Wednesday, May 21, 2008

BBQ in Hyde Park - SMOKE

A good buddy of mine took me out for a belated birthday dinner this evening, a new BBQ joint opened up on Platt Street in Hyde Park this week, so we decided to give it a try. Smoke has a great outdoor patio facing Platt Street, and an interesting bar area that maked you feel like you are in an actual smokehouse, the kitchen is behind the bar so you can watch all kinds of BBQ cooking happening. Inside are less than a dozen wooden booths, the building used to be an old Auto Mechanic Shop, very interesting and great design to this place. Very friendly and attractive servers greeted us, sat us, explained the menu, as the place just opened there were a few items not available yet(smoked salmon and beef ribs). There a few choices of Fresh Brewed Iced Tea, and as of now just beer and wine. We opted for a Full Rack of Pork Ribs-very tangy and sweet fall off the bone ribs, full of bbq flavor, very meaty and tender; Hawiian BBQ Chicken-moist and tender half chicken with a sweet pineapple bbq sauce; each of the meals is served with two sides so we shared the Macaroni and Cheese-with layers of real cheese and topped with an herb bread crumb dressing, Twice Baked Sweet Potato-not a good choice, the texture of the potato and flavor was rather bland, Red Cabbage-our favorite side, just plain delicious and Baked Beans-with a very smokey sausage flavor, and bits of sausage.

It was a good meal, and I will be back, naturally as the first week open they are still refining things, but for the third day open, it was just fine. Its kind of BBQ meets Hyde Park, not fancy, but not picnic tables and paper plates either...a nice BBQ!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I feel that the UK is moving more towards BBQs and it is something people in the UK want to embrace. The only thing that stands against the UK and barbecues is the typical weather. More and more barbecues are being added to the market and it is very easy to end up purchasing an insuperior product. I would advise anyone thinking about purchasing a new barbecue to do some research before going of and buying one. Look at the big names try to avoid buying cheap supermarket brands. A good quality barbecue will always offer a ten year warranty.

Anonymous said...

Dude, No offense, but what did that have to do with 'Smoke' the new BBQ Restaurant in Tampa?
Feeling a bit wonky?
Now put down that fish and chips or bangers and mash (Don't tell me Blood Pudding!) and get yourself over to Tampa and go to Smoke and you'll see what BBQ is all about.

Anonymous said...

I just got back from Smoke and was very disapointed. If your going to try it, you had better hurry, because it will not be there very long.

Anonymous said...

The last post got it right. It was a horrible meal, overpriced, and the benches were dirty. I got the pulled pork sandwich, and not to be too crass... it was like a pig crapped in a bun. Don't go there.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, the roasted chicken was a few degrees warmer than "cold" when served to me (what happened to the "roasted" part?), the lettuce in my salad was completely wilted (fastfood salads are fresher than this one was) maybe I should have stuck strictly to the BBQ choices only, very disappointing, especially for the overall price you end up paying for a meal, don't mind paying it if the food is good, but it wasn't. Chef Ramsay would not be not be pleased(!)

Sra. Smiekel said...

We finally made it to this restaurant and I was not impressed at all. The food was pricey (which would be ok if it was good) and the overall quality was poor. We all felt sick after eating there (sick for days....) I ordered the chicken kabob - and it literally had 3 pieces of chicken on it. That's it. The beans were not good at all, the pulled pork sandwich was awful and the orzo was nothing special. We also got stains all over our clothes from the table. (this happened before our food was served) Overall I was not impressed. How do you mess up BBQ? What a disappointment.

Anonymous said...

i did lunch soon after the restaurant opened and loved everything about it. food was excellent. two weeks later i went back for dinner and was grossly disappointed. salad was old with wilted lettuce and the fish was raw in the middle. stick with the bbq & potatoes. i hope the restaurant succeeds, but it will need to get some consistency.

d said...

First, this restaurant has no website and the phone number given on the few review sites drops into a mailbox with no greeting, making it impossible to determine if you have the right number.

We went for lunch, and all of us were very disappointed. The table was dirty; some errant food ended up on my shirt BEFORE we were served (so I know it wasn't my sloppiness). Although the service was polite, it was very intermittent. We were most disappointed by the food; the chicken skewer contained only three pieces of chicken, the ribs were tiny, and the pulled pork sandwich tasted like death. The sides were better, but the menu said two were included with my ribs. We were surprised to be charged for them (almost $50 for three people for lunch!), but by then we just wanted to get out of there.

The experience was a very disappointing failure. My recommendation is to not even try it unless you want to invest in dysentery.

Anonymous said...

Have eaten at Smoke regularly since the opening and truly love it! So do my coworkers and family. It's been great everytime and the service is very polite.

Tabatha said...

Food is good, so is the waitstaff...we were eating here 2 to 3 nights a week since it opened. However,if you walk in and see the manager with the gray beard... the best suggestion I can give would be to turn around and walk out. He is very high strung and rude. The waitstaff is amazing, yet he treats them poorly. He makes it his personal effort to give you an unpleasant dining experience. He moved us from our table twice and talked to us like he didn't want our business. The waiter apologized profusely...but we probably won't go back. Prices are good, but when you go out to dinner you want to enjoy the experience not be treated like its an inconvenience to have your business. It's almost like the place is doing so good that the owner is on a high horse.

Anonymous said...

I will never go back to this establishment! The other night i witnessed the owner of the restaurant move a couple with a newborn baby from the inside to the outside patio where there was loud music playing. There were no lines, and open seating available. The owner obviously did not like the fact that these patrons sat at a table where it would fit four. Little to owners knowledge, the guy he moved was a former NBA player who was well over seven feet tall. He clearly needed the extra space, and with the baby, I could not believe my eyes that this guy was being so rude in moving them. I believe the patrons left immediately and I cannot blame them. I will never ever go back to this place. What ever happened to the service industry. Classless!

Anonymous said...

horrible, horrible service. Somehow the waiter made me feel as though it was my fault that he screwed up my order. In addition to this, THEY DON'T EVEN SELL SWEET TEA!!! how can you have a bbq establishment that doesn't serve sweet tea? this place sucks. period.

Lori Marsh said...

I absolutley adore Smoke. Their presentation with food is creative & resourceful. (mac and cheese served in tiny iron skillets) The service is straight forward and the beers on tap are delicious. I live in Sarasota, an hour away from Tampa, and try to get there as often as I can. Everyone who I have taken to Smoke loves it as much as I do and I wish there was something like it here in SRQ.

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