (plantain with beans and guac) was bland, opt for the bruschetta (although the price doesn’t justify the amount you get). The mac&cheese was a slight upgrade from KD. The ribs were dry along with the quarter chicken my dad ordered and the brisket my mom ordered. The cornbread wasn’t great either. The shepherds pie was really good, I’ll admit.
But the service was really good. Our waiter was super attentive. If you come here, come for the whiskey bar, but eat beforehand.

First, the positive. They had great drink specials…$ 4 beers (Tues-​Thurs, I think) and $ 5 or $ 6 smoked peach Manhattans. I would also highly recommend the Hot Mess (potatoes, beans, brisket, guacamole, etc. all mixed up together). Everything else was only okay. The brisket was decent, but the portion was small for $ 16, especially given the fact that it is just meat on a plate, with a stingy portion of sauce. In addition, our brisket came out cold, even though we said they could bring things as they were ready. The cornbread was okay, but it had weird pieces of red pepper in it, and the rock hard butter could not be melted by the only slightly warm cornbread. The mac and cheese was also unimpressive. The sauce was too soupy and the crust lacked seasoning. Finally, the service was very, very slow despite the quarter full restaurant.

The reasons I would not make a return visit, were the incredibly slow service (one hour for a piece of corn on the cob to come out of the kitchen), and underwhelming, bland food (fish taco). Our server was friendly enough, but that does not compensate for the problems in the kitchen.

This Zagat rated smokehouse was really not much to look at from the sidewalk but as they say looks can be deceiving. We sat on the patio which had tables available in little Italy on a Saturday night. The menu is short and basic. The mains are ribs, brisket, chicken and pork chops all smoked to perfection. I had the brisket and chicken ‘naked’ (sauce on the side Texas style). They were both excellent. The service was also friendly and efficient. We passed on the whisky and desert. I found a decent IPA but they could expand their beer menu. I’ll be back.

I came here as a party of a 6. We came here because of deal on buytopia ($ 40 for $ 80).
It was a quaint location with a decent selection of bourbon which I had on the rocks. The rest of the party had quite a few rounds of $ 5 bourbon sours which were on special.
We ordered quite a few items on the menu to get a good idea of what Backwood Smokehouse is all about. I found the best items on the menu were the confit wings, corn bread and the hot mess. Unfortunately, this is a smokehouse and the beef ribs and brisket were a disappointment. Both items were very dry and the ribs were 95% bones. We also ordered the fish tacos and the Mac and cheese which were underwhelming as well.
I really wanted to like this place because I basically like any restaurant that smokes their own meat. Unfortunately, there are so many other smokehouses in Toronto that do a better job with their smoke meats that I just can’t recommend this place. However, if you are in the area and are looking for a nice place to have drinks with your friends (and you like bourbon!), you may want to check out this place.

Hands down one of the most creative, flavourful and mouthwatering menus around. I’ve had the pleasure of trying everything on the menu after several trips with different groups of people and left satisfied every time. Such a unique array of food. Diverse and delicious. Paired up with a great lineup of craft beers and quality whiskeys. Definately a go to spot for a great meal in a cozy friendly atmosphere. Positive vibes and great food made with love. 5 stars all day. Keep the beautiful creations coming!!!

I was walking from the parking lot with some friends towards college to look for a place for dinner. When the magically smell of BBQ lead us to the Backwood Smokehouse.
This small and cozy restaurant sat less than 60 people and lucky they had room for us. I ordered the Grilled cheese burger with Mac and cheese and corn bread.
The Grilled Cheese Burger was over the top ridiculous, two grilled cheese sandwiches with a beef burger, beef brisket and thick cut bacon. Needless to say this was my cheat meal for the week.
The Mac and Cheese was crunchy, creamy with a nice hint of spice from Jalapenos.
The corn bread stole the show, I’ve never had corn bread that was so light and fluffy it just melted in your mouth. Served with the house made chili butter, this is one started you can’t miss!
Go check out Backwood Smokehouse!

The food was soooo good. We got the pork carnitas tacos, baja tacos, «hot mess» and corn bread. We loved everything. Perfect amount of smoke and spice. I didn’t even need hot sauce (and I alwaays need hot sauce).
Our server was awesome too!
Overall, great!

Went there recently with a group. It seemed a little disorganized when they got there but the waiter was lovely.
The food was very good! You don’t get a lot of bang for your buck but I think it’s worth it. The table had lots of different things; we tried the cornbread (sooo good), buttermilk biscuits and gravy (gravy is separate — could pass on this combo next time), pork tacos and fish tacos (both very good), brisket (literally a pile of meat is the whole meal so be sure to order a side but it’s tasty), the burger (two grilled cheese buns — yummy), jerk chicken (not the best), spicy Mac and cheese (surprisingly spicy! Very creamy and a generous portion), potato salad (tangy with mustard seeds), and the hot mess (delicious and huge for a side).
So almost everything tastes great! The place is small and it seemed that the staff was doing their best but it is new so I think a few kinks need to be worked out. But worth a shot!

Disappointing. They’ve got a lot of kinks to work out if this place isn’t going to go the way of Acadia and Red Sauce. Super, super slow service. They’re taking a lot of liberties with the idea of a backwoods smokehouse.
The food was good but over priced. $ 17 Brisket was decent, if a bit too salty. The server couldn’t fulfill a fatty brisket request because «they’re all the same, it’s pretty lean.» Huh? The servers need some education or the kitchen has to stop pre portioning the plates. The coffee barbecue sauce is heavy on the allspice? Or is it clove? Either way, get it on the side because it’s not very good. The pickle selections should be free. It’s a bit of a joke. A single sliced, pickled tomatillo is $ 3. Five spicy (as in spices not heat) pickled okra, another rip off. And no pickled jalapeños! C’mon. Warm German potato salad, biscuits — both good. Chili butter — not good. Regular butter would have been a huge improvement. Corn bread — AMAZING!!! Some of the best I’ve ever had, like Cluck, Grunt and Low good! Friends had the jerk chicken and the whiskey sour — loved both.
The slate plates and cutting boards are stupid. There isn’t enough room on the table for all that crap. Barbecue served on a slate slab. Weird and pretentious.
Generally, the place has too many seats or not enough employees. We got hit with an 18% gratuity (6 people and up) which seemed kinda presumptuous considering beers took a good 20min and the food took over an hour to make its way out of the kitchen. To be fair, our server gave us the option to have the plates come as they’re ready (but who wants to eat their dinner alone while their friends watch?)
Good luck.