Oklahoma Smoke BBQ

[bombermwc]

They have completed their move to the building on Main. I went there on Saturday evening. So here's a review for their still "new" time at this location. There are a lot of "moving" pains on this one, but i'm not saying this to say it's all bad. This is just where they are right now after the move....

Location - So WHERE it is, is good. But the building itself is stupid. I can see why nothing is successful here. The building looks to be good sized on the outside, but on the inside it's not any bigger than their old location. I can see why Del Rancho moved, even if the new Del Rancho building is complete crap. You've got the extra "bar" seating compared to their old location, but that's it. I'm not sure who designed the building itself, but they aren't doing anyone any favors. They really need twice the dining space. I walked in and was just shocked that they chose this building. It's going to be working against them the entire time they are here. It really is awful. I'm honestly not sure where all the space goes. You can see the kitchen from the dining room and it's not that big. What is taking up all the space on the lot????

The wait - because of the lack of table space, they are EXTREMELY slow. We ended up being able to sit our family of 5 at the bar because there were no tables available. It took 10 minute for someone to get drink orders (we just ordered at the same time) and 40 minutes to get our food. Mind you this is pre-cooked BBQ (see my next point). All they have to do is plate it. Doordash and pickup orders were also taking 40-50 minutes. No one really make a big stink about it, but the customers were all frustrated (and under their breathe grumbly). Some table customers just had theirs changed to to-go to make room. People don't have anywhere to stand in this micro dining room, so they just crowd around everyone at their tables too. It's super awkward.

Nothing onsite - The owners mentioned that they don't have a smoker on site yet so they aren't actually cooking the meats there. So it's like Billy Simms where they cook it elsewhere and just heat it up at the location. Well, they haven't figured that process out yet either for my next point.

Temperature - My family had a mix of cold and warm, nothing hot. We were told things were sitting in warmers, but maybe they aren't working properly?

Flavors - As before, it's delicious. They have a great amount of sides to pick from. The meats are all delicious. They have a range of sides you don't always find at BBQ places too, and I appreciate that even if they aren't ones that i would get, like greens. We all enjoyed the flavors of our food and the sauce was good too. It really was very tasty.

Staff - The staff were working their butts off and doing the best they could all around. They were courteous and helpful (when you caught them). They had to clean up customers dropping sauce and hot sauce jars just while we were there and they had it all taken care of quickly. There were 3 people working the "front of the house" and I think 3 or 4 working the kitchen. Feels like one more in each area during these busy days would have made it a little less chaotic for everyone. Because they were so busy, we weren't able to get drink refills or anyone really check on us during the stay. I was personally fine, but my wife did need more water and never got it. You get up to go pay, and that also caused a line at the bar with pickup and paying folks standing around eating customers.

So my overall on this...i'm not going to go back for a while to give them time to figure the new location out. At the old location, a Saturday night was pretty dead. You also ordered at a counter (Fuzzy's style) compared to a waiter here. So it did feel like it was more efficient in the old location. But they would have really had to have ripped out the whole place here and spent a lot more money to do things that way. If they can't figure this out, they aren't going to last though. People aren't going to tolerate that amount of wait when they have other options. To me, the other options in Moore do not taste as good (i dislike Van's, for example). But they are going to have to do better. If they can't, then i think they're going to have to find a different location in order to survive. The rush on the "newness" of the new location isn't going to last. So maybe they will figure out things better as they go. I really hope they do because I want them to be successful.

[deeeznutz]

I have been interested in their new location. The food is excellent and I got into the habit of pick up orders at their old place of 19th. We'd pick it up and take it back to the house or go picnic at Scissortail or some other park often. I hope they get it figured out, great food, great people and I really would like a dine-in option.

[CCOKC]

Is this the same Oklahoma Smoke that is located in the Stockyards? My family found this location 2 weeks ago and have now been 3 times they like it so much. I had no idea it existed until it showed up on my Google Maps when I was looking for a place to eat on a Sunday evening before a Thunder game.

[Roger S]

Is this the same Oklahoma Smoke that is located in the Stockyards?

Yes. Same people.

Not to be confused with Oklahoma Smoke in Hooker, OK that has been around for about 15 years prior to the OKC area Oklahoma Smoke.

[CCOKC]

I am a vegetarian so I cannot speak to the meats, but I really enjoy the Carolina mustard sauce. I don't recall seeing much of that around here.

[bille]

Del Rancho technically didn't move from that location. The original Del Rancho in that location was a franchise. The franchise owner had a grand idea to drop the franchise and change the name and incorporate their own menu mimicking that of Del Rancho with slightly different spiced breading for the CFS, this new concept failed after less than a year. Once that closed DR corporate began spinning up a new Moore location.

As far as the space I don't mind it. It is small and not the greatest for as busy as they have been but it is what it is. I'm sure overhead is low so that's a plus for them. Regarding the food flavor and quality, eh it's nowhere near as good as people make it out to be. I've convinced myself that the people of Moore/OKC (perhaps the state) just have very low standards for BBQ...or mine are just way too high??

I chose the OK Smoke Stockyards location for a work luncheon a few weeks ago, I was so excited to try it for the first time. I was extremely disappointed and mildly embarrassed on my pick to be honest. The service was not good and the place was not busy. I understand the service is hard for the owners to control when they were focused on the Moore move but it certainly didn't help our experience. They were out of several things and again we were there for lunch so these were items they just didn't prepare that day. I get one or two things but it was several things (sausages, poppers, sides). The ribs were the best part, they were good but not exceptional. The plain sausage they had was basic AF and the brisket had zero smoke flavor and pretty much zero flavor at all. Very reminiscent of basic roast.

Fast Forward a week later and I wanted to try the Moore location because I just new our experience at the stockyard location was an anomaly. Sadly that turns out to not be the case. Very similar experience there with being out of food, food being cold and bland. I will give them this, the food is very consistent between the two locations, unfortunately it's just not that great of BBQ. Honestly this is what I expected when I first heard of this place opening up over a year ago, which is why I waited so long to try it. The main reason I did try it was because there are so many people talking about how awesome it is. Basic, basic basic.

Having said all that I imagine they make a great stop for a burger or similar sandwich item and I fully intend on returning to try that but in regard to being top OK bbq, hell naw dawg, not even close. I hate to say this, the owners seem really sweet, fun, and so on.

[bombermwc]

Based on my experience there, i think the standards you have for BBQ do seem high. If nothing in OK is up to your level, i'm curious what you would call good BBQ. Memphis/KC if you're one then the other will never be good. So which camp do you fall in to?

I did think the ribs were the best thing. I had the brisket too and it was a bit fatty, but i did have a good smokey taste on mine. I wonder if it was just a matter of a batch of what went through or something?

Everyone definitely has their idea of what's good. There are plenty of people that swear by Earl's or Van's and I personally don't like either and think their sauces are too vinegary. Yuk. To each his own!

Service seems to be a challenge in Moore for everyone right now. In a streak of very abnormal eating out for my family, we had gone to Chili's for lunch and it was totally fine and then to Humus for dinner. Humus was ridiculous like OK Smoke. It took them 10 minutes to have someone come talk to us about where to sit. Once we ordered, it also took about another 30 minutes for the plates to get to us. The place was pretty busy and had to-go's too, but like OK Smoke, they seemed understaffed and not able to keep up with what was going on. That kind of thing is what ends up killing local eateries. We try to never take it out on the staff working because their doing their best. But it also ended up being $90 for a family of 5 to eat at Humus......yall come on. Chili's would have been just as bad if all 5 of us had been there. And that's with all of us just getting water too. Prices are insane now!!!!

[Jeremy Martin]

Been to OK Smoke twice now. It was just OK both times. I think it's just growing pains and not having the smoker on site. I'll give it another shot in a few months.

[catcherinthewry]

I've had good and not so good experiences at OK Smoke. At times their brisket is excellent, but last time I went it was quite dry. They need to work on their service and their consistency.

[bille]

Based on my experience there, i think the standards you have for BBQ do seem high. If nothing in OK is up to your level, i'm curious what you would call good BBQ. Memphis/KC if you're one then the other will never be good. So which camp do you fall in to?

I did think the ribs were the best thing. I had the brisket too and it was a bit fatty, but i did have a good smokey taste on mine. I wonder if it was just a matter of a batch of what went through or something?

Everyone definitely has their idea of what's good. There are plenty of people that swear by Earl's or Van's and I personally don't like either and think their sauces are too vinegary. Yuk. To each his own!

Service seems to be a challenge in Moore for everyone right now. In a streak of very abnormal eating out for my family, we had gone to Chili's for lunch and it was totally fine and then to Humus for dinner. Humus was ridiculous like OK Smoke. It took them 10 minutes to have someone come talk to us about where to sit. Once we ordered, it also took about another 30 minutes for the plates to get to us. The place was pretty busy and had to-go's too, but like OK Smoke, they seemed understaffed and not able to keep up with what was going on. That kind of thing is what ends up killing local eateries. We try to never take it out on the staff working because their doing their best. But it also ended up being $90 for a family of 5 to eat at Humus......yall come on. Chili's would have been just as bad if all 5 of us had been there. And that's with all of us just getting water too. Prices are insane now!!!!

Edgecraft holds the top award in OKC for me. Clark Crew would be runner up and if I had to pick a bronze medal it would be The Butcher Block out in Wellston.

[Jeepnokc]

Edgecraft holds the top award in OKC for me. Clark Crew would be runner up and if I had to pick a bronze medal it would be The Butcher Block out in Wellston.

Clark Crew does a great job, I think Burn Co in Tulsa is best in the state. I don't get Butcher Block. The times I have had it, it was flavorless and bland. Cooked well but bland.

[gjl]

I think Butcher Block is more of a cult destination place to go. I've had it a couple of times and don't think it's worth the travel to get to it.

[Jeepnokc]

I think Butcher Block is more of a cult destination place to go. I've had it a couple of times and don't think it's worth the travel to get to it.

Others may disagree with me but I think there is a big difference between competition BBQ and producing commercial BBQ. Winning awards in either category isn't necessarily going to make you successful at the other. Choosing the one piece of perfect meat and babying it for the full smoke requires more individual time than what you do with cooking and holding 50 briskets a day. ie...finding 50 perfect briskets, babying it, cutting out the choice parts of it, serving and presenting at the opportune time, etc.

[BoulderSooner]

Others may disagree with me but I think there is a big difference between competition BBQ and producing commercial BBQ. Winning awards in either category isn't necessarily going to make you successful at the other. Choosing the one piece of perfect meat and babying it for the full smoke requires more individual time than what you do with cooking and holding 50 briskets a day. ie...finding 50 perfect briskets, babying it, cutting out the choice parts of it, serving and presenting at the opportune time, etc.

I think this is pretty spot on ..

[Roger S]

I think Butcher Block is more of a cult destination place to go. I've had it a couple of times and don't think it's worth the travel to get to it.

First it's not called Butcher Block... It's The Butcher BBQ Stand

Second as a certified KCBS BBQ Judge I can say.... The BBQ served at The Butcher BBQ Stand is about as close as you can get to the flavor of competition BBQ. Not the texture but they injections, rubs, & sauces they use are the same they use on the KCBS circuit. And for good reason. David Bouska has won a lot of awards using his injections, rubs, and sauces and his son Levi cooked with him a lot of years on the circuit.

[gjl]

First I was close enough that you knew what place I was talking about. If you notice I was quoting bille.

Still not worth the drive to Wellston for me.

[bombermwc]

Others may disagree with me but I think there is a big difference between competition BBQ and producing commercial BBQ. Winning awards in either category isn't necessarily going to make you successful at the other. Choosing the one piece of perfect meat and babying it for the full smoke requires more individual time than what you do with cooking and holding 50 briskets a day. ie...finding 50 perfect briskets, babying it, cutting out the choice parts of it, serving and presenting at the opportune time, etc.

I would 100% agree with this. Roger, it's great that you are a judge, but I think that probably excludes you from being the "average joe" like the rest of us. Your idea of what is good is probably a lot higher standard than the rest of us. Anyone in their own field, is more highly critical of the things they know than those outside of it. We're not going to be driving to Wellston for small batch stuff like that. Some poeple do make the drive to Eischens and whatever, and that's great. But that's not Tuesday night dinner for the family.

OK Smoke, in my humble average joe opinion, tastes great. They just have to figure out the service side.

[bombermwc]

removing duplicate post.

[bille]

First I was close enough that you knew what place I was talking about. If you notice I was quoting bille.

Still not worth the drive to Wellston for me.

Apologies for sending you astray there, I always forget the actual name of the place. No shade meant of course.

When I visited that place in Welston, after years of hearing it built up and wanting to go I was very ho hum about the overall quality and flavor. It was indeed good, notably better than the chain places we have scattered about Oklahoma but that’s not saying much. I wouldn’t hesitate to stop, assuming the conditions warranted it but I won’t schedule a special trip to visit like I did before.

[bille]

Duplicate post

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