Cedar River Smokehouse Barbecue

No flavor.
I ordered some ribs, chopped pork, and slaw for my Super Bowl celebration. Each item was lacking in flavor! Most of it went to the dog. Not sure why this place has good reviews??? The food is tasteless.

Horrible food. Served in styrofoam. Bland, cold, and just mediocre. Service was cool, but is limited to someone taking your order, your money, giving you change, etc. But I didn’t come here to make friends. I wanted BBQ. And now I know why they make you pay first. I imagine lots of people leave there hungry, or holding their asses.
The chicken was pink inside, tasted like someone dumped liquid smoke on it/​not really smoked. Ribs were cold and fatty. Brisket was dry and over cooked. No thanks. Honey mustard was disgustard. Chili tasted like expired canned chili and was very soupy. Giggling in the kitchen makes me wonder if anyone here eats there. I’m gonna say no.
Update*** on the drive home to Olympia, both my partner and I started getting the «bubble guts».
Needless to say we were happy to throw our $ 30 worth (less) of leftovers in the dumpster as we were running up the driveway to use the bathrooms holding our stomachs.
Never ever ever ever ever ever again.

I’m a fan of their lunch menu. I like the fact you can order it for dinner and my favorite is the Brisket, with the beans and some corn bread. Even though I can make a better brisket in eight hours, they serve my favorite beans and it’s a lot easier to eat here than take the eight hours to make my own brisket. Their corn bread with the real butter they give you is excellent too. It’s an easy place to have a quick meal and the staff is always friendly.

Holy brisket… this place rocks!!! Came here for the first time today and loved it. Friendly service and very cool atmosphere.

I wish I could give this place ZERO stars.
And to think I used to recommend my old company get catered lunches from this place (which they did, multiple x). Never again.
I called yesterday ¹²⁄₁₉ at 12:30 to place a pick up order. The RUDE girl who answered asked me how many orders I will be placing… I said «I guess one? I’m not exactly sur…» rude girl cuts me off in a very sarcastic uppity tone… «SORRY YOU’RE NOT ORDERING ENOUGH TO CONSTITUTE A TO GO ORDER, OKAY? K Bye!!!» *click* foreal? I guess that’s why you work at a fast food joint like this… How fitting but I digress.
My ONE order would’ve been around $ 50 & I could’ve increased the order had the rude girl given me the chance to ask what the minimum was but I guess no amount of my money was good enough for this place. Good to know! I will be taking my money elsewhere (PECOS PIT) + will make sure no one else I like goes here either cuz I’m petty like that. K bye!!!

The brisket was a chopped up, overly peppered mess and the corn bread was overdone and very dry. I would not eat food from this place again.

Not a big fan on dining in a place that cannot afford to serve their meals on plates, they’re definitely not environmentally friendly with their Styrofoam. Don’t get the Mac & cheese or their peach cobbler. I don’t recommend this place.

The brisket sandwich is very good! The mild bbq sauce is some of the best I’ve tasted, it’s got a good initial kick when you first taste it.
The dining area is clean, though I had to swat away a few winged pests as I ate.
The staff is friendly and ready to serve.
I can’t wait to taste their other sandwiches!

Like styrofoam? You better, because everything comes served in disposables, even when dining in. If this is what makes it Texas style, they should leave that trash deep, deep in the heart of Texas.
As for the food, meh is about right. Bland, overcooked brisket on a dry, nearly stale bun with a sauce lacking the flavor to save it. Side in a styrofoam cup and a plastic fork to eat it, when a spoon has the proper shape to scoop food from a bowl.
I don’t mind paying a premium if the flavor backs it up, but $ 12 for a bland lunch with no table service doesn’t add up to a return visit.

In Renton there is a real find, a genuinely good BBQ joint. Nothing fancy, just straight up good eats, and if you want fancy I would look elsewhere. Here you get very good BBQ at a reasonable price. The star of the show is the pulled pork, it is very good and usually very moist. The hot links are good and the smoked chicken is much better than you would think. The sides are excellent. The cole slaw is great, the corn bread is heaven and the baked beans are so much better than any baked bean you will have in your kitchen. (sorry home cooks.)
The real question for all BBQ spots is…“how is the brisket?” The sad part of Cedar River is that the brisket is arguably the worst thing on the menu. I have eaten it 3 times and i won’t order it again. It has never been moist, it is always a little dry and crumbly and that is just not acceptable in a great BBQ joint. Almost pulled this review to a 3 stars.

Based on the reviews I was expecting MUCH MORE. Some sort of extra seasoning on the ‘brisket’ (which I would call chopped beef not brisket) couldnt really taste the meat. Cole slaw was decent until about halfway into the cup, when it was basically just soup. My buddy had ribs. They looked horrible and he said they had no flavor and a ton of fat.
It’s a nice décor but I won’t be returning. I can get bbq that’s twice as good at dickeys for half the price. And dickeys isn’t good bbq either, cedar house is just that bad.
Sorry to the owners if you’re reading this, which I hope you are. You can do better. BBQ is a labor of love and I couldn’t find even one endearing quality at your restaurant.

The bbq meat is ok, but only because it is smoked.
The bbq beans are canned. The mac n cheese and mac salad are sysco. BlackBerry cobbler is frozen. Peach cobbler and sweet potato pies made from cans. The mashed potatoes are out of a bag. The rubs and sauce are almost right out of Steve Raichlens Barbecue Bible almost step by step.
If they took the time to brine the chicken and turkey, it would be incredible. They won’t take the time to make it real Texas Bar Be Que. They can fool people who don’t know the best.
The brisket is not Texan in that Texans trim the brisket and at least rub it with salt and pepper and cut it whole. Real Texas BarBeQue is an offset smoker with real wood. Mesquite. Oak. Maple. Tendered all night long. Not Unknown pellets from sams club or costco. That look like rabbit pellets.
They store raw chicken above cooked ribs. Can u say salmonella? Go somewhere else. The number one taboo in the kitchen at Cesar river is changing your gloves. Health code says change your gloves every time you do something different. But the owners won’t pay the few pennies to change gloves and protect you. Actually washing hands and changing gloves is an offense at Cedar River. You get yelled at for following health department rules in washing hands and putting on new gloves. Washing hands and changing gloves takes time and money. Forget the customers safety for a few pennies. Get there before noon and ask for the meat they are taking out of the smoker. Otherwise, it mite be a few days old.
And Texas doesn’t do BBQ. They do BarBeQue! No abbreviations. No shortcuts.
You cannot eat in the place without flies landing on your food. In a clean, sanitary, safe place to eat, you do no not have to constantly wave flies off your food.

My mother, father, fiancé and I tried this place out tonight. We ordered, to go, beef ribs, pork ribs, chicken, and the brisket. We also added two sides of corn bread, two sides of baked beans, one macaroni salad, one potato salad, one mashed potatoes and gravy, one Texas chili, one corn on the cob and one salad.
I’ll start out with the positives…
Service: Friendly
Food: The ribs were amazing. The meat literally fell of the bone, clean! They tasted great by themselves but the mild BBQ sauce was delicious with it. The chicken was tender and tasted amazing! The Texas chili was pretty good when it came to the meatiness. The mashed potatoes were great and creamy, the baked beans were okay, as well as the salad (fresh, but nothing special), and the corn on the cob was delicious.
Now, the negatives…
Service: Failed to mention that they were out of chopped/​pulled pork when we called to order, was finally told when we came to pick up the food.
Food: I’m not sure if today was just a bad day, or if other people just don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to flavor. The brisket was boring. It wasn’t what my mother was used to and it was really dry (she’s had lots of brisket in her life, and apparently this was just «okay»). The potato salad was extremely bland. I would much rather go over to Heaven Sent for their potato salad. The macaroni salad and chili, also bland. I added a little bit of the mild BBQ sauce to the Texas chili to bring out some flavor. The mashed potatoes, like I said, were good, but unfortunately the gravy was missing. Corn bread, kind of lacking in flavor as well, but okay.
All in all, for about $ 75, it wasn’t worth it. Which is really unfortunate because we love to buy locally and support smaller food chains/​businesses. So unless we want just the meat by itself, we won’t be coming back.

This is pretty good BBQ. I had the chicken ribs beans and potato salad all were very flavorful good smoke and juicy. Their BBQ sauce was pretty good not the best ever but the rest was on point.

Okay, this is by far the best BBQ I have ever had and I am an old woman and I have lived in the south.
They smoke the meat and serve it with the sauce on the side — the mild sauce is plenty spicy — about what you’d get as a medium elsewhere. Some of the best beans, potato salad and cole slaw ever too.
I will be back, often.

Most amazing brisket sandwich with fries, almost moved to Seattle for this place only. People were really nice and friendly and no problems on service. Just good food and great service.
Thanks all!

Boy am I glad I found this place.
Brisket is excellent.
Pulled Pork wasn’t fatty.
Best bbq beans I’ve ever had.
Coleslaw better than KFC’s.
Great potato salad and cornbread.
And finally, and what I’ll say is most important; When I ordered the hot link, the girl told me that I should order something else because they were still tweaking the recipe and it wasn’t perfect. That’s the sign of a great place that cares about what kind of food they are putting out.

Fast food Bbq is the best description for this place. Order at cashier, and wait for your name to be call for your order. It was quick to get my food after I place my order. I think my wait time was under 60 seconds. In and out if you only have a half hour for lunch.
I had the half pound ribs lunch combo with 1 side. There was 4 ribs and I order the coleslaw as my side of choice. The coleslaw was really tasty. The dressing was a little watery, but overall good coleslaw. The ribs were serve naked in the tradition of Memphis bbq. The ribs were nice and tender, but bland. It needed the bbq sauce to dip in to make it flavorful. The seasoning was either light, or just salted and peppered. The bbq sauce I had was the hot bbq sauce, and it was very good. It could compete with some of the best hot bbq sauce I had in the south. Overall some of the better nw bbq I had in washington.

Good BBQ considering the other offerings in Renton.
Cedar River Smokehouse is consistent and better than most BBQ places around the area.
Prices are moderate and the restaurant is fairly nice inside.
Parking is usually good, just park on the street cause it’s free for about 2 hours.
The brisket is flavorful, but I wish it were a bit more fatty so it would be more moist.
The sandwiches are so/so…so I would order the bulk meet instead.

I am rating this as a whole and not just the food.
Facility:
Exceptionally well kept with good lighting and clean. Booths are inviting for bringing a few friends.
Service:
It was only two people working on a Wednesday night during the dinner rush with a fair amount of occupied seats and though the wait was longer than I had hoped given the the order was called in, I appreciated the apology and dessert cobbler that was thrown in gratis. In addition, very friendly, hospitable, local good customer service that was very much genuine.
Food:
Many reviewers comment that the food lacked flavor, dryness and has sort of an artificial taste to it to which I agree. I had ordered a platter that included meats such as turkey, chicken, ribs, etc., a hot link & pork sandwich and Texas chili. The chili is thick and with generous chunks of meat. I feel the food is by far better than the defunct Smokin’ Pete’s BBQ that was in the Seattle Ballard neighborhood but needs an oomph to lock in returning customers. Portion sizes are definitely accurately recorded in the photos many Unilocal reviewers took for this establishment.
Price to Value:
If the food didn’t hint anything bland, I think customers would be okay spending the cash to support local but this food needs a ‘wow’ factor by figuring out how to make a more flavorful, moist and better smokey notes to their food.
Overall:
The owner (s)/management here should take these reviews as a way for them to improve as many reviewers here are spot on in their opinions about the food and the staff being very good.
Rainin Ribs and Gabriel’s Fire are different BBQ styles for sure but they do very good on a good share of what they offer. This place has the potential to be competitive but they need to, must and should step up the flavor factor to lock in guests since they’ve got a good facility and good service. CRSB is the little engine that could but can they?

Delicious, smoky bbq!
Generous portions for a decent price.
Brisket is super tender, smoky, and so tasty.
Coleslaw was on point.
Interior is dated but very clean, and smells like a delicious smoke house.
Staff are all warm and friendly.
Minus one star for styrofoam dishes, cups and containers. I get that it’s the cheapest, but when dining-​in means more styrofoam than take-​out, then the amount of waste this restaurant produces is a real issue. This stuff should be banned. And I’m not even a hippie.

I don’t really know what to make of this place.
I ordered the brisket sandwich: I’m not sure how they cook it, it was dry had a smokey taste (as in liquid smoke) no smoke ring, cut up in small pieces then seasoned and maybe cooked in a oven?
My side was the bbq beans that tasted as if it was a canned beans.
The problem is that it was actually good tasting even though it is not true smoked bbq.
The service was great and pleasant