Smokey Bones

The service at this location is horrible and food is just ok. You pay much more than other, better barbeque places. As a bonus, you get the service of a McDonalds!!!

Worst service ever. No silverware, food took forever and could not get our server’s attention.

Good place for a late night drink… Open Til 1 am on week nights. Fast service, cordial staff, and pretty good drinks.

We had the worst experience on ¹²⁄₁₈. It was my work department Christmas luncheon. It took over 30 minutes to get our food, order was incorrect, and our waitress absent. Drinks were empty, plates not cleared, and another server came over because he saw that no one was waiting on us. The dining room was only ¼ to ¹⁄₃ full so that was not a problem. When one of my co-​workers went to complain to the manager, she just asked her who our server was and did nothing else. Our waitress struggled with getting our checks and checking us out. We arrived at 12:34 pm (Co-​worker had arrived earlier to have our drinks order and already on the table when we arrived) and didn’t get out of there till 12:57 pm. Too long for a one hour lunch break. My husband and I are rewards members, but we will not go to this location in the future (and probably skip locations in other cities unless locals give a better review). My recommendation is to skip this restaurant unless you have unlimited time, don’t care what you eat since they bring out the wrong food, and don’t mind being ignored.

Wings were ok, the steak salad i got was suppose to be medium rare, came out well done. Also it was 99% spinach, not value for money

We stumbled upon Smokey Bones while looking for a place to eat. Sooo glad we stopped here! We arrived around lunch time on A Sunday, and it was quite busy. However, we had excellent service from the time we walked in, until the time we walked out. The food was amazing. I had the St. Louis ribs and wings, and they were awesome. We will definitely be back!

great food. Staff great. No wait.

Let me start by I have never taken the time to write a review before and I’m writing this review after a bad experience. Yes, I know I rated 5 stars! We go to Smokey Bones at least once a week. It’s our favorite. This is the first time we’ve had a not so great experience but their customer service is what compelled me to write a review. We were not happy with our order and since it was ‘To Go’ we were already home so not going back up and the manager was so polite and made us feel like we were the priority and rectified the situation. This is why we will always go back. Great service, management, burgers and the smoked wings! Love!

Not great. Compared to other chain bbq places, the food is tasteless. Bbq nachos were passable, but nothing great. Would not return by choice.

They were more worried about the cleanliness of the restaurant than the quality of their food. They should be worried about both. Ordered the fried pickles. Couldn’t eat one due to them being over salted. Ordered a ribeye dinner medium rare with mashed potatoes and gravy and coleslaw. The steak was well done. The potatoes tasted like instant mashed potatoes from the box. The coleslaw was delicious and that probably did come already made in a bag. Ordered my boys two burger meals and they barely touched their food. We will definitely not be going back to smokey bones. No thank you!

Our food was good, brisket and pulled pork was very tender. Service on the other hand was horrible. Also in most restaurants the sweet potatoes are so large you may be able to eat half of it. Here the potatoes are palm size.

Very disappointed with Smokey Bones. This place used to be amazing, but it’s really gone done hill. The last two times we’ve come here, the service was mediocre at best and the food was just plain bad. My daughter ordered a pizza that was still raw. My wife got a sweet potato that was the size of a golf ball and it was still hard. My other daughter received apples that were already brown and had clearly been cut and sitting out most of the day. To top it all off, the BBQ chicken that should be one of their specialties, was extremely over cooked. I hate to say it, but this will be our last visit to Smokey Bones.

I love this restaurant. However it is unfortunate that a place known for its barbecue and ribs is located in right next to one of the cities also known for its barbecue and ribs. This unfortunate occurrence equates to their food only being okay. With that said I always have exceptional service and their bartenders are very talented. I like the overall feeling of this restaurant. I would recommend skipping the ribs and getting a burger because their burgers are my favorite thing on the menu!

Never thought a chain BBQ joint could be so good, I’m sort of a BBQ snob, I run a competition BBQ team so it takes some good BBQ to impress me. We had wings, pulled pork, brisket, Mac/​cheese, and baked beans. Everything was really good including the service, the smoked wings were definitely our favorite though. Probably our new place to stop in fairview heights!!!

Update — the cleanliness of the sauce bottles is killin me. Worse every time we come here. The service isn’t getting any better — more so it is declining. We used our last gift card and have 20 bucks left on our loyalty card — that will be the end of our patronage I’m afraid. I think they are performing as well as they can; it just isn’t good enough.
You would think that a place with stickers on the door claiming « Unilocal loves us» would actually read some of the reviews and take heed.

How can you not love a place with a name like this?!?
Actually, I first had Smokey Bones in Tampa, FL about a year ago and now that I’ve recently moved to Illinois, the family and I were in the mood for a Friday night get together. Even with the crowds starting to invade most of the trip here, we pulled in the parking lot and got a seat with a booth (BONUS!) within minutes. The new kiosk at the tables are kinda neat but can be a big distraction with the kiddos. The service was great and he constantly looked in on us. A real treat these days in the food service industry! I had the Beef Brisket and Smoked Wings combo — Delicious. You gotta try the chiptole bbq sauce. Fire and love in yo mouth!

We joined their bones club and received a free appetizer coupon for dine in. We thought great we will get that for lunch and give smokey bones another try. We were sure wrong. We ordered the loaded cheese fries and got burnt fries without cheese covered in bbq sauce and cilantro. It had no cheese and no bacon. We were hoping maybe there were just a little on the bottom but nothing. Our server was rude to say the least. She never came by to check on us or ask us if we needed anything else. The manager on duty was rude and cared less about customer service. I plan on going to corporate. Smokey Bones is a huge disappointment and if they are going to hire rude workers and cooks that can’t even make fries taste good then my business will forever go to Texas Roadhouse. Clean up your place of establishment please!

Was there for lunch and very slow service.
Tasted good. ordered smoked wings and burger and fried pickles. waitress was very nice.
Try to avoid lunch time. not because its busy but very slow on food.

A HUGE group of twenty of us (family reunion) stopped by Smokey Bones on the 4^th of July. They only had like half of the booths open on the holiday, but they opened up a back section of the restaurant for us, seating us all in booths next to each other. Apparently they don’t do reservations, at least on that day, but it wasn’t too bad of a wait while they got stuff together.
They have 4 sauces color coded at the table — the green and blue (classic BBQ and vinegary) are the best, I didn’t like the red and the yellow (chipotle? and mustardy) I tried the pulled pork, which was good but not very well-​seasoned by itself (that’s what thew sauce is for apparently), an appetizer sampler that was kinda meh, and then washed it down with a rib platter and baked beans. The Memphis style dry rub ribs were my favorite. Made me want to go to Memphis. And the St Louis style with more of a sauce and less seasoning were less tasty but also good.
Everyone in our party seemed happy with their meal. Thanks Smokey Bones.

Smokey Bones is sooo good! I can’t believe we didn’t try this until we were about to move from Illinois. *slapping my hand to my head. Ribs here are perfectly sauced. Not too much, Not too little. The brown sugar sauce is the best! The kettle chips were the best! I loved the cilantro dipping sauce, different but good.
The pulled pork was my favorite. It was juicy, but not watery and tender. The waitress was super nice and sweet. We talked for a good ten minutes about the different options they had and she could describe them like she actually tried them, not like the waitresses that read you the menu. (I know how to read!)
Definitely give smokey bones a try. It’s a chain, but a good one.