Friday, January 23, 2009

Smackies Smokehouse Bar-B-Que - Columbus, Ohio

One of our readers recommends this barbecue restaurant in Columbus, Ohio for their Sunday Buffet. I have been on the lookout for a long time for a barbecue buffet restaurant. On a trip through North Carolina while riding though several towns I saw a few restaurants that we passed with signs that said barbecue buffet. Unfortunately, we could not stop and on some roads you go past so quickly that you don't have time to even note where you are - or even what the name of the restaurant was. I have made internet searches with no success to find those restaurants - wondering sometimes if I did not just dream them. Well, now a kind reader has pointed out Smackies. It is not in North Carolina - not even close. Smackies is in Columbus, Ohio, the same city that Schmidts sausage buffet is located in. I just told my wife that we are going to have to figure out a trip that would include Columbus!

I looked up Smackies and found out a lot about it to share with you all. I need to say this, as I always do, that I have not eaten there, but as I say, one of our readers has and recommends it.

Smackies Smokehouse is a restaurant that specializes in open-pit, southern-style, barbecue. They smoke their meats in a wood smoker over hickory and apple wood. Everything that is served at this restaruant is made from scratch in their kitchen. Six days a week this is just a good barbecue restaurant but on Sundays from Noon to Five, Smackies is a Southern Buffet featuring barbecue and southern dishes.

The buffet menu is extensive and it includes smoked beef brisket, pulled pork, and fried chicken and waffles. What you are not going to find on the buffet are their Memphis dry rub ribs that is the restaurant's signature dish. But the pulled pork is the best selling item on the menu and in this resaurant you will be more than satisfied (from what I can see) with the barbecue offerings on the buffet. The restaurant has several featured barbecue sauces including regular, spicy, Carolina red, Jack Daniels, and whiskey dip. These are certainly offered to make the barbecue selections perfect. As the restaurant points out, this is real barbecue - meat that has been properly smoked in "the pit". This is not what other buffets are serving and saying is barbecue coming out of an oven or off a grill - and that is what this is all about, the pursuit of all you care to eat REAL barbecue where the meat cooks for sixteen hours under the care of one pit-boss and has that smoke ring!

Along with the meats mentioned above, the buffet includes battered fish, fried green tomatoes, mac and cheese, collard greens, fried okra, fried corn nuggets, scalloped potatoes, black-eyed peas, bisquits and sausage gravy, green beans, cornbread, habanero bacon cornbread, and several breakfast entrees that could make this a "brunch" though Noon to Five is late to consider the extent of thie meal "brunch". Those include an omlete station from Noon to Three, Freneh Toast, waffles, and pancakes. There are Southern desserts to complete your meal including banana pudding, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, and sticky buns.

The website puts the price of the buffet at $11.99. Pretty good! There is menu and take out service. They will also cater events - I am assumming off premises - for up to 2000 people. This is a family owned and operated restauant. There are two videos on the website that show you the people working and eating there and they tell you about how good the food is and what makes it special. This is the enthusiasm that you want to see when you go to any restauant.

Smackies is located at 5730 Cleveland Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. They are open seven days a week. Their hours are Monday to Thursday, 11 am to 9 pm, Friday 11 am to 10 pm, Saturday from 11 to 11, and Sunday from 11 am to 8 pm - BUT REMEMBER the buffet is only on SUNDAYS from NOON TO FIVE. The telephone number is 614-794-1600. There is a website and the link is at the side of this page.

If you have ever been to Smackies for the Buffet please leave a comment and let us know how you liked it.

No comments: