They got me my food quickly and checked on me quite a bit to make sure I had everything I needed. So the folks behind the bar were pretty busy too, but they did a good job keeping everyone taken care of. But I got lucky because I looked over at the bar and somebody was paying his tab and leaving his seat, and I managed to jump right into it. I went on a Wednesday night, pretty early, only about 6: 15 PM and there was already a pretty good line waiting to eat. Well I heard this place was pretty busy, and apparently it’s true. I can’t wait to get back to Greenville so I can get to Smoke on the Water! Because if I tried to even get 1 drink in DC for $ 12, it would probably end up being a rail drink or warm spit. Great food, amazing service, all at a low price. Its when I have experiences like this that I really miss living in the south. The great thing was that the whole meal was under $ 50. The place was packed, but he spoke to everyone like they were his old friends. Also, a manager came over and let us try this BBQ sauce - it was spicy! I wanted THAT for my meal. Both of them were so good and so well-seasoned. Who knew a place so far from water would have good seafood? Next, dinner. I DO NOW! They were delicious! The breading on them was just enough, but you really got the taste and texture of the oyster and it was amazing. HOLY HELL! It all came up to $ 12! I wish I had more hands and a higher tolerance I would have ordered more! My mom insisted we start with some fried oysters. Figuring I wanted to sip a beer now and enjoy a cocktail later, I ordered myself Woodford Reserve - neat, a beer, and I got my mom a chardonnay. We waited by the bar, as happy hour seemed to be jumpin’. WAS! Lawdhammercy! Let me start with the décor. I was like, «Is this even worth it?» AND. It seemed that everyone and their mama was here on this particular Saturday. Sure, I had my favorites (shoutout to High Cotton!), but I wasn’t enthused with the downtown scene. It had been a few years since I’d spent time down there and it wasn’t all that thrilling for me. I CANNOT say enough good stuff about SOTW! I was down visiting my mom and she suggested we go to Downtown Greenville. When all is said and done the whole wait thing can be annoying and sometimes a deterrent from visiting but I would definitely recommend giving a try. If you’ve ever heard the term «bone suckin’ good» the ribs here are that. The ribs have a really well balanced rub and they always come nice and tender.
My favorite is the ribs and the beer butt chicken. Any host/hostess, server, or manager has always been very friendly accommodating.
Now on to the good stuff… The service is fast, friendly, and attentive to your needs. This is a glaring operational issue they have struggled with over the years. They offer call ahead seating but that has proven inaccurate as well. The old business adage is under promise and over deliver. The provide inaccurate wait times nearly every time I’ve been and through the years I’ve been a lot. SOTW will probably never acquire that fifth star from me because they still to this day struggle to manage their wait. Right off the bat I’ll explain the four star rating. Smoke On the Water is an old family favorite for us! The food and service has been consistently good-great over the years. I’m not talking about alcohol content - just flavor in general. It tasted pretty watery and void of flavor. My only true con would be the Big Bourbon drink. Nothing at all wrong with the experience - it just didn’t wow me. My food was good, but just «A-OK.» I don’t feel I’d be missing much by not returning. The baked beans side was delicious! Honestly I liked this place, but feel it is overrated. There was a vinegar based sauce which I liked the taste of, but it was too luquidy and kind of made too much of a mess of the plate. I did like the sauce that was the traditional one mixed with habanero pepper - but the sauce was no where near hot. There’s a mustard based sauce I didn’t try as well as a traditional one I passed on. Instead the restaurant provides 5 bottles of sauce to add to the meat. There is a flavor to it which I thought was good, but it wasn’t saucy. The ordering process was fast and we didn’t feel rushed. Once seated we were quickly met by our server. So we had call ahead seating and when we arrived we were quoted an hour wait! They took our phone number and called us about 50 minutes later.
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