Smoke & Barrel

Smoke & Barrel offered us some great ribs, but everything else about the experience was a solid A-​OK. From service to seating accommodations to other menu items, our experience was average. Smoke & Barrel has a great aroma, if you walk in here, you’ll WANT to try their barbecue. They have a varied beer menu (DC prices averaging $ 7/​pint) and of course cocktails and bourbon. We ordered the half slab of muddy ribs ($ 16) served with one side (we ordered the baked beans, but YOU must try the jalapeño-​cheddar grits, by far the best side I tried). The ribs were tasty, very tender and lots of fall-​off-​the-​bone meat. The meal was the best part of the experience, I’d give the food 4 stars. But, I would have to say 2 stars for everything else: slow and grumpy service coupled with forgotten menu items and some dirty plates coming from the kitchen. Smoke & Barrel served up a solid three star experience.

We live in the neighborhood and come here quite regularly. For the vegans and vegetarians, you have plenty to choose from. Be sure to try the sweet potato oat burger and the vegan wings!

The jalapeño poppers are killer, definitely start with those. If it’s your first time, get the Sampler for 1 (it’s easily enough for two people, especially with an appetizer). Their sauces are great, but it’s not one of those places that relies on their sauce to make the meat taste good. Pulled pork is amazing, beef brisket is amazing, ribs and sausage are average. Don’t forget to try out their whiskey selection too!

The food is awesome. Their culinary theme is BBQ, which they cook quite well and they offer 5 different sauces, so you have a variety of ways to dress your BBQ. I have to say however that I discovered them on a Thrillest list while searching for the best buffalo wings in DC and they may in fact be, dare I say it, the best buffalo wings in DC. They also have a formidable beer selection from craft draft beers to high-​end ($ 20-​$ 49) small batch beers.
Here is what you want to know:
I recommend ordering the buffalo blue wings and the Muddy wings (combination of dry rub and wet BBQ sauce). All their wings are smoked, which is a major discriminator from the typical sports bar frozen wings.
If the street level dining area is full, the basement bar is self seating and offers the full dining menu
The basement does not have waiters so you have to order from the bartender. Its not service focused and it creates a bottle neck but its worth the hassle for the wings. I would recommend to management analyzing this process and perhaps creating a dedicated ordering station at the bar to improve efficiency and provide structure to the ordering process.
Overall, its certainly a great place to get BBQ and incredible wings but their service execution leaves something to be desired. With several process improvements and perhaps some training for the young waitstaff they could resolve these issues.

As happens from time to time after a bad review, the manager of this place reached out to me after my last review. I got the impression that he was skeptical that the review was genuine or that I had even been to the restaurant. That made me think perhaps my experience was atypical. Maybe the manager was skeptical because his staff is so on point that customers rarely have experiences like the one I had during my first visit.
Since moving to the neighborhood, I’ve been back to Smoke & Barrel several times. Each time I go in thinking «Maybe things’ll be different this time.» And each time I leave just as disappointed as before. This is not a one-​off review, but rather a confirmation of this establishment’s well deserved two-​star status.
This is the type of bar that I really, really want to like. Within two blocks of my place… check. Good beer selection… check. Good whiskey selection… check. And they have the absolute best Taco Tuesday deal in the city. For these reasons, I’ve returned more times than I ought have.
The issue that plagued my first review and has made miserable every visit since is service. The service here is as cavalier as any place I’ve ever visited. This place sorta reminds me of that restaurant franchise Dick’s Last Resort, where the schtick is that the servers are purposefully bad, but in a funny way. Here the service is nearly as bad, but with neither the amusement nor the understanding that the whole thing is one big joke.
Here, the servers (and bartenders) will get to you if and when they feel like doing so. There is zero urgency behind the bar. If you ask nicely, you may get a menu. If the barkeep has nothing better to do, you may get a drink or your order placed. Refills are the luck of the draw.
My last visit was on a Sunday night when the place was mostly empty. I was meeting a friend for drinks and the bar was full, but there were a few empty high-​top tables behind the bar. I began to sit at one of the hi-​tops when the hostess stopped to ask if I would be eating or having drinks. When I replied the latter, she insisted that the tables were only for customers who were eating. I decided to take my business elsewhere.
I know what you’re thinking– «It’s your own fault for going back.» This much is true. But I am an eternal optimist and, who knows, maybe next time will be different.

came for a dinner with some friends
food
bbq platter–
pork ribs-​not good, lots of fat
brisket-​ok, a bit dry
pulled pork-​good
sausage-​good
cheese grits-​good
fried okra-​good
sweet potato fries-​good
ambiance
small and cozy
price
pretty pricey for what you get
service
no issues
overall, glad i tried it but i wouldnt go again

Alright, Alright! You would think a BBQ joint wouldn’t be too vegetarian friendly, right? Surprisingly the menu offered a few veggie items so that’s always a win in my book!
We were seated at a high top in the bar so the bartender took care of us. He was extra helpful in both food and drink guidance! His whiskey recommendation was the first time I didn’t dry heave from slow sipping! (Weak I know) and his attentiveness was clutch! The hostess even stopped by our table to discuss the food a few times. I really was impressed by the energy they both shared.
The Food… we had Tofu Nachos and the seitan wings. Disclaimer: my nacho history is elite, and while Nachos sound simple, they are easily ruined or Taco Bell basic. These things were straight delicious! The jalapeños and spicy BBQ sauce, yum! I asked for more cheese on the side, because why not?! Bonus to the bartender, let us call him Cheesus, for not charging me extra. The smoked tofu was unexpectedly delicious and really made these over the top delicious.
While veggie wings may sound weird as a meat alternative, they are sometimes better than the real thing, trust me. These wings weren’t my favorite but I wouldn’t call them bad. The buffalo sauce was made with blue cheese, my date and I weren’t huge fans. In my opinion, wings are better when made with smaller pieces of seitan, allowing more flavor to disperse through the protein. These were chunks of seitan with flavor only on the outside.
Smoke & Barrel was a great time. The various vegan items are a huge draw to this place! The friendly and generous staff alone would bring me back! #cheesus

Smoke & Barrel is DC’s spot for beer, BBQ, and bourbon. Doesn’t sound vegan friendly, does it? Well, it is. What’s funny about this place is that it used to be the super vegan-​friendly Asylum biker bar and now that it has been transformed into a BBQ joint, the owners have continued to keep it vegan-​friendly. Even funnier is that they serve tons of vegan options and tons of meat. It’s a balance, I guess.
I didn’t have the best experience the last time I was here so it’s been about a year since my last visit, but I was willing to give it another try. As usual, it was busy, but the wait for a table was luckily only 15 minutes. Awesome. We got seated in the main dining room.
I don’t know this girl, but she’s pretty funny.
As soon as we looked at the menu, I realized the vegan offerings had been expanded. Double awesome! For appetizers, you have your choice of fried pickles, smoked vegan wings, salad, and chili. We went with the smoked vegan wings. I had ordered these wings in the past, but they have definitely changed their recipe. Now you can get them with dry with a dry rub, wet with BBQ sauce, or muddy with dry rub and BBQ sauce. Why not get it all? Holy crap, were these good?! They are more like drumsticks on a stick and smoked with a delicious sauce and spicy rub. Fantastic!
They also have an impressive cocktail and bourbon list, but I had a Negroni just for fun.
For entrees, there are now lots of options like the vegan spare ribs, stuffed potato, classic BBQ sandwich with tofu, chipotle sandwich with tofu, and vegan fish cutlet sandwich. I went back to my old staple and ordered the sweet potato and oat burger and it was as good as I remember. Super tasty and when loaded with one of their five sauces, it is even better! I love the jalapeño sauce especially! The coleslaw I got on the side was a little dry though and I was wishing I had ordered a different side.
My friend got the Vegan Chicken Cutlet Sandwich and said it was really good. His sweet potato fries were good as well.
For dessert, we ordered the sweet potato donuts. They came in a paper bag, much like beignets do. My friend thought this was an indication that they wanted us to take it to go! Ha. No, that’s just how they are served. Unfortunately, they were pretty burnt so they weren’t great. But, a sweet potato donut in cinnamon is probably pretty good. We’ll try them again next time.
All in all, this was a much better experience than last time. I will say that we ran out of water and were waiting for it for a bit so service was not stellar. But, the food was really good. If you haven’t been here yet, definitely give it a shot. You could even just go to one of the bars and get wings and drinks — sounds like a great first date to me!

My hubs and I came here last Friday night after mulling over our dining options in AdMo. Since we’d never been here before and had walked in front of it at least 30 times we decided to try it. We arrived at like 7:30 and put our name on the list, the hostess told us 30 mins, so we headed to their downstairs area to grab some drinks while we waited. We got lucky and within 5 mins of us being down there (it was packed) two seats opened up at the bar. The Wizards game was on right in front of us and hubby was happy! The bartender was great, so friendly and nice, recommended beers and whiskey. We debated ordering at the bar, since they serve their full menu down there, but decided nah, let’s just wait. Well, after about 45 mins I went back upstairs to check with the hostess who said it’d be another 20ish minutes. From 30 mins to an hour wait was a bit of a drastic change, luckily we had great seats at the bar, so we decided to stay there and order food there.
We got the smoked queso dip to start, DELICIOUS! I mean, I pretty much love all queso dips, but this one was very very good! We finished it quiiiite quickly (well, also, by the time this arrived we were 3 drinks in, each, and very eager to eat! haha). We both ordered the pulled pork sandwich, me with the grit cake and him with bbq beans. The sandwiches were great, and they have like 7 bbq sauce options, some quite spicy (so I was told, I don’t mess with those). The grit cake was so darn good! I don’t think I’d ever had one before and I wondered why the hell it isn’t on more bbq joints’ menus??? So easy yet so satisfying!
Everything we tried was very good, but quite possibly the best part of this place was the vibe. It was so great to be at an AdMo resto/​bar (downstairs is mostly a bar vibe) that was packed with tons of people having a good time. Definitely a cool spot for some Friday night drinks and a very tasty option for dinner. Glad we finally tried it, we’ll definitely be back!

This place is good especially for taco Tuesday. Other than Tuesday, the food menu is just typical bar food for me; there are not many options for vegetarian or semi-​vegetarian. My friends or husband enjoyed bbq though. However, beer selection is great so if you just grab some beer or other drinks, this place is still a great one!

I received a 15% off coupon for Smoke and Barrel at the Taste of DC, and since it expired at the end of November, I figured I should put it to use at some point. Yeah, I know 15% is NBD but I was planning on visiting at some point anyways, regardless of said coupon, so after hearing about the Taco Tuesday special, decided to give it a try last night. It was rainy and brisk to say the least, which I thought would stop people from trekking out– haha the joke was on me because upon our arrival at 6:20pm, there was a 30 minute wait. We put our name in and received a text within 20 minutes while we were posted up at the bar. Happy hour is from 5 – 7 so we hit the tail end but still managed to squeeze in 2 additional HH drinks from our server after we were seated. During HH, 4 beers are $ 4 and a couple are $ 5. Also they had $ 5 bourbons. My boyfriend stuck with bourbon, which he said was «nice and strong». While I highly commend the beer selection and the wide range it offers, I drank the same thing all night Ocelot Watch Me Disappear. And that I did, to the tune of 3. Very smooth IPA, like that it’s local from Dulles, VA. They offer half sizes too of most beers, priced accordingly. I will without a doubt return for drinks soon to sample more of the craft beer selection.
Now for the tacos… $ 5 gets you 3 large tacos and a side. You can’t mix and match but choices are pulled pork, chicken, BBQ tofu, and veggie chili. Either BBQ style or traditional. I’m not sure exactly what traditional was– I know there was lettuce, tomato, maybe cheese. I took a bite of my boyfriends with chicken and was not a fan. They were flavorless without putting BBQ sauce on, which we had none but the table sitting practically on top of us did and were nice enough to share. The spicy BBQ made them edible but not great. I was happy with mine though– BBQ style (pickles, coleslaw, and BBQ sauce) with pulled pork. Were they the best tacos I’ve ever had? No. Were they the best I’ve had for less than $ 2 each? Probably. The pork was nice and smoky; I’d like to return to try that not on a taco. Side options were baked beans, collards, mashed potatoes, cheesy grits, and coleslaw. The cheesy grits was very creamy and the jalapeño was a nice kick to it. Portions of both the tacos and grits were huge, especially given the price. We walked out of there (not including the first two drinks at the bar) with a $ 33 tab– 3 plates of tacos, 2 beers, and 1 bourbon. Very inexpensive night out.
Service was passable given the crowd– nothing either positive or negative to note. The beer list alone is worthy of a return trip here, and the BBQ, judging from the tables around us that didn’t do the taco thing, seems worth a taste. I will be back sooner than later.

This was the only place that wasn’t crazy packed on a rain Saturday night. They played 90s R&B, it was pretty fun. There was a group of like 10 of us, ad it sucked that the only play to get a drink was the edge of the bar by the kitchen. Sadly, the bathrooms are also there. so edge of bar, narrow hallway, bathrooms — sucks. Service was quick, I had a stoli vodka for like $ 7 bucks, standard for DC. The lemon drops were delicious. It was fun music, decent drinks, just not a crazy party place, but a good place to stop by for a quick drink before making it down the rest of 18^th.

Like the atmosphere. Muted music, TVs on showing college football, but not blaring. Place was full at 6:45 on a Saturday night.
Our server was very KNOWLEDGABLE about the beer choices.
We ordered a veggie plate (with four veggie sides) and a sample platter for one and shared all of it. Pork was very tender. Brisket was good, M loved the dry rub ribs, and the sausage was spicy– too spicy for me, but M liked it. Nothing was covered with BBQ sauce to hide the lack of smoke-​meaning that the smokey flavor came through. There were 2 choices on the table for BBQ sauce.
The vegetables were good. Coleslaw was on the dry side, but was tasty. I am just used to coleslaw being overpowered by the sauce. Baked sweet potato was great; green beans with chipotle pesto was delicious. Not too spicy. The asparagus was huge and was expecting it to taste woody, but it was tender and smokey. M had the fried okra. Lots of breading; so much so that you couldn’t taste the okra. May be a good thing. The collard greens were tasty but extremely salty.
I would come here again.

Came here for brunch, and it was BAD the service was very slow, and they had people in the restaurant but it wasn’t full. When coffee finally came it was in the smallest cup known to man and the cup was dirty there was some lipstick on it.
The the food I really hope they were just having an off day because it arrived cold and it wasn’t good the pork on my huevos rancheros was dry, the cheese hadn’t melted and the salsa was from a Tostitos mild can.

Smoke and Barrel has got some great BBQ. If you want to avoid waiting in line I suggest having a little bit of an earlier dinner, we went around 7:30 on Saturday evening and were seated right away, although the place sure filled up right after.
We got the BBQ sampler and I’m glad we did because they give a wide selection of different kind of meats and the portions are great. We got the sampler for 2 (comes with four sides) plus two appetizers (BBQ nachos and smoky chicken wings, muddy style — meaning they put a dry rub seasoning as well as BBQ sauce on it) and it was more than enough for four guys. My favorites from the sampler were the brisket and the ribs.
The wings were also very good, I definitely suggest getting it muddy style because it gives you more flavor than if you pick just the BBQ sauce or the dry rub. I didn’t like the nachos as much: the BBQ and nacho cheese sauces mixed tasted good and there was a good amount of toppings but the nachos tasted a little stale, not the best nachos I’ve had, I even think Buffalo Wild Wings in my opinion had better ones. But maybe this is just this one time.
Smoke and Barrel also has a wide selection of beers on tap, many of them from the DC and Maryland area, so take your pick!

Being vegetarian I get hankerings for bbq. Smoke & Barrel satisfies my bbq hankerings as well as my beer needs.
The beer selection is varied enough that I can always find something to try out.
Food varies from veg-​friendly to super meaty. Win-​win for this meat-​eating and veg couple! The veg chicken drumsticks and sweet potato burger are super tasty.
Low-​key, casual, no frills but not a dive bar kind of place.

Came here on a Tuesday with some friends, unfortunately after happy hour was over. We dined and had drinks, nothing too special. We all had a version of a BBQ sandwich, I went for the tofu with collard kale on the side. I did not think the flavor was spectacular.
Bar has an upstairs and a downstairs. Host initially told us 45 minutes, or check below, but we were seated in about 15. Kind of a crowded place, but their whiskey and beer selection was fairly decent. Wouldn’t call it the best BBQ of DC but good ambiance and easy location!

It’s definitely not cheap, and there is often a wait. But that’s just because the food is really good!
Side note, this is one of the few paces I have seen ballast point on tap outside of San Diego, so I would have liked it not matter what. And to be fair I have been here a couple of times, but I haven’t tried much of the menu. That’s just because the brisket sandwich and sweet potato fries are so damn good! I’ve heard that the vegan wings are good, but can’t say I have tried them. It’s really hard to get something else when the brisket sandwich is so good.
The staff isn’t super attentive, but to be fair, they’re usually really busy. And the drinks are on the pricy side. But all of that being said, try the brisket

Excellent pour celui qui la bonne viande cuite au bbq. Je vous conseille le sampler! Il y a aussi d’excellent cocktail au whisky.

If you’re looking for good BBQ, this is the spot. They have plenty of pork dishes and pulled everything. We ordered a platter for 1, which enough for 2! It came with pulled pork, ribs, sausage and 2 sides (we picked the yummy grits and perfectly cooked asparagus). We also pre-​munched on jalapeño poppers (stuffed with pulled chicken and wrapped in bacon — doesn’t that make your mouth water?!) and nachos sprinkled in old bay seasoning.
While I rarely eat pork (as in, only thanksgiving ham) I did indulge as expected at this spot and wasn’t unsatisfied. I’m definitely retuning for the wings in their signature «muddy» sauce.
Reason I gave ⁴⁄₅ is the method of RSVP. They take your number and allow you to bar hop until they call you. That’s fine, but an update OS that sent texts you could reply to would be better than the ol’ pen and paper. Here’s why — I can’t hear you over the music at the bar next door to let you know if I am coming back or decided to stay at the bar. If I can’t hear you, you can’t hear me.

4.5 stars.
I love Smoke & Barrel. Remember, I write these reviews as a vegetarian and this place is THE TITS are us veg kidz. On top of a super-​veg-​friendly menu, I absolutely love myself a great glass of bourbon, scotch, or whiskey, and to find both vegetarian options and dark liquor in the same place is a rarity I’ve been hard pressed to find anywhere else! All of this is complemented with an extensive beer list and great happy hour prices.
Taco Tuesday is the day to hit this place up — two tacos and a side for only $ 5! Whaaaaaa you just can’t beat that. They have great options of bbq and sauces to spice up your day as well. Try em all out!
Specialties for my vegetarian friends out there are the Vegan Spare Ribs, which actually remind me of the General Tso’s Vegan Chicken from Whole Foods, but with more of a bbq flavor. Definitely a must-​try. Then one of the best appetizers I’ve had anywhere are the vegan chicken wings — they even come on bamboo sticks that you eat off of and come in multiple flavors (my favorite being the savory-​sweet combination that is the chipotle honey sauce)! Sides here are wonderful with my favorite two being the garlic mashed potatoes and the cheesy grits. Yuuuuum!
The restaurant/​bar has two floors, with the top being more eating and the bottom being more drinking. Top floor also has a larger selection of draft beers, but both have your long, long, long list of delicious dark liquors (I’m of course speaking to scotch/​bourbon/​whiskey).
Smoke & Barrel has anything a hardcore lumberjack would want in good beer and liquor, but also what an animal-​loving vegetarian wants to see on a menu every time they walk in a restaurant. Basically, this place was made for me and I absolutely love coming here every visit to DC.