WELL EVERYONE HAS BEEN WANTING TO KNOW HOW "SMOKIN" JACK'S BBQ IS DOING. WELL I VISITED THE RESTAURANT FOR SUPPER TONIGHT. MY COMMENT IS HE HAS ALOT OF IMPROVING TO DO IF HE IS GOING TO MAKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OUR FIRST VISIT OCCURED IN US LEAVING WITHOUT ANY FOOD OR DRINKS..... AFTER SITTING DOWN WE WAITED AND WAITED AND WAITED FOR SOMEBODY TO TAKE OUR ORDER. FINALLY I STOPPED THE WAITER AND SHE WAS LIKE I AM NOT YOUR WAITER BUT I CAN TAKE YOUR DRINK ORDER. I SAID WELL WE ARE READY TO PLACE A FOOD ORDER AS WELL. SHE SAID THAT IS FINE BUT WE ARE ALL OUT OF BBQ. SO I ORDERED CHICKEN AND MY HUSBAND ORDERED RIBS. WE WAITED AND WAITED SOME MORE FOR OUR DRINKS FINALLY A WAITER WALKED BY AND I SAID I HEARD THAT YOU ARE NOW OUT OF RIBS. SHE SAID YES WE RAN OUT ABOUT 15 MINUTES AGO, YOUR WAITER DID NOT TELL YOU.? MY HUSBAND AND I LOOKED A EACH OTHER AND SAID WELL JUST CANCEL OUR ORDER. HER COMMENT WAS YOU SHOULD HAVE COME EARLIER...... WE ARIVED FOR SUPPER AT 5:50 HOW MUCH EARILER DID WE NEED TO GET THERE???? WE WERE NOT THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT LEFT WITH OUT FOOD. I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE NEW BUT THEY HAVE ALOT TO WORK OUT. I WILL GIVE THEM ANOTHER CHANCE IN A WEEK OR TWO BECAUSE THE FOOD LOOKED GOOD AND SMELLED GREAT!!!! HOPE YOU HAVE A BETTER EXPERIENCE THAN WE DID!!!!
Matter of fact, Stickman checked out the food and the service @ Smokin' Jacks on Wednesday @ lunchtime. I was promptly seated and my drink order taken. However, it took a good 20 - 30 minutes from the time my food order was taken until it hit the table in front of me. Two friends whom I had joined late for lunch had placed food orders before I arrived and got their food another 5 - 8 minutes after mine arrived.
The food I was served (small chopped bbq pork plate) was good. The two sides I chose were potato salad and cole slaw. Both were good sides. The bbq sauce is on the spicy side (loaded w/ pepper) so beware.
Jackie Poole is gonna have to tighten up the food service if he expects customers to keep coming back. Otherwise, he checks out good on the first run.
The first few weeks of a new restaurant always seems to have the same difficulties. We tried to call an order in todite but the phone stayed busy. This is around 6 or 6:30 I believe, so my wife just went up there to get a to-go order. Although she never got any service (about 30 minutes of waiting) it wouldn;t have mattered since there wasn't any BBQ left.
I think first impressions are important to a new business, especially a restaurant. Perhaps it would be best to eat some profit, overstaff the first couple of weeks and fix more food than needed to ensure everyone gets what they came for. Things like proper staffing and how much food to lay out will get worked out ever a little time, but a good first impression will go far to keep the doors swinging.
I'll be back, and I'm wishing them luck.
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Stickman, most workers in Demopolis don't have 30 minutes during lunch to wait on their food order to be placed on the table. With transportation time and all that leaves about 15 minutes to gulp it all down. In the past I have noticed most new businesses are over-staffed during their Grand Opening period. All of the new employees hired are ususlly told that some of them will be released in a period of time after this rush time is over. I hope Mr G's will be prepared for this problem when they open. I KNOW they will be swamped the day they re-open. Dominoes and Pizza Hut may as well put some people on vacation or plan to do some remodeling for a few days when Mr. G's doors swing open.
Have tried to order a slab of ribs 2 times. Once they were out. The second time I was told to order in advance.. So I called at 3:00 in the afternoon and asked If I could pick up a slab at 6:00 and the waitress told me they were out but ribs would be ready around 6:30. I showed up about 6:15 from Linden and was told it would be 7:30 or 8:00 before they were ready and they couldn't be sure I could buy by the slab.
I think I will wait until the new wears off and try again.......
My husband and I had lunch there yesterday. It was really crowded, but the waitress was great. It wasn't really fast, but it wasn't slow either. We waited a reasonable amount of time. The food, however, was fabulous. I got the ribs and they were out of this world. I was impressed. I think they are getting the kinks worked out. I wish them lots of luck, and we'll definitely be back.
Well....I waited for someone else to bring this subject up, because I thought I was being too critical. I have had the same experience as you guys at Smokin' Jack's, at least with the take out. My husband place a lunch "to go" order at 11:00 a.m. and it was not ready until well after 12:00. He placed a supper order in at 4:30 (the menu says call in advance for rib slabs) and it was not ready until close to 6:00. This is terrible for people on lunch or dinner breaks. The food (chopped pork and ribs) was pretty good, but they need to give more sauce. We received two tiny cups of sauce for TWO SLABS of ribs.
I won't give up on them because I can't begin to imagine running a restaurant in the first place, much less a NEW one in a town that is dying for some variety. I will say that they need to get it together as soon as possible or people will stop going. Today, my husband and I went elsewhere for lunch because we were afraid of not getting served in our allotted lunch hour.
Yea, I believe Jackie Pool is just having a little bit of rough time getting things to go smooth. It's very understandable considering he is new to the whole restaraunt biz. He'll get it straight I'm sure. He definitely has some of the best BBQ that you can get, so I don't think his rough start will effect his long term perfomance.
Don't sweat it Jackie, people understand the difficulties of running a place around here. Just keep the grill hot cause I'm ready for a plate!
My husband and I bbq a lot so i know it takes a long time to do it right. I don't know if there is any way to cook enough food for all of the people rushing to the new place given the equipment available. It would be a bad business move to have more grills, etc . if they will not be used later when business slows. Like I said, its just my opinion!
Drove by Smokin' Jacks at lunch today. The parking lot was full and vehicles were parked along US 80. Maybe he should borrow some grills for a while. I noticed someone out back cooking on a trailer grill. Is this his main operation for cooking the ribs and other meat? Does he have a grill inside?
