Smoke On The Square

Usually when I am travelling, I use Unilocal as a lifesaver for meals, but in this case, there wasn’t much in Shelby to rave about. I can’t blame the people of Shelby for this as their hands have been tied for decades by blue-​laws, and religious conservatism putting a damper on all things progressive when it comes to food, beer, and lifestyle.
Smoke On The Square seemed to be the best rated place that was open this evening. Upon entering we made conversation with what I assumed was a local, and they gave us their recommendation to this place for dinner. Upon entering, the décor is a bit scattered, but the old-​town motif is definitely present, with what appeared to be a club-​like bar in the rear. Odd.
The food was good, but not great, but I can’t complain given the reasonable prices. The ladyfriend and I usually try a local specialty when travelling, so that my reviews can’t be construed as ignorant. Being from Atlanta, we are spoiled when it comes to diverse flavors, and craft beer choices. I understand that Shelby is just emerging from it’s conservative shell, so I can understand that wheels will be spun before gaining traction in the hipster road to craft everything.
The service was excellent, and the food was good, so for local people (or even lesser traveled out-​of-​towners) this place is probably a great choice. I’ll leave it at that.

Very good food! We have had the shrimp and grits, crab cakes, and meatloaf… Among other things. They were all great. They have a really good potato salad around lunch time too.
Definitely recommend!

I took a group of 7 this weekend and am embarrassed at how drastically it has gone down hill. I would say it has to be pretty close to going out of business. The server was great and everything else was horrible. 2 people ordered the same beer, yet the beers were different colors. Same thing with 2 of the drink orders. 3 of us ordered «fall off the bone» ribs that could not be chiseled off the bone. Sweet potato was hard. Rolls were like rocks. The brisket was like jerky. There are no words to explain the Mac n cheese. I’m not sure if there is new management or what, but something has definitely changed for the worse. After telling our server that all the meals were bad, she apologized and when she brought the bill, she had removed the charges for the ribs. I would assume management would have had to approve that, yet a manager never came to question or apologize. Bad business practices and terrible food. Sad to see this place fail.

I invited Thirty friends for a retirement party. Service and food was horrible! It took over four hours to eat! I will not go back.

Excellent BBQ, good smoky taste, sensible pricing, convenient parking. A do not miss place.

Very disappointing. We ordered the Brunswick Stew, which they claim is a specialty. It came to the table lukewarm at best. We both sent to back and when the waitress returned it, it was still lukewarm. Besides that, it was extremely vinegary. Our other items were strictly «okay.» We will not return.

I was served a rotten sweet potato and bland coconut crusted chicken. No comps were offered and the fries that replaced my potato had oregano on them. Who does that? The service wasn’t great either but that could be due to inexperience. Award plaques are displayed on the walls for winning BBQ competitions so perhaps I should have gone with the obvious but I didn’t and was sorely disappointed.

We ate out here last night for a belated anniversary dinner (this is typically where we go). The food was great. As always, I got the Shrimp and grits which were excellent although the number of shrimp in them was definitely much less than on all previous visits. I counted three. My wife had the ribs which were excellent, although they didn’t have much barbecue sauce on them. She asked for a little extra barbecue sauce on the side. We got charged for it. Charged for an extra small cup of barbecue sauce on a fairly expensive dinner. What’s the deal with nickel and dimeing customers?
We went to order their friend oysters as an appetizer but were informed a few minutes later that they were out of oysters. Of course, those oysters did later appear on our bill.
The food has always been good here (I’ve never had anything that I didn’t like) but the service and attitude ca be spotty. Our server was very nice, but issues that seem to stem from the restaurants culture and management seem to get in the way of the good food. I hope Smoke takes some of these customer concerns to heart as in a place like Shelby, a fairly pricey restaurant needs all the business it can get.

Horrible experience all the way around. Service was very slow, despite the waiters attempts. The restaurant was not staffed appropriately for the busy evening. We had made reservations for our group of 15. We sat for approximately 45min before we received our drinks, the food was mediocre, at best, and the manager sat in amongst all of the chaos-​without ever stepping up to assist the staff or to make any effort to apologize/​reconcile with the guests.
I was very disappointed in the experience, overall, as we had chosen this restaurant to celebrate my graduation, which had occurred just prior to our visit to Smoke on the Square. Needless to say, we will not be returning.

Had lunch here earlier this week with a couple of coworkers. I had Brunswick Stew and a BBQ pork sandwich. The Stew was great, really good flavor and the sandwich was good as well. One of the other guys had the potato soup and said it was excellent. He wasn’t much of a fan of the red slaw but said the BBQ was good too. The other guy had the stew and after eating a cup of it said he should have gotten the bowl. I’d go back and try some other food for sure.

Good food! Good service! Good location. I’m sure why more people don’t go here, compared to some restaurants around its five star dining.

Have eaten there maybe seven or eight times since they opened. Stopped going about a year ago until my recent visit. I agree with Erin W.‘s review from 2009 but things have gone downhill a bit in the last couple of years. We noticed some changes in the quality of the food. Mostly we noticed a change in the servers. The servers and their brusqueness definitely detract from the atmosphere. One time we even had a waitress become argumentative with a friend of ours whether a roll was fresh or not. We went for wings last week and we felt like the waitstaff thought we were an annoyance and that we were being cheap. The wings were still good; I like that they are smoked. They do have decent food and a good selection of beers. Very happy to see Turbodog on the menu. Anyway, try it at least once and judge for yourself.

very helpful staff, out waiter was there (without hovering) there were two of us, I had ribs which werent good at all. they were cooked nicely and the sauce was tasty but the basic rib itself wasnt a good cut. The red beans and rice are a nice alternative to the ppotato or the fried stuff. someone paid attention to the red beans and rice as it came out perfect. The other diner had a filet that was an excellent pick in that it started out as a great piece of meat and was cooked perfectly. Its a nice looking place, you can chat without having to listen to others. I would be a 4 star review if it werent for the not so good ribs

First time here and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. At first I was a bit skeptical since it had no reviews here on Unilocal,but I would recommend this establishment to anyone. The location is very nice in down town Shelby and it had a cool ambiance. I ordered the Smoke BBQ salad, and it came served with a generous portion of pulled pork on top of baby mixed salad greens and a side of a southwest flavored dressing. Mixed in the salad were some tasty thin onion rings. You can’t go wrong with «Smoke on the Square!

If you dine in Shelby frequently you know it isn’t much of a culinary hot spot. I often complain that Shelby has no decent restaurants but Smoke On the Square is about as good as «nice but casual» gets in Shelby. It’s new and is in the place 5 East used to be. The atmosphere could stand a bit more décor but the food is tasty, staff is friendly, and service is quick. It’s inexpensive too, 7 people ate at lunch for 60 some dollars. The sweet pot/​corn soup is great, as well as the brisket (although thick for some peoples taste). If you prefer more of the diner style they have a great burger topped with bbq, slaw, and onion. Overall, it’s a great friendly neighborhood place in downtown Shelby. Give it a try!