The Smoked Joint- for real this time

NulloModo · January 8, 2005

Oh wow, I never got the double-entendre of the name till now...

MarketStEl · January 9, 2005

New review (jan 04) in the Weekly by Lauren McCutcheon
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Lessee... she makes nods to Texas, Memphis and Carolina 'cue in her review.

Yet she opens with brisket, unadorned by any reference to place.

Something's missing from her Barbecue Name-Droppers List. :angry: :angry:

Lisa1349 · January 10, 2005

The DiBruno gang had a social outing ending at the Smoked Joint Friday night. Yum!

We started with the eggplant pizza, smoked babaghanoush (sp?), wings and sweet potato fries. It's hard to believe that no one has mentioned how incredible the wings are! Smoked and grilled... yumm. I loved the BBG, I was obliged with more pita crisps when I wouldn't give up the plate to the waitress because I wasn't done, nice service touch. The fries were great, rarely do you see steak cut sweet potato fries as they have there. Nice ranch style dipping sauce. I might have too-high standards for pizza, but their version didn't make me swoon. It seemed more like an open face cheesy pita than pizza. Disclaimer: I was 3 bourbons and 1/2 an oversized Allagash White Ale to the wind by appetizers.

We all split large BBQ combos, pulled pork, ribs, brisket and chicken. I didn't try the chicken because I actually was full, but sampled leftovers yesterday were moist and happily smoky. The fact that there were leftovers between 9 hungry food-o-philes says a lot, they feed you there. The brisket passed the 'cut with a fork' test and was my favorite. The pulled pork was appropriately tender and actually pulled. Often you find chooped pork in it's place. All benefitted from the balanced vinegary-slightly sweet sauce on the table.

The root beer beans were my ideal baked beans. A texture that told how thay started with dried beans, not canned, and cooked them to perfection. Chunks of meat, no cloying sauce. I'm not a huge collard fan, but others who were with me loved them. I prefer very cheesy, thick mac-n-cheese. Theirs was a bit too thin for me. There was also a strange seetness that didn't seem appropriate. Nice crunchy crust, however.

We forgot about corn bread. For this we should be banished from the culinary world, I know. After stating repeatedly that corn bread was the item I was most looking forward to - it was missed. Badly needed was a simple "Should I bring corn bread for each table?" and I wouldn't have to whine now. There was no floppy white bread, but we hadn't asked, either.

For dessert I ordered my own root beet float. Served with Virgils, a great micro brewed root beer and a huge cookie on the glass. Others had a cookie plate with ice cream, the cookies were oatmeal raisin, a PB&J sandwich butter cookie and choc chip macadamia.

Sodas are served in not so mini pitchers. This is cool. The beers are large. Your napkin is a red hand towel - also necessary. The kitchen is open and made me long for the good old days of sweating on the food. One dislike: our party of 9 couldn't sit together. The tables along the upper railing are attatched to the railing and can't move. I didn't see any space except the bar that could accomodate a larger party.

I will be back, with less than 9!

ellencho · January 29, 2005

Great googly moogly is that an awesome restaurant. It's a fairly decent sized space, very very clean and the waitstaff is really pleasant and accomodating.

We went for a late anniversary lunch today and enjoyed an order of their hot wings, which are both smoked and crusted with a nice hot peppery rub and served with what appeared to be a homemade bleu cheese dressing and a couple of sticks of celery. They arrived steaming hot, and and easily pulled apart at the joints. I don't think a single bad thing can be said about these wings, they were simpy divine.

For my entree I enjoyed a ribs and brisket platter with a side of coleslaw and root beer baked beans. On the plate I received three generous sized ribs and three slices of brisket. The brisket was a little on dry side but had excellent flavor. There was some bbq sauce on the table and that helped alleviate the dryness. The ribs were meaty and tender and I enjoyed them immensely. The coleslaw was very fresh and light tasting, with white and red cabbage, carrots and cucumber mainly. You could really taste the root beer in the beans, but amazingly enough, they weren't cloyingly sweet like lots of baked beans can be.

The boyfriend had a plate of brisket with a side of collard greens and sweet potato fries. The greens were cooked perfectly with an appropriate splash of vinegar. The sweet potato fries were surprisingly crisp and not soggy at all, like some of them can be. They served a nice ranch dipping sauce to accompany the fries.

And for all you folks who have a touch of the OCD like I do, I loved that they provide you with wet disposable hand towels as well as red terry cloth hand towels as napkins.

Unfortunately I can't report to you on the quality of the dessert, we were too stuffed to have dessert but we didn't feel as if we were missing out.

Oh, and I nearly forgot, our platters were served with two triangles of very delicious, soft rich tasting bread. I wanted to make myself a mini sandwich with my brisket, but I knew if I did, would fill myself up too fast, and I wanted to save room for everything!

Edited January 29, 2005 by ellencho (log)

TarteTatin · February 2, 2005

Well, we made our first trip to The Smoked Joint. Even though it's a Tuesday night and she wanted to go to Vietnam Palace, I persuaded Mrs Tarte Tatin that I had a bad 'cue jones and the only cure was a trip to the Smoked Joint.

After rejecting the wine list as being completely uninspired and overpriced (well, who drinks wine with barbecue anyway?), Mrs TT ordered one of their maragitas and I had a Stella.*

We decided on the wings as a first course. What a revelation! These were big meaty wings covered with a dry rub that had a good peppery zing and a nice herbal undertone. We loved the fact that they were grilled and not fried. Perhaps the best either of us have ever had. The housemade blue cheese dressing and celery were a nice accompaniment but we pretty much ignored them. I hate flaccid celery sticks anyway.

I had the pulled pork platter with a side of slaw and beans and two slices of toasted bread - looked like a soft brioche and tasted just as good. Loved the pulled pork as it brought back memories of Kings Barbecue on Rt. 13 between Richmond and Colonial Heights, VA back in the 1950's. It was tender, and a huge portion. I will echo other reviewers and say that it was just a touch dry, though the sauce helps a lot. I like their sauce, despite the fact that mine is better.

As to the sides: Well, I'm a bit underwhelmed. The slaw is fresh, tasty, crisp, and delicious but with not enough vinegar in the dressing. Mrs TT loved it especially since it was sans mayonnaise. The baked beans were well cooked, with nice little chunks of meat and a good tooth to them, but the sauce? What's that metallic back taste? I know that more than a few folks here love the beans at the Smoked Joint, but next time, I'll choose something else. The root beer thing just doesn't work for me.

Mrs TT opted for the Reuben and both of reckon that it's the best pastrami, bar none, that we have ever had. Fabulous smoky richness to the meat and the rye bread was great. Excellent thousand island dressing but where was the promised Gruyere? With the cheese this would be the ultimate Reuben, without it it's a damned good pastrami sandwich. One other small cavil, would it hurt that they could slice the pastrami a little thinner, maybe?

As we shared a skillet of the really great jalepeno cornbread we skipped dessert and had the remains packed up for dinner tomorrow.

Despite my moaning, we will go back and bring a crowd of friends. (And our own wine)

* Wine prices tick me off. Even though I worked in restaurants for many years, I just never got and still don't get the rational behind charging 5 or 6 times retail for a bottle of wine. One would think that if you charge a reasonable markup you'll sell more. That would more than make up for the perceived shortfall in revenue. Friday, Saturday, Sunday has the right idea - $10 over retail.

KatieLoeb · February 2, 2005

* Wine prices tick me off. Even though I worked in restaurants for many years, I just never got and still don't get the rational behind charging 5 or 6 times retail for a bottle of wine. One would think that if you charge a reasonable markup you'll sell more. That would more than make up for the perceived shortfall in revenue. Friday, Saturday, Sunday has the right idea - $10 over retail.

I must point out that Friday, Saturday, Sunday OWNS the building in which they are housed, and has owned it for years. I'm sure the mortgage is already paid off too. Not having to pay rent makes a HUGE difference in a restaurant's monthly cash flow.

deprofundis · February 4, 2005

There's a review of The Smoked Joint in today's Daily News: http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/living/10813774.htm

The bottom line: 2.5 forks.

Holly Moore · February 4, 2005

....
My only real complaint. No bread. There's just something in me that wants bread with my ribs. Maybe even wimpy supermarket white bread. That's what I'm used to with ribs. Or corn bread. There's corn bread on the menu, but it's a $5 hit for a skillet full. They bake it to order, so it's gonna be good. But if I'm laying down over $15 for a plate of BBQ I'm thinking I deserve a square or wedge of corn bread thrown in. Mentioned it to one of the owners, but got the feeling I wasn't all that persuasive. As I was leaving I heard the couple at the table next to me voice the same desire to their waiter.
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One of the owners stopped by my busienss today. He wanted me to know that Smoked Joint is now serving bread with their entrees.

Also, the bluegrass music is being sponsered by a beer brewery and will happen at least once a month. Might be a blues open stage coming up too.

stephenc · February 5, 2005

Sounds tasty. I looked over the menu though, and it looks a bit expensive, especially for bbq.

I guess I've been spoiled by 8-9 dollar Texas and Carolina BBQ platters.

Andrew Fenton · February 5, 2005

It is expensive for barbecue. (On the other hand, it's a lot cheaper than a trip to TX.)

MarketStEl · February 6, 2005

One of the owners stopped by my busienss today. He wanted me to know that Smoked Joint is now serving bread with their entrees.
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I hope it's good old spongy white bread. It wouldn't be real barbecue without it.

Diann · February 19, 2005

First post in the PA forum! I've been lurking for a while, though.

This is from a while back, but I was at TSJ for their $30 all-you-can-eat Super Bowl special, which was a great deal for the money. They did a great job of passing around lots of fresh pizzas to each table -- I don't normally like barbeque chicken pizza but their chicken was tender and juicy, and there wasn't too much onion or barbeque sauce overpowering the thing. Crust was soft and chewy -- not a classically great pizza crust, but still good. And the pulled pork and pickle pizza -- sort of like a Cuban sandwich, yum. They also passed around trays of "pretzel bites" (fine), brisket wrapped in pita with horseradish BBQ sauce (good, but too much horseradish overpowered the brisket, I think), and pulled chicken pita (YUM. I love their chicken.)

At the buffet, they had wings, ribs, pulled pork on spongy white bread :), slices of brisket, bowls of root beer beans and slaw, platters of mac and cheese...my thoughts:

- Wings: I don't actually like wings with the traditional hot sauce, but these I liked. Bigger than Moriarty's, dry-rubbed, flavorful, and the spice doesn't hit you until you're a few bites in

- Ribs: Good but not memorable. I think I like Phoebe's better... the sauce was fantastic, though (even served cold)

- Pulled pork: Not vinegary enough, and a little dry. GREAT spongy white bread, though -- for some reason it reminded me of the Taiwanese style tea bread loaves you can get in Chinatown bakeries

- Root beer beans: Nice meaty bits in the beans, but I noticed the metallic aftertaste people have been talking about

- Mac and cheese: Hm, interesting. Lots of people were ordering big bowls of this for their tables, but I didn't think it was worth an extra $10. Nice crunchy topping and the noodles weren't too mushy, but I actually prefer Phoebe's (ultimately TSJ's just ended up being bland.) But I like Boston Market's mac and cheese, so I'm probably not a true connoisseur of the stuff.

- Cornbread: OHMYGOD. Crunchy on the outside, dense and slightly sweet on the inside, with chunks of peppers (either cubanello or jalapeno, but I think cubanello) scattered throughout...if I could bring this cornbread to Phoebe's (still my favorite barbeque joint in/around Center City, and thus the one I frequent most regularly) I could die a happy girl.

They also had $5 margaritas (good) and $3 drafts (even better). And very importantly, fantastic service, especially considering that the place was PACKED. They made sure to have lots of big screens, which I appreciated, and every server/bartender was incredibly nice AND thoughtful, replenishing plates, cutlery, napkins, FOOD, and drinks as needed.

My main problem with TSJ is the regular menu pricing -- I probably wouldn't go back for a $22 half-rack ribs when I can get the same thing at Phoebes for $12. (And I think other BBQ joints are priced like Phoebes, as well.) And, as Peter said, the atmosphere's kind of weird. But I will be back for happy hour, when pizzas are $7 and other food specials are $5-$7. And it probably would be fun for a group outing :)

CherieV · February 20, 2005

I made it to The Smoked Joint last night finally. I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. My fiance and I love BBQ and can be very critical when it comes to authentic BBQ. Anyway here is my evaluation, for what's its worth.....

We wanted to start with the smoked Baba but they had run out. Maybe next time as I have heard good things.

I had a margarita instead which was very good.

We got the combo for entrees. Mine was the chicken and ribs. The chicken was nice and smokey but very very dry. Ribs were excellent. Slaw was awsome, sweet potato fries were a bit soggy for my taste. My fiance got the pulled pork and the brisket with baked beans and collard greens. He really enjoyed his combo also. I didn't taste his sides but I did taste the brisket and pulled pork and thought they were great. The bread served on the side was great too.

We ordered a side of mac and cheese and it was good. The cornbread was exceptional as was the pecan pie for dessert. We will be back. :biggrin:

philadining · February 21, 2005

I picked-up take out this weekend for some ill-advised winter camping (yes Katie, yet another alcohol-fueled decision.) And I'm happy to say that brisket, which you can buy by the pound, and pulled-pork, which you can buy in pints or quarts, travels extremely well. It's good warm out of the container in the car (no self-control), good reheated, good cold, and amazingly - pretty good when it's close to frozen from sitting around in 20-degree weather.

They need to work a little on packaging: when I picked up my take-out bag, the lid to the pulled-pork container had blown completely off and wedged in a remote corner behind the sauce. The rectangular container with the brisket had kept its lid, but dripped juices into the bottom of the bag. And although I had asked for a bottle of sauce, they gave me two disposable containers, which was fine, except that, again, there was some sort of seal failure and there was sauce all over the inside of the bag. Where I was going, it didn't matter, so I didn't care, but if you're bringing some over to a friends house for a party, beware!

As has been commented-on here before, it is a bit pricey for barbeque, but man it's tasty!

KatieLoeb · February 21, 2005

I picked-up take out this weekend for some ill-advised winter camping (yes Katie, yet another alcohol-fueled decision.)
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Clairvoyance is a wonderful quality... :biggrin:

shinyboots · February 23, 2005

snappy recap of my experience Yesterday (Monday) for Lunch (same menu as always):

- Hmm...prices. 9 dollars for brisket in a pita and a small ramekin of baked beans (or sweet potato fries - much much better)

- hmm...service. A ridiculous wait considering the meat is prepared ahead of time, and it was a slow lunch crowd.

- brisket was tender, but a little overdone. I could tell because my sister's sandwich had no black crust around hers. Yea, it was still pretty damn good. Just load that homemade 'cue on.

- hell yea! Bourbon Pecan Pie was so good, it recouped for above points. Long story, but we got dessert for free (I wasn't complainin', I sware!)

KatieLoeb · March 1, 2005

Stopped in at Smoked Joint for a mid-afternoon snack on Saturday afternoon with Miss Claire and our own Lisa1349, Fromager to the Masses. We started with the Smoked Baba Ghanoush and it was delicious! The smoking of the eggplants definitely adds an incredible depth of flavor to what can often be a very bland dfip. We then shared the two meat platter with two sides and chose the Smoked Brisket, Pulled Pork and the Greens and Macaroni and Cheese. Everything was fantastic, as always, and the creamy Horseradish sauce that comes on the side with the brisket was really outstanding. A couple of slices of outstanding white bread was included on the platter. It was just enough for the three of us to share and not fill up too much, as we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering about and getting continually aced out of tickets for the Noche Flamenca show we wanted to see at the Kimmel Center. :angry:

Scoats · March 1, 2005

My best buddy and I were there for lunch a couple of weekends ago.

Some quick impressions:

The Food: the most important thing. Dang good BBQ; I mean really, really good. We each had the 1/2 rack. Sides of claw and collards were great.

The Service: it wasn't crowded, so I don't know how that would afffect things, but we were served quickly, friendly and professionally. Couldn't ask for anything more. Got free refills on the individual mini-pitchers of soda.

The Price: Definitley not cheap but very fair for what you get. Why pay less for lesser food elsewhere?

The Atmosphere: Man, this place is butt ugly. Being in the horrible space in the horrible Academy House buidling definitley makes things difficult to begin with. While clean, the place has a harsh feel with colors that do nothing to help out.

The Asshat Door: They have one. They keep one of the four doors locked for an unknown reason. The odds of picking the correct door to enter is 25%. Good luck. I really hate businesses that make it a roulette game to enter.

The Verdict: I'd be back in a flash whenever I'm in the neighborhood.

gbredben · March 3, 2005

I had a friend message me about review he had read concerning The Smoked Joint. What was intriguing was that the reviewer said he had talked to a member of the staff who stated they were opening a place on South Street. No word about any specific location. If true, this would mean a big step to open a second location already. I'm interested in knowing if anyone can confirm this.

deprofundis · March 5, 2005

I held off on writing my opinion of this place because I had a dispute with them, but since it appears to be resolved now, here goes. As a previous poster said, the decor is not that great on the inside. But as long as the food's good I'm cool with that. The service from the wait staff was, in my opinion, friendly but a little slow. When I ate lunch there I was like the only person there and it took probably 20+ minutes for my [pre-prepared] meal to arrive. I had the ribs & brisket combo with sides of collard greens and baked beans. I thought the quality of the food was excellent in general, although the ribs were IMHO on the dry side and they kind of skimped on the brisket. The prices are a little high, but this is Center City.

So my dispute with them came when I made reservations for two for their superbowl party and showed up with three. They refused to allow the third person in so I cancelled and asked for a refund. Ok, maybe it was stupid of me to try something like that, but things like this happen from time to time. Anyway, the managers were apparently under orders from the owners to not issue refunds under any circumstances, and I was not offered any compensation otherwise. I would have been ok with a gift certificate so I could at least get something for my $60, but none was offered. Why they would make such a big deal out of a measly $60 is beyond me. Needless to say, I disputed the charge with my credit card company and I won, so they WILL be issuing me a refund whether they like it or not. So I think people should be warned when they try to schedule something at this place that they don't take kindly when you cancel. Would I go back? Probably. They do have good food. But I would not schedule a party or any other kind of get together there.

Edited March 5, 2005 by deprofundis (log)

Mummer · March 5, 2005

So my dispute with them came when I made reservations for two for their superbowl party and showed up with three. They refused to allow the third person in so I cancelled and asked for a refund. Ok, maybe it was stupid of me to try something like that, but things like this happen from time to time.

I don't get this deprofundis.

The place must have been sold out, perhaps oversold. Why else wouldn't they accept another person?

You didn't call ahead to see if you could bring your friend. You just showed up. When you didn't get your way, you wanted to take your money and go home.

I must have missed whatever entitles you to a refund.

I think you're fortunate to get it.

Bacchusrogue · March 5, 2005

Not to mention what that does to your credit rating *shivers*

deprofundis · March 6, 2005

Not to mention what that does to your credit rating *shivers*
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It doesn't do anything to my credit rating. I won the dispute.

g_camper · March 7, 2005

IMOH - They had rules you did not follow.

1) You reserved for two, brought three - not part of their deal, you changed the rules.

2) They asked for non-refundable advanced deposit (not certain if it was stated that way, but appears to be so), You were opting not to attend and you asked for a refund - you changed the rules.

I would consider myself lucky to get anything back.

aliwaks · March 14, 2005

No plans to open a second location as of yet...you may have been hearing some old news ..back when there was some location scouting going on..The Smoked Joint is on Locust btw 15th & Broad.

I had a friend message me about review he had read concerning The Smoked Joint. What was intriguing was that the reviewer said he had talked to a member of the staff who stated they were opening a place on South Street. No word about any specific location. If true, this would mean a big step to open a second location already. I'm interested in knowing if anyone can confirm this.
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