My brother moved to Mississauga last fall and found this place he said was good and not far from his place so we decided to join him this weekend. He drove and I noticed when we arrived it was right around the corner from my dentist at Dundas and Palstan on the north side.
The place is called Holy Smokez BBQ and it's in a strip mall facing Dundas next door to a Banh Mi shop and Vietnamese bakery. The place has an order counter that's basically on wheels while there's a single low table that can seat 3 and stool seating enough for 6 facing the window and wraps around the wall.
I noticed before we came that there was actually a Yelp check in offer that granted 10% off the entire order if paying by cash. I thought that was a good start. We ended up being 4 adults and 2 children so it took us a short while to decide so we could order accordingly. It made sense for us to get a full rack combo since some of the children wanted ribs and we could share besides that we ordered 3 other sandwiches some were combos so we had additional sides and drinks included already.
My brother who had been before went with the "evil twins" which is a sandwich stacked with 2 meats of your choice. The choices were pork, beef, chicken, and sausage. There's also a "triangle" version that includes 3 of the 4 meats. The two meat version is 12 bucks while the 3 meat version is 18 bucks. The regular sandwiches (1 meat) range to be 10 and under such as if you just wanted the brisket, pulled pork or cheese steak version of the brisket (added cheese etc).
When I presented the check in offer the owner had politely mentioned that the check in offer was only valid for your first visit. I'm not quite sure how they'd keep track of such a thing and I know check in offers are offered as a promotion but at least he did mention it so there would be no confusion for next time. This was in fact my first visit to the establishment and I only knew what to expect based on my brother's recommendation and experience.
The order didn't take that long to complete. I'd say less than 15 minutes which wasn't bad considering how much we ordered and that there were other orders in front of ours getting filled by others that either called in their orders or waited in the parking lot for theirs. There were 2 individuals working in the back and the kitchen is pretty much visible from the waiting/dining area so you can see what's going on.
It was a particular hot day in town so it was understandable how it was sort of stifling inside. We had decided to eat in as opposed to taking it home so we were sort of split up, some of us at the table and others at the stool seating since we were 6 total.
The orders came out and everything looked great. I had the cheese steak brisket, my brother had his twins sandwich with onion rings, my mom had the regular brisket and we had the dozen ribs as well. The ribs were side ribs cut per bone. They are easily identified since the bones are straight and not curved (back ribs) but side ribs are great for generally being meatier (more meat on them bones) and if prepared right can also be as tender as back ribs. While my wife found the ribs a bit greasy, I found them to be cooked well but still tender with a good tasting sauce and flavor to them. They weren't fall off the bone but they weren't hard to eat and were quite meaty and filling. Basically I had 6 bones while the other half dozen went to the kids. My nephew jokingly before he saw the food said 3 bones wouldn't be enough for him. Once I saw the size of the portion I knew it would be more than enough for the kids.
I was already pretty stuffed with the half rack and side of fries before trying the sandwich. The sandwich was good but wasn't great. The cheese to me seemed to taste like those packet mix types and not as thick and rich as say Cheez Whiz. Still it was ok but I'd probably try the pulled pork next time or even the smoked sausage which looked really attractive.
Overall the food was good and a decent value for the money. The dozen side ribs is easily enough meat for 3 or 4 people which is basically either 4 or 3 bones each. The normal rib combo for just over 10 bucks comes with 3 bones. A full rack is a great idea for sharing and is just over 20 bucks and the combo (drink and fries) is 24. The sandwiches pack a lot of meat which is understandable that they are around 10 bucks each unless you're asking for the multiple meat stack versions. The fries seemed a bit over salted but I like them like that actually. While the service seemed friendly enough.
I'd go back to try some of the other options but the ribs are a great meal for sharing. The place is more suited for taking out than dining in especially if you're a group.