Smokin’ Pit BBQ

My husband and I love this place. It’s delicious, clean, and quick. The food is hot and fresh and we have only had positive experiences every time we go here.

I liked my food, pretty good pulled pork with Mac and cheese and Cole slaw. I like the fact that it was pretty fast I didn’t have to wait so long for my food to be made. With the purchase of my meal I got my sons meal for free, who wouldn’t want that? Also, everyone so nice and friendly! Too bad I live far from here, but if I’m in town I will be coming back!

Having lived in Texas and frequented places like Rudy’s BBQ, I’m picky about my BBQ. That being said, here is where Smokin’ Pit can improve on their establishment: price, and side items.
Their Mac & Cheese tastes like something I could easily concoct at home, and even more so, their corn. If I can make both taste better cooking them in my own kitchen, then I’m not paying someone else to make them taste more bland for me. Thoroughly disappointed. Cornbread was dry.
The brisket was good, but the sauces need to be improved on greatly. The tangy was quite watery, but the sweet was better and not nearly as thin.
This was not worth $ 35 for two adults to eat dinner, and I would not return.
For people concerned about atmosphere and cleanliness, I would give Smokin Pit a 9 on a 10 scale. I was impressed by that, but for me, unfortunately the food has to all be quite good for me to spend that kind of money more than once. Hell, I used to eat at a BBQ place connected to a gas station for God’s sake and it was absolutely the best BBQ in in Texas and probably the U.S. We’d spend the same amount of money or less, and be happy every time we walked out the place.

People, people, people… why the bad reviews on this place? This place is bringing in pretty righteous BBQ. Love the concept, feels like a real BBQ joint in the south. The smell of smoked meats in the air instantly when you walk in that takes me back to my first «real» BBQ experience in Texas.
The food is great, 2 plate meat done by weight again the way it should be. You tell the staff lean or moist, even though it’s obvious to always order moist but some don’t care for the flavor or look of fat. I love it! Anyways went with brisket and turkey and both were smoked perfectly. The bark, smoke rings I can go on! The sauces were good, my fav was spicy and out of the sides the beans were full of rocking flavor.
FYI…this blows away the other BBQ place in Bartlett!
Great place, great staff… will be a repeat customer!

WOW, Smokin Pit, you really got some haters out there. They’ll get over it. Anyway, my first time in your shop tonight, gotta say, my wife and I really enjoyed it. We’ve had a lot of BBQ in our day, and a lot of it from Texas BBQ shops, Black’s, Cooper’s, Rudy’s, etc. And some great local shops, South Moon, Que, Texan, etc. YOU have very good tasting smoked meats. We both had the brisket and really enjoyed it.
As far as the sauce haters, it’s not about the sauce, at least for me. It’s about great tasting tender smoked meat. And that’s what we got at Smokin Pit. The sauce was good. I don’t want a sauce that takes away from the taste of the meat. I get my sauce on the side. I also had a taste of the ribs. Very good also. On our next visit I will definitely get a slab. My sides were the chili and sweet taters. Enjoyed both. Sweet taters not too sugary with the right amount of kick. Red pepper I’m guessing. Chili was very good. Enjoyed the corn muffin. Again, not to sweet. Corn meal and real corn, the way it should be. I like to break mine up and put in my chili.
O.K. here comes the negative shit. O.K. not really, but I will say my only disappointment was in the beer selection. I’m not a Miller fan, or what their distributors distribute. When I’m eatin Texas style BBQ, I like a Texas beer, specifically Shiner, or a Lone Star. Bud or PBR would even be better than those designer pop IPAs. Regardless, we’ll be back for the BBQ.
Oh yea, friendly staff and clean too.

First time stopping in here today. The smell of hickory wood greeted us upon entering. We were offered a sample of pulled pork. It was tender but missing the «smoke» flavor I’m accustomed to. I ordered the rib tip special and hubby ordered the 2 meat platter. Everything was tender, however lacking true BBQ smoked flavor. Coleslaw was nice, sweet and fresh. Beans tasted more like chili than baked beans. Wasn’t crazy about the BBQ sauce. Should have gotten it on the side. The place was VERY clean, which is always a plus to any food establishment.

Was hesitant to try this place out, given the mixed reviews. Nonetheless, the place is nearby and I love exploring all things BBQ… been to Memphis, KC, and Texas for BBQ trips before… so here it goes.
Went here twice over the past few weeks. The only good thing I can say is that the meats ARE smoky. Love the smell of the place, but sadly the rest of the experience is, in fact, a bust for any BBQ aficionado.
Had the ribs, which were moist and had the perfect amount of juiciness. However, the sauces are not good. The tangy sauce is just not a pleasant flavor, and the sweet sauce had an thick texture/​flavor that was not appealing. The server drenched my ribs in sauce without first asking… the ribs looked pretty good sauce-​free. Get the sauce on the side. Did not try the hot sauce.
Beyond that, things went downhill. I tried most every side, all of them were nothin special. The cole slaw and potato salad could have come from any grocery store standard recipe, the corn had no spices whatsoever (I could make corn with butter at home), and the biggest disappointment was the mashed sweet potatoes «with spices». I could not taste any spices in the sweet potatoes. In fact, they tasted literally like plain potatoes with nothing added. The corn bread muffin, also, was nothing special. Standard issue. I skipped the beans, as they looked to be Texas-​style (not to my liking).
I really wanted to like this place, but, frankly, it’s nothing special and the recipes for their sides are commonplace. Come on, guys! Put some effort into those recipes. Put the same amount of effort into the recipes that you put into the décor!

Let’s start with the structure of the place. It’s a decent size, could sit about 20−30+ people. Somewhat clustered table/​booth arrangements. The smell in the restaurant is awesome, gets your mouth watery.
The food, I ordered Pulled Pork dinner plate. Includes corn biscuit, two side orders of your choice (mac&cheese, and fries) and about a half a pound or less of pulled pork.
The Pulled Pork, now that was some delicious stuff right there. It’s cooked so well, it melts right in your mouth. No need for constant chewing or separating. Has an amazing faint smoky after taste as well. Delicious!
Still have to try out the rest of the menus but so far, I’m liking it.

Okay I’ll admit I was pretty bummed with Nicodinos closed. (Why why whyyyyyy?!) I almost didn’t want to like Smokin Pit but I gotta say… The husband and I love it!
Not only do they gave great food, they gave amazing service. From the owner, to the cashiers, to the people taking your order.
My recommendations: chopped brisket with sweet sauce and a little of the hot bbq sauce. Chili (it’s made with brisket!). Cole slaw (this is the only Cole slaw I have found that I like in all my 30 years on this earth). Fries. Onion rings.
I’ve been eying the loaded baked potatoes and nachos. I’ll have to update once I give those a try!

The sides we had (French fries, coleslaw, and onion rings) were typical, nothing outstanding. The BBQ (ribs and pulled pork sandwich) were lackluster. The pork tasted salty. The sauces lacked depth of flavor. The ribs are wrapped in foil prior to ordering and don’t have any smoky flavor. They do have a cool dispenser for the plastic forks, etc.

I finally got around to checking this place out, and I’m really glad I did. The place itself is very clean, lots of silver and steel accents. We were immediately greeted and ordered our food cafeteria style. I opted for brisket and pulled pork. I was asked if I wanted my brisket on the lean side or with a little fat, which I thought was awesome. Never been asked that before, and I do prefer less fat. The brisket was juicy and delicious, as was the pulled pork. There are three sauces to choose from, and I chose the tangy. I think next time I’m going to go with the sweet. The tangy was not bad at all, just not quite what I wanted. For my sides I had corn and fries. The fries are made to order, and just your average thick cut fries. I think next time I’ll go with the sweet potato mash, or something else. The corn wasn’t very sweet, but still not bad. I definitely was more interested in the amazing meats than sides! However, don’t skip the cornbread because it’s awesome!
I’ll definitely be back to try some of the other smoked meats, and have some more brisket!

Local BBQ joint in Bartlett, couldn’t wait to try it. Can only account for the brisket and it was great. Sauce is very good, but wish they had a slightly spicier version that their tangy.
Place smells perfect when you walk in, just like a BBQ shack you’d go to down in Texas.

This is the best BBQ I’ve had at a restaurant ever! Y’all gotta try this place.
#smoking_​pit_​bbq
Everything melted in your mouth. The sauce, the meat, the service, OMG everything! JUST EVERYTHING!
You get what you pay for… they honestly give you so much food. I had left overs. Can’t wait to bring my family.

Great BBQ. I have had the Turkey, brisket, sausage link, ribs, and pulled pork… Not on one visit but a few… It was all good. Me and the hubby like to go on road trips and we like our Q and are q snobs, this definitely passed our test. This is the best in the burbs by far. It’s hard to not have dried out turkey and theirs is moist. Brisket as you can see has a nice smoke ring, and great flavor. Cole slaw was good and the onion rings are huge. This is our new bbq place.

Ehhhh, not very good bbq. I got 3 sliders with pulled pork, chopped brisket and Texas sausage. The sausage was very good but the pulled pork and brisket were dry. Brisket had good flavor but dry. The pulled pork was even dryer and had a funky taste. I didn’t even finish it. I can’t pinpoint what it was but it almost tasted like green stale smoke wood. I also got the mac and cheese. it was creamy but with little taste. Sauces were just okay.
I hate giving bad reviews but it just wasn’t good, especially for the price. I paid $ 12.00 with a drink. I don’t think I’ll be back.

I am finding an odd trend here. I have been 5 times now. Four times during lunch, once during dinner. Each time I have ordered the Brisket during lunch, it was dry. Like, take a swallow of tea while chewing, dry! But for dinner, moist and tender as can be. It’s like its two different Briskets! Wonder how many other people are experiencing this.
And I still stand by the fact, that the best thing on the menu is the Smoked Turkey, Smoked Ham and Pulled Chicken. Shame, when it should be the Ribs, Brisket and Pulled Pork. Guess I’ll just have to stop by more during dinner time. Or just not stop by at all???

The brisket was wrapped in plastic and I’m done being nice as well. I threw $ 22.00 in the garbage because it was bad. I didn’t read any of the other reviews until now and it’s telling when a majority of complaints repeat a lot of the same adjectives to describe the food and the owner lashes out in denial.
I’ve waiting almost three weeks for the follow up and this owner is clearly hyper-​sensitive about any critique of his food and is clearly confused about proper customer service; which, is why he lashes out on Unilocal over bad reviews.

I hate the fact that people are defending mismanagement and unprofessionalism. Let me just make this really simple for you, as this place is going on being open for a week and still running out of food.
In the restaurant business you will waste food. That is the nature of the beast. However in doing so you will never run the risk of turning customers away! That is THE biggest sin.
When you know that for the past few days that the demand is high, why in the hell wouldn’t you plan for it. It is ridiculous that the owners here can’t see the simple writing on the wall that says: «we’re busy, let’s make more food.» If your smokers are running 12 hours a day make sure they’re running 24 hours. You chose the life to be a restauranteur. You’re in demand. Strike while the irons hot. Not make excuses.

Disclaimer: we went on the first day they were open.
We love to support our local businesses.
Disclaimer 2: we are experienced BBQ consumers as well as BBQ fans who love to cook it as well — both Memphis Style as well as Texas. Our last visit outside the state where we had some great BBQ was actually in Dallas this year.
Disclaimer 3: the reviews on this place are either 5 stars or less than 2 stars. It’s a pretty extreme difference. Top that with an owner who tells people their own experiences were not interpreted right. Honest reviews aren’t personal attacks — they are opportunities for feedback that can be valuable. So take that for what’s it worth.
We got word that this place had opened so after work we headed over to eat it. The menu looked fabulous. The atmosphere welcoming. The employees friendly.
I got the rib dinner, which is St. Louis ribs, 2 sides (I picked chili and sweet potato mash) and cornbread. Cost around $ 20.
The sauce options were sweet or tangy. Both were watered down and flavorless. The ribs were ok, but not very meaty which St. Louis ribs are known for. The chili I liked, it was very good. The sweet potato mash was ice cold, though quickly replaced when I said something. The cornbread was missing something… maybe salt. It was bland.
Husband got Three Meat platter with brisket, shredded chicken, pulled pork, chili, potato salad, cornbread. $ 17 or so I think.
Husband states the same about the sauce. The brisket was dry, the chicken and pulled pork was ok, however all were cold. He did not try the cornbread. Unlike me, he did not complain about the temp of the food. He should have so they could have fixed it.
Kids got chicken strips (daughter says they were dry, she didn’t eat them) and pulled pork (son says it was cold).
So when I state that we are regulars at the other two BBQ places, it’s because that’s what we are comparing Smokin’ Pit to.
I was most disappointed in the sauce, not only because there were only two options, but the consistency was way too watery and just so bland. I could deal with the watery (after all, vinegar based is my favorite) if the flavor was strong but again, maybe it was just opening day issues.
Initially I’d hoped that after a few months the kinks were worked out so we could try it again because I absolutely saw the potential — but just reading the owner’s responses on here and Facebook when anyone says anything other than how perfect it was, is a turn off.
For anyone to say this is better than BBQ in Texas itself?! Sorry. Not in my opinion. But if you have a craving — well try it for yourself and see what you think. Everyone’s different.

I’m not sure if Smokin’ Pit is the answer to great BBQ, but it’s good and fills a void where so many other places completely drop the ball.
Upon entering you immediately pick-​up on a mild aroma of smoke…“good”.
The service is cafeteria style as you pick your protein first and subsequently push your tray ever so slowly towards the cashier. This is a potential «Log Jam» waiting for people asking too many questions and making choices, many of which have no idea what they want in the first place. This takes time and lots of it.
The Brisket sandwich has some nice bark and entertained a subtle smoke flavor with questionable moisture, but remained tender…“good enough”. Very stingy with the BBQ sauce.
The Mac and Cheese was dry, like letting it sit on the stove too long in a hot pot… hell we all done that!