Came with a reservation. The vibe of the place is overall chill. I got the two meat plate plus added ribs. For whatever reason ribs don't count as part of one of the platters and need to be added on separately for an extra $6 for two ribs. Although they say 2, I'm pretty sure they gave way more than that. The brisket falls apart it's so juicy. The sausage is very flavorful! The ribs nearly fall off the bone. All the bbq sauces are on the table and taste great/add so much! The meat is so good it doesn't even need the sauce. The Cole slaw was fresh and not too saucy which was nice. The Mac and cheese was made perfectly- very cheesy which is my preference! I wouldn't get the broccoli slaw again cause it was too saucy and it had the broccoli stalks and not the heads. Overall great and would come back! read more

Smoke Shack - Two meat combo with ribs added. Sides: Cole slaw, broccoli slaw, and Mac and cheese - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This review is for CATERING. Earlier this year, I had a Derby party. Of course, I had to find a good BBQ place. Out of all the places I sampled, this was the best! I ordered several trays of the brisket, plus sauces, rolls, and of course, the Mac and Cheese. I was even able to order the warming trays sets from them which saved me from hunting around for some. The catering person was very helpful. It was as easy as pulling up the morning of my party and loading up my car. I highly recommend Smoke Shack when planning an event. They were the hit of the party! read more

Although I was hesitant because have not enjoyed this type of food in most similar restaurants. Well, what a great surprise. Cozy space, great service, great drinks and delicious food. The brisket is outstanding, the corn bread (separate item on the menu) are delicious. The bean side dish is also excellent. Looking forward to returning. read more

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The food was very good! We got the combo platters with brisket, pulled pork, and burnt sausage ends. All the meats, sides, and sauces were very tasty. However, I'm giving my first visit 3 stars only due to the service. I might've hit an off day and I'll come back to try it again at some point. We were sat in the "heated" outside covered patio which wasn't very warm at all. There were huge gaps letting snow and wind through. Not all tables had the fire pits in the middle so if you were seated a regular table you were very cold. We ate with our winter apparel on the entire time. Our appetizer took 40 minutes to come out and we were told it would be compensated on our bill (it was not, but we were so ready to leave by the time we asked for our check I wasn't going to argue). Our server rarely came to check on us, we sat with empty drinks for the majority of the meal, we were not offered to go boxes, refills, desserts, etc that servers normally come to check in on. We had to ask for all those little things including silverware. When we did ask for to go drinks we were told it's an extra charge, so just be mindful if you tend to like fountain drinks to go. Again, I'll re visit just to see if it was an off day, but I am disappointed in our first visit :( read more

Wisconsin BBQ? Yeah! Smoke Shack is a fun and unassuming spot tucked into downtown Milwaukee. Great ambiance inside, though my party was seated on the covered patio - which is fine by comparison, but I'd have MUCH preferred to sit inside due to the ambiance. Service is great! Attentive and personable, our server knew their way around the menu to offer suggestions. Great selection of bourbons and whiskeys, good beers on the menu. As it's a BBQ spot, expect a solid selection of meats. From ribs to pulled chicken, brisket... Its a great menu with enough variety to satisfy your picky friends. Prices are bit high for the portion size, but I suppose that's just the way of things these days as it's happening everywhere. read more

Critic Rating: 3.7 Scores: - Food: 3.0 * 40% = 1.2 - Service: 5.0 * 20% = 1.0 - Ambiance: 5.0 * 15% = 0.75 - Value for Money: 3.0 * 15% = 0.45 - Uniqueness: 3.0 * 10% = 0.30 Here's a formula that expresses the quality of a restaurant on a 1-5 scale, considering key factors. Each factor is rated from 1-5, and then weighted according to its importance. Formula: Q = wf*F + ws*S + wa*A + wv*V + wu*U wf + ws + wa + wv + wu Where: - Q = Overall Restaurant Quality - F = Food Quality - S = Service - A = Ambiance - V = Value for Money - U = Uniqueness Factor Weights (w): - wf = Weight of Food Quality (40%) - ws = Weight of Service (20%) - wa = Weight of Ambiance (15%) - wv = Weight of Value for Money (15%) - wu = Weight of Uniqueness (10%) ___________________________________________________ Comments: Cool location, nice patio area for watching the game. read more

Always dog friendly, with great food and great service. We event drive from the Chicago suburbs to visit! read more

Smoke Shack - Rosy is always welcome at the Smoke Shack and they have a dog menu - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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First time coming here, wanted to try something new in Milwaukee since I don't come here as much as I used too. This place was absolutely cozy and I felt right at home here. I tried their 1/2 of jackfruit plate which I was told tasted like pulled pork was such a great option. Thankfully I didn't feel tired afterwards. I also had a side of beans and their cornbread as well. Absolutely delicious as well. This place was really quiet for a week day, staff was professional and entertaining. Great liquor options I wish I could have tried. Overall, left very satisfied. read more

We came around 11:30 on a Friday and were quickly seated outside on their patio. Lots of seating outside! We wanted to try a little bit of everything so we opted for the three meat combo: sausage, pulled chicken, and brisket. The combo plate comes with slices of pickles, a cornbread muffin, and two sides of your choice, which we selected the beans and smoke button mushrooms. Wanting to get the best batch of the day, we timed our meal so that we would arrive relatively early to get one of their first batches. However, the brisket was underwhelming. The seasoning was fine but our pieces were thick, dry, and too flaky. We definitely needed the bbq sauces that they offered for this! I really like how they had a variety of different sauces and my favorite was their mustard one and their Kansas one. The sausage had a very interesting flavor that I wasn't the biggest fan of, but their meat was very fine which made the sausage very smooth. Lastly, the pulled chicken was so good! I have never tried pulled chicken before and didn't really think it could be all that great, but this place makes it well! It was juicy, flavorful, and had a great smoke! Onto their sides - the cornbread tasted like your typical cornbread, nothing too special about this. Their pickles were on the sweeter side but had a nice crunch. The spicy beans had a kick to them and was very flavorful, also a bit on the sweeter end. Smoked button mushrooms is a must if you like mushrooms! I loved the smokiness that came from these mushrooms and they were so juicy and easy to just pop into your mouth! Definitely a decent place to grab bbq if you're around, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get their brisket! read more

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Wow, excellent bbq and signature cocktails. Super cool inside. Great service at the bar. I highly recommend.

That was one of the most disappointing meals I've had in some time. The outdoor patio was nice, and they seated us even though the reservation was for the wrong day. The bar made me a virgin cocktail for $5, so I was happy about that. I think the other people at the table enjoyed what they ordered, but my husband and I ordered a 2 meat plate and wow- paltry. There were 3 small slices of brisket and 2 slices of smoked pork belly. That pork belly. Tough, baby. We asked if the mac and cheese was made with eggs, and I have a very strong feeling it wasn't asked of the kitchen and they just made an assumption. The greens were good. The sweet potato fries and meat were all lukewarm. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time that I've tried Smoke Shack, and for sure needs to be my last. read more

We stopped by smoke shack and shared the platter and nachos. The platter was the perfect size to share and a great deal for $59. The Mac, cornbread, and meats we're great! As we're the nachos! They were out of brisket so replaced it with extra pulled pork which was good. The sauces are delicious as well. read more

Smoke Shack - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Cute little place with BBQ. The sauces were awesome, but our ribs were on the dry side. The baked beans had salsa in them (I think).

Love this place! This was the first "COVID times" order we did - pick up- and it worked really well. The packaging leaked oil a bit so be careful with it in your car. We tried a bit of all the meats, whether atop mac n cheese or just in the meat dinners. I was really into the barbecue spring rolls, too! I wanted to try them because they sounded interesting and man were they good!! We had some ranch at home to dip them in, too, and that was bomb. Pulled pork was the best by far! read more

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Came here for brunch to try the fresh biscuits! And they were as good as they look! I got the Nashville fried chicken biscuit sandwich and my BF built his own with pulled pork and sausage gravy. Mine was excellent - the sauce on the chicken was soooo good. BF said his meat was very fatty. He tired the house, Texas, and habanero sauces and said they were all very tasty. I don't like barbecue so I really enjoyed having so many other options on the brunch menu. It's a tiny space, and the downside of the visit was getting seated. I made a reservation on open table and noticed they were not accepting outdoor reservations, so I called to ensure the patio was open. I was told that it's first come first served but to write that I wanted outdoor seating in the notes so they could prioritize us over walk-ins. When we arrived, they had literally just finished filling up the outdoor seating with walk-ins. Bummer that they didn't wait a few more minutes for us to arrive, but I can't hold it against them because they told me it was first come first served. They still put us in a private corner far from any other guests so we felt safe eating inside. I would definitely come back again for brunch or for a nice patio BBQ. read more

Smoke Shack - Nashville Hot Chicken Biscuit - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Liked the food but was very disappointed to find out 2 sandwiches we looked at were 3-4$ more simply because it was the weekend/ brunch time. Not sure how that would be the plan decided on. read more

This is a cool restaurant in the Third Ward. It doesn't offer a particular style of barbecue, but instead focuses on providing a good smoke, and lets the diner decide which way to go. The usual suspects are on the menu: brisket, pulled pork, sausage and pulled chicken. You can order them as plates or sandwiches. Specialty sandwiches are available too. The sides and appetizers match up well. Once your meal is served, you'll have your choice of sauce. Texas (comes with a kick,) Kansas City (sweet,) Carolina (tangy) and the House sauce (a mix of the previous three.) I'm a KC native, so of course, I tried the Kansas City sauce. It wasn't Gates, but it was pretty good. It mixed well with my brisket sandwich, creamed corn and coleslaw. It was a filling meal. I didn't leave hungry. It's a comfortable place. I liked the woody lake cabin design. I liked the dirt country and blues music playlist even more. Service was prompt, friendly and knowledgeable. read more

Smoke Shack - This is a brisket sandwich, creamed corn and coleslaw. - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I tried smoke shack for the first time and I ordered a brisket entree the cost was $19.50 with 2 sides. So I asked for mac and cheese and Cole not knowing it included a small Cole slaw as well. Which that's not my concern. I asked for Tex's and house bbq sauce which was missing in addition the child size portion of brisket. For the cost versus the amount of meat it's highly lopsided. The Cole slaw was tasteless and the cream corn was like paste, it was edible though. The ribs were meh. I believe the cooks here really do not know barbecue. I won't revisit this place. read more

Smoke Shack - Portion not worth the amount they charged - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Really great service and food. Visiting from California and was really impressed with the barbecue. They were great at telling me what didn't have pork as well read more

Smoke Shack - front - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Was looking forward to this place and was underwhelmed. Ribs and brisket were dry and tough. Sides were good. Meat was meh.

We decided to try this place since it had good reviews. I'd give it 2 1/2 stars. Maybe an off day for us. It was somewhat pricey for what we got. The chicken, which I was told to as the most popular item, was smoked well but dry and lacking a little salt. The pulled pork on the other hand was quite good. Nice smoke flavor. The coleslaw tasted like something I've made at home that didn't turn out well. I'm a coleslaw freak and I was very disappointed. I didn't finish it. The Mac and cheese tasted bland. Seemed to maybe be pre made or perhaps from frozen. The highlight was the cornbread. It was the best thing. Super tasty. I also really enjoyed the homemade pickles. Very good. As far as the sauces, my favorite was the Kansas City. I also like the mustard based one. I didn't care much for the other three. I realize that's a matter of taste. Service was a little slow but I suppose that's due to the fact that many people don't want to work anymore! . (I do not blame businesses for that) As far as the atmosphere, it was nice inside, seemed clean and also provided a lot of outside seating. read more

Smoke Shack - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Really should be 3.5 but Yelp doesn't give that option. Waited too long for server to come to the table at first and it was not busy. We ordered the 1/2 rack baby back and 1/2 pound pulled pork. Was disappointed they only have sweet potato fries but they turned out to be ok and not too sweet. Ribs were tasty if a bit dry. BBQ sauces were very good. Husband said beans were delicious. Cornbread was nice and soft. read more

Smoke Shack - Baby Back Ribs - 1/2 Rack - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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The server was not trained at all. Messed up 3 of 5 orders even after repeating them to use. Portions are small, and food was cold when they brought it out. read more

Food was excellent. We were nearly weeping it was so delicious. Got a large platter and it was still too much for 4 of us to finish! read more

The food was great! The barbecue was amazing. The service from the waitress was absolutely horrendous. We ordered from the BBQ Brunch. The Shack Daddy came great, but the pulled pork's didn't. We ordered 2 pulled pork SANDWICHES. NOT THE HALF POUNDS. When the food came out we thought that they forgot the buns. But the waitress said that she should've asked if we meant the sandwich. I said yes, we both said we wanted the sandwiches and instead she just brought us buns. SHE DID NOT OFFER TO CORRECT THE ORDER FOR US. ONLY TO charge us more for the 1/2 pound and the bread. THE WAITRESS ALSO OPENLY ADMITTED THAT SHE JUST PUTS IN THE 1/2 AND NOT THE SANDWICH ALL THE TIME. And when I said that she charged us wrongly- she said that it was too late since we ate already. If a manager reads this. Fire that waitress. She was beyond rude, has 0 customer service skills and has already admitted to doing this to people multiple times before. I'd love to come back, the food was good, but I won't if I'm gonna be yelled at by the server and overcharged for food I DIDNT ORDER. read more

The food was great and fresh and hot I will be back soon to try more foods . The service was very friendly and happy here and I enjoyed the ambience because it was to crowded and everyone was kind and sharing nothing but good sense of humor . read more

Smoke Shack - Fried Green Tomatoes - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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First time coming here and I definitely enjoyed it. We ordered the brisket plate with sweet potato fries which have a sugar coating its so good. My bf got pulled pork, beans, and mac n cheese. The brisket was good but i was so disappointed that i got a slab of fat and hardly any meat. The mac n cheese wasn't my favorite it was a white sauce base, not too good. The cornbread we ordered was my favorite part with the honey butter. I was a little disappointed because I thought we were getting muffins but our waitress recommended we order it as a side and it was a huge piece. But it was absolutely delicious. I ordered a maple old fashioned and I literally didn't drink it! It wasn't sweet tasted like straight bourbon. We ate at the outside patio and it was ok i was very cold but overall its a nice bbq restaurant. I would go back but order a different meat option. read more

Great barbecue sandwich. Really good cocktails too. Great attentive service. A great staple in downtown Milwaukee

First time visit to Milwaukee, WI and we came upon this cute little country shack type building in the middle of all the hubbub. A place you would definitely find on a country road in Georgia or South Carolina so we felt right at home!! We came in for afternoon cocktails and we're not disappointed!! The tent covered patio was a perfect place to just chill and enjoy cocktails on a lazy Saturday afternoon. The Old Fashioned, Georgia Heat, Southern Haze and Smokey Old Fashioned were delicious and highly recommended. We will definitely make this the place we visit when we come to Milwaukee... The smell of smoking barbecue was delicious but we had eaten somewhere else before we found this place so didn't try the food. Dang it! A big THANK YOU to our waitress and bartender as they were very attentive in making the cocktails the way we wanted...little ice and add an orange etc.... MAKE SURE TO check out the Smoke Shack in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.... You will be happily surprised!!! read more

Smoke Shack - Smoke Shack - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Friendly staff and fast service. Love the theme. But disappointed with the cornbread, the bbq sauces, and the wax paper they put the food on tears easily when trying to eat. read more

A decent place, but if you want real BBQ you must go to the south. Brisket was dry and it felt like was cut in the wrong direction. Sauce selection was wide but the reds all tasted the same. Servers were great and food came out quickly. It might be great for the area but if you have had BBQ in the south or from there you will probably be disappointed. If you live in the area its a local business and has a great vibe. read more

Smoke Shack - Two meat brisket and pulled pork. Mac and cheese and sweet potatoes fries sides. Comes with cole slaw and pickles. - Barbeque Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Great ambiance throughout. Pork was very good. I wanted bbq and this place hit the spot. Fast service and Helen knew all about the menu.

Five stars for the food, four for the service, thus this is really a 4 1/2 star review, but I'm ok with rounding up. The Food: Let me preface this by saying I absolutely LOVE smoked meats. When I die, I want to be buried with a Franklin BBQ brisket. I had the pulled pork and the brisket on a combo platter, and both were very good. The brisket was fork-tender, the pork was well seasoned, and the sauces were excellent. A brief aside on BBQ sauce. My first rule: BBQ sauce should NEVER be sweet. Spicy with a hint of sweet, sure, but the dominant flavor should never be sugar/sweet. ALL of the sauces here have the right mix of spicy/sweet/acid. The habanero sauce, in the little bottle, is definitely one you want to try if you like a little heat. The Carolina sauce actually tasted of mustard (so few of them do, especially in the chain BBQ places), and the KC sauce captured the essence of KC flavors very well. Of all the BBQ Joints I have tried in the past couple of years, this was the first place I have been where there was honestly not a weak sauce on the table. That alone will bring me back. The Service: Overall, my server was fine. She made a couple of very solid recommendations off the menu, and was quite pleasant the entire time I was here. My only problem was that she vanished on me for a bit during dinner, and I really needed a drink/water refill, as I overdid it on the habanero sauce a smidge. I eventually had to bother a different server to get my water refilled. Keeping an eye on things like water glass levels is Front Of House 101. That said, my server was incredibly friendly and easy to get along with, this was simply a matter of a small issue regarding attention to detail. Would I come back--absolutely. End of story. read more

It looks like bbq. I didn't see smoke, but could smell it. It's MKE barbecue and its okish - that's where you're at, it ain't KC. Brisket/pot roast was overcooked. Didn't get any rub coming through. Was that a piece of the flat and point cut together? The pork belly was not rendered and was not good - period. Should not have been served. Greens were ok, but the liquor didn't make you want to lick the bowl. Coleslaw, ok - like bought at the deli. We added the habanero sauce and the slaw became pretty darn good. Mac, excellent. Order the Mac. read more

Tried this BBQ place for my brother's bday celebration & we were able to get seats quickly. The exterior and interior of the place are very aesthetically pleasing. It definitely goes with a very rustic look. We ordered the plater that came with different cuts of meat, corn bread, Mac & Cheese, coslaw, sweet potato fries, and cinnamon rolls. This was all for $50 which was a pretty good deal. This ended up feeding 4 people but it's usually advertise for 2-3 read more

Smoke Shack is a legit Wisconsin barbecue restaurant here in Wisconsin. Its cutely decorated in its little "shack" theme and has a really inviting patio on the south of the building. They offer your standard barbecue items with some unusual twists. (Vegan bbq seiten which I decided to try - good but very spicy!) Its all good but we are the midwest and imho you really gotta go down south for decent barbecue. They have a lot of interesting drinks with whiskey if you're into that sort of thing and some nice desserts if you're interested in partaking (guilty). Our service I thought could have been a little faster but we were chatting on the patio and had ordered appetizers - our server may have thought it better not to rush us. Bottom line - it's cute, good drinks, good dessert, decent barbecue if you are in the area. read more

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Let's say, we paid a decent amount of money for a small platter of disappointment. Smoke Shack is a very tiny place, hence the word "shack" in its name. The day my husband and I went, luckily, we were smart enough to have made a reservation and got seated right away. All walk-ins were told there's a 45+ minute wait. Due to the good ratings and popularity, we saw on Smoke Shack, we wanted to try it out and fix our mid-winter BBQ craving. Before I start on the food, can I just make a huge shout out to the waitresses. They really hustled their morning and tried their best on making every table happy. Great job on that! Ok - here it is. Upon arrival, we waited for about 10 minutes before being seated, which is fine since there was only two waitresses working at the time. (Not sure where the host left to) After being seated, the waitress took our drink orders right away, which made sense because we waited an additional 15 minutes for our drinks to get to us. After receiving our drinks, our waitress explained she will be with us shortly since she hasn't gotten a chance to take the other tables order yet. We didn't mind because of course, we wanted them to be served first. I would also say the table next to us was there for quite some time before even giving their orders since they were all half way or more into their drinks. When our waitress came to take our order, we told her we wanted the Meat Sampler ($60). She hesitated and said that it's their brunch hour and we could only order from the blue menu. (I wish somewhere online or the staffs had mentioned that Brunch hours are strictly brunch only. The regular menu should not have been given with the brunch menu in this case.) She then offered us the two or three meat choice platters from the brunch menu. Which we were fine with and has bad as she felt, she also said she would ask the Chef (as she said that, her face actually looked frightened) and mentioned that the Chef is in a really bad mood but she will see if he is willing to accommodate us since the menu or website didn't specify that between 10a-2pm it is strictly brunch only. We told her it is fine but she still tried to ask and came back to tell us that the Chef would not take any orders outside of the brunch menu. Again, we told her it was fine. We can do the same thing off the three-choice meat brunch platter. (Now, my husband is a Chef and he was quite shocked that Smoke Shack's chef would turn down a $60 plate. With our drink orders, etc. they lost an additional $60 just because the chef was in a bad mood. We found that quite funny and unprofessional.) Our food arrived 35 minutes later - which was ridiculously long since everything is smoked, you would think the food would already be cooked and it just needed to be cut up and served. Well, our platter order was incorrect and everything was cold as if it was sitting out for quite some time. We asked for brisket, pulled pork and sausage. But instead got pulled chicken, pulled pork and sausage. We had to wait another 5 minutes to wave down a staff to tell them our order was incorrect. She apologized and said she would grab us our brisket right away. (Literally took her two seconds). Let's say, the wait for our food was NOT worth it. All the meat were dry and I could not hide my face full of disappoint even if I tried. The host and waitress could clearly tell we did not like our food and asked if everything was okay and at this point, we just nodded yes, wanting to get out of there asap. We didn't finish our food and asked for our bill right away. $40+ later, we left hungry and disappointed. The best part of the platter were the fries and corn bread. Hands down that was the only thing we finished. Would we go back? That's a definite no. Other than the care of the servers and host, the food is a big disappointment and to know that the Chef is too upset to cook or satisfy his/her customers is a huge thumbs down for us. read more

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Great BBQ spot - nice fun outdoor patio, friendly staff & nice blues music, excellent brisket & pulled pork, delicious beans & Cole slaw, outstanding and surprising bourbon selection Will be back soon for brunch read more

Walked right in on a busy Sunday afternoon.Eloissa our server explained the menu to us. We ordered the food came out fast and hot. Food was very delicious. Definitely will come back when in town. read more

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I visited Milwaukee 10 years ago and remembered loving this place. I finally came back and had a chance to try it again--it did not disappoint! The barbecue was fantastic, and the service was good. Most of all, that cornbread was amazing! The ambiance is cute and rustic, with a cozy, warm vibe that adds to the overall experience. Highly recommend! read more