Smokey Bones BBQ & Grill (Orlando, FL)

Kyle's Order: BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich w/ Beans & Sweet Tea. $10.10
Doop's Order: Smoke Turkey Sandwich w/ Beans and Sweet Tea. $10.65


Kyle's Take: Just for the record, if we decide to review a chain restaurant, it will be a one time only for that chain. We are not huge fans of resaurant chains, however, BBQ is BBQ and it needs to be reviewed. Smokey Bones is probably the most recognized BBQ restaurant nationawide. I personally would say it relates closer to an Applebbes or TGI Fridays, more than a BBQ restaurant. We ate at around 1 in the afternoon, so we missed the major lunch rush. The menu was far from your ordinary BBQ menu, having everything from BBQ nachos to honey glazed salmon. I'm not going to lie, the first thing you notice is the prices, which are also a little more than most BBQ menus. On the table they offer 2 BBQ sauces, original and a tangy type of BBQ sauce, and also a bottle of their own Howling Hot Sauce that was more of a wing type sauce. The pulled pork came on a slightly toasted bun and lacked in taste. It was also a very tiny portion of pork. I ended up soaking it in the original sauce and adding a few drops of hot sauce. The beans came a in a little plastic cup and were nothing more than average. The tea was not bad, very sweet, however, no to-go cups were given. There are Tv's all around usually playing sports, which is a nice amenity. Smokey Bones is a nice place to take a family for a decent dinner perhaps, but I would not recommend it for BBQ lovers.

Doop's Take First of all... not a big fan of the chain restaurants. So going in to eat I already had my speculations on how it was going to be. From the outside, you get a feel of being up north, in like Washington(state) cause the restaurant looks like it's made out of wooden logs, but when you step inside, you get a feel of a seafood place. We sat down and the service was good. TV's were placed all around and if you couldn't hear the TV, on the table they had a radio type thing if you could select what TV you can listen to. That's kind of a cool thing if you go during a big game, you can hear the action, instead of everyone talking. It was a nice atmosphere, but it didn't give off that authentic BBQ vibe. The sweet tea was very good, probably second best, compared to Louis's tea. The location is not the best, as it is located in waterford lakes in the back, towards Target. Like i said, it does not give off that authentic BBQ vibe. The food was good though. I got a good amount of turkey, the only thing though is that they put lettuce, tomato, and pickles on my sandwich. I like to eat my BBQ without those things... the beans were good. They already put the BBQ sauce in the beans, which i am a huge fan of!!!! also, the beans didn't have a lot of shredded pork in it, which is always great in my opinion. Now... as for the sauce. 2 kinds of sauce, regular and tangy (i'm guessing). They didn't have any labels, so you had to guess, but i mean they kind of tasted the same. All in all, it was an alright experience and i'm glad we knocked it out and do not have to go there again.

Kyle's Beef: My main beef is the lack of food for the price. Most BBQ joints offer a meat portion w/ 2 sides and bread, and it's usually around $6. AND still give you to-go cups with tea. Smokey bones offers one side with the lunch and no bread, for almost $8...and no to-go cup.
Doop's Beef: It lacked an authentic feel for BBQ, no to-go cups, you only get 1 side and that's not even big enough, and most importantly... Way too expensive!!!!!!

Kyle's Rating: 4/10
Doop's Rating: 4/10

Map: www.smokeybones.com