Smokey’s Pit Stop

There are few times I’m disappointed in BBQ, however today is one of them. I have not visited smokey’s (or lack there of) in a long while. I remember why now. No smoke flavor in the brisket dry and flavorless. The BBQ buffet or better yet the bbq «meat gallows» is a depressing visual display of what good ol’ Texas BBQ should be (if you don’t believe me just look at the picture) especially for $ 13 a pop. Although they have stuck around for quite a number of years, that’s all they have been doing… Sticking around. No heart, passion, or branding inside this building. I predict soon they will find themselves in a tough position when El Paso has a couple of legitimate central Texas style BBQ joints end up in the Texas monthly. Sorry smokey’s… Well at least you have a bar.

This is my favorite of all the Smokey’s. Great place to meet friends for a beer. The beans and rice is excellent!

If I could leave zero stars I would. Talk about disappointment to the millionth degree. Store bought queso, Mac and cheese and potato salad. Weird textured turkey. Employees that are mute. The only good thing was the sauce. Save your $ and taste buds. Go to Rudy’s.

Oh my! Boy have times changed here. I remember craving the brisket sandwich or burrito. Can’t say how many times my family and I have continued coming back thinking «this time it will be better». That’s it. We’ve learned the hard way. All I’m going to say is that this last time (ever) I got 2 burritos, queso, and a pound of brisket to go. Took about 30 minutes. No one was in there but ok whatever. Got home, bag was completely drenched in grease. Still proceeded to open my warm burrito and OMG! Was 98% full of huge pieces of fat and what looked like uncooked beef!!! Done done done! Go to Rudy’s! At least they greet you and thank you for your business unlike Smokeys’ rude staff.

Sides arrived ice cold. Meaning they were not being stored at the proper temperature, which is a health code violation. The food itself is nothing special and the BBQ sauce is decent at best. I have had better BBQ in airports. Staff seemed more interested in gossiping than serving customers. This place basically only exists to supplement the bar next door, the food is an after thought and it shows. For a place called Smokey’s, the BBQ doesn’t even have much smoke flavor.

This is a solid 2.5 star. I couldn’t bring myself to a 2 star forced by Unilocal.
The potato salad was ok, the mac n’ cheese could have been flour and water… Kraft’s version is way better if that says anything. The brisket sandwich was loaded with meat, but it wasn’t anything special, although there was a ton of mustard on the bun which overpowered anything else on the sandwich. Prices weren’t too bad, but could be better. Looking at the buffet bar I couldn’t see any reason to get it.
Overall, you need a draw… great price, huge portions, awesome flavor… something. This place falls flat on every possible point. If they don’t do something radical, I predict they will be out of business within 2 years tops.

Haven’t tried the bar, but I found a coupon for $ 1 off the buffet at Smokey’s (got it at Sport Clips if you want one) so I decided to check it out.
The buffet has brisket, beef ribs, sausage, chicken (bone and chopped), turkey, mac & cheese, and salads. The turkey is by far the best meat available from this bunch, it is remarkably juicy, albeit a bit salty. The beef ribs are also solid, but its a lunch buffet and I find ribs too messy for lunch. The brisket is average, and unfortunately the sausage is mediocre.
Flavor-​wise, all the meats average out to about 3 stars, I found all of them to be too salty for my taste and unfortunately their BBQ sauce doesn’t have the right flavor to balance out the salty taste. Still a good value for about $ 10.
WARNING: Buffet available from 11am to 2pm only, but restaurant and bar is open the rest of the day.