4 Rivers Smokehouse

My only complaint is they close too early. This place is great, not sure why it has low ratings on Unilocal but I’ll do my pet to fix that

I am from Maryland, a place where most people from Gainesville would consider «the North». So I’m no expert on barbeque. However, I was pretty unimpressed with 4Rivers. I felt the burnt ends were mediocre. The sauce was fine. I enjoyed the cheese grits and baked beans, as well as them having Cheerwine on tap. The service is friendly and efficient, which is much appreciated. I guess I was expecting something better, but I was not impressed by the BBQ here.

I stopped eating here because I only like the brisket, and it was often too salty. I tried it again today and it was once again, very salty. It’s like they use a dry rub made of salty salt with a touch of salt and some additional salt added… and nothing else. Yuck.
I will NOT be wasting anymore money here.

This place was amazing! Such a great place for bbq, definitely a go to for a grubbin.

What happened to the Sweet Shoppe?!? Cupcake size shrunk in half, same price.
Also selection is down to 2 – 3 flavors.
Highly disappointed

Getting more and more disappointed as the business grows, meaning the decline in quality and service. Ordered a brisket quesadilla today and three of the four slices were entirely fat/​gristle… and smoke flavoring was overdone. My first visit to 4R was in Winter Park ~ the smoke was not that heavy/​prominent there. And in my previous visit, ordered fried pickles, which were half raw, and took 10 minutes to get them. Too bad.

I had a great time eating here. They just give you hearty, medieval-​King-​sized portions of meat on your tray and there are a lot of sides to choose from! I got the creamy macaroni and Texas style cornbread which was dee-​lish (delicious).
They also have a dang bakery in the corner for delectable after meal dessert options. This place has successfully identified my life’s priorities in one setting: meats and cupcakes.
Also they have BARREL SINKS outside so you can wash your hands! For when you’re done eating!
What a time to be alive.

Lunch today .
Brisket dinner .
Perfect. Sides of Cole Slaw, jalapeño s, green beans also perfect.
Friendly staff.
Clean place to include rest rooms.

Meh. I’ve experienced better. I sure have and I sure do cook better too. Being a man with 4 smokers on my back porch/​outdoor kitchen. I believe I might just know a thing or two about good Q. I really don’t know why I came here to eat. We are working not far from here and everyone says it is so good. All I can figure is most folks here just don’t know good Q. I walked in today for the lack of a better place to eat in the area. Just give it a try maybe it will be good. I stared at the menu trying to think of what is the least likely to be screwed up. Then I guess I had a bunch of money burning a hole in my pants cause I ordered the pit master combo. That’s 4 meats and 2 sides. Ok the sides were the mac n cheese that would have been better if the box that they came out of said Kraft on it. The beans were so bad That I couldn’t finish the one bite that I stuck in my head. That took talent to make them that bad. Flavored by dirty dish water or something. Ok the meats on this platter. First I got a scoop of this n that. The chicken was dried out so bad sauce couldn’t help it. The pork which is normally hard to over cook. Well they figured that one out with no problem. The brisket was the shining grace of this whole meal. It was moist and tender but probably saw the inside of an oven instead of a smoker. Oh yea the ribs. They were on this platter also. First off they should have let the pig grow up past 25lbs. They were very small and thinner then a Victoria Secret model. Dried out… yepper. The whole platter of bbq meats here had nil to no smoke flavor. I mean liquid smoke would have gone a long way for their food. If the poor quality of the food wasn’t bad enough I was out 25.00 to boot. If it wasn’t for the sweet shop I would have been really pissed at myself for stopping in. Cause you can bet your sweet hinny I won’t do this again. Sorry John

Sad about the decline here.
We used to rate 4 Rivers as best brisket (moist with extra bark and lean), best burnt ends, best wings and best prime rib around (in some cases even relative to states with BBQ powerhouses like Chicago and Tennessee). We used to get takeout from 4 Rivers at least once a week.
Sadly, something ‘happened to management’ and the place hasn’t been the same for 2 months or so. The past few times we’ve had brisket, it’s been sad and dry, the burnt ends are kind of bad and the wings are tiny and sad. Today, when we brought this up with someone on the line, they just said, «I know — we had a management change and now everyone is saying the same thing».
Come on 4 Rivers — you were awesome! Get it together!

Usually I like my meat moist (dripping with spicy sauce). Occasionally I’ll eat it lean (to feel more healthy). Either way I end up thoroughly stuffed.
Just to clarify, I’m talking about angus brisket, it’s my favorite. I fell in love with this meat at Emerson Alumni Hall on game days. Good times. Anyway, looking forward to them opening one up in my current town of Coral Springs so I don’t have to drive 5 (long) hours to get my meat fix. Oh, I like a little something on the sides, too. Ok, I don’t know how to finish this review. (the end)

Great BBQ for sure. Really don’t need sauce for the meats so that’s saying something. Many sides to choose from. I got the sliders with pulled pork, brisket, and burnt ends with French fries and banana foster bread pudding. All the meats were great but the brisket is the best. Banana foster bread pudding was Amazing! The only reason why I gave 4 stars was because of the price. My meal was around $ 13 with a drink. Great food, great atmosphere and friendly associates.

I am very critical of the way a BBQ restaurant does their smoked turkey. 4 Rivers does it right. The turkey wasn’t dry or crusty, and had just the right amount of smoke that I could’ve eaten it without a sauce at all. But, I have to try sauces, so I did. They were delicious singly, but I found that I needed to mix the hot with the mild to get exactly what I wanted. That’s not a big deal though, different strokes and all.
The sides were delicious but the collards were not as amazing as I’ve had other places here while visiting Gainesville. However, they were still pretty delicious and no complaints. The sweet potato casserole was exactly as it should be, both a side and a dessert.
I wish I’d had room to try from the sweet shop but perhaps next time as I will definitely be visiting again.

BBQ isn’t a chore to find in North and Central Florida. On the other hand, good BBQ is. Many of the shacks in the region offer fair BBQ, at best. Meanwhile, 4 Rivers — and their nearly dozen locations now in Florida — seem to raise the bar by cooking quality BBQ and dishing it out in a fun, upbeat and inviting atmosphere.
I’d put this place at par with On Q near Dade City and Hungry Harry’s (North of Tampa). Only Ellie Lou’s Brews & BBQ is better within 100 miles of here. There’s nothing in Gainesville that tops this. Sadly, some complain about the price. Those who do obviously don’t understand the cost of quality BBQ and good meat these days. For what you get and the size of portions value is fair.
When you come during peak lunch and dinner hours be prepared to be patient. Table service isn’t available. At times, the line can extend out the door. When it does expect a 15-​minute wait. This is what happens when quality BBQ is available. Shouldn’t that be a good sign?
As for what to order, we tend to gravitate toward trying two meats (you can order one meat and add another for $ 2.99). Normally, we order the Smokehouse Turkey, Pulled Chicken or Southern Pulled Pork along with the Signature Angus Brisket. While one meat is good. Two is better. I’d recommend trying a different meat each time so you gain a perspective for all of them. The half smoked chicken is very good. It tends to have a crisp skin and juicy inside.
These dinners include three sides and a biscuit (which is average) and fortunately there’s a pile of them to choose from. all are fair. None are incredible. They are served cafeteria style.

Great place for fast casual BBQ. They have good BBQ with awesome sides. Mac& cheese, greens, baked beans, bacon wrapped smoked jalapeño poppers… All awesome.
You can’t go wrong with the sliders, the brisket is great, pulled pork is great.
ENJOY!

2.5 stars
Fast casual dining similar to chipotle style of ordering except with BBQ. This location has a lot of work that needs to be done with customer service. It’s totally hit or miss on how friendly and helpful the person is that’s taking care of you. If this was 4Rivers first location it probably wouldn’t of grown into the small empire it has.
A very important tip: when ordering the brisket make sure you tell them you want the «Moist Brisket» didn’t know this my first time when I got horrible dry pieces and couldn’t figure out why people talked so much about this place. It’s like night and day from the moist brisket to just ordering the brisket.
Service: hit or miss. Either really friendly and helpful or wow rude restless bitch face syndrome and poor attitude coming your way. If you want something tell them. Because they seemed to not want to go out of the way to give you what your paying for. Put your foot down and you will get what you want. Sad you have to do this.
The food is decent: not the best I ever had for BBQ but not bad. Sides are decent too unless you get the bottom of the pan which is pretty often in this location. They really need to be on top of filling up their stations.
Coke products: with refillable stations to help yourself and iced tea fresh brewed sweet and unsweetened. Plus many other bottles of sodas.
Sweet shop: Leave a little room. 4rivers has a wonderful bakery with beautiful desserts and sweets. They offer lots of cup cakes and cakes plus other stuff for the sweet tooth.

Checked out 4 Rivers while in town for the weekend.
The line was out the door, but moved very quickly, and the smell coming from inside the restaurant kept me company while waiting.
We were a party of 5 and everyone loved their food. Boneless rib sandwich, pulled chicken, pulled pork, and brisket were all perfectly cooked and delicious.
There are so many wonderful sides to choose from. The biscuit, corn bread, sweet potato, mac and cheese, and beans were all delicious.
The servings are huge and the platters come with 4 sides, so come with a good appetite and feel free to split a meal with someone else.

Chipotle-​style (ordering) BBQ food. Sounds like a great idea. And apparently many people agree, because I’m not exaggerating when I say I think ALL of Gainesville was here.
So, what I’m saying is, get ready for long lines. The selection was pretty decent with quite the variety of BBQ plates. I love quesadillas so I ordered just that. However, after ordering and paying, I had to wait quite some time for it to arrive. And when it finally did (I was starving!), I was a bit disappointed. It was too sweet. It wasn’t really terrible, but it wasn’t wonderful. After waiting so long, I expected wonderful, so you can imagine my disappointment.
My order came with two sides — I decided to get fries and mac & cheese. The fries were stale and definitely not fresh. However, the mac & cheese was fantastic. Warm, fresh, cheesy, and perfect.
I think the prices are spot-​on for the amount of food you get (given you like it). However, I don’t think it’s worth making long lines and waiting an eternity for. It’s just alright.

Bottom line is — it’s fun. You’d be missing out if you go alone.
The southern flair is great and the layout of the dining tables is very informal and inviting. You feel like there’s a simplicity akin to Chipotle, but then there’s a lot more going on.
I tried the souther pulled pork, but I’m excited to go back and try the infamous Messy Pig.
Currently my favorite spot for fat injections.

4 Rivers was neither the most amazing nor the worst BBQ I’ve had in my life. I didn’t realize until I entered the line to order that this place is essentially the Chipotle of BBQ (quick service restaurant style). The line was out the door so I decided to give it a try.
I ordered the pulled pork sandwich. The sandwiches come with two sides (from a good selection of options.) I ordered BBQ beans and fries. I could have tried a more adventurous side like sweet potato casserole, greens, fried okra, or slaw, but I saw the fries were the big crinkle cut (my fav) so I was in for those.
The pork sandwich was the best part of the meal. The pork was smokey and not overly sauced so you could enjoy the flavor of the pork. There were two sauces at the communal style tables (one spicy, one standard), but both were very sweet.
The BBQ beans were excessively sweet. They were definitely not vegetarian with little strands of meat floating about, but this place probably isn’t your jam if you are looking for veg options. I probably wouldn’t order them again.
The fries were A-​Okay but it’s hard to mess that up.
This place also has a huge sweet shop. I was only okay with my dinner so I opted out of ordering any dessert.