| rev:text
| - If Yelp let me give half-stars, Smoke would get a 3.5. Alas, I can't in good conscience give a four-star rating for the experience.
Mr. Husband, a friend of ours, and I wanted to go out for dinner on Saturday, but wanted to stay away from downtown Champaign due to Ebertfest/Marathon madness. We figured the Crossing would be safe enough. Debated going to Billy Barooz, but ultimately settled on trying out Smoke 'Que & Brew.
Service: We were greeted pleasantly enough by the hostess. We were told that it would be a 15 minute wait. That's fine, but there were clearly empty tables in view, which leads me to think they were understaffed. At dinner. On a Saturday. Sometimes people call off, and it can't be helped, but it seemed a little odd. We were seated about fifteen minutes later, and our server was helpful. A little forgetful, but her section was indeed busy, so I can understand why.
Food: I have mixed feelings. Some things were REALLY good, others were completely mediocre. Mr. Husband and I shared the chicken wings for an appetizer. These were absolutely wonderful. The chicken was crispy and delicious, and I liked being able to sauce them at the table. The waitress brought us a small loaf of cornbread to share, which was tasty. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich, with macaroni & cheese and green beans with bacon. The sandwich was totally mediocre, which is disappointing for a barbecue place! The meat was soooo dry that I had to heavily sauce by the bite, and the bun looked nice, but was also dry and didn't add much to the sandwich. The mac & cheese had a nice cheddar taste. I was fine with it. The green beans were also fine, despite the rubbery bacon. I will say, I tried a couple of my friend's french fries, and those were quite good. Mr. Husband liked his meatloaf, and said if he were writing this, he'd definitely give it a 4 (he's nicer than I am, though!).
Prices were fair. The sandwich, I believe, was $7.50 with 2 sides. The wings were $4.99. I believe our bill (for 3 entrees/sandwiches, one iced tea, and the wings app) was around $32-34.
Smoke hasn't been open that long, so perhaps they're ironing out some of the issues. I'm willing to give them another try. If I come back, I'm getting wings and fries - which might bump this up to a four-star. I hear their nachos are good, too. Nothing about my overall experience was upsetting - I think my issue is with a barbecue place having mediocre barbecue. Bottom line: Try Smoke 'Que & Brew for the wings, fries, nachos, etc, but for a good pulled pork sandwich in the C-U area, go to Black Dog.
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