My friends and I really liked this place.. I think it was a breakfast place called Tahoe Berry or somethingrather that was just never really very popular. Since this is just the hill/street from my place we gave it a try before hitting the slopes. I have a killer corned beef hash breakfast while my friends had bacon&eggs and a pulled pork sandwich & fries. We also gave the root beer and orange floats a go for that extra sugar for our morning and those were pretty good too. It's pretty packed during the morning weekends and the menu switches from breakfast to lunch at 11:30am so time it accordingly. read more

I can't say I've had any other meals, except for breakfast here. Someday I might, but for now, breakfast is the most important meal of the day for me, especially on cold winter mornings. Especially when said cold winter mornings find me on two-wheels and in the vicinity of where the Donner Winter Epicurean Experiment took place. In this particular case, I was one of the first customers in the door, after spending five minutes trying to find a parking spot that didn't have black ice coating. Once inside, I viewed the breakfast menu, and opted for Homemade Corn Beef Hash and Eggs, rather than what my gut suggested (cheese omelet). In retrospect, I wish I would have followed my stomach. I was not served what one would expect to it to be. What I was delivered was a plate of chopped corned beef and onions. But I must say in all honesty that the food was quite good. Full of flavor, and a hint for BBQ smokiness that left me wishing I had ordered the eggs (if you haven't had eggs or a breakfast cooked on a BBQ, do it, or make sure you put it on your short-list). The service was also quite good, bringing my food out to my table. Aside from not understanding what it was that I ordered, and having an abundance of a local Christian newspaper, I would have to say that I am quite inclined to come back some other time, and try some other the other dishes. read more

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here! The three of us split a family meal #1 with Bricket, MacNCheese, Cowboy Beans & an entree salad. Alld elicious. At first bite I said the briskett was 3 or 4 stars, but the more I ate the better it tasted. It was mokey like Beef Jerky and in my book that's a good thing. I added hot sauce to my taste and that made it just about perfect. The salad dressing was clearly home-made and quite tasty. The Mac N Cheese was decent. The beans were thoroughly enjoyable. Other reviewers are right that the corn bread is nasty. Strange. It's hard to ruin corn bread. The seats weren't the most comfortable in the world, but the restaurant has a country theme without going over board. Others have complained about the price, but it was somewhat less than say Everett & Jones, so we thought it was a decent price for real BarBQue read more

Great expansive menu and super biscuits. The pulled chicken has delicious sauce. Watch out - they put the same sauce on the brisket. The potato salad has a nice flavor. It's not too mayonnaise-heavy and uses red potatoes. They had 5 beers on tap tonight: Racer 5, PBR, and Mirror Pond. The folks next to us got garlic fries and they smelled excellent. Service today, on a lazy summer Sunday at 6pm, was just fine. We sat outside and managed to avoid the bees. All good. read more

We ate here twice while we were here on vacation. Mid morning on a Friday and Saturday late March, and it wasn't very busy at all. The service is ok. You order at a counter and they bring the food out to the table. When there wasn't any jam on our table I ended up being finished with the rest of my meal before she asked us if we needed anything. The food was good and hearty and the portions were pretty large. We really liked the Grand Marnier french toast as well as the Belgium waffle. They overcooked the NY steak and eggs. Good bacon! read more

This place has really good food, but it is really heavy! An awesome place to gain weight if that's what you're shooting for. Also, HUGE portions. Awesome place to come after a big day on the slopes. The prices are pretty expensive, but next time I'm gonna split my portion with someone else. The breakfast burritos are enough for two people and the smallest combo dinner plates are also enough for two people. There are so many sides you can choose from too! The sliced baked apples are bomb! read more

Great little breakfast stop on the way home. Kids had pancakes, hubby had Truckee omelet and I had Huevos Rancheros. All were delicious and the Bloody Mary had a great little twist with bacon salt. read more

I got the chicken salad wrap it is so good very good I would be coming back. My aunt got the barbecue pulled pork slider and she said it was excellent the mimosas are the bomb. They have great friendly attentive staff two thumbs up. read more

Attempted to eat here again for the first time in a few years (even though I live in the neighborhood), it was a mistake. Ignored at the counter even though the restaurant was empty. You blew it. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. I didn't need the upset stomach anyway. Fail. read more

We called for a pickup, first timers! Gentlemen that took our phone order was very nice & helpful! Service was quick & the food was delicious... I ordered the pork ribs with coleslaw & are ALL of it! Delicious! My man had the Hawaiian burger he said it was good! Our son loved the fries! All in all I will definitely be ordering from here again! read more

The ribs are amazingly tender! Great staff, great food, relaxed atmosphere. Love this place!!!

We ordered the BBQ pork nachos and a beer. The beer was $7.50. We think a draft beer should not cost more than a 6-pack. The BBQ was spicy hot! I had to go back for a second fork, they brought only one. They have cold water available on the patio, that was nice. Also, several water bowls were available for pets. Take some spice away from the BBQ and add it to the service! read more

This is a MUST STOP. Best breakfast burrito I've ever had! It's HUGE and soooo delicious. Service is amazing! We can't wait to come back and try more items off the menu. read more

This shit ABSOLUTELY FUCKS. It's slaps harder than Gary when he spanks me. It was a bussy bussy meal.

Forced to have lunch here today, and I was pleasantly surprised. I've had better BBQ for sure, but this was acceptable. Maybe I was too harsh on the prices before, because it was reasonable today. BBQ shredded pork sando with a soda: just shy of $10. Not bad I guess. I suppose you are paying for quality and/or care in the smoking/BBQ prep. Good portion too. Nothing here blows me away though. I've had mouth-popping BBQ before, and this just leaves me wanting something. I don't know. If they had some kind of nuclear option for the sauce, or something wild or unpredictable. Am I being too picky? Alright, just go. It's fine, and you could do a lot worse, especially in this town. A nice change from the usual lunch place. Recommended if you're in the mood for Q. read more

Okay... you need to support this place because the breakfast is awesome, you can park without having to pay (like most places in Old Town Truckee), it is SO easy to get to, and the guy that owns it is absolutely fantastic. Seriously - it's like being transported back in time to old fashion goodness in so many ways! Let me tell you about our experience. On our way back home after a couple days vacation. We really wanted to stop and get breakfast somewhere before the ride back to the Bay Area. We know a great place in Tahoe City - but didn't want to add additional miles to the trip... so we decided to pass through Truckee (on the way). There were a bunch of places in Historic Downtown - but we were having a hard time finding parking PLUS everything is Paid Parking. So - we began heading out of town... and then there we spotted it... "Smokey's Kitchen!!!" :) Pulled into the lot - and there were two senior ladies ahead of us. The owner (who was running the place) was SO great with them. :) I just appreciated that a lot. He was friendly, helpful, NEVER pushy and just totally down to earth. We ordered our breakfast - Eggs, Potatoes, Sausage & toast. Awesome! That sausage was SO fabulous - I can't even explain it. My over medium eggs were perfect! Soft enough to slop up some delicious yolk with your toast - but not runny and underdone. LOVE LOVE LOVE! And they had tabasco PLUS tapatio! Take your pick! Love it! Bathrooms were super clean, coffee was awesome, place had plenty of seating, service was rocking. Did I say service was rocking?? Well... talk about ABOVE & BEYOND!!! My husband was super tired that morning... and left his wallet on the table (doh!). We didn't figure it out, until we were over 1/2 way home. :( We called Smokey's and the owner said - no worries - he would mail it to us. Sure enough - it arrived n the mail within 2 days (and of COURSE everything was still in it). I called the guy up, as I wanted to write him a check to say thank you - but he refused (over and over) to accept it. So - I will definitely be hitting Smokey's every time I'm in the Truckee area! Can't wait to do the Cornbread & Gravy next time. read more

This place was DELICIOUS. We come to Truckee every summer, but this was my first time here and I'll definitely be back. Service was excellent, everyone was very polite and friendly. My only thing is it was a bit pricey for just myself and my 5 year old daughter. $39.78 for the chicken fire steak breakfast, 1 pancake with a side of fruit, and 2 small orange juices. But even so, this is definitely a must have when we come back to visit! read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Chicken fried steak breakfast - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

Sometimes I have an idea of what rating a restaurant should get on Yelp, and if it's really far from what my rating is, I want to over or underrate it to compensate. I will resist doing so, but this place seriously deserves another star! We came in here one evening after a day of snowboarding, drinking, hot tubbing, drinking, swimming, drinking... it was about 8 pm and we all ordered our food. I got their beef brisket and pork ribs. Both were really good. Their corn bread was good (especially with a little extra honey) and the portions were huge! I would have liked if they had a spicy BBQ sauce option (if they did, they didn't offer it to me) or at least some more hot sauces (they did have tabasco on the table). Anyways, we all kind of struggled to finish the mass amounts of food (we prevailed) and were happy with our food. The apple stuff tasted like pie and their mac n cheese will satiate your cheesy desires (well, normal people's cheesy desires maybe...) Anyways, it was clean, there was a TV so we could entertain ourselves while we stuffed food in our faces and plenty of paper towels to wipe said faces. read more

Came to Donner Lake last weekend with my boys for some down-time. We came across this place from an ad we got from our hotel (next to be reviewed). Anyhow, on to Smokey's... THE AMBIANCE: Cute & cozy. The menu was a chalkboard filled with many items to choose from. It's overwhelming for the first-timer, but you'll figure out what you want if there's something that catches your eye. We stuck with bbq chicken & ribs, just for the mere fact that this place was called *Smokey's Kitchen*. THE GOOD: Garlic french fries! Ooooh! Yummy! And they didn't skimp on the garlic. Woo-hoo! I don't care if my breath stinks after I eat them, I just LOVE garlic fries and this place had it down! 5-stars for the fries. The bbq chicken was good. Not spectacular, but it wasn't dry, so kudos for that. THE BAD: The ribs were painfully disappointing. I would give them a 1-star rating. There was hardly any meat on the serving we got, and to top it off, it was SO DRY! We got a rib combo meal for $13.95 -- what a rip-off! I read other reviews that the ribs were good, but I can't say the same. I don't know if it's because they ran out of ribs or what, but what we got was so disappointing, I thought that the Donner Party ate it up before I could get to it (we were by Donner Lake, of course). Sorry for the attempt at bad humor. I couldn't help myself. =D I think I'm being too nice by giving them 3-stars, but they made great garlic fries (which I'm a sucker for) and the bbq chicken was alright. Because they had a ton of other items on their menu, I can't be too brutal, since I didn't try them all. I'm taking averages into account: 5-stars for Garlic Fries + 3-stars for BBQ Chicken + 1-star for BBQ Ribs = 3 stars. There you have it. If we come back, I know which menu item I'm staying away from. read more

A solid 3. Food is OK, service is friendly, atmosphere is good, but really...nothing special. Try it out if you haven't been there before. read more

Unfortunately, Smokey's is not so smokey anymore. The ribs are average - they used to be amazing, but I'm not sure if Mike the original owner sold out or what, but it's just not up to snuff anymore. The ribs don't taste as smokey as they once did. We used to LOVE to go here whenever we were near Truckee, now, not sure if we'll go back. Breakfast however, remains a bright spot. The side dishes have always been mediocre, but nobody cared before the bbq was so good. However, now, it's just another piece of mediocrity. Service is always good and friendly though read more

My hubby and I were hot and sweaty after a long hike and ravenous for some hearty grub. We saw Smokey's from the road and immediately wheeled into the lot. We were glad we did. The fragrance of BBQ hung seductively in the air and we had a tough time choosing from the huge menu. Everything sounded good. We split a BBQ salmon wrap and an order of fries. Both were fantastic. I also highly recommend the lemonade. It was clearly homemade and not too sweet or too tart. Free refills, too. My only critique is that we had to wait a while for our food while I gazed longingly at other people's plates. But it was worth the wait. If we weren't staying far away from Truckee, I'm sure we would have returned a few more times during our week in Tahoe. read more

The food was very good. We had the firefighter omelette, and grand marnier French toast. read more

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Great food, amazing scenery. A must breakfast/lunch spot over during your drive out or in Nevada!!! read more

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

Just had them cater our party and everything was great and on time. Very easy to order and Mike was very helpful.

We stopped in there for breakfast on our way through. They handed us menus and told us to sit where we wanted to. Another group of 6 people came in a few minutes after we did and they were immediately brought a pitcher of water, cups and took drink orders. A few minutes after them another group came in and same thing: water pitcher, cups and drink orders. We were still sitting sitting there with no service. It's not like we were back in a hidden corner or anything. When the young waiter finally came to us I mentioned that we had been sitting there for 10 minutes and would really like some water. He looked at me as if I were imposing on him. The food? It was OK. read more

I need to echo what others have said. The food was good. The people were nice, but when I went in to pay, I was horrified that none of the kitchen staff were wearing masks during a peak of covid. Maybe stay away during the pandemic and return once masks aren't required for our safety anymore read more

The Bartender/Server was really friendly and helpful. She was on by herself and I felt so bad for her that I wanted to hop in and help. She called for backup and I believe the owner came back to help. I understand that biz can be hit or miss- so staffing has to go with that. I didn't deduct stars for service. I only gave 2 stars because I wasn't impressed with the food. They offer only one BBQ sauce and it was WAY TOO SWEET for my liking. I had the pulled pork. The cornbread was also sweet and add in the honey butter and ugh....if you like sweet- you will LOVE this place- it's just my personal preference. Cute locals place, nice atmosphere and decent beer selection. Nice staff. read more

Great food. We were hungry when we landed and did a drive by through Truckee. This was the 1st place we saw and after looking at the rest came back to eat. Will be our regular stop. Prime rib was awesome. Don't forget to check in before you stop to get a 10% discount! Well worth the food coma! read more

All the years that I have been going to Truckee I had never tried this place out. Had a wonderful blue cheese and bacon burger with habanero barbecue sauce yesterday. Also had the home made potato salad. It was delicious and everyone in our party loved their food. I believe a young lady by the name of Terrel greeted us and helped us with our food decisions. Super nice lady great customer service. the kids that brought our food to our table were super helpful & attentive.. we will def be back.. read more

Great brisket sandwich and garlic fries. Service was outstanding and establishment was very clean.

By far the best restaurant in all of the greater Lake Tahoe area, hands down. It's right down the street from our Tahoe Donner condo (a.k.a. the Cabdo) and we refer to it as our Cabdo Cafe. They have practically everything on the menu. After a full day of snowboarding, who doesn't want a big plate of meat and veggies?! Their pulled pork and pork ribs are to die for. I've never had better, still trying to find another place that even comes close. The BBQ sauce is so good. I usually get a salad with pulled pork and use the BBQ sauce as dressing. Superb. The mac & cheese and cornbread are also amazingly good... but you have to be selective of what you get otherwise you'll fill up too quickly or just end up overeating (usually the latter because it's all so good!) I also recommend the tortilla soup if it is available. Great service, some beers on tap, they make coffee, and desserts. I'm still yet to have their breakfast items. Someday we will, but until then this is some of the greatest BBQ ever. Not to mention the price is just right! read more

We ate here for breakfast. I had the Truckee Omelet, husband had the Meat Lovers Omelet, and the kids had strawberry pancakes. Everything was fresh and fantastic! It was pretty pricey but the quality made it worth while. read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Meat Lovers Omelet - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

We went twice -- the food was delicious both times. We're from Texas and can be barbecue snobs, but we really enjoyed it. The BBQ was a tad on the sweet side for us, compared to Texas 'cue, but it was a nice change and we wolfed it down. Both the beef brisket and shredded chicken sandwiches were served on crusty bread that I prefer to the bland white buns we get at home. My husband especially liked their Cowboy beans; I liked the thick, crunchy fries. What keeps me from giving them 4 stars is the service. Kind of spotty. First visit was OK; second was embarrassingly bad (even the server apologized). I could tell they were working hard, though, unlike at some other joints we visited this week. I would give them another chance (not sure my husband will, though). read more

Best breakfast joint I have ever came across. Haven't explored their lunch and dinner items just yet, but frequent for breakfast.

Very good food. Nice people. Loved the pulled pork sandwhich, the salmon teriyaki wrap, sweet potato fries! read more

Smokey's Kitchen - Dog friendly patio! - Barbeque Near Me - Truckee, California

We were just passing through on a busy summer Saturday. Ordering at the counter was perfect for faster service. I loved how the burgers came dry, and each table had an assortment of sauces for customizing. Casual outdoor picnic tables was perfect for our two boys. Good portions, fresh salads, overall just what we were looking for! read more

We wanted some chicken wings after a day on the mountain, and BOY are we glad we found Smokey's. They have great wings, the bbq salmon wrap was incredible (and my kids loved it too) and their cinnamon sugar apples are OUT OF THIS WORLD. Great small restaurant worth supporting, we will be back again (and again.) read more

Used to be some of the best ribs I've tasted. Not anymore. Brisket is soaked in sauce and tastes like beef jerky. Way, way too expensive for what it is. Time to look for a new BBQ joint read more

So I haven't read the other reviews of this place, but my experience was top notch. I know SF isn't a hotbed for bbq joints but I searched far and wide, and never came across a place that appeased my appetite in the City. But this place......... Wow. Especially if you come in during Happy Hour, which I believe is after 4 or 5pm, the deals are outstanding. I actually forgot what we ordered but it's something along the lines of 2 racks of ribs, Mac and cheese, cowboy beans, 2 orders of cornbread, and Southwest slaw, garlic fries, and potato salad. All of this for under $50!! Meat fell off the bone, and the sides tasted fresh.. Cornbread and honey butter spread were ridiculously tasty and I'm not a big cornbread fan.. PS this is a prime spot for post-skiing and snowboarding munching. If you plan ahead, skip the overpriced lunch and save your appetite for here read more