As a rule, any restaurant that you walk into which has kitchen roll on the tables as standard, is…read morelikely to show you a good time. Smokies has two venues, one in Darwen and one in Chorley. As Chorley is nearer to me, we decided to try this one. I like that when you walk in, it already has a warm atmosphere, created by varying lighting, high ceilings, and lots of wood in the decor and furniture. In fact later in the evening, one of the owners would tell me that she loves upcycling, and the wood from the bar came from a Scottish distillery, and the tables throughout were made from old casks from the same distillery, simply sanded and oiled, and that what I thought was a table number on our table was in fact one of the original barrel numbers! I love a bit of provenance! I was surprised to find that the restaurant goes further back into another room, and even has another floor with even more seating for diners! As we entered we were welcomed warmly by who I assume is one of the owners (mentioned above). She checked for our booking and pointed us to our table. Another member of staff brought our menus and explained about the specials menu, and specials on the chalkboards throughout the restaurant. The menu is a vegan's nightmare and a carnivore's wet dream! Delicious meaty starters and mains, a section dedicated to meat from the smoker, and even a couple of sharing platters all described in a way to make your mouth water before you get chance to order. This is a proper southern States style bbq joint, their mantra is "real food, real smoke, real slow", and despite that very much being accurate given their quality offerings, the prices are incredibly decent. We decided on the "couples platter" which was beef brisket, pulled pork, half a rack of ribs, chicken wings, home-made sausage, fries, coleslaw and beans... and it was just £20! In fact including the starter and drinks, the whole bill came to less than £35! CRAZY! So before our platter main, we ordered some nachos as a starter. You know what nachos as a starter tends to look like if you go somewhere like Chiquito etc... about 6 doritos with a blob of melted coagulation-dried cheese and some jalapenos on top. We... weren't expecting what we got from Smokies! We got a huge tray full of nachos, covered in nacho cheese sauce, freshly made guacamole, pineapple salsa, (you also get jalapenos, but we asked for them without) with side pots of guacamole and sour cream. It made me swear when it arrived. They were miles beyond the usual doritos-nachos starter you usually get. They were fresh, with perfect crunch, the salsa was fruity and fresh, the cheese was excellent, and it was incredibly moreish. We found ourselves even mopping up the tiny bits at the end with our fingers... thank god for that kitchen roll and wet wipes! Our main platter arrives just after a side portion of fries each. I ordered plain with pitmaster's salt, and my partner ordered cheeseburger fries from the specials menu, which was the same fries but with bits of burger meat, cheese, and chipotle relish! They came with really lovely fresh coleslaw, and what he says as some of the best beans he's ever had... beans with brisket mixed in! HEAVEN! The fries themselves were hot, crisp, and perfectly seasoned. Absolutely perfect. Then just as they arrived, we were brought out our platter! The owner I mentioned earlier then came over to us and explained to us fully about our platter, what meats were what, how the meats were prepared, down to information about the pink smoke ring on the brisket. It's really nice to see that amount of passion and enthusiasm go into food! This platter was excellent. The sausage was flavourful with a spice which didn't get you at first, but which snuck up behind you and slapped you in the fact afterwards! The chicken wings were so tender that you could suck the meat off the bones. The pulled pork was absolutely perfect, and the brisket was so tender that I swear it literally melted in my mouth. This is the best brisket I've had! Even the pickled cucumber provided was pickled by them in brine using the flavours from the smoker, and was described as a 'palate cleanser' as it was fresh and tangy. Really good! I could imagine it on a burger quite easily! There were also their own blend of sauces on each table comprising of a sweet BBQ sauce, American style mustard, and Louisiana style hot sauce. I imagine they were lovely, but as the meat itself was so amazing as it was provided, I really didn't get chance to try them as they weren't needed! Maybe next time! At the point I was about to try the ribs when the chef/pit-master came into the dining area, and was even introduced to us. When we talked to him about the quality of our meal, his enthusiasm and passion for the real deal of southern BBQ was evident, from how he does it and his smokers, to the difference between competition cooking and regular cooking. It was genuinely fascinating to hear, and as I said, a real

Well it is nice to travel and still get a taste of that good American BBQ in places like this. The…read morestaff amazing the food world awarding. I have been to this place twice and have had no complaints yet! Although, I wish they would have some paper towels but I know they can be wasteful and they do give a wet sanitized hankies to you to clean up that BBQ of your fingers but no need to have that go to waste just use tour lips! So much flavor on their secret sauce yum and if that is not enough, you have 5 BBQ added sauces to choose from at your table. Baby back ribs just can't get enough and the Dirty Chicken burger there are no words for how soft and tender the meat is as you bite down on all the flavors of the bbq, the slaw and the candy bacon. Oh did I say bacon YES bless yourself with some of the pig on your next meal here. Great place, food and people. Right across the street from the city center.

Overall, just okay. Being from the states, maybe I'm a little extra choosy with my BBQ…read more I ordered the half rack of ribs with 2 XXL wings - wings were over cooked, so one part of the XXL wing was inedible. Barely any sauce. The ribs were decent - definitely not fall off the bone type, but okay tasting. I asked for sweet potato fries, even with an upgrade charge, but alas, the service wasn't the best. So I got the regular fries - which were probably my favorite part of the meal. They were the thinner kind so not the typical "chips" - which I like! The BBQ sauces - 5 choices - I didn't care for any of them. The tangy coleslaw also wasn't a hit with me. $20 or so for the ribs/wings meal & a large Pepsi max.

Proper little gem of a restaurant, the food is delicious, I'm not sure what traditional Turkish…read morefood is meant to be like but if you like a lot of flavours, and a lot of meat then this is the place. You get a lot for your money here, service is great as well, I would highly recommend

Lovely place to hang out with friends and family! And their bbq food are the one of the best in…read moretown. A bit overcooked for my Kansas steak but the rasperry milkshake was a dream! Love to come back soon!

****UPDATED**** so the manager decided to respond to my…read morereview on TripAdvisor with false statements and a lecture, unbelievable. This restaurant simply denies any responsibility and accuses the customers. Funny how they 'pride' themselves on everything when most negative reviews allude to the fact it has went down hill and the customer service is problematic. Think twice before you visit everyone. 1) the manager should have removed the waiter from the situation, after he raised his uneasiness to her regarding my partner's attitude (which he just asked to be seated somewhere else and clarification on "unholy bbq sauce"). 2)she shouldn't have stirred the pot and criticised my partner, right after "the gesture of goodwill". It was unnecessary and unprofessional, also irritated both parties and added fuel to the fire. I don't know what she wanted to achieve from doing so, except deliberately insulted my partner which is clearly unacceptable in the hospitality industry. Also, when asked how or what was said to be rude, no clarification was given. 3) Last but not least, instead of spending so much time on making up false statements and refuting the points that I have made, you should own up to your mistake and spend the time on training your staff. It was also worth noting that the accompanying table next to us was subject to the same rude slap dash waiting by the same person, which was expressed directly to us. Most negative reviews also reflected similar issues of service but this restaurant never listens and takes criticisms well. --------- Me and my partner had been a loyal customer of Red's and it had always been a pleasant experience to dine in there. However, the restaurant has went downhills and the experience we had today really put us off. We dined in today at 8pm and the restaurant wasn't busy at all. We ordered regular 7up, Pepsi, Dirty chicken burger and Baby backs and buffalo wings. Food was ok but the customer service was dreadful. Had to ask for water several times as we had been waiting for 20 mins. Bill came and it was overcharged, said we ordered large coke and 7up. We immediately sought clarification from the waiter that served our table. He said we had it already so we had to pay which is ridiculous as we weren't even asked if we wanted regular or large. We got another waitress for help and explained the situation, she amended the bill and told us the waiter wasn't happy to service since we came in. We weren't being unreasonable at all and asked for the bill to be corrected and we did pay the bill. The waiter overheard the conversation, got really aggressive and confrontational and eventually kicked us out. If this is you believe customers should be treated with gangster-like behaviours, best of luck with your business. I wish I had read the reviews before I took my partner there as he traveled all the way from London to Liverpool and it was a very stressful and frustrating experience for both of us. We certainly will not be returning, there are plenty of nice restaurants in Liverpool that provides quality service and nicer food.

Good service and enjoyed the food, great for kids especially when Capitan Jack came round dressed…read moreup.

First thing to note is that this is not a place to go on a first date. There simply is no way to…read moregracefully eat their burgers or wings without slathering face, fingers and possibly eyebrows in the vast amounts of sauce dripping from everything they make. It's probably why you're given a roll of kitchen of roll instead of napkins when you sit down. When we first arrived it was queued out the door, ok it's a small entrance way but that still meant there was at least a dozen people ahead of us. Thankfully we were quickly ushered inside and while we still had a 15 minute wait for a table for 4, and we could spend that time at the bar. The bar has a decent selection of the usual favourites. It's a bit short on good beer/ale but does have Brooklyn larger on draught. They also have their very own larger, which to be honest was unimpressive. It tasted very weak with no strong flavours and a distinct lack of hops. I would describe it like sex in a canoe, f**king close to water. If you're a Bud or Coors lite drinker you'll likely enjoy it. But you don't come here for the booze. The burger menu was impressive, the smallest they do is a double and every burger comes with a long list of toppings. Some crowd pleasures feature, candied bacon, pepper jack cheese, BBQ onions, but there are also some weird and wonderful additions such as crunchy pretzels, frazzles (yes the crisps!) and even beerios, which are some sort of beer infused cheerios, they only appear on their breakfast burger. I had the river phoenix, a double cheese burger with bacon, BBQ onions, chipotle sauce, baconaise and the aforementioned frazzles. The burger was delicious, the meat was good quality and well cooked, although it did get lost under the vast amount of different toppings. As sides we had their chilli cheese fries and suicide wings. The fries were excellent, a mixture of regular and sweet potato fries. They were cut to just the right thickness and had a nice crunch while still being fluffy on the inside. There wasn't quite as much chilli as I'd have liked but other than that the fries were perfect. However I was disappointed in the suicide wings. I'm a big hot sauce fan and they were pretty mild. I would have liked for them to have been a lot hotter. I was expecting ghost pepper heat and only got Jalapeño. It's not full waiter service as you do have to order and pay at the bar. But the staff were pleasant and the queues were short so I didn't mind. Our four burgers (3 doubles and a triple), two portions of fries and a portion of wings came to a very reasonable £40.

In London we've got burger places on nearly every street - boring old limp McDonalds burgers just…read moredon't cut it anymore so when I come out the capital it's hard to find somewhere that matches up. That's until I came across Almost Famous in Liverpool. The Triple Treat is a 3 cheeseburger beast topped with bacon AND pulled pork! They've got wings coated in fiery 'suicide' sauce and chips laden with cheese and chilli. Portions are huge so come hungry, and leave very satisfied! No table service - this a DIY venue but worth the trip!

Absolutely best hog roast and burgers I've ever tasted…read more Service was brilliant and all food fresh right In front of you. Burgers were cooked to how my guests wanted them as they were steak- I had my medium - so tasty! We also hired the hog roast - all I can say is that you made our party even better. They are already booked for our next Thank you.

From the owner: Here at Pinkys we supply and deliver succulent hog roasts, gourmet burgers and BBQ's straight to…read moreyour event at fantastic prices.

Thoroughly pretentious and in-style bar staff with extra attention paid to low slung trousers and…read morefacial hair. Check. Neil Young played ironically amid the new songs of the indie scene. Check. Groups of cool slightly better off than your average students and socialites. Check. Check. Well, if this list is ringing true you've found yourself in Peacock. The hang-out for all of the above. You might be thinking Hell yes! This sounds like my kind of place, hot bar guys, great music and a good mix of clientele and so after that slightly scathing intro it's probably best to counter-balance it. Although not really my scene they do make a damn good cocktail and I would recommend the Peacock's Punch which, although £5.50 is exceedingly refreshing, especially if you're sat in the outside seating area on a sunny afternoon. It does get absolutely rammed here of an evening and they have DJs and a small dance floor upstairs where you can get your groove on and if you're in the area on a Friday and there is an enticing chargrilled scent weaving its way around the streets you can bet its coming from the immensely popular free BBQ, hosted every Friday from 6-8pm. Just make sure you get there early and I'd suggest bringing a little extra cash or you might find yourself out of pocket a little more swiftly than usual.

It is a little galling when you hand over a tenner to a barman for two bottles of beer and receive…read moreless than a pound in change. As you might have gathered from my yelping compadres The Peacock is not a particularly cheap place to have a drink. It is a particularly nice place though, especially as has been pointed out on summer's evenings when you can sink your teeth into some free steak, burger and hog from the barbecue laid on. You could be in a street bar in Barcelona were it not for the tramps drinking Special Brew on the stone seating nearby. For me, it's the music here that particularly impresses; a mix of rock and roll classics (from Little Richard to Led Zeppelin) and indie and Alt. folk stuff (from Delphic to Ryan Adams) - a perfect flipside to all the northern soul and funk played elsewhere on Seel Street.

This was our first outing since completing the quarantine after arriving in the UK. Coming from…read moreAmerica, I can say that the food was pretty authentic, the decor too and the music (country) made me miss home. Enjoyed the food and the service very much and we will definitely be back for happy hour and appetizers.

From the owner: Here at Hickory’s Smokehouse, we’re a family-friendly restaurant & bar born from a road trip across…read moreAmerica’s Southern States. We learnt all things smokin’ from the best pitmasters across the region and created a menu bursting with smokehouse classics and barbecue favourites. From our team of passionate pitmasters and brilliant bartenders to our sensational servers - we’re all about rolling out that warm Southern hospitality! We’ve a neighbourhood bar for soda sippin’, cocktail concoctions and more, as well as a secluded garden, and heated veranda. Our tailored kids menu, cinema room and fro-co station are on hand to keep little ones entertained too! We’re open & smokin' 7 days a week servin' brunch, lunch, dinner & drinks.

We stopped in for a late dinner after a very long two travel days coming to Chester from New…read moreOrleans, Louisiana. I'm very well used to being disappointed by lack of flavor in "Louisiana" or "American Southern" food outside of the actual American South. My entire family and I were extremely pleasantly surprised at just how good and genuinely authentic this food was. I got the "louisiana hot" chicken burger, which actually was spicy, and well seasoned, and delicious. The regular fried chicken basket was some of the best seasoned chicken my brother has had in a while. Veggie burger, cobb salad, and brisket sandwhich all got positive reviews. The only thing my brother noted is the "georgia sweet tea" is nowhere near as sweet as we make it back home! But that's totally negligible, because the delicious meal and welcoming environment was wonderful. Highly recommend.

The food was amazing! As an American these were spot on!!! The brisket was melt in your mouth…read moretenderness!!! The burgers were lovely and the chips were hot and crispy with fluffy interior! The service was wonderful and lovely our server was on top of things and took great care of us. I definitely would go again! Great for a date or a nice family dinner. Or Saturday night!