The food was very good, the negative was it was served on styrofoam plates with plastic utensils. Staff was nice but not very knowledgable on the food, had a tough time explaining the menu. Being from Texas I found the BBQ sauce a little underwhelming. Very nice decor, couldn't figure out why the chairs were all the same style but different shades of wood. High ceilings and had a 1940's feel. read more

Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q - Chicken, pulled pork and Brunswick stew! - Barbeque Near Me - Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Wow! Delicious food, great service. The restaurant was clean, the restroom was nice. I don't have one bad thing to say. It was my first time eating North Carolina BBQ and I loved it! read more

Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q - Barbeque Near Me - Rocky Mount, North Carolina

during my visit the food was hot and erin was a great she came around to check on her customers to see if the needed anything and she made me feel very welcomed while eating there. read more

I had high expectations for this restaurant. However after ordering 3 plates of chicken fingers to go and experiencing over cooked and rubbery chicken I will not return. I suggest a Robert Irvin Restaurant Impossible intervention is needed. read more

The bbq was solid. I like smoked bbq better but this was a perfect alternative to burgers, chicken or tacos. The staff was excellent and were super friendly and helpful getting us multiple refills before we could even ask. The price was right. read more

This fast food BBQ restaurant is a welcome change from the usual suspects. Lots of great parking, seating and space make this a great choice for the family stop. I loved the BBQ sauce, which we had to ask for, and I loved the service. read more

Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q - Friendly service. - Barbeque Near Me - Rocky Mount, North Carolina

One of best SCNB I've been too. Food was hot and fresh. Large portions. Customer service was out of this world!

First time at this location. Nice building. Clean restrooms. My wife and I had the regular shrimp plate. More than enough food. Hot and delicious. I bought a pint of BBQ and cole slaw to go to make sandwiches at home. I liked their hush puppies so much I bought a box of the mix to try along with the fish breading. Highly recommend this place. read more

For a BBQ chain, Smithfield's does pretty well. Of course, East Carolina BBQ requires some getting-used-to. For one, BBQ sauce seems to be a taboo. I got the most unusual puzzled look when I asked for BBQ sauce and what I ended up receiving was vinegar and hot sauce. Second, BBQ seems limited to just pulled pork (no briskets or ribs). The pulled pork is tangy, peppery, and so moist that it borders on being a stew. But if you want to go all the way, then opt for the Brunswick Stew (which is pretty much the pulled pork plus tomato sauce and vegetables). Hush puppies seem to be the norm instead of fries and taste more like densely fried corn muffins instead of the gritty cornmeal balls of the North (Yankee-style?). The cole slaw is well-balanced by being creamy and slightly sweet but not overwhelmingly so. The best part of Smithfield is that it's very reasonably priced. The large combo (BBQ + 2 sides) is $7.39 and ample enough for two. Add in a gallon of sweet tea for $3.99 and you've got a complete meal. For an introduction to East Carolina BBQ and Carolina Fried Chicken ... Smithfield's is a good place to start. [Original Visit: September 7, 2009] read more

We were those people who stopped in 15 minutes before closing (sorry!) and they were still super friendly! They made us some yummy fresh hush puppies, we opted to eat outside on the patio so they could close up inside. This place also had some of the cleanest public bathrooms I have ever been in, a relief to a weary travler. We will defintely be back again. read more

For those planning a road trip towards the VA/MD/DC - please make this your "rest" stop! This Smithfields is one of the "updated" restaurants - airy inside, clean and by far one of the friendliest staff in the area. If you haven't had NC BBQ you must give this try....Eastern Style! For those newbies, North Carolinians are passionate about their BBQ that they created 2 styles of BBQ: Eastern & Western. Generally, folks east of Raleigh (Eastern style) will cook the entire pig, chop it fine, and generously douse it with a vinegar-based sauce. On the Western side of the state, BBQ means cooking meaty pork shoulders, chop it a little coarser, then serve it with a darker, sweeter tomato-based sauce. Smithfield's prides itself on it "eastern" style BBQ with that tangy sauce! For this trip, I went through the drive through - was rather peeved (not by the service) but rather with the customer ahead of me because she was taking forever moving the car far enough for me to place my order. Finally, I realized what she was doing: She was entirely consumed with stuffing her face with food! In my state of hunger and without restraint, I blurted out " would you please stop stuffing your $#@ face and move your car so that other can order!" Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the server in the window heard me and busted out laughing.........finally, I placed my order: -Large Sweet tea- better than Bojangles -Hush puppies - cooked to perfection. If you've never had a hush puppy - its fried cornmeal and super tasty when dipped in some hot sauce. -BBQ sandwich (with slaw) -Banana Pudding - my fave dessert - YUM! ALL of it despite the wait in line was worth it! Will stop by when I take another road trip up north. read more

Food is always good consistent. When I travel north I always make sure I get a combo plate - 2 piece white and pull pork with potato salad and cole slaw, in Henderson, North Carolina. The portions are good and staff is always friendly read more

This place was exactly what we were looking for on our trip home through North Carolina. The food was fast and delicious, and the young women working were the friendliest servers I've ever seen. read more

Good Q, GREAT fried chicken, GREAT service......the "tailgate" is a tremendous good deal...My doesn't drink sweet T and wasn't made to feel like she was from Mars....This is East Carolina in nice little package. If they add Calabash fish and shrimp it would be sand hill heaven. read more

I don't give a 5 star too often but this place gets it. Wow what a great place had the chicken platter and enjoyed every bite of it. I hope you will give it a try I think you will love it. read more

BUZZ: - Hush Puppies (6/10) - BBQ (4/10) - Sweet Tea (5/10) I ALSO TRIED: - Slaw (4/10) - Baked Beans (5/10) Gotta give a shout out to Jack F. His review was the reason I checked it out, and was my instruction manual. Having said that, let me give you some additional pointers so you don't look like an idiot like me. Like you learned in Grade School, read all the instructions first! 0) Before you decide on coming here, to give you an idea of what this place is, imagine a Panera serving BBQ (sans pagers and elegance). 1) Purchasing your food works a lot like fast food. Look at the menu, stand in line, order, and pay. 2) People in NC use the term "BBQ" to refer to their pulled pork. BBQ is not a type of food, like most of us think, it is a specific dish. 3) "BBQ Sauce" looks like a jar of vinegar with pepper flakes and other spices swimming in it. Do NOT look for Sweet Baby Rays or KC Masterpiece in this state! 4) Afterwards, you get a number, but it's not like Culver's or Smashburger where you get a table sign. Just go have a seat somewhere and wait. 5) They will yell your number (this is where I f'd up). Simply stare in the direction of the voice and wave when your number is called. They will bring the tray to you. 6) You should order Sweat Tea, not only because it's a staple in these parts, but because people will come around with pitchers and offer to fill up your cup! That's cool! Well, let's get right to it! I ordered the Regular BBQ Platter, which is BBQ plus 2 sides. Hushpuppies came with it automatically. BBQ Of all the styles of barbecue in the country (that I know of), Carolina is my least favorite. When it comes to ribs, I like KC or St. Louis style and for pulled pork I like Texas style. Smithfield's pulled pork looks normal, but then it looks like it was either tossed in or cooked in some kind of sauce, perhaps their Carolina sauce (which is, like I said above, vinegar based). It's evidenced by the pepper flakes throughout. The texture is just barely moist enough to be acceptable, but nowhere near as moist as Texas style. Flavorwise, you can tell it has at least been in contact with vinegar at some point, but it's barely noticeable. It has very small traces of smoke, but nothing like most other styles. For seasoning, the vinegar definitely helped in this area, as you can mostly eat this by itself (though the texture is just a tad too dry to enjoy it). The available sauces: Carolina Sauce (jeez...more vinegar!) or hot sauce (think Louisiana Hot Sauce) are your only options. I really think that a regular BBQ sauce might actually make this delicious, as the texture is almost there, and the sauce would help, the only question is whether or not the sauce would clash with the vinegar flavor/seasoning that's already there. All in all, not impressed. HUSH PUPPIES The crust is nice and crunchy, and the inside tasted like sweet corn bread. Someone said to put hot sauce on it, and honestly, it didn't work for me. It's not that it was bad, but the flavors didn't mix. I mean like oil and water, as in, I tasted the hush puppy and then separately the hot sauce, the flavors didn't combine. They were decent, but nothing to go crazy about. SLAW Oh yeah, it's not "cole slaw" it's "slaw." The sauce is pretty good. It's a little sweet, like KFC. The problem was the cabbage. It tasted too...earthy? It's like the hush puppies and hot sauce, the flavors didn't mix or combine. It's like I was taking a fork full of plain cabbage, and then later a spoonful of sauce. If you think of KFC cole slaw, you don't think of the cabbage and sauce as separate things, but as one harmonious concoction. Wasn't terrible, but not really a fan. BAKED BEANS Texture is pretty similar to most baked beans, but the flavor is a little different. Most baked beans are sweet, like Bush's baked beans, but these were less so and a little more...smoky? Unique, but still nothing really exciting. SWEET TEA When you order this there, it tastes good and balanced, like most sweet teas. For $3.99 you can buy a whole gallon of it! Even though I was only staying 1 night, I bought a gallon to drink at the hotel. I had a long night ahead of me anyway. At the hotel, I was just having it plain and it was way too sweet! You HAVE to dilute this with ice, or it becomes unbearably sweet. And yes, there is some caffeine in here, so I had a little trouble falling asleep (even though by that point, I was up for almost 22 hours). CHICKEN N MEH As much as I want to say that I didn't get my hopes up for this place, I really can't. Even though I don't like Carolina BBQ, I was sort of being optimistic and thinking that the reason I didn't like Carolina BBQ was because I never had it in Carolina. Well turns out, all those fakers...did a pretty good job! Really not a fan of anything in this place, down to their super sweet sweet tea. It's filling and it's cheap, I'll give it that, though. read more

Love, love, love Smithfield's. Every time I go to NC, I have a bucket list of places I need to eat that I don't usually get to do in DC, and Smithfield is always on the list. The chicken wings and hush puppies are my thing. The bbq is pretty good too. Only thing my and family and I don't like is that they don't serve white [or even wheat] bread, bbq sandwiches come on rolls. read more

The fried chicken was really good. I wouldn't recommend the BBQ chicken as it tasted bit sour. Staff were friendly and very helpful. Nice friendly environment. read more

Loved the BBQ sandwich. Super friendly and clean. I'll be sure to stop here again if I'm in the area

Typical southern fried chicken joint. Do not go here if you want something healthy. I asked the lady if they have anything green and she literally laughed at me. I smiled back and asked for fried chicken! Good chicken though! read more

Great service, clean restaurant, BBQ was very good. Hush puppies are to die for! Pork was a little dry. Brunswick stew was excellent.

Unassuming & modern look on the outside, I took to the drive thru, had a bit of a language barrier (I had trouble understanding the southern dialect, it was thick as glue) once we got past that barrier, a bit confusing ordering if you know nothing about the place, the menu board helped but was confusing or I was just hangry! I chose a combo platter which consisted of bbq pulled pork, baked beans, tater salad & hush puppies. As stated in previous reviews, it's Carolina style Q; vinegar based, the pulled pork is shredded to smithereens and somewhat dry, taste as though it's been marinated in the vinegar along with some pepper flakes? (red flakes throughout the meat) and spices, I had a hard time picking up the smokey flavor but it was good once I doused it with some bbq sauce, I thought it wouldn't mesh well with the heavy vinegar flavor but it worked out & tasted pretty good. Regular bbq sauce is the The hush puppies are moist on the inside and crunchier on the outside, a bit of sweetness lends to a pretty good pup to chomp down, the beans were average with decent flavor, it's difficult to get tater salad just right, they got it wrong! it was a bit too thin for my liking and too light in color, I tend to like mine heavier on the mustard side, I didn't detect any eggs at all, it was very runny in texture which made me run to the garbage, I'd like to try a few other offerings before I raise the bar, I shall return! read more

The BBQ sandwich was great - you have to ask for sauce. If you like mild then this sauce is not for you. I had to pour half the sauce out and add ketchup to get it where I could enjoy. The chicken was nice and juicy. It comes with hush puppies. The place was really clean and the staff was friendly and courteous. read more

Good food, great customer service and very family friendly!! Definite must try when in Rocky Mount, NC.

North Carolina chain. If you were driving through and looking for fast food that is regionally-based this seems to be a winner. My wife and I went to the drive-thru. I had the pulled pork and she had the chicken. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. Big step up from other fast food in the area. We will go again if we are in need of a quick meal. The hush puppies were very good and so was the coleslaw. read more

Well, as other folks have said, it's a clean, well-run establishment. However, if this is indicative of "East Carolina" BBQ, then I guess I've discovered I'm not a fan. I would say, if you've never been, it's worth a try. You may discover it's to your liking. Not mine, though. read more

Smithfields was a great place for the entire family after a long drive from CT. We had a white and dark combo plate for sharing, a shrimp 'snack' for the kids plus endless lemonade. Everything was delicious, especially the Brunswick Stew. The staff was super helpful and checked up on us several times. Spacious and clean, we would visit again. read more

I ate at the Smithfield's yesterday in Graham, NC & liked the fried chicken so much I wanted some more today. Would hardly give any fast food establishments 4 stars, however the fried chicken is very good, but the "Old School" TBT southern charm & hospitality is way above good. This must be why this chain seems to be ubiquitous in eastern NC. The service is better than some if not most of sit down chain restaurants. It really is impressive. Not a fan of the eastern Carolina BBQ vinegar based sauce so I was not willing to try. However, it appears the locals love it from the amount of folks ordering it who have the indigenous accent. Very clean quaint atmosphere w quick access to interstates. If you're nearby, it's worth the try. Mmm sounds too much like an ad. It's not. Had 3 pcs of white meat chicken w fries, cole slaw & a heaping amount of hush puppies. Only $10.44. read more

Do not recommend their barbecue pulled pork. It had too much vinegar and no hints of barbecue. Their fried chicken was mediocre. This restaurant's customer service is outstanding and its interior is very well decorated and arranged. If not for its food, I would definitely rated this higher. read more

The food was excellent and the staff was friendly and hospitable. I would definitely come back again and would recommend to friends and family. read more

I am not usually a Smithfield's fan. This was the first time I had actually walked in instead of going through the drive thru. This Smithfield's was very clean, well kept. Had great food and even greater customer service! read more

Clean, friendly service, very good food! Great stop off 95, a wasteland for decent food

Great food, awesome hospitality. Never needed anything they came to the table and provided us with everything we needed from sauces, drinks and even a free dessert for all of us. Sherry was phenomenal as well as the rest of the staff. I am from MD, but will definitely come back to visit again. read more

As far as a chicken chain goes this place is top notch. Very clean, and the food was great

Great food! Always hot. Even though most of the time I got to pull up and wait a couple min. But it's worth the wait.

Stopped in on the way through. Food is on par and fresh. Staff is extremely friendly. The restaurant is clean.

I love their food! Its always fresh and the prices are pretty fair. The service is pretty good for the most. I never have to wait long to receive my order and once I get it everything is always in the bag. My favorite thing to order off the menu is the combo white platter. BBQ is great especially with the sauce added on! read more

As we were ordering, the cashier suggested that a substitution could be made when my daughter was ordering. I questioned the substitution of barbeque for fries on her order. I did not think barbeque for fries would be allowed so I questioned the cashier. She said to me it would be done. Once billed I learned that it could be done for five dollars. The charge for the SUBSTITUTION was never communicated. I tried to discuss my concerns of the misleading process and was met by disinterest and sacasium. I left very upset by the rude manner in which I was treated when talking with both the cashier and manager on duty. I often have stopped here to eat but will never stop here again. Danny Pate Wilson NC read more

As someone else said, perfect place to stop if you're heading to the beaches. Awesome NC pork BBQ and sweet tea. Fast and really friendly service. Order at the counter and they bring it to you. Get a gallon of tea to go! read more

Food was underwhelming, children's portion of chicken tender meal was 1 tender. Service was poor! Dining area was clean.