Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill

Soooooooooo, after a 4 year hiatus, we have decided to go back to Smokey Bones for a re-​do. I will take this early opportunity to divulge that the only reason we have decided to go back is that it is under new management and that new manager is a close friend. The following review, though, has nothing to do with our friendship and he was NOT present at the time I went so had nothing to do with the food or service we received. This was a real dinner visit with guests in town for the holiday and they wanted good Q and Wes assured me that the place had turned around. He was right.
I can be a harsh critic. I expect a lot from an eatery. As posted before in other reviews, I think restaurants are magic. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad magicians out there. Smokey Bones had fallen far from pulling rabbits out of hats and was doing Wal-​Mart magic kit stuff that just wasn’t working for them. They needed a turn around moment or they were done. I am seriously surprised that, with our last experience and the reviews that have been posted here since, it hasn’t closed it’s doors. They found the magic again and here’s what went down:
We were a party of 6. My immediate family and my sister and brother in law. We dropped in about 7 and entered. The design flaw of this building is that the entrance area drops you right in to the bar area which can be a bit loud but the food seating area’s are much more noise appropriate. We were seated at a 6 top near the bar but found the noise level a bit much. We asked for a new seating arrangement which was immediately and pleasantly taken care of. The place was not terribly busy but several tables were occupied and most folks seemed in good spirits and were eating and drinking away.
Our server was Krista. Super pleasant, nice and attentive. She circled the table and was kind enough to repeat the special to my brother in law who was directly under the speaker (at first) and couldn’t hear her.
We decided on the smoked wings for an app. GOOD CALL! These little dandy’s are double smoked (according to the menu) with a dry rub and then drizzled with a sweet, almost teriyaki (sp), type of sauce. Drizzled is the main word here because too much would just be too much and the wings would have lost their appeal to me. We polished off 16 in no time flat and were unanimously impressed.
The orders around the table were varied, which was great because I got to try a little of a bunch of stuff. Across the board we were impressed with the food quality and flavors. I got the St Louis ribs and brisket combo platter with a baked tater and broccoli. The ribs were with out compare the star of this whole program! Well rubbed, cooked to a tender but not «falling of the bone» overdone-​ness. The smoke ring was deep and the meat was tasty. I dipped the ribs in some of the Chipotle BBQ sauce (which is now, thankfully, set at the table again for your enjoyment and mixing pleasure!). My Bro-​in-​law got the baby backs and was fully excited about them. I could see the incredibly deep smoke ring from where I sat a couple seats away. He finished his and got a whole rack to go for cold eating on his drive home today! My wife got the half chicken/​brisket combo and was delighted in the moistness and tenderness of the chicken meat, though she is not a big sauce-​er and felt that for her taste is was too saucy. She did rave however on the meat itself. My sis got polled pork and it was NICE! I stuck my fork over for a steal and agreed with her judgement. At the risk of saying moist too many times, it was really moist and flavorful. The 7 oz. medium steak my son got was well cooked and looked great but wasn’t on the plate long enough for me to get a bite (cause he’s a punk!)
Sides were good, I loved the broccoli, the tater was well cooked and tasty and overall I was very pleased with the food.
So’s we all don’t think I am being pulled along by my friendship with the GM, here is the stuff that may have left us wanting a little bit. The brisket was okay, not great but well cooked, fat cap on keeping the meat (wait for it…) humid! (jk, it was moist!) but didn’t blow my head off like I hoped. My sis said the slaw was okay but nothing special. It was a little loud in the bar area but sitting in the dining area took care of that.
So that’s that. Sometimes you gotta change the driver. Smokey Bones was on the verge of ruin and they changed the driver to a guy who I can vouch is a true restaurant dude who is more concerned with quality than quantity of food served. His employee’s seem happy to work for him and in return he gets employee’s who want to continue to work for him so they do a better job.
Why 5 star’s you may ask yourself. Well, my last review was a deuce and the difference in the experiences was more than a 2 star upgrade. If it were possible I would probably do 4.5 stars but, alas, it isn’t a possibility so 5 it is.
The standards have been raised.
Good eating!
V-​dub

Came here because I wanted to try something new for dinner with my folks. Since it was near school and I didn’t want to drive across the city to eat, we decided to come here. There is plenty of seating, as this place doesn’t get that much business (I wonder why…) and the cool thing about the seating is that for every game on the television there is a small box that can tune in so you can hear it. However, it didn’t work at my table because either they didn’t turn on the system or it was broken.
Let me say, this place is not somewhere to eat. It’s a drinking place. That being said, I ordered the BBQ burger and it was stacked (which isn’t bad). However, there’s a catch to it. You would imagine, yeah burger comes with fries right? Wrong. Fries are a dollar extra on top of your $ 8 – 9 burger ($ 2 if you want onion rings) So, if you decide to get a burger, prepare that there will not be any sides. However, I believe that their burger is something to get and actually more than their BBQ.
My family enjoyed what they ordered, baked potato with a salad and smokehouse burgers. I don’t think they had really anything special about it, except that they said it wasn’t as oily as other restaurants. (But come on, it’s supposed to be greasy!)
Thanks to those who reviewed here on Unilocal,my family and I stayed away from the brisket! And plus, I think no where can compare briskets to Mac’s (check out my review on them). Until then, I’ll be sure to mention it. I think my next trip for BBQ will be Mac’s, but if you’re in the Hilton and you’re starving for BBQ you really have no other choice. Hey, at least you can walk.

Good things to get here:
THE CORNBREAD, Brunswick stew, and the broccoli side.
The $ 6 cornbread appetizer is like cake. It is so amazing that my coworker who doesn’t like cornbread said it was the best cornbread she’s ever had. The butter they serve with it — divine. I’m sure I overindulged in carbs due to this appetizer but I didn’t care. I want to go back just for this cornbread, no kidding.
I got the pulled pork platter with the brunwsich stew and while the pulled pork was so-​so, the brunswick stew was really good and I also liked my side of broccoli — it was cooked just right and I felt like I was eating somewhat healthy (although, after eating the whole cornbread appetizer, I probably wasn’t).
This place is really cute décor wise (the booths look like they’ve made of wooden logs) and is a good low-​key place to bring the kids. I would encourage going here over those boardwalk restaurants also near the Hilton University Center. Price point is perfect too.

HORRIBLE. REALLY HORRIBLE.
The only reason I gave this place 1 star, is because it wouldn’t let me give it a ZERO rating.
As a food lover and as a BBQ lover this place deeply saddens me. It saddens me because it has the potential to be a really great establishment. I say this because the facilities at Smokey Bones are well-​above decent. There is plenty of parking. The inside of the restaurant is spacious and includes a nice, roomy bar as well. There are plenty of TVs draped throughout the restaurant. Their screen setup could be awesome, except they aren’t HD. They are the big box TVs from the early 90s. In addition there is a speaker at every booth which allow you to listen to the TV of your choice.
Without wasting too much time on this place — I ordered the the half-​rack of ribs. Though they looked (see pics) and smelled great, THEY WERE THE MOST DREADFUL RIBS I’ve ever had. ANYWHERE. The ribs tasted as if they had been cooked the night before, thrown in the cooler over night and then taken out and reheated and served to me for lunch.
This place shouldn’t be allowed to serve ribs or even call itself a BBQ restaurant. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME! Try McDonald’s or Boardwalk Billies both nearby, instead. In the words of the famed Randy Moss, «I wouldn’t feed that sh*t to my dawg!!!»

I met a bunch of friends here for dinner and while the company was great, chain or otherwise, the food was blah. First, we had to practically beg them to take a reservation for ten, which they sort of honored. At least there were a few free tables they were able to push together when we arrived.
Our waitress was the only shining star — she did a good job of taking care of 9 people with 7 separate checks and she kept the drinks refilled. She was also helpful in getting a couple of the TV’s switched over to the Panthers game (they lost).
We had a few appetizers for the table. The pretzel «bones» were good, served with a couple of different sauces, as were the onion rings with their dipping sauces. If you like cheese fries, try the Fire Stix which were the best part of the meal.
Having read the reviews, I knew to stay away from the brisket. I went with a «lunch» sized portion of sliced smoked turkey breast. It was dry and not much more than warm. After we asked, the waitress brought out the bbq sauces, which improved the bland taste. The «fire roasted corn» was good — a corn and red pepper medley that was tasty. The mashed potatoes with gravy were good as well, especially when I mixed it with the corn. ;-) Both sides were too small and my friend sitting next to me got an even smaller undersized scoop of potatoes with his salmon.
We didn’t have dessert. They added 18% gratuity to the check, which was understandable for the size of our group.
Would I go back? No, I don’t think so.