beale st. smokehouse bbq

music is way too loud. most people in the area know that you don't eat at this restaurant on friday and saturday evening unless you want to deal with poor music played at deafening volumes. but the food and service is generally good so you choose to go at other times. but really, this place is way to small for live music. this sunday we wanted to do a birthday lunch with friends so thought beale street would be a good choice. we were surprised to see a band setting up when we walked in at about noon, which turned out to be an elderly duo singing awful christian music from the 60s. it was bad. the singer after them was very bad also but that didn't keep him from screaming into the sound system. two requests to the manager to turn downy the volume did no good. again, this place is just way to small for live music. one more thing- the service was horrible. our lunch order took close to 45 minutes to come to the table even though the restaurant of 30%. probably won't go back back, which is a shame, since this use to be out favoritebbqplace in the county.

hmmmm - i'm puzzled.. i'm puzzled, pretty solid score and reviews, but they just didn't add up for me ... maybe with the holidays business was slow and food older or made with less care? reminded me of txbbq(attached to a local gas station). the inside was nice though, prompt greeting from "host"/owner? our waiter disappeared a bit more than i'd have liked in terms of drink refills, but was friendly enough.

as for the food, we had the extreme sampler: 1/4 a chicken, some pulled pork, brisket and ribs. plus we added on a sausage link. for sides, coleslaw and red beans and rice.

the chicken was moist, but not particularly smokey (the skin was, but it was soggy and really chewy). same story for the pork - moist, but not much of a flavor and certainly no "crunchies". ribs were definitely the best part of the meal, a little fatty and on the small side but no big deal. the sausage was boring and really really greasy. the brisket, sad sad sad, so dry. it was more like jerky. i really do not understand whybbqplaces insist on pre slicing their brisket. slice to order, please. it takes 15 more seconds. i will happily, patiently wait. i promise.

so the dry brisket leads me to the sauces: house, sweet and heat. house and heat both had a weird taste to me and sweet was just that, cloyingly sweet. no salvaging the brisket and the mystery flavors continued with the cole slaw ... it had a red hue and i couldn't quite place the flavor ... oddly tart. not for me. the hubby seemed to enjoy his red beans and rice though.

i've been around thebbqblock a few times (just check out my other reviews) and love my green egg in the summer, so i might just be really picky, but i think there is betterbbqfare to be had.

excellent bbq. saturday, july 20, 2013. i love good bbq, i'm from the austin tx. area and so i grew up on bbq. i try it in every state i'm in, had some bad stuff, had some ok bbq, thisbbqis top notch ! ! blues music at 7pm topped off a fine evening. i had the "wet" chicken, ribbs, beef,slaw and beans. came with cornbred and had sweet tea for drink. i will go back in a heart beat !

bland, bland and blander. we went bale st. storehousebbqtonight. even though the restaurant sit connected to a sunoco gas station, the entrance on the side is very home and inviting. we walked into a warm and hip a quaint interior enjoying the aroma of smoke waiting through the air. we were greeted kind of abruptly by a server asking how many. no hello, no welcome, just "how many." we proceeded to ask for take-out. placed our order for a combo of 1/2 # pulled chicken, 1/2 # pulled pork, 1/2 # brisket, 1# baked beans, 1# cole slow and six corn bread and 16 oz.bbqsauce.

it arrived in about 10 minutes. very acceptable so far. we proceeded home to consume our goodies. that were the problems began. we open the cornered and it was stone refrigerator cold. we next opened the trio of proteins, chopped pork, void of any flavor, chopped chicken, had the flavor old left over food that had been left too long in the refrigerator, and sliced pale grey slabs of flavorless brisket. all had been warmed up in the microwave far too long. even doused in there spicy sauce, still not enough cover up the left in the fridge too long taste. the baked beans tasted as the freshly opened from a can and the cole slow was a the best pedestrian. no smoke flavor what so ever. let alone seasoning.

all in all bland, bland, bland and very disappointed.

don't waste your money as i did.

i don't know what happened with the new management, but they have missed the boat.

sorry

good food. forbbqin michigan this is as good as i have found. the food is good... very good... especially the pulled pork and memphis ribs. i also had thebbqbeans and mashed potatoes and they were also very good. the service is awkward. the staff seems to be made up of kids which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it didn't look like there were any "adults" or "managers" around to watch or help them. some of them looked like they were still in middle school... our waiter acted very strange. my wife ordered the ribs, and then i ordered a pulled pork platter. when i ordered, the waiter asked if i was "sure".... i said yes??? and when the food came out he said "now if you don't like it you just let me know and i'll get you something else asap." it was actually great, as i said earlier... and i'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, just inexperienced... but it just came across as a very awkward situation! thankfully my wifeand i weren't coming here to try out the service, but rather the food... and because of that i am "liking" this page and we will definitely be back for more pork!

don't eat here. i agree with the below post. i love trying brisket at everybbqspot i go to, but this tasted like year old stale beef jerky that you would buy from a gas station. my jaw was sore from all of the chewing that i had to do! i have been tobbqjoints every where from the east coast to the west coast so i fancy myself somewhat knowledgable on the subject. i wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

my go-to place!. you may have heard about this place from friends, like i did a few years back, and finding it without any specific directions can feel a bit like a treasure hunt... but i am so glad that i made the trip because this has been my wife and mine's "spot" since then!

true smoked meats, southern-style side dishes, raggedy decor and a good craft-beer selection make this place a dream for people like me! and the best part, you walk into this little place and the sweet smell of smokedbbqjust overwhelms you.

i have visited this place dozens of times, but not so much recently due to business travel. my most recent visit was two weeks ago on a friday night with my wife. we ordered our "usual" - the extreme sample - pulled pork, beef brisket, ribs and a chicken leg/thigh, all split between the two of us. the food has always been amazing, but this time, it tasted even better. never has it tasted so smoky and been so moist… i could not get over it. when our waiter came by and asked, i mentioned what i thought about the food… he told us that the new owners had been working hard at improving everything. we must have been out of the loop because we had no idea this place had been sold! but our waiter assured us that the new owners are a group of employees of the former, and that everything is sure to stay the same but just improved on.

like i said the food was always the reason we had been returning, and now that they seemed to find a way to make it even better, we'll still be coming back! but, like another review mentioned, the service has never been great. nothing too serious has happened to us, just little irks… on this particular night for example, our drinks had been empty for a while, and our waiter had not been back to check up on us. with other waiters frantically running by us to tend to their table we assumed they were short staffed, and it was in fact busy. but then i glanced around the dining room and saw our waiter laughing and talking with two casually dressed employees (managers??) at the front desk. maybe i am picky but like i said, nothing too serious, just minor annoyances with the service.

with all that said, the food is absolutely too die for and if you love southernbbqlike we do then you have to stop by this place!

awesome bbq. just as good as thebbqyou get down south. delicious, delicious food.