Aviator Smokehouse

I had an amazing experience at Aviator Smokehouse. The brisket was absolutely phenomenal—tender, smoky, and packed with flavor, with a perfect bark that melted in my mouth. The salad was very good. The atmosphere was warm, the staff were friendly. Highly recommend this spot for anyone craving top-notch BBQ! I’ll definitely be back!

Went here based on past photo's and previous good reviews. Came warly around 4pm on Sunday, place was nearly empty. The brisket was overcooked, but somehow still cold, needed a knife to cut it, chewy and for North Carolina, down right disrespectful. No bqq sauce of any kind found on any table. Pulled pork was bone dry, again no sauce. Mac and cheese was good. Wings not bad. Waffle fries tasted like they were cooked yesterday. Got a salad missing any dressing, had to steal some ranch from my kids wing order. My Wife's food was cold, my daughters brisket tacos nearly gaged her, with a mouth full of just fat. Altogether felt like a bar, trying to serve some resemblance of bbq, and falling drastically short.

Food was good and prices seemed reasonable. Staff was fairly friendly and overall we enjoyed our meal. Would definitely go back!

The Mac and cheese was disgusting. The pulled pork was dry, the fried pickles were soggy and oily, and the greens were not green more like brown. I have had plenty of southern BBQ to know what I’m looking for, visiting here from home and wanted something local, this is not the place.

Wings have good flavor but are too rubbery even when you ask for crispy. They were out of ingredients for most of the burgers. They have no dessert. We waited 15 minutes to just sit down when there was an available table.. Probably a half hour before we even ordered because drinks took so long. Wait staff definitely needs training. So many good menu items though and I know aviator is capable of a lot more.

Aviator Smokehouse is a great rustic style atmosphere restaurant located in the Varina part of Fuquay-Varina. From the old building, beefy tables, entertainment and fun environment, this bar/restaurant seems promising for a good time. We arrived Sunday for lunch and were told to find a table and the hostess would follow us. As we wanted a booth we headed quickly in that direction only to find that the birds had been bussed... But they were definitely not clean. So they quickly brushed the crumbs on the floor. Our server was very attentive to our needs and we were quite happy with the service. The Maple Bourbon Brussel Sprouts were quite good even though they could have been a bit crispier from frying vs vegetable crispy. But the maple bourbon was an interesting take. I ordered the Aloha Burger, and that's where things went downhill. The burger as you can see in the picture looks quite good overall. Boasting a large slice of pineapple, a healthy spread of teriyaki sauce and some greens to top it off. The patty itself was cooked to my requested temperature joined with a nicely toasted brioche bun... But if this all sounds like they hit the mark, you'd be mistaken. The burger patty was flavorless, like it was pulled from a frozen package only moments before arriving at the table. Relying heavily on the teriyaki sauce to mask any lack of flavors it seemed. There was so much of that that it had spilled off of the burger and into the tray only to soak the bottom bun. The pineapple I assume was a fresh pineapple, maybe too fresh as it lacked the flavor of a ready and properly ripe pineapple. So the pineapple really didn't bring much to the combination. For something like this, a canned pineapple quickly tossed on the grill can change the flavor as it will have more of a juicy pineapple flavor and you wouldn't have to rely on the teriyaki as much. With it being an Aloha Burger, I would think some thinly sliced spam quickly seared on the grill would also help make it hit better. The side that I got were the baked beans, however it was rather soupy. The flavor was OK... Really nothing special to be had there. The other sandwich was the Brisket burger which was heavily stacked with brisket, bacon, and a burger. The bun was a bit overcooked offering up a heavy flavor of charring, while the bacon was not crispy despite being requested to be crispy. It was also delivered without the bourbon bbq sauce. This burger was stacked so much that dislocating your jaw is the only option to taking a bite... But overall, still seemed lacking of any real flavor. Maybe eliminating the boring burger patty and keeping the BBQ topped brisket (which was dry and chewy vs moist and tender). I cannot recommend brisket like that. There are plenty of great options for brisket and while it's a process to cook right, serving it dry and chewy is an insult to the cow it came from. I know, it sounds like this was a solid miss on Aviator Smokehouse's part, but there was potential behind these things and I feel as though it should receive another try. The location is great, the atmosphere is rustic, parking is hot or miss depending on when you go.

The server was amazing. The food was AWFUL!! The brisket was dry and for a BBQ place they had no BBQ sauce. The brisket taco was full of fat. The fried okra and fries tasted old and cold. All the food was cold. The tea was really watered-down. The place was not busy and I now understand why. If your looking for BBQ keep looking this is not the place.

Great smokehouse meats and sides. Great customer service personnel experience with a nice atmosphere. In approximately 1 year this place has gone from a 5 star food and service to less than 4 stars overall with some changes that have been made to put it more in line with the bar food establishments. They no longer have ribs which were a 5 star item in my book along with the seasoned fries fried okra spicy collards and baked beans. They used to have pulled chicken, pork, ribs and brisket. They have removed the ribs and pulled chicken from the line up and changed the fried okra and fries. This visit was very disappointing. Also, the music was different and uncomfortably loud, but most likely normal for a bar food establishment. I didn't try any beer this trip, but last year the beer was tasty. The bathroom lights were off in the mens room and the hand soap unit was not working, which when mentioned to my waitress, seems to be a common issue.

I've eaten here several times the food quality has been spotty. It has never been bad, just not memorable. The few times when they hit the mark, it's some of the best BBQ I've ever eaten. The service has always been excellent and they have a great beer selection.

Use to love this place but our last visit was lacking. Went in around 5pm and was seated immediately. Ordered the smokehouse twinkes but they were out so we switched to the loaded tater tots. The tater tots were brought out and they were missing the black bean corn relish and salsa the menu said it came with. Moving on to the main course, the BF and I split the BBQ brisket quesadilla. The quesadilla lacked flavor and the veggies inside were undercooked. Our waitress said we get two sides when we ordered but we were charged for the second side. Upon asking her, she said we only get one but she recalled she told us two and took it off the bill. I'm happy she did because our second side was mac and cheese and the mac and cheese was horrible. Soupy, bland. It looked like they forgot the cheese in the mac. It's been a while since I've been here (before covid was my last visit) but this was absolutely disappointing compared to how they use to be.

We were invited to come here for lunch and beers. The food was spot on: we ordered fried pickles, an order of pretzel and an order of Pulled pork sandwich which came with French fried, all were exquisite! The lady server was lovely, upsold on the beers without being pushy, she was very attentive, came by a few times to check on us. Ambiance like many restaurants and breweries, lively with big screen TV. We enjoyed very much and will be back.

TLDR: Excellent BBQ. Large portions. Reasonable prices. BBQ is a bit dry so be sure to ask for sauce. Excellent place for BBQ. I honestly was surprised considering Aviator is known for their unique brews. While enjoying a flight at the aviator taproom across the street, I placed a takeout order at the smokehouse. I wish they could walk it across the street to enjoy at the taproom, however, it was no big issue to pick it up from the smokehouse. The order was ready upon arrival and accurate. We enjoyed the pulled pork, fries, tater tots, and coleslaw. The pork was a little dry and needed the included sauces. I am unsure why one order had 2 sauces while the other only had one. The mac and cheese was okay, mainly tasted like buttered noodles. I think the cheese was too thin and melted right off. The portion sizes are large and prices reasonable. Overall, we enjoyed our meal and have already recommended this restaurant to others!

I really wanted to love this place since I'm an aviation fan at heart. When we arrived it took a bit for the hostess to seat us (party of 2) even though there were plenty of tables. Our server greeted us promptly and we ordered a pretzel appetizer. We were pretty hungry from being at an all day event. We decided our entree choices pretty quick and ordered our food. We noticed around 30 minutes since ordering tables that came in after us were served several rounds of drinks, appetizer and even some received their food. 45 minutes in I asked about the pretzel and the status of our dinner, when the server returned he answered us with his mouth covered because he was eating food!!! His answer was were slammed and your pretzel will be out soon, he then said the entree my son ordered took a long time to prepare. This is a smokehouse!!! All the food is smoked and prepared, just needs to be hot held and assembled, I have 26 years experience in the industry. To add to the disappointment, the sides we ordered we were told an hour after ordering that they were 86 or better known as ran out...when the food finally arrived, much of it was cool or Luke warm. I did ask to speak to the manager, a pleasant lady came out and apologized and said she'd comp some of the meal. Mind you I came to enjoy dinner with my son, not get a discount for poor service and sub par food. The appetizer was removed and a $4.00 discount was applied. Also lastly and somewhat offensive, our server after eating food while telling us our food wasn't ready, requested we pay him in cash so he didn't have to pay tax on the gratuity...unbelieveable..If anyone gets it, it's me I've been that manager having to talk with a guest that we missed the bar...my biggest take away is if you forget to send an order to the kitchen, own up to it right away, don't BS the guest. Value the customer, again never came in for a discount, but ,$4.00 on an hour and half delay, final wrap up ..I'm sure if they had executed better with service and properly trained staff this easily could have been a 5 star review. Unfortunately it was not. I may or may not come back.

Mark thanks for your reply! I am aware that alcohol cannot be discounted at any restaurant, ever. We did not purchase any alcohol. We ordered meals for myself, my husband and our kids with an appetizer. Have a great day!

Really good BBQ there I said it! You can smell Aviators from blocks away and the smell takes you to the right place. We got the palooza after a long day and I'm so happy we did! Everything we tried was spot on! The brisket it so tender and delicious the BBQ sauce is kickin but in a great way. The teriyaki sauce for the smoked wings were a perfect pair and the pork was juicy and if you mixed it with the beans it was melt In your mouth. The ribs were sooo good we got some to go. Great meal and everyone at our table enjoyed their food!

Great beer and great food. I had the nachos with pork and brisket which was amazing. Smoked wings are also good. I will be back to this place. 9.3/10

Five starzzzzz!! Amazing! The service was wonderful. The food taste great and the ambience is amazing.

Food was lukewarm and bland. Out of brisket twinkies at 1pm (main reason for coming) only one server running around with her head cut off. Just underwhelming and disappointing . Such a delicious sounding menu for yucky food. Should've listened to the previous most recent reviews and chose another place.

Love the wings and the specials that they offer for them. Just one request: please update the days that you offer your $11 Jumbo wings special. Drove almost 40 mins away on a Sunday only to find out that it's been changed and is only offered on Mon & Tues when the menu on website still shows Sun/Mon/Tues. Ended up having to buy wings with 1 side meal.

Food is ok, the smoke wings great service negative, waiting on the October/November Frost Nipper, which is not available, confusing which beers are on tap............ I have been drinking their beer from the beginning they opening but it beer keeps falling.

Service was good because we had a big party. But ya'll, they put scrambled egg (yes SCRAMBLED) on my friends cobb salad and brown/watery avocado lol. I really don't think there is anything else to say, as that speaks for itself.

Our first time. Chloe our waitress is wonderful . She's very attentive. Her customer service is impeccable. The food is delicious. The portion is huge. We even have leftover for dinner. Highly recommended this wonderful place

First time here and we'll be back. Fried pickles were excellent. Waitress was super polite and patient (so sorry, I forgot the name). Club was good but needed a little flavor. Grilled cheese was excellent, but that is not too hard to make. Not pictured is my wife's pulled pork plate which was good when sauce was added to it. Wife had a house beer which she enjoyed. Summary- 1st timer. Went for lunch and enjoyed it. Decent prices and a diverse menu that will have something for almost anyone.

Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! We started our with the Big Bavarian Pretzel which was piping hot, salted just right with some very flavorful dipping cheese. Our diners were the Piggy Mac Skillet, Beef Esters Brisket Melt and the B-52 Chicken Sandwich. The food came out hot and well prepared and all of our selections were outstanding !! We did the 4 selection Bourbon Flight, you pay for each selection and this could get pricey. Ask for pricing first before ordering ..... Angels Envy $10, Whistlepig Roadstock $12, Larceny $7 and Devils River $5. The server was very friendly and made sure we were good during dinner, nice gentleman. Staff greeted us upon arrival and also wished us a good evening when we left. Inside is really nice, plenty of large screens to enjoy your sports .... Recommend stopping here for some BBQ. Parking is an issue around this establishment.

This used to be amazing but we both left pretty disappointed today. The "loaded" tots no longer have pork. We ordered them anyways and paid extra for chicken. I guess they assumed that because we bought additional toppings we didn't want the bacon? Didn't make sense to us but she fixed it. The problem was the tots were hot but all the toppings were cold- and I mean cold! They no longer serve them on a metal tray/skillet and the they pretty much turned to cold mush after a few minutes. My Thai wings were good but my husband's were totally dried out. He had a jalapeño sauce (2nd from the bottom). The beer was good but the pumpkin that is supposed to be a cinnamon sugar was pretty much all cinnamon. We had to grab the menus from the hostess stand and once we were served our food I had to go back to the hostess stand and get our own silverware and napkins. It's Sunday afternoon and not busy.. inexperienced staff? I don't know.. Just disappointing because it used to be great. I hope they can turn back around.

Salad was room temperature leaf lettuce on a flat plate. Less than one cup of lettuce. Nothing Elton the salad. Brisket sandwich was one half fat. Terrible. Waitress disappeared so I couldn't return the food. Paid and left, never to return.

Great time of your in Holly Springs Fuquay area. Food is great, environment is fun. A great tasting beer with a large selection to choose from. The food is great and good sizable portions. Looking forward to trying more beers and foods off the menu. Till next time.

Had seen this place on the TV and looked them up. Seen they have several places, so we went to their Smokehouse today. We were impressed with the decor and my wife loved her beef brisket and here drink (adult). I had the meatloaf sandwich with fries and a craft ale beer 22oz. We both are impressed with our server Katelynn S. Next time we will try one of their other locations. FYI each place has a different menu.

Nothing lacking for a Beer and BBQ place . Many beers to chose from and for all tastes. 3Kings Kolsch was great for me. We all ordered different entrees and no one was disappointed. I had a GENEROUS serving of melt in my mouth brisket on the Brisket plate. Based on the other orders at the table ribs, wings, pork are great too. We brought home 3 boxes of leftovers. Nice casual atmosphere and good service.

This was our first time here. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the staff was simply amazing.

Out of 5 Food 5 Parking 4 Waitress 4 Service 3.5 (kind but.....) I have had the pleasure of visiting Aviator many years ago because of connections. The food was amazing then and now so sad the nachos are gone, but they do have tots to replace them. Everyone was spaced out and with Aviator having other locations across the streets. The beer is flowing, and the food is tasty. The chicken sandwich is freshly made chicken breast (not prebreaded). Even the okra was homemade and delicious. You can tell a lot of thought went into making the food fresh and delicious. I am excited to go back and try the Aviator pizza spot they acquire across the street.

I ordered Aviator Nachos for pickup for myself and sadly when I opened it up there was not any guacamole as described on the menu and barely any nacho cheese, sour cream, or salsa. When I returned to have the order credited the manager Ryan presented me with a new order of nachos which the picture below represents. From the outside it looks delicious but when you eat it, it was awful. Also can anyone tell me what kind of nacho cheese looks like what is on my fork? Seriously, if you do chose to go to this place...do not order the nachos, I promise you will regret it!

Food was exceptional! The service was super fast and friendly. Taryn our waitress was awesome. We will definitely be back- highly recommend this place!!

Atmostphere is top notch. Aviator has the best outdoor space of any restaurant in the area--by far. The food is only okay, and I think the beer is terrible. I've tried at least a dozen of their selections and find them all to be varying levels of gross.

Brisket was top notch! wings were meaty and good and the ribs were awesome. Collard greens had an unexpected sweetness and were excellent.

Best place ever no lie. I hit 2000 calories in one sitting it was so good. The food coma was soo worth it. The chicken wings are bomb. I wish I lived closer :(

Great crispy, teriyaki, wings and collard greens were excellent. Sadly out of black mamba again tonight. So opted for an old fashioned.

Beer is great. The cocktails were very good as well. Our bartender was very personable and attentive. The food was good but not great. I would go back. We got the fried pickles were too salty IMO. I got the rocket pig sandwich again pretty good not great. My wife got the turkey club sandwich, again good but not great. I think sometimes this is just what we are looking for. Good drinks first and some not bad food to go with it. I wish I remembered the bartenders name from Sunday 7/16. She was really great.

I've been to Aviator corner too many times to count. The food has always been good, the beer selection extensive, and the service mediocre. I'll be back!

My partner and I come here quite often, but have since taken a break since I was newly diagnosed with a gluten and dairy intolerance. Our waitress, Natalia, and the head chef on tonight worked with me and went above and beyond to ensure great service and even better food. I love this place!

Awesome awesome awesome! Our favorite place of all time for food and brewskis. Doesn't get any better than this.

Great food, friendly service!! Love the outdoor bar setting w fire on a fall evening!!

Food is always great, and service is even better! Aviator seems to be adding more space, better and better food, and always has great beer on tap. Great for stopping after work, or taking the family out for a great meal.

Excellent food ,service and ambiance! I ordered wings, brisket, pork,fries,mac and cheese and side salad! Awesome!! I will definitely go back!

Thank you for the wonderful food and excellent service. We dined here today and Taryn P was our waitress. She gave us the space to have a wonderful visit and served us promptly, and was always there to fill our tea. It was a wonderful experience and look forward to going back.

They have excellent chicken wings and great beer. Excited to see their new brewery soon! It looks like it's going to be awesome.

Steven was amazing. Went in for lunch and he was spot on and pleasant. Will be back!

The quality of the food and level of service has wavered too much over the years. I seem to always pick a bad time to try them again only to be met with disappointment. Having a beer outside is great but the food taste and temperature can be mediocre. I'll try again sometime as Aviator has become a Varina district institution.

Good beer, mediocre food and service. We've given Aviator a few chances and just can't fall in love with the place. In our area, there's just better places around that keep us coming back. Wait staff has been generally inattentive and food is mostly from frozen and standard.

The food is outstanding the brisket is wonderful. We had great service and the fresh beer on tap is wonderful.

Best ribs ever!! Wait staff were friendly and very helpful (we had my 7month old grandson son with us). The atmosphere was fun and inviting. I truly had great vibes at the Aviator!

Our server was fantastic. The food was great!!! 10/10 would recommend as a great local spot with authentic BBQ!

5 of us had dinner and everything was delicious. Really like the option of having a beer instead of a side. Wine was also very reasonably priced. Waitress was fantastic. Would be a regular if we lived closer.

Avoid this place like the plague. First time coming to this place and it started off with no one at the host stand; stood there for a few minutes before a server with the softest voice came over and mumbled something. After asking 'what?' a few times, we figured she was asking how many for the table. She sat us, said "I don't know who your server is" and left. Person that sat us came by and asked us what we wanted, again, with no volume whatsoever. We started off with the Loaded Tots and ordered entrees which were a full rack of ribs and the Brisket Plate. That was the last that we saw of our server. Unwrapped our silverware and it had chunks of old food stuck to it! The tots came out and were cold all the way through and it was obvious that the kitchen had pre-fried the tater tots and had them sitting in a cooler and had gotten old; they were mush. We requested a new set of silverware and new Loaded Tots and our entree orders came out right away. I dig into my brisket and there is a HUGE, 4 inch by 1 inch, hunk of plastic wrap sticking out of my brisket! A health violation that could potentially KILL someone! We asked for a manager and a guy came out claiming to be the acting manager because the "general manager is in the back... Er... Not here tonight." I told him to take the brisket away and cancel the loaded tots. Any other SANE place would comp the entire bill for serving something that a cook, the expoditor, and food runner should have seen before placing it in front of a guest that could potentially *D*I*E* from an inedible product on a plate but they only took off the tots and brisket! Horrible, horrible, horrible. Avoid this place.

the service was beyond great and on point. Our waitress was very outgoing and well spoken. I rate aviator smoke house 10/10 Must try again!!!!

We went during the middle of the week, the vibe was very nice. Such a large place, they sat us on a shaky table, that felt tuck away and forgotten. The service was good, took our order and made recommendations. I would agree that the ribs are worth a taste and has a nice extra rub on them. The brisket I had, was a bit overdone and dried out. Wish we could have changed it out. We both had sides. They initially did not bring me the correct sides and it took a good hot minute or two just to get the attention of anyone in order for me to get the sides corrected. On to the sides, the slaw and beans were quite good. I did not care to much for the potato salad. The beer election was outstanding and so is the whiskey. All n all Its good place to go. Not sure I go out of my way to go back.

If you want the best wings, then you should come here! Great service, atmosphere, and food! We travel 1 hour 10 min to come and eat here.

A great local restaurant with incredible food and excellent service. I've tried a lot of different items from the menu and I'm never disappointed. Tom, the manager, is very friendly and welcoming. He's constantly walking around and checking on everyone making sure they're happy with their meals. And, Alex is the best bartender. She makes some really cool specialty drinks. Ask her to make you a Cafe Martini.