Greg E.
Yelp
5 Sept 2014
The Smokehouse, San Antonio Eastside, 3***
It's been more than a decade since I stopped in here. Actually, it was still Bob's at the time. Back then the parking lot was constantly packed, today t'was half packed.
Character: 4****,An old joint, the remodeled inside looks like Snoga's. The outside's white now, I remember it be some dark color. Decently clean from what I saw but I didn't go looking around.
Service: 3***, They've got an order window and a pickup window next to each other. The staff was friendly but were a little inattentive to the details. For example, I ordered the usual, half pound of brisket. The menu says $1 extra for lean, which I wouldn't want, but got anyway. Also, they asked to confirm dine-in, but they packed it to go.
Food/Quality: 3***, Half pound of brisket, side of beans, and water, "free" white bread. The brisket came out lean, hmm, I didn't order that. The fresh slices were from two different parts. A couple were typical lean flat, supertrimmed. A couple more slices were cut from a thicker section but barely marbled and no fat anywhere. So, aside from the wrong cut being served, let's take a look. Nice dark bark, and deep smoke ring appearance I liked (aside from the missing fat). A pull from the end showed good tenderness and was decent smoke flavor, but nothing else. 3*** for the brisket. The sauce or wet red watery stuff, no flavor, but some of the drier slices needed it. 1*. The pinto beans were homemade and very tasty, 4****. Fresh "free" white bread.
Value: 3***, $13/#, too much for dry stuff, ~$2 for tasty beans, ok, "free" white bread for $0.10. It was ~$10 for my order.
Overall recommendation: Decent place, but I'm rarely in the area. Be clear with your order and you might get what you like.
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