Good hot food, served quick. I had the brisket sandwich, but I've had the sampler platter here and it was great. A quiet Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to stop off during a motorcycle ride for a lunch and refreshment. The service was great and the hot spiced cider hit the spot on a cool day carving up the mountains. read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Restaurant - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

See all

Food was good. Price was good. Service was fair. Had to ask for water refill. Oddly we were charged 50 cents for a small to go box. Bathroom was not great and toilet wouldn't flush. Overall the food was good, the rest was iffy. read more

This place is so cute but the prices are outrageous. The food was mid but the price made it taste worst. I can't believe I paid $15 for these "chicken fingers". read more

Smokey's Kitchen - $14.95 for this kid meal by the way. - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

The food was great. I liked the meat, the sides. They were out of coffee because it was too late on the day but offered americano instead. But service was slow. It took a while until e could put in our orders. The inside has character for sure, I just wish our window had a better view, like trees or something. read more

See all

Food, service was great! The beef brisket and burger patty and salmon was cooked well and tasted great. It's simple, cozy and pretty clean inside. read more

See all

Wonderful breakfast . Great breakfast sausage links . Will definitely go again! Great service also Sweet little place read more

Been here a lot. If you want BBQ this is the place. Always good food. Breakfast is delish. Chill environment. Sometimes this place can get really busy at lunch time. Be patient. There are only a couple of servers and they are always working their tails off. The chef and kitchen staff are also working their tails off. I've always been welcomed here as well. It's a bbq place- don't expect perfection like other reviews have described. Sitting outside is relaxing as well. read more

See all

Weekday breakfast with fast friendly service. Enjoyed my Mexican Breakfast which had generous portions and nice ripe avocado. Cute Tahoe feel, very clean. read more

See all

ordered the breakfast burrito to go and they are HUGH!! Very good too and the service was so friendly. I've lived here for few months shy of 50 years and this place has the feel of the old time businesses. would definitely recommend read more

I feel like a chump. $41.80 out the door for the 2 meat sampler (yes, I was expecting to have leftovers) to go. The box felt light as I walked out the door. The flavor was good but the servings scant. The menu claims 4 ribs in the sampler, but I got a few scraps of dry rib meat, no bones, a small handful. The brisket was OK. They forgot to give me one of my sides too. The hunk of corn bread took up 1/3 of the box. Afterwards, I was left hungry and $40 lighter in the wallet. Huge disappointment. read more

Smokey's has great food and service. We had the pulled chicken and brisket sandwiches. Both were great. Soft buns, well smoked meat. Also got fries that were soft but crispy. read more

1st time and definitely last time eating here. Cute place,decent service,that's the good. Puny,I'm talkin baby size small portions at premium prices and on top of that ... it was absolute TRASH! Brisket,cold,dry,no real flavor including smoke,barely edible! 2 Pork ribs ,again barely retaining any heat (served 2 ribs together,4 total)couldn't cover a cell phone screen,literally! AND so tough I took them back inside and asked to give us a different protein instead,sausage "links" ended up being a well grill marked crappy store bought fully cooked Jonhsonville link,rubbery and gross enough to spit out immediately! Sides: biscuit,ok. Gravy,weird texture and flavor,really wth was that? Mac & cheese,ok a solid 5/10 not exciting. Salad was fresh & the vinaigrette pretty damn good but way overdressed,ruined the lower half. Asked for side of house dill pickles but there was confusion cuz we got crinkle cut Klausen dill slices. $73 w/1 beer 1wine, (wine wasn't good) we got a sorry bout'dat nothing comped & left feeling burned & still hungry. I take : THAT BBQ WAS OLD AND SHOULD HAVE GONE IN THE TRASH! You shouldn't be allowed to sell food.PERIOD! Shame on you for taking my money! Come at me and try to defend yourself,you're a phony! read more

The chicken tortilla soup is to die for! Love this spot for bbq (any meat, but big love to the brisket), breakfast, and more. Great service and people who care about what they do. Love the old school truckee ambiance too! read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

Tortilla soup- yes! Chili that's a big NO. Wraps are good and service from Lucy is the absolute the best!

Burgers were great, first and foremost. Big patty, grilled bun, etc., a la carte. Basic cheeseburger $16, small fry 6.75. The rest, not so great. Progressively priced 29 dollar sandwiches, large fries 15.75 (see photo), $40-50 meat plates. The smoked meat sampler tasted warmed-up. I don't blame them, if so, since no one was in there (on a Saturday), hard to justify smoking fresh meat every day. The sampler consisted of one "Beef rib" which was a big knuckle with almost no meat, two small slices of brisket, two pork rib bones. $18. In 2020, a sign was posted saying they raised prices 10% due to covid. Now that covid is in the past, prices are about 50% higher. Higher? My burger was $11 in 2022, yesterday $16. Meat sampler was $16 in 2023, now $18. I realize everything costs more now in CA, but it didn't have to be this way. If you voted progressive, thank yourselves for this austerity. I had a shake and cheeseburger in Austin recently - it was $8. Bill at Smokey's was about $190 with cash tip (as requested). read more

Smokey's Kitchen - "Large" fries, 15.75 - we ate a few by now but more or less this is it. =o] - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

I've dined here 6 times... and I will never be back after today's visit. It took at least 20 minutes to have our order taken. Our drink order came wrong twice and the soda was flat. After ordering we waited an hour and a half for our food. The food had always been exceptional but today all of the food was dry, overcooked, and overall bad. Expensive prices for very small portion sizes. We then waited at least 45 minutes for our check as no one checked on us a single time once our food came and the check only came when we went inside and asked for a manager who was not apologetic in the slightest. Very disappointed in the direction this place is going. read more

Went there the day after 4th of July. Took them 20 minutes to take our order. I ordered a brisket sandwich and my girlfriend ordered eggs, bacon and a biscuit. We waited a full hour and 10 minutes before we finally gave up and left. Highly recommend going to a place that can take care of more than 10-15 guests max. read more

Really hate to report this. I've been to Smokey's a few times. Food is always good and today was no exception. The service and wait time, however, were terrible. It seemed there was more importance put on the to go orders. We even tried to order at the counter but told to wait outside and someone would take our order.That was a mistake as other people ordered at the counter and ate on the patio before we were ever served our food. Only about 6-7 tables with in person orders and yet we waited for an hour and a half for our food and the server didn't check on us. Unfortunate and hopefully Smokey's can figure out how to serve in person guests and set expectations for to go orders not a great way to do business. read more

My family has come here multiple times on the way down the mountain, and this was my first time coming in a while. I got the 2 meat plate with pork ribs and brisket, then my sides were Mac n cheese and cowboy beans, with cornbread as well. I thought it was really good overall. The ribs were super tender and tasty. The brisket in my opinion could have been better, both in terms of texture and taste. It definitely needed a good amount of sauce added and wasn't as tender as I was hoping for. The Mac n cheese was great, and about as good as non-baked Mac n cheese gets in my mind. The beans were super loaded with meat and flavor and were also very good. Lastly I also loved the cornbread which was super light and delicious and paired well with the butter which was very rich and smooth. Overall the sides stole the show in my opinion. The staff was also friendly and kind. You get the feel of a log cabin inside as well which is very cozy. Probably won't be my last time coming here when I'm in the area. read more

Smokey's Kitchen - 2 meat plate with brisket and pork ribs, Mac n cheese and cowboy beans, with cornbread - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

Smokey's Kitchen and staff did a fabulous job serving delicious food in a timely manner and with kind and above and beyond customer service! Especially appreciate them being open and their delicious food & great atmosphere after being caught up in the epic snow storm in Feb 2026. I fully recommend, let's support this great local establishment! We will be back :) couldn't upload picture of food because I couldn't wait to eat it! read more

Had a salmon wrap, the salmon was charred and burned. I think it was left on the bbq for too long, had a burned taste, not blackened. Nice size salmon portion for $29, but had to take off half of it so it was edible. It was a to go order or would have sent it back. read more

This is the worst place that we have ever been to as far as service goes, and we have been to many places all over the US! We are extremely disappointed and upset about the way we were treated during our recent visit. This was the worst service we have ever received and the food was cold, aside from being out of many things we originally ordered! The host/cashier was extremely rude and has no customer service skills whatsoever! We will never return to this place, ever, and you should not waste your time or money here! I wanted to leave but we had very hungry teens with us and thought we should give it the benefit of the doubt, although, I even questioned whether I wanted to eat my food because of how poorly we were treated. I have never in my life felt so disrespected! While our server was kind and did his best, the interaction we had with the African American girl working the front area, who is extremely rude, was unacceptable!!!! Her attitude was BEYOND RUDE and she lacked professionalism and basic customer service skills!! I myself have worked in the restaurant business for many years, and treating customers this way is never acceptable no matter how challenging things may be! I hope that the business owner and manager see this review and takes this compliant seriously and addresses the behavior and service issues so other customers do not have the same experience. She does not need to be working in customer service and should be terminated immediately! If the owner cares about his business being successful, he needs to pay closer attention to staff and their customer service skills. read more

Services started off really good attending to us and our dogs bringing them out water bowls but then the atmosphere changed. We wanted our umbrella to give us a little more shade as we were moving the umbrella a guy server saw us and told us how to move it. Right after that a young server girl came to our table scolding us not to touch the umbrella. She was extremely rude! We later found out from my son as he went to the restroom inside he had heard that same server cussing at another coworker to tell us to stop messing with the umbrella. Very unprofessional all they had to say is please don't touch the umbrellas in a nice way. After that food took long some of the food was cold and no flavor and they were out of two items. We should've walked away as soon as she scolded us like little kids but our server was not to blame. He was very nice. This person DOES not need to be working in customer service at all!!! You do not treat customers like that, especially in front of other customers when we were not rude!! She came out and yelled at us in front of other customers!! Very disrespectful and I hope her manager recognizes this! Even after we told her the server showed us how to fix the umbrella, she proceeded to say he should not have given us the okay to move the umbrella. Overall, if I could give this place a zero, I would. Seemed like she was racist which is odd cause we are about the same skin color ‍‍ read more

Patio seating on a beautiful day. We enjoyed breakfast sandwiches, mimosas & bloody Mary's. All very good. Friendly staff too. read more

See all

Stopped in for an early dinner, in the mood for BBQ! Smokey's is easy to find, on Donner Pass Rd. It has a good amount of outdoor seating, and lots inside as well. It was an early Saturday evening, and the staff seemed quite busy with takeout orders. My friend and I ordered the full rack of pork ribs to share, for $42: included a full rack of smoked pork ribs, 2 sides and cornbread or biscuit. I chose the mixed vegetables, which were cooked perfectly and seasoned lightly. My friend had the corn on the cob (reportedly good), and cornbread. The cornbread was a bit sweet, cake-like and tender - super yummy! Now for the ribs: we ended up with a massive amount of ribs - at least 12 of them. They were meaty, fall of the bone - which you would think means 'tender'. Nope. The ribs were not tender, a bit tough, chewy, with marbling of fat - I suspect they were cooked too fast and not "low and slow" enough for the fat to melt into the meat. Ribs were smoked: I found the flavor odd and not really appealing. My first time with smoked ribs, and I guess not a fan. My friend who had eaten smoked ribs before, and prefers them, agreed that they were not tender and had an odd flavor. Ambience: open areas, soft music playing, TVs on over the counter, bathrooms clean (out of paper towels). Staff super busy but as attentive as they could be. Overall, sides were good, smoked ribs not great. read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Full rack of pork ribs, 2 sides and cornbread $42.00 - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

We stopped here after staying in a cabin locally and just not wanting to cook our own meal one day and get out on our own. Smokeys is open on Sundays and not as many of the restaurants in this area were, so it was an easy choice. Parking was super easy. Outdoor and indoor dining here, as well as a walk up counter to order. We dined inside. It's definitely a casual BBQ place that also does some diner style breakfast items in the mornings. We were told immediately it was 1 server working, so we understood that our orders would probably be taken in a certain way and things might take a little longer to get checked on. Honestly, he did a great job balancing all the tables he had going. Our orders got taken within 5 minutes or so, definitely less than 10. Our food came out in a normal, if not sooner than expected, time frame. We ordered a hot sausage link sandwich and brisket sandwich with a side of garlic fries. My husband also got a soda. We each tried a half of the sandwich. My husband didn't like the brisket. I did, but it was also a bit rich for me. We both preferred the hot link style sandwich that had peppers and onions on it. The garlic fries were better than I expected. My baby tried a few of the foods we had. It was enough to fill us up. This is definitely a small town, small business operation. We were very pleased with the service and food despite the challenges. Definitely would eat here again! read more

Surprisingly good BBQ! Between the two of us, we had the pulled pork, pulled chicken, beef brisket and ribs. Sides were French fries, sweet potato fries, Cole slaw and cowboy beans. All were great! Highly recommend this place. Nice too that it's not right in the middle of the main street craziness. We will be back for sure! read more

We stopped in for breakfast because on the Visit Truckee Tahoe website, this place was said to have "arguably the best chicken fried steak in town" it was not even close to the best that I've had. It was SOUR I mean sour to the point we thought the meat was bad but then started to realize it may have been coming from the gravy and breading. It was off putting and made my stomach turn a bit. I don't know if it was something they added or if the dairy was bad but it was not good. The server was nice, he seemed to be a bit stressed because of some call outs. I can understand that, he did is best to accommodate everyone but you can tell he was frustrated. The place looked like you would expect, very rustic BBQ place. I have not tried their BBQ but breakfast is definitely not their strong suit. Unfortunately well will not be returning. Will update if we get sick from breakfast lol read more

Wow! We grabbed burritos from here while we were charging our Rivian. It was around 10:45/11 so we decided to get more of a breakfast option. We called and got an order for pickup, took about 15-20 minutes. These burritos were delicious!! Of course they were large which is what I expected but the flavors were so good. I got the machaca burrito for more of a Mexican flavor. Insider there is a bar and tables, and the outside has a shaded patio. Great spot! read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Outside view - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

Small place. Food was good and came out quick. Service was good. It was nice and toasty inside. My mother in law and I came in on a very cold day. So it felt wonderful coming into a place with the heater on blast haha!! read more

The gangs favorite place to ride to on weekends. Plenty of parking for our bikes, easy to get in and out. The bbq is amazing, also the best ribeye steak in town. Thanks Smokey's! See you soon! read more

We came here on a Sunday, no line for wait which was good. Unfortunately they only had one cook so we waited about 45min for our food. I think it's good practice to tell folks prior to ordering that there will be a longer wait. I had eggs with smoked links and it was good. My bf had salmon tacos and the Buffalo chicken wrap, he liked neither:/ The service team was nice! Maybe on another day the food would be better. read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Buffalo Chicken Wrap - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

If you want great ribs in Truckee, Smokey's is the place. The porks ribs are awesome, slow cooked to perfection with great BBQ sauce. The sides are basic and do the job. read more

Wandered in as we drove past this "hole in the wall" bbq joint in Truckee last weekend. We were actually looking for another restaurant that had solid reviews on here and then stumbled across Smokey's and decided to give them a try. This is truly a mom and pop business. The staff working there all seemed to be related and they roped the teenagers in to help get through the day. The inside is nothing fancy but it was clean enough and functional. Sorta what you would expect in a town like Truckee. Not a hipster place, but a true good food local restaurant. My husband ordered the ribeye and I got the 3 meat sampler appetizer plate with a side of veggies. I had my meat served with no sauce (keto) and we truly enjoyed our meal. The meats were smoked nicely, veggies well seasoned and served Al dente in butter. Yum! I also enjoyed the houseplants inside and all of the dogs out the window on the patio. Very dog friendly place to eat! Note: the menu on their website is not up to date. We decided to try it because my husband really wanted prime rib and they had it on the online menu. The lady at the bar explained to us that the price of that cut of meat had gone up so much that they couldn't justify it any longer and removed it from the menu. (Paper menu in restaurant is up to date) read more

See all

Visited Lake Tahoe. Traveling from out of town, Southern California, going home. We stopped by Smokey's Kitchen. Walking in I thought the food was going to be like whatever. I was pleasantly surprised. We loved our food. Good flavoring. My son got the Machaca Burrito. Amazing!! Griddle Combo with frend toast delish!. Loved the food. We devoured it!! Definitely recommend coming here! read more

Stopped here while traveling on a long road trip and glad we did! My boyfriend and I ordered the wings, whiskey chicken, and chicken tortilla soup. It was all delicious! In our experience, we say these are the best wings. The tortilla soup was fantastic as well and was loaded with chicken and packed full of flavor. The service was awesome and the place was clean. It was a really nice spot to stop and get good food. I can't wait to go back and try more. Highly recommend. read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Chicken Tortilla Soup Cup Size - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

I'd been here about 8 years ago with family and really liked it. My daughter and I visit Truckee monthly and stopped in for lunch today. It was very quiet when we came in and the lovely young man came right to the table bringing us water. My daughter loves diet soda but it was $4.75 so she passed. Which brings me to our main complaint. The burritos we ordered were huge and delicious but holy moley this place is expensive for a VERY casual restaurant. With tax plus a fee for to go boxes it was almost $50.plus a very generous tip for the kind efficient young man. So $60 for lunch. Love the food but we'll find something different next month. read more

This place is just so so wonderful. Living in New York City, I've gotten used to really high quality food and can say that this place was a top favorite of our Tahoe trip. I ordered the full ribs platter and wow was it a lot of food. Ribs were delicious, and it also came with cornbread, fries, and Mac n cheese - a heavenly combo. Staff was friendly and attentive, including locals who are beyond lovely people and great at what they do - it's truly a family-style, authentic restaurant that any town would be proud to have. read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

Food was great. Service was excellent. They have a cozy little fireplace in the back, super cozy. read more

The diner was very cozy and comfy for our party of 5..... the staff was super friendly and we enjoyed the stop by the fireplace. We all got bbq meat platters and the sides were average but nobody thought the meat was good. Absolutely tasted warmed up and not freshly smoked. I should have been suspicious when we pulled up and didn't see or smell the smokers. But worst of all is the over price charge for these plates of microwaved meat and mediocre sides. If you know your bbq, this is not the place. Looks like they serve a lot of other things aside from bbq, so maybe try the other offerings. Just not the bbq. read more