Went to Smoke on a busy Friday night. Summer in downtown Wilmington can be a nightmare. Pair the fact that we are trying to eat downtown with children affordably. Friends met us there also with a baby in tow. Since they beat us there I am not sure if it's seat yourself or be seated by a hostess. Â Never the less, there was ample seating. We ordered drinks from the menu (they were out of the beer I wanted, but I liked what I had.) Â The beer menu is varied from what I normally see in Wilmington and I could see relaxing and trying several. Guinness and some martini was the special for the night, but a martini and barbecue just didn't seem right.
Once we chatted for a bit, we headed to get our food. It is served cafeteria style. Unusual, yes. Was it a turnoff for me? No, remember I have kids in tow. The faster they have food, the better for the grown ups. Â Since this was our first visit, we asked for a tour of the meats. Â Tonight there was pulled pork, beef brisket, dry rub ribs, smoked chicken quarters, and smoked turkey swimming in a white gravy. I opted for the pork. It was good but there was so much sauce on it already that I couldn't see adding more. My sides were Mac and cheese and baked beans. I shared my plate with my 7 year old. The children's menu was an uninspired 1 chicken tender with sides or 2 chicken tender with sides. Boooring. The Mac and cheese was made with large shells and was really good. If it was fresh baked instead of being in a steam table it would be fabulous. The baked beans seemed to have a similar sauce to the pork. They were good, different than the norm, but not what I should have gotten since I had the pork. I wish I had tried the homemade green bean casserole, but I was plate sharing. Â My husband got the ribs, beans, and sweet potato casserole. The casserole was easily dessert with carmelized bits. Â His ribs had a nice pink smoke to them and tasted good. I'm a sauced rib fan and these are dry. To each their own. Our friends had the brisket, which looked rather thick cut. One friend had a cheese pototao dish (ala hash brown casserole at cracker barrel) that looked tasty. Â Also served with the meals are either rolls or cornbread. The cornbread had honey baked in. It was sweet and I enjoyed it. Cornbread purists probably would shun it. The rolls looked pretty basic.
We skipped dessert but the Boston creme pie looked yummy.
Our waitress was attentive and stayed on top of what we had gotten from the food line (oldest son decided to eat halfway through the meal after coming off car sickness from doing circles in the parking garage).
The entire meal including 2 beers excluding tip (feeding 2 adults and 2 kids) was less than $35. Parking in the garage across the street was $1. (giggling at the people who parked in no parking zones - priceless [sorry I couldn't resist. You will get towed. Just give up and park in the garage])
We will be back. Smoke is easy going  and laid back. I find it hard to eat with 2 somewhat rambunctious children. I would not hesitate to bring them here.
Great new place on the main strip in Wilmington. Â It's fairly new so they're still working all the kinks out, but I liked the place.
The decor is pretty much all comic/cartoon art themed. Â The beer list is pretty extensive. Â And the service was amazing (Ask Owner Gary for the grand tour!).
The cafeteria style BBQ was just ok. Â For the price I paid, I'm not disappointed per se, but when I think BBQ, I think great tasting, smokey flavor, etc. Â My brisket was definitely lacking in flavor and a bit tough.
The sides were amazing though. Â Sweet potato casserole by itself is enough reason to try this place.
I'd definitely go back and try it again.
Visit: Mon June 10, 2013. We were vacationing.
This business has an excellent chance of succeeding if they decide what they want to be: bar or restaurant. I think they are having trouble with that decision. They are going to proper table service soon, so the cafeteria silliness will be gone, but they really need to focus on food or bar.
The food was pretty good. The brisket had a small smoke ring, but was cut unevenly. Brisket is not pleasant when the slice is 3/4" thick. The smoked turkey was moist but did not have a smoke ring or much overall flavour. They were out of pork when we visited. The BBQ sauce was just OK. It needs more oomph. I think a traditional NC sauce should be offered as well as the typical sweet one. The sides were fine, but nothing special (we had green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and collards). Â I can't speak to the cold sides. Portions were generous.
The bar has a decent beer selection but the bartender's knowledge was weak. They need to up their training on the beers they sell.
All in all, Smoke is solid and has potential IF they focus on either bar or restaurant. As it is, it's confusing for customers to have some dude standing outside as if it's a bar but inside they are trying to be a BBQ joint. All this unfocused energy is taking away from BOTH the food and the bar. They had the music too loud for a restaurant, that's for sure.
So, Smoke, choose your focus! If I were you, I'd choose BBQ. There are plenty of bars in Wilmington, but no BBQ from what I saw. If you concentrate on being the best BBQ restaurant you can be, I think you'll spend less time worrying with finding ways to get business because you'll fill a niche and have all the business you can handle.
Best of luck!
I grew up on Texas BBQ back home. I've had everything from brisket, chicken, ribs, pork and even rabbit. This is so far the best BBQ I've had since I moved here 3 years ago. Don't be fooled by it being cafeteria-style. The food is made fresh and it's not canned food like one review said. I'm sold on the brisket and would highly recommend it. The one tip I would give anyone before trying it is to go during peak lunch or dinner hours to get the best quality out of the food.
Review Source:Smoke is a new addition to downtown Wilmington, opening on 3/15/13. I ate at Smoke yesterday for lunch when I was downtown on business, and I'm pleased to break the story on Yelp!
Smoke occupies a cavernous space at 21 N. Front Street, and it is clear that management plans to exploit the large front rooms for nightlife purposes. Once you enter, you pass through a dark and spacious bar area to get to the food - and it's all about some barbecue here at Smoke.
The menu is simple and the food is served cafeteria-style. You get in line and tell the folks what you want, and they heap it onto cafeteria trays. The menu is small, but it is extremely tight and focused. Smoke aims to give fans of all kinds of barbecue what they want; this is not a traditional North Carolina barbecue experience that you would find at Allen & Sons, Stephenson's, or Wilbur's (my three favorites in the state, in Chapel Hill, Willow Springs, and Goldsboro respectively). Here, you will find beef brisket, St. Louis style ribs, and a couple other varieties of slow-cooked/smoked meats alongside the pulled pork. Smoke also offers one rotating special type of meat, and that day it was jerk chicken, which I regret not trying (it looked goooood).
The ordering is a la carte, with a barbecue/meat item costing about 5 dollars and sides priced at 2 for $3. I believe prices are the same lunch and dinner, which makes Smoke a very affordable option for downtown. I had the beef brisket, pulled pork, slaw, and cornbread. My plate's taste was on-point. Good smoke flavor, a generous helping, and a nice twist on slaw involving golden raisins. The pulled pork is paired with a South Carolina mustard-based sauce, which seems fairly common to the area as we in Wilmington are so geographically close to our South Carolinian brothers and sisters. It had good flavor, very tender, and the sauce was well-composed.
The decor of Smoke is also exciting. It seems like a combination between a tattoo parlor and comic book shop. As a big fan of both of those art forms, that hit me right in the sweet spot. The dining area is large and set away from the ordering/serving area, so don't be afraid to bring a big group here. I am also intrigued to see what Smoke is like after dinner hours. They have 40 beers on tap and if they serve that food past midnight, they are going to make a lot of imbibers happy.
Again, Smoke is not a traditional NC barbecue experience, but I think it really fills a need in downtown Wilmington. Finally! There is a place where I can exchange a reasonable amount of money for a big old plate of smoked meat and nothing else. I'm tired of the sandwichification of lunch options everywhere, and I'm so glad Smoke is here.
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