Smokey’s Bar-B-Que

We ordered ribs, mac n cheese, beans and pulled pork sandwich. The ribs were off the bone incredible. Perfect amount of smoke flavor and not too saucy. The mac n cheese was creamy and flavorful. The beans could have been a main dish they were so good. Bits of shredded pork mixed with at least 2 kinds of beans. The pulled pork sandwich was fine. The meat on the sandwich was very good. We will return to the Ellensburg location again when we travel across the state again.

Unique atmosphere and nice staff (reason it got 3 vice 1). Food was average on flavor. All the meat entrees were lukewarm at best. Overall pricey for the quality and quantity. Probably won’t consider visiting again (based on price)… Lots of great reviews… Mine just couldn’t be one of them … I would simply leave it as «ok». Our experience pretty much matches the other low end reviews. Glad others had a 5 star meal.
Ps: watch out for 15% compulsory tip regardless of how well served. Only one bathroom, expect a long line!

We came in with a large party of 12 after graduation. They were really friendly and seated us in the back room all to ourselves. That was great. But to order we all had to go to the front counter and place our orders. With other people coming in to eat during that same time it split up our orders and they brought our food to us at different times. some of us did not get their order until after the rest had finished eating. I think with a larger party they should take our orders at the table and bring it out as close together as possible so we can all eat together.
I ordered the train wreck with bratwurst. It wasn’t hot and I didn’t really like my cornbread under everything. Even though they told me it would be that way, I decided to give it a try. I didn’t like it. I didn’t really care for their bbq flavor… thought it should be more «Smokey» again, that’s just me.
Loved the train depot feel and we had a fun time. They were friendly and food came out fairly quickly, if not together.
Be aware that they add 15% gratuity at time of ordering. So you don’t get a choice how you like the service!

The location and building are neat and the staff are nice, but that is not enough to get me back in the door.
I love pulled pork sandwiches and was excited to try Smokey’s, but must say I was really disappointed. Starting with the super slow line to order, I think they have too many sides and some need to be explained so the line moves really slow. The food did come out fairly quickly, but the sandwich was pretty dry and didn’t have much meat on it. Add a run of the mill bun and you get a mediocre sandwich for the price of a high end one. I did get cornbread with it, which was good.
I really wanted to like this place as I drive by all the time, but probably will not go back.

The ribs here are the best ribs I have ever had and the service was amazing. The caramel shake was great and the lady was so nice she even gave us a free ice cream. Overall I would recommend this to everyone in the area

A bit hard to find but worth it. In the old train station with lots of old train pictures and memorabilia. Very good BBQ ribs, corn bread and potato salad. Fun lunch.

Awesome bbq. Got the trainwreck. It was a mountain of food. Base layer of cornbread with baked beans over it. I got the 2 meat, pulled pork and brisket. Topped with an amazing cole slaw and bbq sauce. Loved it! A couple of beers on tap would have been great. The bottle selection was just ok.

Great food, I came from SWFL where there is some pretty good southern BBQ and this place didn’t disappoint. I had the pulled pork with Mac and cheese and baked beans. The baked beans weren’t my cup of tea but the rest was great.
Give it a try!

Great BBQ! We were coming back from Chelan and wanted some BBQ. This was the only place open on Sunday. It was a little bit of a drive in town but completely worth it! The mac & Cheese, BBQ Beans and Short Ribs were amazing!

I am at the just opened today, Smokey’s in Ellensburg.
Brisket sandwich for lunch, OMG! ! And the friendly staff is great too. Worth the drive.

Date of service: April 25, 2015
Meal: Lunch, dine in
All Ratings out of 10:
Quality of food: 8
Food to Spend Value: 7
Quality of Service: 8
Overall Rating: 8
I commiserate quite regularly about the lack of decent BBQ in the Pacific NW. What I have found is that you can find it, but you many times have to go off the beaten path. I was taking a family trip to the Yakima Valley from Seattle and was hankering for some lunch as we got over the mountains, and Unilocal led me to Smokey’s BBQ. It sounded good so we decided to see how it measured up.
If I hadn’t found this on Unilocal I don’t believe I ever would have. It is definitely off the beaten path, and that is saying something for a small town like Cle Elum. After winding out of town through residential streets we finally found it. It is a restaurant paired with a train museum, which serves as a fun distraction while waiting on the food you ordered. The restaurant itself is situated inside a vintage train depot, giving it a really nice ambiance.
But of course I went to a BBQ place to try the BBQ, and they have quite the menu. I tend to measure a BBQ place by its brisket and its ribs, and this day I was in the mood for ribs. I ordered a full rack of their St. Louis Style baby back ribs (which they claim are award winning) with a side of mac and cheese and BBQ beans, and let me tell you, this was some rack of ribs. Not only was it huge as a full rack should be, but the ribs were meaty, smoky, tender, juicy, and oh so delicious. The BBQ sauce also had a nice tang to it and complemented the ribs perfectly. The mac and cheese was very creamy with an amazing flavor, and the beans were also quite delicious. It was also obvious that the sides were homemade. Needless to say I was satisfied.
The ambiance really makes for a pleasant dining experience. The museum is fun and a pleasant distraction for kids, and the service was down to earth and fairly fast. One other thing to note is that kids get free ice cream at the end of their meal, and they get to pick from a variety of flavors and have it fresh scooped old fashioned style. Smokey’s is not the best BBQ I have had, but it is one of the best I have had in the PNW so far. I definitely plan on dropping by again when taking the route on I-​90 to or from Seattle, and you should definitely do the same and get your BBQ fix.

I love the atmosphere on the patio, sitting on a restored train depot and looking at the trees while you eat is amazing. The food is delicious, the staff is friendly, and the desserts are worth making the extra room for.
We ordered the chicken BBQ sandwich, the brisket BBQ sandwich, coleslaw, chili, cornbread, and mac ‘n cheese; the chicken was a little bit dry (I suspect because it was the end of the day), but the sauce more than made up for it. We ended up taking bread pudding to go because we were stuffed, but it was fantastic when we ate it later. :)
I wasn’t sure what to expect due to the different experiences other Unilocalers had before with this place, but… FWIW our food arrived quickly, was hot when it got there, and our drinks got refilled multiple times. Nothing was burned, and the portions were big enough that we were both very full before completely finishing everything. Not sure if previous experiences were due to slow days or lazy servers? Our experience was excellent.

I’m still enjoying my meal in this restaurant as I am writing this review. I did NOT wanna pass up the chance to speak my mind. I ordered the 2 meat combo. I asked for recommendations on the meat. The 2 friendly ladies at the counter were happy to suggest the pork ribs and pulled pork. Holy PIG!!! It was yummy! The service is wonderful and the location is beautiful. There is Horse parking under the trees if you are on a ride on the trails. The plate is plentiful for me, I will share the wealth with my husband. We are vacationing from San Jose, Ca. Our first time here, amazing and beautiful town! We will be returning with the kids.

A very cool spot with an old fashioned vibe, but the food was not anything special.
The pork meat was fatty and my pulled pork was lukewarm. Service was good overall except they didn’t refill drinks. The staff is what made this place nice, as well as the cool railway museum vibe. I enjoyed looking at the history of the place while waiting for the food.

One of the best Bar-​b-​Que places I have ever been too.
Great beans my favorite– you can tell its homemade and made from scratch! Delicious!
Cornbread, ribs, it was all delicious!
Neat ambiance.

I’ll start with the positives: sitting on the back patio of the converted train depot provided a picturesque view of the mountains and Iron Horse rails-​to-​trails scenic pathway. Though an ideal setting, I don’t understand why Smokey’s receives rave reviews. Claiming to serve «award-​winning» BBQ, I gladly allowed Smokey’s to swipe my card to the tune of $ 13 for a pulled pork sandwich and a side of cornbread. Then the waiting began. Fortunately, if you sit at one of the back picnic tables, splinters will provide an all-​consuming diversion from wondering if the staff sent someone to harvest corn for the cornbread. Seriously, bring tweezers! Perhaps this represents a picnic table user error, so I’ll move on to the food.
The pulled pork sandwich arrived after 45 minutes, loaded with a scarce amount of overly fatty and greasy meat, engulfed in mediocre coleslaw, and flanked by two sides of an uninspiring store-​bought bun. While I think they made delicious BBQ sauce, I only tasted it on a few bites. When I opened up the sandwich, minimal sauce covered the trace amounts of meat. Perhaps they do make «award-​winning» pork, but I’m in no place to judge based on my tiny $ 13 sample.
Then the «cornbread.» Oh the cornbread. Crisply burned on the outside with a fluffy cake-​like substance on the inside (a texture I don’t typically associate with cornbread). Tasted like a whole lot of nothing drenched in butter. It presented a worse experience for my palette than the sandwich.
Now for the rating. Based solely on the food, I would give the place two stars, though admittedly I did enjoy the sweat tea. When you factor in service, Smokey’s barely receives a single star — but I guess I’ll round up. For a place without wait staff (you order at the counter), having the service factor into the rating so heavily represents an impressive feat. No one ordered before us and it took a self-​proclaimed BBQ place 45 minutes to deliver a BBQ sandwich…
To sum up the experience: splinters, store-​bought buns, excessive wait time, nonexistent pork, unfortunately existent «cornbread,» all wrapped up with a picturesque view. Skip Smokey’s. Pack a lunch to enjoy during a break from running/​biking on the trail. Enjoy!

I was biking with a friend on the Iron Horse trail and stumbled upon this place. Not only was it right on the trail, but they had great food. Here is what I ordered:
*Pulled Pork Sandwich*
Really good, not greasy like another review. I am not too fond of coleslaw, but it went well in this sandwich. I would order it again
*Potato Salad*
I prefer a more sour taste with my potato salad, but this was not bad. It had lots of pepper in it, which I liked.
*Corn Bread*
Very good corn bread! I could tell as soon as it was brought out that it would be good. Many places I have been to before have extremely dry or overcooked corn bread, not here. It was extremely moist!

Wow Unilocal,you really failed me this time.
I was expecting some decently good BBQ from the reviews, and honestly I was extremely disappointed.
The ribs, brisket, and pulled pork were all dry and tasted like they had been cooked the day prior. The coleslaw was awful– a plain combo of cabbage, mayo, and far too much pepper. The mac and cheese was dry and nothing special. The portions were all very small and not worth the price.
The horrible cherry on top was that we were the only people there and the food took about 45 minutes to get to the table… it was barely warm when it arrived to us.
The single star rating is for the sweet tea and amber beer along with friendly service– the only positives of our experience.

Excellent food. Incredible view. Best stop off for lunch in a while.
Next to a nice park, but a bit off the beaten path at the South side of town.

This place is delicious. Moving from the South, I am always on the lookout for great smoked meat barbecue. The old train depot location is awesome, too.
We ate fall off the bone ribs, not too sweet homemade cornbread, real cheese mac’n’cheese and freshly brewed sweet tea. My family also ordered a chicken sandwich topped with coleslaw and a lunch sized trainwreck. The trainwreck isnt pretty, but it is a delicious stack of everything you want to try: cornbread, meat with sauce, slaw, onions and cheese.
We didn’t get a chance to try the desserts, beer on tap or catfish, but we will definitely return to get a chance.