I apologize for being gone, but eh, that's life. And I'm even late on this review.
Old Smokey's...way down in Leeds Alabama. Coming in to Leeds, you see a big sign saying "Old Smokey Welcomes you to Leeds", and on the back side it sees you out with a nice message as well.
I'd been here once before, having wondered if it was a good place or no since it seemed to be sponsored by the whole friggin town. I have to say, the first time I was NOT impressed. The people were nice, the food was overpriced for it's quality, and it's quality wasn't even what I'd call mediocre.
I did not do a review on it at that time, but I did post a comment on their Facebook page.
A few weeks back, someone finally made a reply. They stated, they were under new management and asked if I'd be willing to come back out. Well, hey, I'm a fat man, and it's Bar-B-Que. Do the math folks, it's easy enough, so I gave it a shot first chance I had.
Before I go in to the review, let me tell you about the place. Right off the main Parkway running through Leeds, it's certainly not difficult to find. Small parking lot, but small building. Reminds me of where I grew up and several people ran the most AWESOME bar-b-que out of the little 10x10 buildings one would normally store their tools and lawn equipment in. I miss those places.
Oddly enough you walk in, and it's got a little bit of size to it. Nice quaint little spot to do lunch, even a shaded picnic area outside for those who enjoy eating outdoors. The deco is simple, lots of train stuff on the walls which matches the rest of Leeds. I like trains. I'm good with this. They certainly don't try to make up in deco like some other places I've been, and that's good. I like simple, I like cozy, and I like good food.
They had a few folks in there, an older gentleman had put in a large order so there was a slight wait. I got up to the counter, the lady asked if she could help me. Her name was Jennifer. I introduced myself and she was happy to meet me. She took my order, in which I ordered their lunch special. A large sandwich, fries, and a large tea for $8.75
Now, the last time I went in there, I got a 20 ounce tea, and it was the same price, the sandwich wasn't as big either. NOT impressed. This time, a true large sandwich with meat enough it was falling off (just the way I like it baby!), and a big 32 ounce tea, with a good serving of fries. I chatted with them for a few minutes, paid for my food and sat to wait. It did take a couple minutes to get my order in, but they got fairly busy after I made my order, and they had an unfortunate mishap with a couple orders. Normally I wouldn't bring this up, or if I did, I'd say it was a bad thing. But they handled the oopsies very well and efficiently. I honestly think they mishaps may have been due to having to learn new technology, which hey, anyone working in a company has experienced that before, so I can blow that off.
I got my food. Simple fare, nothing gussied up about it. BIG pork sandwich, fries, sweet tea. They put the bbq sauce on it already. They only have once sauce, and that's what they used. There was ketchup on the table for fries or other things you may desire ketchup for. I like a good saucy sandwich, this was I'll say okay on the sauce. It had good taste, and I expect if I would have asked for extra sauce, I'm sure they would have given me some with no worries.
Now. The pork was your typical southern smoked pulled pork. Decent flavor, but something a really awesome sauce would make it explode in your mouth. The sauce was pretty good, but not as explosive as I'd hoped. Again though, simple is good. Too many choices sometimes, and you're spending more time wondering than eating, and I was very hungry this day.
So I devoured my food, licked my fingers, got a refill at no charge (BONUS!! Yes folks some places I've visited will charge you for a refill on your tea. Not these guys though!), said my thanks and was on my way.
The results:
The Bads: I like a small cozy place, but it gets a little cramped during lunch hour. Certainly not a place to bring a big group unless you plan on sitting outside. That being said I wonder if they'd be able to handle say, a group of 20 efficiently. The taste was good but I felt it could be a little better, but I certainly ate the heck out of that sandwich, so by no means was it bad! You could possibly stand to have a variety of sauce for those who like to mix things up a little. Perhaps extend your business hours some? I come through that area between 3 and 4 sometimes and it makes me sad to not smell the smoke and crave good eating...
The Goods:Location was great. Customer service was great. Price is still about the same, but I didn't feel cheated this time due to better quantity. Taste was much better than last time I feel. They have a pretty good sized menu, even though I stuck with bbq, so variety can definitely be good.
Again. Simple. Cozy. GOOD food. Much improvement!
All in all I'll give it 4 out of 5 hammers on this one. Really good stuff, and I'll definitely come back. If you're in Leeds and want to try good food, stop in to Old Smokey Bar-B-Que at 7323 Parkway Drive. They're easy enough to find. Tell em Hammer sent ya.
Until next time,
Thank you drive through!
No comments:
Post a Comment