Smithfield’s Chicken ‘n Bar-B-Q

Smithfield’s offers some of the best BBQ and fried chicken in Greensboro. I’ve been a fan of Smithfield’s BBQ for a long time. I love their Eastern style ‘Q which is a little spicier and is shredded into larger pieces than the other local joints. The fried chicken is far better than what you’ll find at the national chains and you’ll get a generous serving. The Brunswick stew is good, but not my favorite. Make sure you get plenty of refills on your iced tea!
If you haven’t tried Smithfield’s, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Everything is delicious here! I especially love their Brunswick Stew. Hearty portion and super flavorful

What a great, reliable place to stop for lunch along a trip to Raleigh. Prompt, friendly service, great food, and the gal refilling everyone’s tea is a winner. I loved her genuine friendly, can-​do attitude. I want to hire her.

(3) ~ A-​OK overall food & service…
DRINKS:
**Sweet Tea = (4) very good
SIDES:
**Brunswick Stew = (4) very good
* Potato Salad = (3.5) good
* Hush Puppies = (3.25) pretty good
MEATS:
* Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwich w. Coleslaw = (3.75) Good… better with the vinegar based sauce:)
* Fried Chicken (dark) = (3) ok… kinda old tasting & needed some spice/​seasoning…
DESSERTS:
* Banana Pudding = (2) meh… artificial tasting and NO bananas?!

my mom got a soggy sandwich and had to ask for a new one, they obliged. but still. Do better

I like Smithfield’s barbecue, and I like their chicken even more. Over the years, I’ve probably eaten at ²⁄₃ of their 36 or so location, and actually ate fairly often at the original Mom & Pop location in downtown Smithfield, and even more often at their 3^rd or 4^th location in Clayton.
I’m not trying to say the pork barbecue is the same, or is as good, as at the original location, but it is solid and consistent, with a very nice Eastern BBQ vinegar hook in the taste, and the fried chicken is excellent, at least for my taste — nice crust, and a touch of grease. The slaw is not a favorite, it is really loaded with sugar, does not marry well with the pig, but sometimes I buy it, and «doctor» it.
They don’t cook over hardwood coals, and they don’t hand chop the meat, it is more the «pulled pork» variety, though not as rope like and stringy as some, like Prissy Polly’s in Kernersville. I’ve never understood the fascination with the term «pulled pork», but I guess it is another effort to confuse the ignorant, the uninitiated, into believing somehow this is better — like «All Natural», «Organic», «Small Plates», and the most BS of all, «Farm To Table». But, I digress, yet again.
Picked up all the usual suspects — Dark Meat Chicken Snack with FFs, Pint of BBQ, Some Slaw, and a first — A Chicken Tender Sandwich. The BBQ, Fried Chicken, and FFs were very good, the slaw was sweet (even after being drained and doctored), but the Chicken Tender Sandwich was amazing — without a doubt the best Chicken Tenders I’ve tasted — large slabs of breast meat, well breaded, perfectly cooked, throw on some mayo, a little salt and pepper, and dance, dance, dance!
Oh yeah, we’ll be back.

I don’t get to go to a Smithfields unless I am visiting back home in NC. In fact, this franchise has location only in NC. They have around 35 locations throughout the great state but for some reason they haven’t ventured out of NC yet. They have a loyal following mostly because the food is great and the service even better. Those that don’t know the rich history of Barbeque in NC should know there is an eastern style and a western style of pork barbeque in NC. Easter style has a vinegar based sauce and western style has a tomato base sauce. While Smithfields specializes in the eastern style of barbeque the selection of sauces is sure to satisfy both barbeque lovers. It turned me into a eastern style of barbeque because the pork is so succulent. In fact, order a chopped barbeque sandwich and don’t put any sauce on it. You will love it plain. I haven’t even mentioned the southern slaw or chicken, but all I can say about it is DAAAAAANG!!! it’s yummy too.

I’ve been to several Smithfield’s locations but had not visisted this one before yesterday. The staff was so friendly it was almost annoying. Met a friend for lunch that I hadn’t seen in a while and we were trying to have a conversation but someone came to our booth every five minutes asking if everything was okay and did we need anything. We told you no the last ten times you came by! The hushpuppies, fries and baked beans were very good but the bbq was a bit dry and didn’t have any bark, which is my favorite part. Next time I will try the chicken. Looked really good coming out of the kitchen.

This was my first visit. I ordered the barbeque chicken thighs. They were tender and juicy but the sauce has a little too much vinegar for my taste. Not my favourite NC barbeque joint but okay for a quick meal.

Becoming my favorite place for chicken and will stop by anytime we are in the area. Place is kept very cleanand staff is very hospitable. I also like their sweet tea and banana pudding. I love that they give my two year old a balloon too

BEWARE OF BAD TEA AND DRINKS: First, this review is predominantly for their sweet tea — which is horrible!!!
Is it stupid to focus a review on tea? Typically, I would say yes — a review shouldn’t be about the tea. But… This is Smithfields!!! A southern, fattening, barbecue food restaurant known for their pork barbecue, fried chicken, fries, hush puppies, stew and… sweet tea of course! Plus, I’m a passenger in the car without much else to do other than vent to the Unilocalverse.
So what makes sweet tea «horrible» you ask… It could be overly steeped (tasting like you’re sucking on a wet tea bag), under– or over-​sweetened, or maybe it tastes like nasty metal. In this case, it was over-​steeped, AND TASTED LIKE METAL AND MINERALS. Barf!!!
I was on a long drive and was craving some sweet tea — which I try not to drink too often (liquid calories galore). So, we pulled over and ordered a sweet tea and some stew in the drive through (TIP: stew is always buy one pint get one for a dollar.)
I get back on the road with my much anticipated tea and it was SO bad and I was so annoyed, I turned around and went back in to get a new one and to politely tell them that last batch was not good. They gave me a new one (different pitcher/​fresh batch) and it was exactly the same. Barf!
I used to wait tables and this happens for one of two reasons — in this case I suspect it’s mostly their water source.
First, they used unfiltered water. I watched them make more tea and they used water from the hand washing sink behind the register. Ewww. How do I know it was tea? Because I watched a waitress ladle it into a tea pitcher.
Secondly, if restaurants don’t properly clean the metal canisters most people make tea in (which I can’t say is the case here, because I didn’t see any), they get a filthy brown permanent grime with a nasty taste to it.
Net, their tea was NARSTY! (Yes, so nasty it is worthy of an «R» in there.) Blech! I have eaten here before and suspect it may be in part due to their over mineralized (tasted like iron/​metal) and un/​improperly filtered water because even their diet Coke was weird.
So… I am calling them out for bad tea. Tsk tsk! Shame on you Smithfields! As for the food, it was good — it wouldn’t be fair to give them one star for bad drinks, the food is decent after all.
Hopefully this quirky review was informative and/​or entertaining… You’ve been warned. Eat but don’t drink and drive from here. :)

We eat here at least once a week. Always satisfying and not just the bbq. When u do get bbq… always get some rib sauce… it’s the best part. Vinegary with a kick. Good on everything.
I go back and forth between bbq and the chicken tenders… man. Those things are huge, hand breaded, and delicious. Nothing is over priced at all… 6.99 for a sandwich combo. Service is fast, everyone is friendly, and it’s always tasty. Definitely one of our favorites.

Not that I expect a BBQ joint to be a place for healthy eating, this place is just so not healthy eating. Salty pork, fried chicken, and sides loaded with mayo. Worse still, it’s just not good.

Found myself in the mood for some barbeque and decided to try Smithfield’s for some Eastern-​style instead of heading to Lexington and this place seems to get good reviews but after eating here not exactly sure why. I had the sandwich with no slaw because i’m just not a slaw fan in general. The sandwich fries and drink came to just over $ 7 which is a pretty good deal.
The fries were skinny like McDonalds but really long and were slightly undercooked but not greasy and that’s exactly the way i like them. I added a small pack of S&P and they were perfect. I would come back just for the fries.
The tea was a bit funky tasting and possibly a bit spoiled so that got poured out the window.
The sandwich almost followed it. The meat was really dry and seemed to be just pork shoulder and not whole hog as is traditional in Eastern NC. There was zero hint of smoke flavor so I believe it was probably cooked in an oven or electric cooker. The only thing that kept the sandwich in the car was the wonderful sauce on it. Typical Eastern style sauce that was equal parts vinegary, sweet and spicy. It would have made the paper bag the sandwich came in tasty.
Come think of it, the perfect meal from here would be the fries doused in the BBQ sauce. I can’t say I would go back for the BBQ, but i might check out the chicken and get some more fries.

The global warming problem just got a little better because I no longer have to drive to Mebane to get Smithfield’s great fried chicken and wonderful eastern BBQ.
Dinner tonight was a dark meat combo platter with coleslaw, baked beans, and hush puppies for me and a BBQ platter with the same sides for my wife. Everything was tasty, but the hush puppies and the fried chicken stood out. After finishing the platters, we were tempted to try a few more dishes but decided to wait for another visit.
Smithfield’s has great prices and even better service. The staff checked on us several times, offering to refill drinks on each visit. When they weren’t running food or checking on customers, they were cleaning and restocking tables.
We’ll be back – a lot.

One of my top 3 favorite places for BBQ, definitely my favorite in Greensboro, so glad they now have a place here. Super friendly staff & a nice new building. The BBQ is not a minced mush like others, you get nice pieces of pulled pork you can recognize with a slight vinegar twang to it. Be sure to check out the sauce they make, it’s a sweet vinegar based sauce that goes good on the BBQ, but even better on the huge chicken tenders they have, the tenders are some of the best, big juicy tenders with a crispy crunchy crust, but not too heavy, it’s like they cut a chicken breast in half to make 2 tenders. You can’t beat the fried chicken either, good crispy skin & juicy meat. I would put Smithfield chicken up against Bo & The Colonel or any other chicken chain any day. The baked beans are crazy good also, they have a hint of bbq sauce to them & you find pieces of bbq in there too. For BBQ & Chicken this is the place to be.

Last 2 times they screwed up my order.
Ordered and paid for combo but did not get combo. Paid for combo — got it in drive thru and so it’s too far to go back. Will think twice about going again.

Being a fan of Eastern style over the «other stuff,» I was excited to hear from fellow Unilocalers that Greensboro now has this chain. While there are better BBQ places down east, this one is a great addition to the area. I have only eaten at the Smithfield and Clayton locations before until now.
It did not dissapoint. The regular BBQ platter was very consistent with the other locations so it actually felt like I was down east somewhere. It was also enough food as I left satisfied. Didnt need the larger platter. It is typical eastern style with the vinegar sauce. The slaw is mayo and not the vinegar stuff like at Stameys. While I am not a fan of slaw, this is part of the plate. The puppies were ok. Maybe the only downfall to the sides. A tad dry but I have had worse. I have only eaten the BBQ with the sides so I cant speak for the chicken, etc.
I was VERY happy to hear about this opening and I can leave the other BBQ locations in Greensboro to rot as they have nothing on this. Sorry Country BBQ, I must now say goodbye to you. And as for Stameys, you were never on my list.

Ever since Smithfield’s announced, via Facebook, that one of its restaurants would be opening in Greensboro, I’ve been waiting… and waiting. Some four or five years after the announcement, the Greensboro Smithfield’s has now opened! (Just so you know: Smithfield’s Chicken & Bar-​B-​Q is NOT connected to Smithfield Foods, the huge pork processor recently acquired by a Chinese corporation.)
The restaurant building is an open, light, and modern space, quite a bit more upscale than older Smithfield’s buildings in eastern North Carolina (according to an employee, this style will be the model for all future Smithfield’s stores). Customers order at the counter off a menu board, and servers bring the food, along with drink refills, to the table.
If you know the Smithfield’s brand, then you know the food is prepared in-​house and is served very fresh; the Greensboro location doesn’t disappoint in this. The barbecue is a competent version of the vinegary and peppery eastern North Carolina style, served alongside mayo-​based, slightly sweet cole slaw. My favorite meats, though, are the excellent fried chicken and the chicken tenders (!). Smithfield’s uses a meaty bird cooked under pressure, maintaining a moist interior with a lightly seasoned, crispy exterior. As for the chicken tenders, banish your ideas about frozen chicken tenders; Smithfield’s are huge, hand sliced and hand breaded, tender, juicy, and delicious. The popcorn shrimp, cooked to order, is decent, but not unlike popcorn shrimp everywhere else. Skip the barbecued chicken: trust me… bleh! The sweet tea is sweet enough to put an average person into a diabetic coma, so you may want to request your sweet tea be cut with some of the unsweet variety.
Platters are served with slaw and potato salad, though you may substitute fries (cooked to order), baked beans, or Brunswick stew for any of the standard side items. (For a special treat, ask for a (complimentary) cup of «rib sauce» for your barbecue or chicken tenders: the sauce is not listed on the menu, but it is delicious!)
The prices are quite reasonable, with the most expensive item being the huge combination platter of two meats with two sides and hushpuppies running just under $ 10. (The «value pack,» comprised of a BBQ sandwich, fries, and tea, runs about $ 6.50.)
My only complaint, besides the horrid BBQ chicken, is the strong odor in the restaurant from the fryers; the smell will linger in your hair and on your clothes for several hours after you dine in the restaurant. (Also, Smithfield’s should consider offering macaroni-​and-​cheese as a side item! It would be a perfect fit.)
Say goodbye to Stamey’s and the bland, minced, mediocre mess they call barbecue, and hello to the flavorful deliciousness of Smithfield’s!

Its finally here!!! Smithfields has a small menu compared to other restaurants, but everything they offer is great. Seriously, theres not a bad thing on the menu…
Smithfield’s chicken is the gold standard against which all other fried chicken should be judged. The meat is very juicy, and the coating on the skin is a little thicker and crispier than you may be used to. definately worth the trip just to get the chicken.
The pork barbecue is eastern style, meaning that its prepared in a vinegar based sauce with just a hint of heat. Eastern Style BBQ is somewhat of a rarity here in the center of the state where «Lexington Style» is more prevelant. Unlike Lexington style BBQ, the meat is not swimming in sauce, its moist, but not «wet». they offer extra vinegar sauce at the table if you want a little more flavor and heat.
They offer fried shrimp as well, and its very good. this is my daughters «go to» item when she eats here. the breading is good, and I was happy with the firmness of the shrimp.
After the main course offerings, they offer a few sides like Brunswick stew, cole slaw, potato salad, french fries, and baked beans. All of these items are good, but not extraordinary like the main dishes. This is typical with most BBQ restaurants though
In closing, GO! go now!!! get a combo platter with BBQ and fried chicken. these are two great tastes that really go well together, and Im suprised more restaurants dont offer it. The eating area itself is very open and airy, and its a comfortable place to eat your meal.
P. S. how many times do i have to visit this restaurant before they name a booth after me?