Smokin’ Notes BBQ

Best BBQ in town. Hands down, not one item on the menu dissapoints and great southern customer service.

Great food, great service. The rib tips melt in your mouth. Awesome BBQ place to eat.

Best BBQ in town. Service was excellent. Ribs and brisket were delicious. Sides were very good also. Will be sure to eat there again.

Great fall-​off-​the-​bone barbecue! Although the décor is nothing special, service was quick and the food was delicious. I had the rib tips with cole slaw and candied yams. The ribs were tender and had just enough sauce to complement the meat, the cole slaw was your typical creamy cole slaw with the addition of raisins (sounds weird, but is actually a nice flavor), and the yams were cooked perfectly and not too sweet. Blows the barbecue chains out of the water.

Probably the best overall BBQ place I have ever been too. Great rib tips, handcut fries, pulled pork… Love their coleslaw! Great friendly service!

The food is amazing and the service is great! Everyone is super friendly and made us feel really welcome! We will be back!!!

Great food great service great atmosphere. The food is just as good to go as it is in house which is hard to do for a BBQ place. If they have burnt ends in stock get them because they are the best ever

Once again Unilocal has not let me down. Actually had a friend mention this place and then I looked it up here and wondered how I had missed all the good reviews.
Ate the pulled pork, brisket and the burnt ends. All were good, but the burnt ends were to die for! I haven’t tasted anything even close to this in Peoria. We love Pappy’s in St. Louis, but I would say that the Burnt ends here might have even been better than theirs. Haven’t had the ribs here to compare to the great ones there. The Burnt ends melted in your mouth, had an amazing smoked in flavor and left me wanting more! Brisket and pulled pork were good (not amazing), but when I go back, I’m just going to double up on the ends as they tremendous.
Sides of Annie’s Beans (sweeter than normal baked) and Coleslaw. Both good, not amazing. I saw a mention about the BBQ sauce. Yes it comes in a plastic ctn and I didn’t see them have a bunch of offerings, but honestly, when I eat BBQ, I expect it to be smoked and flavorful (which it was). I can go buy BBQ sauce at Ollie’s for 99 cents if I just wanted that. This place hit a home run with the meat and the sauce they give you is just fine.
We did takeout, so not sure on the dine in part. Reasonably priced for BBQ.
Friendly folks and they actually have a pretty nice online ordering system. If you live in Peoria, you have to give them a try. Way better than Whitey’s, Hickory River or Smo-​King Pit.

Great BBQ! My son and I had the brisket and pulled pork sandwich. I may say very tasty! What’s just as great, this is a small business where the owner and her teenage kids work to make your experience genuine.
Our experience was great.
I highly recommend! Good people, great BBQ!

First visit. Ribs, rib tips, and brisket. Everything was excellent. Lots of leftovers. The fries are hand cut, and I had the cole slaw. Taking home sides of beans, and mac n cheese, can’t wait to see if they are as good as the rest. Give it a try!

The food was OK, but the service was not good at all. When we arrived, we stood at the front because they had no sign telling whether to wait, or seat yourself. The waitress that took our order was not the one who followed through with the rest of our order. A young man waited on us, and definitely needed some training on how to give good service. When my order of beef brisket was brought to the table, it was almost cold. It had good flavor, but tough in some parts. The best part of the meal was the fries, I thought. Nice and crisp with good flavor. Back to the service: The waiter overlooked bringing eating utensils, which I had to remind him about. Also, I was told that my side dish was running behind, and would be out shortly. I figured, no problem. However, I had nearly finished my main course when he brought out the last side dish. I asked him to comp it since it was so late, but he didn’t. I did not press that issue. The waiter did not check on our needs often, nor at the right times. I know this is a family business, but with so many choices in the area, I just cannot justify going back.

Decided to hit Smokin Notes based on hearing good buzz. I had the rib tips and beans. The rib tips were smoked through and glazed with a delicious sauce that made them completely mouth-​watering. The beans were spiced just enough to make them tasty, but not overly-​hot. The rest of the table also had great meals, brisket, pulled pork and mac-​n-​cheese. Great reviews from all. Definitely a return trip in the plan.

Oh my gosh !!! Just had ribs. We travel all over & these are the best ribs EVER! Tender not greasy with wonderful flavor. I go for lots of sauce which most would be satisfied with the sauce when seved-​I asked for more & got extra in a bottle. Sides were excellent. Candid yams & bake beans. Both tasty. They have collared greens okra fries & more. Portions will leave you stuffed. We had 2rib meals for $ 28. Lots cheaper than Famous Dave’s & more food.
Service was great. We dined in & the young girl very sweet & friendly.
Our favorite Peoria place now. If traveling through easy to get off I –74.
And they have sweet tea! Most places just give you tea & tell you to add sugar-​ugh

Whoever was hating on this place because they had to ask for a side of sauce needs to gtfo. I’m 34 y/​o, been to memphis at least once a year since i was 17, and this place literally has maybe the best ribs I’ve ever had in my life. Better than any place in town. Better than Charlie Vergo’s Rendezvous. Better than Blues City Café. Period. The brisket is also amazing (i cut mine with a spoon), but the ribs? omfg. I’m in awe. Who gives a *&^% about generic fries? The MEAT here is impossible to beat. They got reviewed on the news a few days ago and it has been PACKED the last few days to the point where they run out of certain stuff. Get there early. I live about a block away and I’m freaking stoked. I got fried okra and onion rings as my sides, and both were super good. (just a side note).
tl;dr: RIBS. GO. NOW. It’s that REAL sh*t. Heard?
edit: no clue what this other guy is talkin about with «poor review in the paper for violations». the place opened like a week before he went, and why would the journal star put a restaurant on «You Gotta Eat» that they reviewed poorly a month or two before? Protip: when your biggest complaint is that your «extra bbq sauce came in a plastic container» (lmao), you really should find somewhere else to eat. Also as seen in my pic, when I asked they just gave me a bottle.
In retrospect there IS a BBQ place in northwoods mall about a block from here, called «The Smo-​king Pit» (not the Smoking Notes) that is just average. maybe people are confusing the two.

Wow! Great food and great service. I joined Unilocal for the first time just so I can rave about this place-​it was that good! Just stopped in for carryout and ordered the pulled pork. Just the right amount of smoke and bbq sauce flavor. This place is a must for bbq in Peoria.
p. s. Don’t forget to get some peach cobbler.

It was very good. I had the rib tips greens and macaroni a cheese. Rarely do I like BBQ joints when I’m out of state but I decided to give it a try! I am very pleased. The tips were cooked good with a nice sauce, mac and cheese was very good, even the green had nice flavor. Next time I’m in town definitely eating here the next time I’m in town!

The burnt ends beef brisket was very flavorful. My sister originally wanted to order the rib tips but they were sold out. We also got bbq & spicy wings. Both were pretty good. Since this place is close to my parents house, I’m sure I’ll return.

It’s always refreshing to find a place featuring homemade dishes. Chain restaurants are good, but when done right, you can’t beat food made with love and care. Smokin’ Notes BBQ left me singin’ plenty of praises.

Once again our taste buds have taking us to Smokin’ Notes BBQ! Tonight it was a last minute take out order and even though we placed the order at 830pm and they closed at 9pm they were just as eager to please! The food was fresh and hot! They always open the to-​go containers to make sure your order is right and to your liking! Your guaranteed to be full after a meal here but try and save room for the peach cobbler! It’ll melt in your mouth! Order an extra side of candied yams… you’ll be glad you did!

I didn’t find Smokin notes overwhelmingly great. I got the brisket sandwich. It was good, not much of a smokey flavor i thought. They had generic fries and the person i was with had mac and cheese and they didn’t eat it cause they said it was bland. And i had to ask for bbq sauce… in a bbq restaurant and when i got it it was in a small plastic take home container which barely was enough for the sandwich. I could also tell the sauce was out of a bottle. Nothing special. I gave three stars because the meat was ok. Not overwhelmedy
EDIT: they were in the paper for poor health violations. Definitely wont be going back.