Was anxious to try this place based on reviews, but although their hours were posted as open at 11 am daily, they were closed on Monday, July 6, at 11:15 am. Made a detour off the interstate for it, even. Really bummed. But on the plus side, we ended up at Mi Pueblo instead and we were NOT disappointed! read more

Best place to eat in Chamberlain. Staff is friendly and efficient. Beautiful views. Tasty food and great local beer read more

The Smoking Mule - Sunset over the lake - American Near Me - Chamberlain, South Dakota

The pulled pork sandwiches were very good, and there were good slzed portions for the price. The fries were good, and the Mac and cheese was ok. The beer was good. Service was good. We were able to sit next to the window to enjoy the view and watch huge geese swimming near the marina. Sometimes they have outdoor seating but not this evening. read more

Absolutely amazing from greeting to the meal. First, we were greeted by a very mature young lady named Syndey, she was polite, took our order, delivered drinks and assured us the order would be ready soon. We later had some friendly discussion and I wish more young adults were like her. Now for the food, first let me say I have traveled throughout the south for bbq. Sticky fingers in Tennessee was the best ever. Until I came to the Smoking Mule, I never thought anyone could top their bbq. Well I had the brisket and I believe there brisket could actually top the best! Also, on my way out, I wanted to let the cook know how excellent the bbq was. You'll never know how surprised I was to find out the cooks are actually the owners! These folks believe in being fully involved in their business. Don't miss a meal at this establishment. I live over 1000 miles away, but it might just be worth the trip to experience the brisket again! read more

This place is fantastic! We stopped in here on our drive east because of good reviews on Google, and were not disappointed. We sat at the bar, and were greeted by super nice servers and bartenders. The staff is awesome, funny, and helpful, they have a good selection of beer, and their pulled pork sandwich and chile verde chimichanga were really great. The decor is adorable too, in my opinion. The place seems slightly ramshack from the outside, but don't be discouraged! Go inside! read more

We are here for the weekend and just happened to hear of Smoking Mule! Food smells delicious! We ordered the half rack and brisket burger sandwich! Only annoying thing is the flies! Great service, friendly waitresses! read more

The Reuben sandwich was decent, if you're not expecting something comparable to a New York deli. If you're a connoisseur of mac n cheese, RUN. I love mac n cheese, and this looked delicious. I'm not sure if it actually contained any cheese. It definitely contained..... SUGAR. read more

This is a quaint restaurant in the small town of Chamberlain,SD! The folks and servers are kind and it leaves you feeling like you just walked into a scene of a Hallmark movie or tv show. We went on a Friday night and the parking lot was full! Their bar on site had drink specials which seemed to draw in a lot of the locals. When we entered the establishment, we were warmly greeted and told we could find our seats. They have a small patio outside with a couple of tables, but we chose to sit inside. The view that surrounds the back of the restaurant is beautiful. You are surrounded by water views which I truly enjoy! The friendly waitress took our orders and was efficient. My daughters ordered pulled pork sandwiches with the smoked Mac & Cheese. I ordered the Mule burger with the smoked Mac & Cheese, as well. My husband ordered the Jalapeño Popper Burger with the baked beans. My girls enjoyed their pulled pork sandwiches and I did my Mule burger. The only thing we thought that would make the meal better is if the Mac & Cheese was baked. With all the flavors of the main entree, going to the Mac & Cheese was disappointing. We had a great experience when it came to ambiance and service. However, the Mac & Cheese could use some work, respectively. read more

The Smoking Mule - Inside, looking out. - American Near Me - Chamberlain, South Dakota

See all

Researched this place and got off the interstate to find it wasn't open at 11:15 when it was supposed to open at 11. Went to Upper Crust Pizza who actually opened when they said they would. read more

I thought the half chicken was very good and would of given another star if they would of had a vegetable for a side.

What a great spot! Just traveling through and came across this great lounge restaurant overlooking water. Restaurant is currently closed due to covid, but the lounge is open with a very limited menu. Best ribs I've ever had! First time for a coconut stout and it was delicious! read more

Stopped cuz of the reviews. They don't lie! We both had the ribs. We eat at a lot of bbq places and this is definitely one of the best. Totes fall off the bone. For sides I had smoked mac n cheese and he had Cole slaw. Both were plenty good, but we've had better. The ribs made up for it and we still ate every bite! We both had a different tap beer, I had sea salt lime and he had dreamsicle. Dreamsicle was a really good local cream ale and the lime one was kind of a citrusy shandy type. Drank all of that too! Only down side is google maps doesn't get ya there the best. Had to redo it when we were in town. Highly recommend! read more

Pleasant surprise. The Mule burger with pulled pork was really good. The Kick Ass Beans were great. Service was friendly. Not a 5 star restaurant but definitely a 5 star grill. Very good meal. read more

Excellent food, large portions, fun atmosphere, decent service, we both ordered straight from the menu but our bill was higher. When I asked, we were told our included meal sides were upgrades. This place overlooks a marina so maybe that's appropriate if you get my humor. read more

The whole family agrees it's the best burger since we left Chicago! Lucky we missed our rest stop and we landed in this town. Thank you Kaitlyn for a wonderful service! read more

I've eaten at some pretty terrible places in Chamberlain over the years, but this isn't one of them. Easily the tastiest place I've been to in this town. I had the pulled pork sandwich with a side of slaw to put on top, along with some fries. The sandwich was absolutely delicious. If you're ever in Chamberlain and need a place to eat, do yourself a favor and stop here....you won't be disappointed. I deducted one star because even though we ate inside, we had to constantly fight off hoards of flies (management would be served well by investing in some fly traps). Also, the bathrooms were not too clean. read more

This was excellent. Definitely try the mussels and something smoked. We had the pulled pork sandwiches. Definitely a good Smokey flavor.

I read the reviews of the smoking Mule, and decided to pull off the interstate and give it a try. The food wasn't too bad, it had a nice view of the river, but the flies were terrible. We actually had to ask the waitress for a flyswatter. I don't know if I'd go back here. read more

Great place for the area of Chamberlain. Staff has been wonderful and friendly: great service. The pizza is worth waiting for and they do have some pleasing appetizers worth a try too. One of the only best restaurants in the town lol read more

This place blew my mind. I had the most amazing chicken. It melted in my mouth. I asked for bbq sauce before trying the meat & I realized now that was silly bc that meat needs no sauce! My friend had the ribs, which I also tried, and the meat fell off the bone. The smoked Mac & Cheese was so Melty & yummy. The kids meal included huge chicken strips. I can't say enough good things. The staff was very friendly. I am scheduling my next trip to Kimball ASAP so I can stop back for more amazing food! read more

Bro I jus got this burger and the mac and cheese and it be bussin fr frrr. Nice atmosphere as well

We had a great casual restaurant/dive bar night out. Don't expect frills but what they offer they do really well! We had their smoked 1/2 chicken with their loaded beans, smoked Mac and cheese and coleslaw. Everything tasted homemade and fresh and the chicken was seasoned but not slathered with anything so it was a healthy option. Sorry I didn't snag a menu photo but aside from burgers and BBQ (pulled pork, ribs and smoked chicken), they offer an array of appetizers (fitting of the divey spot), sandwiches (Nashville chicken, po boy, BLT, and others I'm forgetting) and I THINK they even had salads... that statement shows you where my head was at when we were ordering. As for beers- their taps were a good eclectic batch of beers ranging in style but they also had the classics bottles of beer you'd expect and looked like wine and full bar... but not positive as we were there for beer, BBQ and a chill spot outside to put our feet up from the drive: and we found just that! read more

The Smoking Mule - Patio table looking out to the marina. - American Near Me - Chamberlain, South Dakota

We had to check this place out, after reading the last few reviews we decided to try it and give our point of view. We had 4 in our party and everything was delicious. The baked beans and Mac n cheese are worth the stop! I had pulled pork and wow was it great, juicy and smoky. We are traveling through on our way hone and if we are ever in this area again we will definitely stop again! We were the only guest with masks on. read more

Good view but need to change name to the Mule burgers brews and pizza. No smoke or bbq at all at this place. The smoked Mac and cheese was terrible. Running with very little cheese. read more

The chicken on the chicken salad was so gross (fat on it and tasted off like it had gone bad) I couldn't finish it and I hate wasting food! The waitress brought me my bill two seconds after delivering my salad and then, when I asked to add a coffee, brought it in a to go cup, clearly ready for me to go after the whole 10 minutes I had been there already. The only thing that saved this place from getting a two star review was that I could see the water (and the waitress was polite, just hurried - tho there was hardly anyone in the restaurant). read more

This is the 4th vacation visit we have made to this place and every time we are satisfied. Delicious food, large beer selection. We will be back again! read more

Great stop for our family of 6 (kids aged 11-5). Very nice staff, kids food was phenomenal (pizza, chicken strips, cheeseburger) and they had delicious fresh apple slices instead of fries. Adult food was also delicious and reasonably priced. Inside decor was the only thing that keeps this from a 5 star. A little hollow with a "cafeteria-like" feel. read more

We waited 30 minutes and were never acknowledged. Four families were served who arrived after us. We ended up leaving. Worst service ever.

Big Ass BLT was the way to go. Clean atmosphere, by the river, and not too far from the interstate.

The shrimp and smoked chicken is absolutely amazing. Great customer service with delicious hot food.

I order the mule burger with smoked Mac and cheese. The mule burger was the best burger that's ever been inside mouth and down my esophagus. The Mac and cheese was earthquaking delicious. The 2 different macaroni types in the smoked Mac and cheese was 2nd to none. It took an hour to get the food which was disappointing, BUT I came to find out that it was soo worth every millisecond. I'm definitely coming back to Smoking Mule to shove more fantastic delicious food down my esophagus and through my intestines. read more

We stopped at the smoking mule when they were in Nebraska because it looked so unique and was blown away by the food. So we had to stop when going through Chamberlain. Food is still fabulous but they lost a lot of there uniqueness. read more

Traveling through South Dakota my hubby and I stopped there for lunch. A nice break from our travels and were able to look over a nice Marina and the Missouri River. I had the whiskey blue cheese burger and my husband the Brie cranberry Burger. Both were delicious with quality beef. The smoked cowboy beans side was out of the ordinary and quite tasty as well. read more

Ate hear for lunch. Great food. Good friendly service and nice location. I'll be back for sure. Located right on the marina so all you fisherman need to check this out. read more

Food is always excellent with a great view. You can get anything from pork to beef to seafood. Occasionally they will have a drink menu with something cool. read more

Maybe standards for mac and cheese are different in South Dakota, but I highly recommend staying away from the dish. It tasted like they added liquid smoke and called it a day. My wife's chimichanga was cold on the inside and my ribs were barely average. Definitely not "super close" off I-90 eastbound. read more

We have eaten here several times and it NEVER disappoints us Great Food, Great Service and a Beautiful Location! Highly recommend it !!!

The restaurant was unreasonably cold and had us shivering. I understand the name of the restaurant includes "smoking" but was not anticipating the Mac and cheese to have artificial smoking flavor and made me think after 3 bites that my dogs food would be more appetizing. Pulled Pork sandwich was okay, except the fact that I had two enormous pieces of just fat in the sandwich, which made for an unpleasant bite. The sandwich was as well very saucy, almost to the point of my bottom bun being pulled out as it was soaked in the juices/sauce. The host/server as well came to check up only for our meal decisions and then for tab, it was not busy at all as there were only 3 other tables and yet for some reason I couldn't even get my drink refilled once while it was even sitting on the edge of the table. Will never come again. For the BLT my partner had, which is pretty easy to make was good except for the fact that the bread for it were BOTH the butt of the bread. Sitting $32 deep I was unsatisfied and left regretting my decision to go here and just instead to spend $10 tops at McDonald's would have been a huge win. read more