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| - Smoke, in a nutshell is a hipster taco joint. It's delicious and if you are going to be hungry in the next 90 minutes, have some cash to burn and nothing to do in the next 2.5 hours, you should absolutely eat here. Everything I had was very enjoyable and I would definitely go back. I'm only giving it four stars because I feel like for what the place is, the service should be a bit faster considering most of the food is almost completely cooked beforehand and everything is pretty pricey (Cost a bit more than $60 for two people if you go all out).
Now for the details and helpful stuff: If you put your name down, they'll text you when your table is ready and since they don't serve drinks (though they allow you to BYOB), you can easily go to a neighboring bar while you wait for your table. They also have a fridge near the front door so you can keep your beer or other adult beverages cold while you wait/during your meal. And it's cash only but there are at least 3 ATM's within a block and they have one inside. The one at Commonwealth bank has a $3.50 fee. Note that though this is a casual restaurant, they serve you like you're eating at an upscale place--slow. So don't be afraid to order a lot because they'll make you pace yourself with the time between courses.
Now for the food: I was lucky enough to dine with some foodie friends and while I didn't take a bite of everyone's tacos, we did share flour tortilla chips, smoked salsa (this was a daily special), queso, the apple slaw, smoked cabbage, mac and cheese w/ brisket, and a berry pie topped with marscapone and cream cheese. I ate a chicken and a pork taco and had a bit of the brisket special taco (blue cheese sauce, tomatoes, other stuff).
Out of all of these things, the smoked salsa, chips and queso and the chicken taco were my favorites. The smoked salsa should be a regular menu item. It had a great blend of tomatoes, onions and peppers, left a strong smoke flavor in my mouth and left me feeling very excited to eat more smokey things. The chips paired with it very well. They are fried to order which makes them extra awesome, though that means you pay about $6 for them and you wait a bit. So be patient, they are worth it! We topped our queso w/ their house-made chorizo, which was also fantastic. Though it's more of a very good cheese dip versus queso. There are peppers in there but they don't add a lot of spice and no smoke comes through in the dish at all but whatever, this hipster cheese dip is a must-order.
I really liked both of my tacos and it's obvious that Smoke tries hard to build a great and well-thought out flavor profile in each and every taco. I enjoyed the chicken taco a bit more because it had the right ratio of meat to condiments/other dressings. The pork taco had a lot of pulled pork on it and while the pork was flavorful, I felt like I was eating a pulled pork sandwich but with a tortilla. The brisket special was good but had too much going on for my palate and it was super greasy.
The mac and cheese was good but I'm not sure if it was worth the $8 + $3 add on for the brisket. I enjoyed the brisket part of the mac and cheese the most (I'm totally getting a brisket taco next time), though the grease from the brisket didn't drip down and flavor the mac and cheese like I was hoping it'd do. I'm just not sure I would vote this my favorite restaurant mac and cheese, though it was good. The smoke cabbage was awesome! The smoke flavor wasn't too overwhelming and it had chunks of bacon or pancetta in it that really added to it. The apple/cabbage slaw was pretty refreshing and light compared to everything else we got though I think I should have added some salt to it. I would get this again.
The pie was pretty amazing. It was an open pie (no crust on top) with some heavenly mix of berries in it. It's a pretty healthy size so I'm glad we split it between 6 people. It's also $11 and if you order coffee, that's a $15 dessert. But I had nothing better to do and some money to burn, so it was all so worth it!
Finally, before I forget, they have fun flavored lemonades that could be elevated by booze. I'd recommend buying some airplane shots or just bringing a flask of gin, tequila or vodka with you. You can also purchase a pitcher of margarita mix for $15. Also, I heard that sometimes they have an 'ultimate taco' of the day which I believe are inspired by one of their line/prep cooks named Jesse. It's rumored that he's a great cook, totally fit and single.
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