Never ever again will I go here I went for the first time a few nights ago it 9pm we waited 30 minutes for a table while the staff mingled at the bar instead of clearing tables for the people waiting. The food was over priced for what we got and it was terrible! There was a large group of younger people who were carded some were old enough to drink some weren't but apparently thats okay to be under 21 because you can still drink as they were all sharing drinks and the younger staff hung out at the table and drank right with them apparently they are regulars because they were known by anyone who worked there. It was basically a free for all I guess if I had ordered a cocktail and offered my waiter a drink of it I would have had better service!!! Never ever again will I step foot in this place! read more

This is horrible. Service is incredibly slow they couldn't even get the drinks on time. We waited over 40 minutes for food. We were celebrating my husband's birthday,, what a HUGE disappointment. We were a group of 15. None of us will ever come back. read more

We have been here multiple times and never had an experience like we did this time. There was about 6 tables and few people at the bar. Easy peasy. As a former bartender/ server, you always have to stay alert.To be honest I have had the best food when the kitchen has been slammed cause then you perform at your best. Our server had one other table and us. Took forever one everything. Didn't bring our food out together and forgot to put in some sides. The WORST thing was I ordered a medium rare steak! Definitely came back mooing .... Fucking Raw! He took it back 10 mins later still raw! bloody mess. I give this place -10. We will not be back. Oh and the manager needs to learn some people skills read more

Well, 2nd time at Smokey Bones but not a lot has changed. No wait for a table, no surprise. Service was better this time but food was very disappointing, again. And at $50 for 2 dinners I expected much more! Famous Dave's is far superior to this, considering they are a smokehouse. All in all, I cant say that I would go back for another disappointing meal. read more

Drinks were good, but I had to ask for a stout beer, was not on the menu. Waiter got my order wrong, I ordered Filet Mignon, he brought me a Ribeye (full of gristle) with the wrong sides. Portion size was small, but prices were fair. Taste was OK, but no where near the Smokey Bones I use to frequent located near St Louis. Not to mention the sides were cold. Waiter tried to correct his error, so good on him for that. Overall I will not be back. Nor do I recommend this restaurant. read more

Good food and even better service. Cornbread was good enough to come for just itself! read more

Smokey Bones Rockford - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

This place was awesome! Our server Frank made it worth while being here on top of the amazing food! Thanks Frank for being so attentive and awesome at taking care of us! We will definitely be back! read more

Waited over an hour to get seated. Tables sat empty for 30 minutes or more while we waited. People being told 45 to 60 minutes wait. Walking out. Others who were waiting were walking out. Manager stated staggering so the kitchen isn't overwhelmed. Appears they don't have a big enough kitchen for the amount of tables. May want to wait to go there if they stay open. Food was very good! My steak was luke warm not hot like it should be. Would not consider high grade if sirloin. Everything else very good. Lastly! Our server was fantastic. Made up for the rest. If you can get him his name is Isaiah! Can't miss him. He is 6 foot 4! read more

Amazing food awesome set up and the staff is a great mix of social butterflies. Makes the wait worth it !!

To say the service was horrible would be an understatement. Long wait to even get a glass of water... and that was after my husband went back to the hostess table and asked for assistance. Drink order was wrong.... and sadly the food was not worth the long wait and horrible service. Our sampler plate included dry and tasteless steak and rubbery chicken - hrest of the food isn't even worth mentioning. read more

The food was good worth going back for a little on the pricy side . But the kitchen was slow waited 45 minutes for meal to get to our table . read more

I recently moved back to Rockford to be closer to my daughter and her family. I took my Grandson out for lunch one afternoon when he was on spring break. The ribs that I had were "falling off the bone" tender and very tasty, along with a baked potato. My Grandson had the typical chicken tenders and fries which he enjoyed and he loved my "garlic bread"...:). Our server was very nice and attentive. We'll be back! read more

Quite literally messed up everything... Including our drinks. My mom can not have diet soda and yet they continued to bring her diet soda. The only drink that was not messed up was mine... I had water. The burgers where super skimpy and you basically got a 10$ mcdonalds cheese burger. It took forever for us too get our food. There shakes where super gross and over the top sweet. They also messed up our cheese fries.... Pretty much everything got sent back at least once. They messed up our burgers.... And when I mean messed up they didn't have one of the burgers we ordered. Definitely would never visit again. read more

Great food and reasonable prices at this new sit-down restaurant and bar (the chicken and waffles are a must-try! Nachos, delicious...and the BBQ sauces on the table: super good!). Friendly service (busy hostess was extremely friendly!), modern/cool decor throughout. Walked in at lunch time - was greeted in under 30 seconds and sat right away. This brings something fresh to Rockford - its upbeat, louder music and large, open concept bar area contribute to an almost nightlife-like vibe, which I think will be a great addition to the area for those looking to do something on a night out (they are open til 1 a.m. - granted, the louder music may not be for everybody). But we will definitely be back! read more

Victor was really helpful and receptive to our needs. Great service and friendly! Would recommend coming back!

I rarely write reviews for Yelp so the fact that I am taking time to do this should be an indication of how overpriced and under-portioned the food is. And, the food looks nothing like the photos in the menu. Wish I had read reviews before I went to Smoky bones. It's overpriced and the food is terrible. My bill was $85 for 2 ppl and I left hungry. The service was bad, the food is inedible and the portions are small. Soft drinks are $3.19. Ours were watered down (I think it's the size of the ice cubes they use) and were refilled twice in the 3 hours we were there. While we were sitting in a booth near the bar area, one of the employees walked by with her new puppy. She went behind the bar to show her friend. Her friend grabbed the puppy and then both realized it probably wasn't a good idea to have the puppy in the restaurant so they walked back through the bar and out the front door. Wonder how much dog hair stayed in the restaurant? Beware-the floor is very slippery. It felt like there was a layer of grease under our feet. Both my friend and I were losing our footing as we were walking to the table. We had the same issue when we were leaving. read more

Our waiter Frank was outstanding. He was on top of the refills, answered any questions you had about the menu and just so friendly. He made the visit much better. I also loved the table dedicated to the 13 Marines that were killed. Very patriotic of the owner to display that. read more

We visited Palm Sunday at 1pm and there was a 15 minute wait when we left there was no wait. The place seems new and very clean. This is a huge formal BarBQue sit down restaurant with salt and pepper grinders and cloth napkins. About half the menu is Burger and Burger smoked meat variations. They have a lunch menu served Mon - Fri. The ribs looked good and they have a smoked prime rib on selective nights. Also a Hawaiian Rib Eye that sounded delicious. Few healthy food options on the menu but that is not expected at a BarBQue place. Our waitress was very attentive. We ordered two pulled pork plates as the Beef brisket is not available until 4pm. Brewed iced tea was cloudy. Fries were overcooked, coleslaw was fresh, tasty but very saucy. BBQ Baked beans were a little sweet but very good, I suspect they were canned but not sure. The baked potato and garlic bread were excellent. They have four very different sauces on the table to choose from they were all good. No daily specials, No special sauce of the month. Huge beer selection. The portion size was decent, you will not leave hungry. The place is pricey lunch for two with tip was $40.00 no desert or liquor included. What are your other options for BarBQue in Rockford? read more

The service was adequate but the taste of my ribs just wasn't good and had a burnt taste to them. They were dry and very tough which leads me to believe they weren't slow cooked for several hours as the menu suggests. read more

I like ribs but I am not a huge fan or a regular when it comes to ribs. I do like them on occasion but I try not to eat pork if I can help it. I really liked the meat here and the sauce was great too! I would have given it five stars but there are some places that have some pretty awesome ribs and sauce that might surpass Smokey Bones that I will also review sometime next year. Smokey Bones over quality seemed to be pretty good and I didn't have a problem with the staff at all. They had good time management skills but it was not that busy when I was there. Thanks for reading. read more

Omg. 5 dollars for 2 slices of fried green tomatoes. Ridiculous. It took 20 minutes for a drink that was so watered down. The reason for the 2 stars is that the burger was descent. read more

Ordered food over the food. Picked it up half items missing. Manager (Roberto) instead of refunding me called me a liar that I was missing half my food! What a joke last time eating there ever. read more

When we visited Smokey Bones in April shortly after the Rockford location opened, it took over 75-minutes to get our overcooked, dry, cold, food. It seemed none of the cooks or wait staff had been properly trained and they were definitely not ready to serve the public. They were so disorganized it took us nearly 30-minutes to get our server to present us with a check. Lunch took around 2.5-hours and the entire experience was a disgrace for the restaurant. The Smokey Bones in Brandon, FL has been a 5-star favorite of ours for years which made the Rockford experience even more disappointing. After a 90-day period we re-visited Smokey Bones again today and the experience was a significant improvement over our April visit. Our drink orders arrived quickly. We ordered the smoked pork, bourbon BBQ chicken, BBQ baked beans, and corn. The food arrived at our table hot and everything was perfectly prepared. Both the chicken and pork were moist, tender, and tasty; as it should be. Our 5-star server attended to us appropriately from the time we were seated until we finished our meal and he was prepared with our check immediately when asked. We were fully pleased with today's dining experience. The new manager introduced himself to us as soon as we were seated. He was aware of the former problems and informed us of his goal to correct those issues and to give us a much higher level dining experience. He even gave us his business card and asked us to inform him if we were disappointed in any way. We were not. The cook and wait staff are absolutely performing at a much higher level than before. Smokey Bones has regained our favor. We will look forward to their continued improvement and we will dine with them again soon. read more

How can you mess up a salad? Food mediocre, at best. Service, average. Bar, no stars. A glass of wine shouldn't take longer than your food. "Fabio" the bartender was slow and incompetent. read more

The food looked amazing but my grilled chicken sandwich was just ok and seemed a tad bit undercooked. Food took a little too long to get but truly enjoyed sitting at the bar. Great place for a bourbon and ribs. Clearly everyone around us was enjoying their food. I'd love to go back and try the pick 2 meal. read more

We went to Smokey Bones for the first time and were pleasantly surprised. Yes, there was a bit of a wait for service - but our server was friendly and helpful and even brought us some extras just for waiting. We had the 2 person grille, which was really good and gave a good variety of meats to try. I also ordered the sweet potato waffle fries, and they were amazing!!! We will definitely go back. read more

Smokey Bones Rockford - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

Monique was my server the three times I been in an everytime she has been professional and nice. She got my food to me fast because I was on lunch so if you want a great server ask for monique. read more

They don't take reservation or have a call ahead list. We went around 6:00 pm on a Thursday evening and waited for almost 45 minutes even though they told us 20-25 min. Once seated it took the server a while to come and take our drink orders. When we finally ordered, our food came in shifts. 3 people in our party got their food first, the others got their meal almost 10 minutes into the first group. The orders had some mistakes. The prices seem high for what you received. I know they are new and are working out the kinks but I wouldn't rush back. read more

Service was good. The waitress brought drinks and was pleasant. The food was a bit pricey for what you get. I ordered a primerib sandwich for $16.00 and total bill was $75 for three. My sandwich had more cheese than meat. There were three thinly sliced pieces and you could taste more bun than cheese or meat. Not worth a return. read more

Smokey Bones Rockford - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

There is nothing "smokey" about this place The ribs and pulled pork taste like they were cooked in an oven. The pulled pork was extremely dry. When my wife upgraded to a premium side dish, fried green tomatoes, she got TWO slices. That's it. The best thing were the baked beans. Service was slow, food was expensive. I will never go back there again. read more

Terrible food, I couldn't even eat all of my brisket sandwich because it was straight fat. Never going back.

Dissatisfied is not the word. They need to recheck how they run the place. We came in as a party of 6 & they didn't ask us for our names or anything. We waited 20 minutes before they took it down while in the mean time they served new groups coming in. They also served pairs of people in seats that could've sat 8 people. I get it's new & will try it again but very reluctant to. read more

Went on a Tuesday evening at 6:30, 30 minute wait while there were at least 3 tables that remained open and unseated until about 20 minutes before we left even though there was a large number of people waiting. Brisket was absolutely horrible. Almost every piece was nothing but fat. The little bit of meat there was, tasted terrible. The pulled pork sandwich was good. The manager never came to the table after it was pointed out about the brisket. I was told there were other people complaining about the brisket. The waiter was very nice, but wasn't too good about checking on drinks. I would say very poor management and a brisket at a BBQ restaurant should be one of the best things on the menu. The only good thing was the sauces. Wish I would have read the reviews before spending $85 on dinner. In contrast to one of the other reviews, the brisket was sliced, not shredded. read more

Smokey Bones Rockford - Pretty much all the brisket on the plate and it is all fat. - American Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

One of the worst dining experiences I've ever had. Started off waiting to be seated, no problem. Then the server, Isaiah showed up. He introduced himself, and asked us for our entree orders. Told him we were still looking at the menu, but gave him our drink order. Came back with wrong drinks, then asked for our orders. When we were about to order, he snapped his fingers at us and said "hello, are you listening?". Pissed me off so bad I wanted to leave right then, but the rest of my group decided to stay. An hour later, after being told repeatedly that the food would be here shortly, we decided to leave after not getting refills or our food. The server got mad and got the manager. She apologized and ended up getting the food to the table. The wrong food. Ended up comping the meal. Manager was great, however, probably not ever going back there. read more

Not Real BBQ. Walk away - just walk away. My wife and I were looking forward to trying this place. Driving by, it looked like a classy joint. Wow - were we disappointed. I'll wager they do not have a "pit" in the back. Food seems mediocre at best. The ribs tasted of preservative and the sauce was bland and too sweet. My wife got the sirloin steak and said it was also middling. Sides were skimpy and seemed not fresh or store made. Canned baked beans with a little leftover rib meat added - I think not. The Steak was $14.99 as compared to $10.99 at Texas Roadhouse and the quality much inferior. The sides were also inferior. The ribs were reasonably priced but considering they are probably frozen, pre-cooked slabs, maybe not. This is a low class diner disguised to look like a higher end rib and burger joint. If they invested in kitchen equipment rather than freezers, it may serve them better. Way over priced for what you get. I will not return again. read more

Nekisha made our experience so awesome. The food is excellent. When I first walked in I noticed the diversity in the employees. All ethnicities as well as host in wheelchairs. Loved the experience. I'll be coming back. Hollywood read more

My husband and I went in and can i tell you the only thing I liked was the hostess and a different server than the one we got, we had to keep asking for refills, the food came charcoaled and undercooked how did that happen, their "roasted" corn just came with pepper on it , worst experience ever, next time I'm just going to longhorn read more

Food and atmosphere was awesome! Really personable servers. The prices can be a little steep but trust me when i say its worth it. Awesome music and great appetizers (i recommend the bbq mag nachos). This place is a must try if you want good bbq in rockford read more

The service was very good and our waitress was very polite. The ribs were ok but the smoked ribs were excellent. The corn was ok and so was the baked potato. The fish was also good but the sirloin was very juicy which makes it good. But make sure you don't get the waffle ice cream. The waffle was not cooked enough and not enough powdered sugar. read more

We were so excited to find that a Smokey Bones was coming to Rockford. We had visited this restaurant chain several times in the past in other states and really enjoyed them. We visited the Rockford Smokey Bones the first week they were opened. The place was packed and we understood why our food was so long in coming, but it was very, very good. Wait several months and we went back last weekend. We were incredibly disappointed. We went late afternoon and the restaurant was definitely not packed. We did not have to wait at all for a table but then sat for literally an hour for our food....which was cold. The brisket was just ok, the baked potato was barely cooked at all and was cold. The sliced chicken was so dry and had no taste at all....and was cold. My hubby's pulled pork was ok but again....was cold. The only good experience of the evening were the doughnuts, which were HOT HOT and were so good. I seriously doubt if we will be going back. read more