Back Porch Smokehouse The Back Porch Smokehouse is a small, unassuming BBQ establishment attached to the movie theater in Robinson. In addition to BBQ, they have an ample selection of steaks, chicken, and burgers. I decided to give the brisket plate a try. While the brisket was tasty, it was quite a bit different from the traditional Texas-style brisket I'm accustomed to eating. The brisket was "chunky" versus "sliced". The sides of potatoes and cole slaw were adequate, but nothing special. I'd probably make a different selection from the menu next time. read more

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Food was ok. Run of the mill bbq but certainly nothing special. Server was polite but the thumbs all over the food side of the plate was a big no go for me (does anyone actually train their servers on proper technique and etiquette anymore?) This would have been a decent lunch experience if I hadn't been charged nearly $25 for a scoop of pulled pork and a bowl of lettuce with some cheese. If you're going to charge like a 5 star smokehouse then serve great food with trained service. $12 meal for double the price. read more

I got a few things to say. 1.) the side dishes wasn't bad but the catfish does NOT taste like fresh catfish. It is rubbery and the texture is just awful. 2.) the service wasn't horrible but we were ignored a lot of the time. Either ignored or told that someone would be with us when it took us waving down another server to even get our drinks refilled. (Keep in mind it was NOT busy either). 3.) if you want to go to a sit down nice restaurant I would not go here. People talk loudly, tv's only play sports, and it is not that clean. If you like a western style more family friendly Buffalo Wild Wings then go right ahead. But we wanted seated somewhere without as much noise and the only place for that is outside. And that day it was too hot. Not to mention the outdoor seating looks uncomfortable and so does the indoor. No effort was really put into this place and it's disappointing for the price. You would be better off saving your money waiting in line at McDonald's than coming here for the same quality of food. read more

This place is off the chain! Visited twice while working in Robinson, Ill. Both times were stupendous. Consistency when going to restaurants is important to us when traveling. Steak cooked to perfection and seasoned fabulously. Loaded brisket fries was out of this world. Salad fresh & loaded. Will return whenever in the area!! read more

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The food was sooooooo good ! The service was amazing and the owner is so sweet. I'm in town for a project and stumbled across this spot. I'm happy I did, I wish them much success and I hope they remain authentic and true to themselves :) THE STAFF WAS GREAT ! read more

Waited almost two hrs and still no appetizer. Was told they were out of what we ordered. I will not be back ever!!!!!!!!!

Not good of food to cost $16 and the menu say comes with side and they change us for it. $5 for a soft drink and $10 for a small appetizer. to over price!!! read more

My boyfriend use to go eat at back porch once weekly when working in Robinson but being retired it's a special treat to have a day to drive there and have lunch so it's infrequent. We were there this past week and we were both disappointed. We ordered the loaded potato with pulled pork and a side of cole slaw with some Texas toast garlic bread. We asked the waitress about the amount of pulled pork in the potato and was told it was 4-5ozs. The potato wasn't bad but there's no way the potato had that much meat. I'll bet there wasn't a tablespoon of meat and I kept wanting more to get a real taste. The Cole slaw was creamy. What was really bad was the garlic bread. It was just a thick slice of white bread barely toasted with no garlic or cheese. I couldn't eat it. My boyfriend was very disappointed. I was expecting it to be grilled with butter and garlic and maybe some Parmesan cheese until golden brown. Not white without any taste at all. Our check was way too much for what we got this day. We will go back one more time and try the ribs. I hope they are better. read more

Smoked catfish and ribeye were good. Nice local bbq joint. Brisket was not up to Texas standards though. read more

Really good wings and chicken tenders. The ranch can be a little bland but other then that it's amazing.

Great steaks. Great piled high nachos! Great service. Little loud but had a great meal!

Stopped here on our way to the Drive-In movie theater with the idea of getting some food to go. BPB packed a foursome meal for us. Very accommodating and served fairly quick. However, they forgot to pack the green beans, one of our four sides. This is kind of a big deal, because green beans are the only thing that alleviate my guilt eating all the other barbecue stuff I should be putting sparingly into my body, but don't. So, check your order before leaving. Otherwise, they're doing fine. Oh, they also serve cherry Kool-aid. Dig it. read more

BackPorch Smokehouse - Let the barbeque rave begin. - Barbeque Near Me - Robinson, Illinois

We are here for a golf tournament and found this barbecue place! It is very clean and nicely decorated! We had the brisket sandwich and it was excellent! Warm toasted bun made it even better! The beer bartered fries were awesome! Lots of choices. We will definitely go back! read more

Good food great service hostess couldn't have been better, very accommodating , the ambiance was great

Will charge you for ordering water to drink! Glad we didn't use the restroom, can only imagine what that would have cost! Especially if we flushed! Food was "average" read more

BackPorch Smokehouse - Be warned! Will charge you for ordering water! - Barbeque Near Me - Robinson, Illinois

First time visit. Arrived later in the evening. Ordered a half rack, fries and onion rings. Ribs are dry rubbed. No smoke detected. Even though 'smokehouse' is in the establishment ' s name. But, they were meaty, juicy, and tasty. 2 sauces. A traditional BBQ, and a spicier something. The BBQ was good. The 'spicy' was a bit on the vinegar side and not my taste, but may be yours. The fries were good. How do you mess fries up? The rings were wide and descent. Standard beers with a couple craft options. Blue Moon and Sam Adams Octoberfest. read more

Wow! We made a trip down here for lunch. Boy was I glad we did! The food was excellent. My lunch special was a large pulled pork sandwich with seasoned fries and a drink for $8. I am a tight-wad by nature but I was glad to fork over the money afterward. By the time I slathered my sandwich with the apple-butter BBQ sauce, I was in heaven. The atmosphere is great. Everyone was friendly. Most of the tables were full and we had to wait a bit longer than I would have liked for our food, but considering the food quality and the crowd, it was understandable. Too bad it was a workday, because the outdoor picnic tables were screaming, "Drink a Beer with me!" read more

This is my favorite place to eat in Robinson. I am a big barbecue fan, and the Back Porch has great food. In addition, I appreciate that this place has a comfortable decor, plenty of flat screens and a wait staff to take care of you. The pulled pork is what drew me, but I have recently started trying most everything on the menu. I enjoy the fact that you can get a variety of sides that aren't fried. The cole slaw is some of the best you will find anywhere if you are looking for good flavor. The baked beans are not just a ketchup-y sweetness, they are complex with a nice spicy kick. Today I had turnip greens; where else would you find something like that? My wife loves the prime rib. I had a smoked chicken thigh today that was perfect. And if you like wings, this is the place to go in town. Give it a shot. They know how to take care of you. read more

Had to walk in and seat myself after 10 minutes of waiting. When there's a sign that says wait to be seated. Then after 20 minutes we grabbed ourselves menus because we had yet to be acknowledged. Finally was able to get our orders in, and didn't have to wait too long for food, but had to get our own refills. Then once we finished we had to go ask for our receipts. Our receipts were wrong so that needed corrected. Overall the food was mediocre, the wait staff was awful, and I will not recommend this place to anyone. read more

The back porch was right across the street from our hotel. The staff was friendly, the wing flavor selection long and the ones we choose were tasty!! It's also next to an ice cream or yogurt place and the town cinema!! read more

Used to be good. Then new owner took over. Now all the have is a one page menu that is severely lacking. Only go there because it's a family members favorite place (for some unknown reason). read more

My wife and I don't frequently eat here, but when we do the visit is usually enjoyable. Service is good, food is good too. I enjoy the pulled meat sandwich or platter. The highlight of my meal here is always the French fries, they are seasoned, and I think they are excellent. Unfortunately, that's the only item I've had that stands out. read more

We (wife & I) had not visited this establishment for a couple of years due to mediocre food and very sub-par service. A short while back, I ate at the Backporch with a friend and the food and service were very good. I told my wife of the good experience I had doing lunch there. Well, tonight we were in Robinson and decided to get some dinner before returning home. Wife wanted to go to the Backporch and give it a try. After tonight's experience, I suppose it will be another couple of years before we try them again. The food was good. Service average. The issues was that it was cold in the building. We brought this up to one of the servers, and we were told that the manager did not allow them to adjust the thermostat, and that some of the help even liked it cool in the dinning room due to the fact they were busy and moving around a lot. By chance, I discovered that we were not the only customers complaining about the temperature. I would think that if the staff had paying costumers complaining about the temperature, and most folks were setting with their coats on, they would figure out that something needed attention. But because they are not able to, I will spend my money other places. read more

2nd time I have visited. I took my valentine for dinner. The first encounter we have is not knowing where to sit nor being asked by our server if we even wanted the valentines special. Ordered wings as an appetizer and we received them about 1 minute before our entrees. The side salad was a mix of greens, croutons and one slice of tomato. I ordered the brisket and my wife pulled pork. The pulled pork was very good, but the brisket might have been better if I had been offered BBQ sauce or if the bottle on the table had had a squeeze in it. I did get 8 wings and found them cooked well and very tasty. We didn't see our waitress for 15 minutes, then not again for a longer period of time. The restaurant was not busy. I had to leave to ask for my check. I had to leave the table again to pay for my check. All in all it was a very sub par experience, one that could have been much better with better service, a better plan of table prep, and a better display of the food. Might visit again, but not for another special occasion. Sorry guys - i felt taken for granted. read more

When I first started eating here in 2010, I would have given it 5 stars, but it has declined in recent years. They have cut a lot of items from their menu, their ribs are hit and miss. I've always had good service there. Very friendly staff and above average food. read more

The pulled pork was great and so was the apple butter BBQ sauce. The wings were over cooked but they took them off my bill...great customer service! I will go back whenever I come back to Robinson. read more

Ordered a pork sandwich Pork tacos Hamburger Mushrooms Fried pickles Corn nuggets Service was slow, ordered corn nuggets as a appetizer received 7 nuggets for 4.00. Hamburger was burnt. The pork sandwich was good and the pork tacos. Wasn't very pleased. read more

The food is 4 out of 5 the beer service was hit and miss. We called ahead to confirm they were open and selling beer last night they said yes. When we arrived from Indiana the bartender was gone on break. I later received one beer when I ordered my second beer the bartender was gone again. No more beer this was at 7 PM on Tuesday. Another stomach turner was the bartender keeps a dirty glass by the draft beer to catch foam with then dumps it into the customers fresh glass. Yuck. I stopped there two years ago same thing good food nobody working was old enough to sell beer. They always have beer and occasionally sell it. read more

This has always been a great place to eat. Recently was purchased by new owners and sadly while the food is still the same (very good) the service has taken a huge, precipitous decline. I have eaten here twice and waited over an hour for our food both times. surrounded by other very unhappy patrons, some who ended up giving up and leaving after waiting over an hour with small children with no food in sight. You have to refill your own drinks as the wait staff never seem to come back to refill them (then the machines are frequently out of ice, tea, etc.) Waited over a half hour just to get a beer because "we only have one person who can serve it to you". Both times they ran out of one of the items we ordered and didn't tell us until we had already waitied an hour. We won't be back. read more

Tried this place yesterday for lunch. It was very good. The service was excellent. When we are back in town we will have to make a stop at the Back Porch read more

Stopped here for lunch. I'm a huge BBQ fan, so try to support local BBQ joints when I'm in various towns. Can say I was very impressed with this one. Was there on a Wednesday and apparently it's Wing Wed. 50 cent wings. Got them dry rubbed w/ no sauce and they were very good. Tried all of their sauces and was impressed. The apple butter sauce was fantastic and I'm not much of a fan of real sweet BBQ sauces. I really liked the Firehouse sauce, HOT and tasty!! Will eat here again next time I'm through Robinson. read more

easily some of the best ribs that I have ever had at a restaurant. love the atmosphere! definitely unexpected in the small town of Robinson. read more

BackPorch Smokehouse - a budweiser king of beers - Barbeque Near Me - Robinson, Illinois

I've given this place a shot not just once or twice, but three times and was disappointed all three times. The food is overpriced and not all that great. The portion sizes are decent but not big enough to feed a hungry family. The patio is nice if you wanna sit outside and drink some beers, but when the weather is too hot, it kinda ruins it. The service was incredibly inefficient and made a mess of our order and the bills. I'd give this place two stars tops. read more

The food is pretty good! Sometimes I think it is a little pricey for what you are getting.

This was a true disappointment!!! Cold Pulled pork and dried out Brisket, and baked beans was like showboat out of the can. Oh and muddy tea. The beer and onion rings was good. read more

Overpriced, self service, average food, small portions, overpriced, did I say overpriced! order at counter, a waitress brings your food and bill same trip, only time we saw here, self service soft drinks, ordered two sandwiches, kids meal, pop, shared a fries. $40. read more

My wife and I went there expecting to eat a delicous prime rib meal. We were sorely disappointed. Our appetizer of breaded mushrooms were still frozen in the center and our 8 oz.& 12 Oz. prime ribs were cold. We ordered them medium and they were well done. The original cost of the meal was $47.33. The manager did take off the mushrooms and gave us the employees discount.the bill totaled $35.66 for a meal I could not even eat. We won,t be back. Anyone want a $10 gift card from there? read more

We used to go here a few years ago, and it wasn't too bad. Then they changed the menu and service. We've been there twice since they did this, and will not be back. We went with a group of 12, on Thursday evening. They were in chaos the entire time. We waited about 20 minutes for our order to be taken. Then another 30 or so to get our food. Then some orders were wrong, some not complete, etc. Now, to the food. 4 people got hamburgers, guess they forgot to order anything on them, cause they came just plain dry hamburgers. Then they didn't get their frys, had to wait on them to be cooked. 3 got the pulled pork, which was good, but some of the sides were not very tasty. And all said a roll, cornbread or texas toast was needed. One person got the loaded nachos, and they were very good. I got the special of the night, prime rib manhattan--sounds good right--I could barely eat it. First the gravy was way to salty, and it just over powered the entire thing so that I couldn't even taste the meat or potatoes. I should have sent it back, but I was very hungry, and didn't want to wait another 30 minutes. I was still hungry when I left as I couldn't eat much of it. Our total bill came to $152 which comes out to about 13.50 per person, and 4 got cheeseburgers, and 1 child a hotdog. The only good thing, he did take 25% off our bill because of the lousy service. read more