Up In Smoke Pit Bar-B-Q

I quit after being forced to pay for the remainder of a bill after a table walked out. Most of the food here tastes reheated because it is. Many of the servers do not wash their hands during their shift and the kitchen is disgusting.

This was my first time here, and honestly my whole meal was a disaster. The ribs were rock solid, I would of been better off ordering a brick. The mac and cheese was bland and tasted like it was days old, and my corn on the cobb tasted like it had been sitting in water all day. Major disappointment

Quite good. Rub on the chicken was off the chain. Enjoyed the atmosphere and service.

I attend Leon HS and i go here for lunch on a regular basis. Fast service, nice staff, decent food. I recommend this restaurant for pick up only. Its not the best restaurant yo have a sit down dinner at

The other reviews are right — Up In Smoke can be hit or miss. But when it’s a miss, it’s usually just as good as the other large barbecue places in town (think Piggy’s or the Gainesville chain 4 Rivers). When it’s a hit, it rivals our great curbside pit joints.
If you want a guaranteed hit, go there for brunch/​lunch and get the Carolina Omelette. It will blow your mind. It’s loaded with thick bacon, Bradley’s sausage, pulled pork, and cheddar cheese, and it’s the best omelette I’ve ever had.
Give Up In Smoke a try — I feel like the 3-​star Unilocal profile has been choking this place off. The food is better than that, and this local joint deserves better than that.

My wife and I eat here on a regular basis. We have tried many things on the menu including the St Louis ribs, pulled pork and wings. Everything we have tried has been terrific. My favorite are the barbecued wings. The sides are also extremely well prepared. They are not just an afterthought they are a full pat of the meal.

The girls who served us were very sweet! The service was great. However, the food was over cooked and hard to chew. The ribs were basically hard pieces of unchewable plastic. The chicken wasn’t anything great. The only good dishes were the Mac n cheese side dish and the sweet potato casserole, but those were covered in cheese and sugar so of course they were OK. If you go, at the very least don’t order the ribs.

So it was a rare saturday morning that my wife and I could escape for a breakfast a lone.
Our regular place has a 20 minute wait, and we only had an hour, so we figured we’d try breakfast here.
Don’t.
I can’t review the food. I never got it. We were sat immediately, and I guess there is a reason for this, everybody else must know better.
15 Minutes to get the coffee we ordered right when we came in and to take our orders.
30 minutes after that the food had not come. I called the waitress over, and told her if the food could not come out in the next minute or two, I had to leave. She went back to the kitchen and promptly returned and very apologetically told us it would take longer than that.
Not again. The two times I ate there for dinner, I did not enjoy it, but this service. Never again. Never
I asked to speak with a manager. None to talk to me. Very said.
Next time I go across the street for their brunch.

Got a Groupon w/​added local discount of 20%, so thought it was worth a shot. Did take-​out on New Years eve, full rack St. Louis style (dry rub) ribs, ½ lb. pulled chix with fries and Texas toast, thankfully packed with (sweet) sauce on the side. The sauce is great– good thing we got a lot! The ribs and the chix were both very dry and the ribs had such an intense smoke flavor that it overpowered if not obliterated the dry rub flavors. Without much added sauce, neither ribs nor pulled chix would have been eaten. Can’t recommend this place. We picked up at 6:45 PM and the place was deserted, except for one guy drinking at the bar. Nuff said

BBQ is well known throughout the nation for it’s traditional texture and it’s commitment for casual occasions. To be up front I am not a big BBQ sauce kind of fan because the after taste is very weird. That being said, our server Courtney took excellent care of my significant other and myself by giving us a warm smile, providing suggestions for our first visit, and most importantly being patient with us and not rushing.
Before arriving, I purchased a groupon for $ 17 and it was valid for $ 30 worth of dinner food, which in my opinion is not a bad deal to begin with. If you are not a big dinner person, there is another option for $ 12 and it was valid for $ 20 on breakfast or lunch. Make sure you view my tip because these groupons are only good during certain times, which could cause a inconvenience.
We ordered the dinner for two for $ 22 and it consisted of ½lb of pulled pork and ½ of shredded chicken. You are able to choose 4 sides along with two different types of bread. When the food came out I was not impressed about the portion with the protein or sides. The sides came in Styrofoam containers that only served one person and the chicken/​pork only covered a quarter of the plate. The taste was not «to die for» because the temperature was not like it would have been if it came right off the grill. The appearance came across as if it was sitting out for quite a bit of time and the kitchen had to serve the food to somebody.
As I looked out into the dinning room there were not a lot of customers all around. There were about 6 people total, including us, in the dinning room. Courtney did mentioned breakfast is the best time to come in for a meal because of the home made sausage cooked fresh every morning. The only reason why I am giving this review two stars and not one was because of Courtney and her helpful opinion on the entire menu. I don’t know if I will be back but this experience left a «eh» in my palliate. Happy Unilocaling!

A few months ago, the food was good and we really enjoyed it. This time, however, the quality was really lacking. Things were either over done or under done. The brisket was very fatty, the ribs were way over done, and several things were dried out like they were sitting under a heat lamp too long

This is probably my favorite restaurant in Tallahassee. The barbecue is terrific, but he breakfasts are out of this world! Hands down the best breakfast place in town (that I’ve been to). Also, everyone is really nice and the service is good.

I would not recommend this place if you are looking for good bar-​b-​q. We were looking for a local place to eat and this was the closest bar-​b-​q near the downtown area so we decided to eat there. We were very disappointed for several reasons.
First off, the place wasn’t very busy which should have been a good indication. We were a party of four. I ordered the sausage and brisket combo For 15.00 I received 2 small over cooked linked and brisket that appears to be microwaved or in a steam pan for an extended amount of time.
My wife ordered a half rack of baby back ribs which cost 18.00. The ribs were meaty but over cooked and tough. Baby back ribs should be tender and fall off the bone. Well, this wasn’t the case.
The other two meals were just as bad. The total bill was 80.00 and wasn’t worth it.
My suggestion is keep driving and go to either one of the commercial places or better yet, go to 4 Rivers. You can’t go wrong there.

Placed an order to go. To say I was disappointed with the serving sizes would be an understatement. The sides were heavy grease pits to the point of one being garbage fodder on first inspection. The meats… Well, they were very dry… And after the two sample bites, were also gone… The only bright spot for my visit was the staff was attentive and friendly. Can’t say I’ll ever go back though… Save your money and go elsewhere.

Our experiences here have been hit or miss. We have had some really amazing barbeque and some questionable meals. I think they did something to their nachos? Not sure if I’m right about this or not but I remember them being simple with guacamole, melted cheese, jalapeños, pulled pork and barbeque sauce and the ones I had recently gave me a tummy ache and were different. Had a good salad on my last visit and my husband enjoyed his chicken.

Not bad, but not outstanding either. Tallahassee, for being a southern city, has a dearth of good barbecue. Up in Smoke provides good meat, juicy and tender, but the sides are all pretty mediocre. For my money, it’s worth the drive to Thomasville if you’re looking for outstanding bbq

Was ok. Atmosphere was nice. Staff was very attentive. My daughter liked her hamburger which she asked me to mention. I thought the pulled pork was ok. Not terribly interesting and on the dry side. Cole slaw was ok and there were no beans served on side. The fries were definetly not interesting. Tasted very plain. This place has lots of opportunity to be awesome if the cook changed up a few things to flavor it up a bit.

Ok, where to start. Well, to begin, this is the first review I’ve been inclined to write since I signed up for Unilocal about 3 years ago. This is the only time so far I’ve felt the need to vent!
I’m a vegetarian. Yes, I’m reviewing a BBQ place as a vegetarian. My boyfriend loves meat, I’m into veggies. We’ve been going to Up In Smoke a lot since we moved back to town, as they have delicious bbq for him, and vegan (!!) riblets for me (not to mention okra, mac n cheese, and garlic bread). We’ve gone for breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and have always been happy with the food. That being said, every other time we go we say we’ll never come back. The last visit really solidified it.
So if the food is good, why won’t we go back? The atmosphere is weird. There’s never anyone there, yet service is terrible. Breakfast biscuits served without butter or jelly, and food frequently served cold. One time we went, placed our orders, waited at least 15 minutes before the waiter let us know — «oh yeah, we don’t actually have the vegan riblets today. But we’ve already put in your other orders.» So yeah, it was too late to cancel and go somewhere else (keep in mind this is like the only thing I can eat on the menu as an entrée.).
The last time was the kicker. I ordered the breakfast sandwich that comes with «choice of meat.» I get the vegan riblet sandwich with egg and cheese. Again, after about 10 minutes, the waitress comes back and says that her boss requires an upcharge of «4 to 6 dollars» for the vegan riblets. 4 to 6? Really? First, you can’t even tell me how much? Second, I guarantee those things are cheaper to buy and serve than meat (they are frozen. Up in Smoke probably just pops them in the microwave — sauce isn’t even on top. Also, you can find boxes of these things for about $ 6 — not for just one!!). And third, the menu says choice of meat. And this is listed alongside everything else (for the same price!) in the build your own omelet section — how is this different?
I’m hungry, so we say fine. Bring it. I’m clearly not pumped, but they make no attempt to appease us. The sandwich comes without cheese, which I have to request (she brings me one sad slice of American cheese on a plate), and they forget to bring parts of my boyfriend’s meal, which comes out piece by piece. Oh yeah, this is what often happens, by the way. Don’t expect to get served all at the same time.
I want local businesses to succeed, but this restaurant really disappoints me consistently. Service is bad and the management will try to nickel and dime you. They clearly don’t care about generating good will from repeat customers.
We go there all the time, and get bizarre treatment often. We often say we’ll never go back. This time it’s true. The food just isn’t worth it.

I walked over from hotel. Early for dinner at 530pm, no cars on the lot. No customers in dinning room. I was sat in a booth. The seat was worn to the cloth, as most of the booths. Waiter told me he was the only person working. He was very polite .
3 meat combo was good. Sides tasted fresh. A few more customers arrived.
Overall very good. Rest room was clean.

We’ve come numerous times for lunch & dinner, but today was our first breakfast visit. I’ve sought barbecue for breakfast for some time now (Jim & Milt’s doesn’t offer it) and the menu here clinches it. I ordered the cowboy breakfast (see attached menu). Perfect. Meredith ordered the Carolina omelet and found it most tasty.
The poor reviews puzzle me. We’ve come a dozen times or so, and not once have we had a less-​than-​good experience. We know this place is associated with canopy road and Jenny’s lunchbox — and like those two as well.