BBQ is trending in the UK at the moment. And I'm not talking the sort where you burn meat (and still manage to undercook it on the inside) in your back garden, I'm talking 12 hour... slow roasted... pulled pork... Y'know - the kind where you have buzzwords trending on twitter and drooltastic photos appearing on here. It's THAT sort of BBQ that you can get at Grillstock. I was recommended Grillstock by our local BBQ expert, Ahmed Kage (if you haven't come across Rib Nights and you're a fan of meat, you HAVE to check it out). He had bigged up the restaurant as one of the best places to get BBQ in the UK - so we knew we had to make a date to go and see for ourselves. It was just lucky that we ended up passing through Brizzle on our way to Cornwall for our Honeymoon! We had read on the website that you can't book - but it was open from 11:30am in the week. We rocked up and arrived almost bang on opening time to grab some early lunch on our travels. We were greeted warmly and seated straight away. As it was early on a Monday, we didn't have any problems getting a seat... But I imagine on a Thursday/Friday/Saturday evening - it would be wise to get there near opening to avoid a lengthy wait for a table. After a quick look at the menu we quickly decided to go for the sharing platter. For £30 it had nearly every meat on the menu on it and looked like the right choice to try everything. I can confirm it certainly WAS the right choice! With everything from a full rack of ribs to chicken wings and pulled pork and beans, it was huge! You could sensibly feed three with the amount of meat, 'slaw and fries on offer, but we did manage most of it (with only half of ribs taken away in their awesome packaging for later devouring). All of the meat was totally fantastic. Tender, deliciously seasoned and cooked to perfection - it was some of the best BBQ I've ever had. Our meal (with a couple of fizzy drinks) came to under £40 with some food to takeaway. We didn't eat for nearly 24 hours afterwards either. If perfectly cooked meat at a reasonable price floats your boat - I recommend a trip to Grillstock! read more

Grillstock Smokehouse - Menu - Smokehouse Near Me - Bristol, BST

See all

I had been wanting to go to Grillstock since the day it opened, it is me to a t; meat, music and mayhem! I finally managed to get in there a few weeks back and was greeted by 4 people standing up and leaving, which meant we could sit straight down. The waitress gave us the basic but mouth watering menus and I decided on the Smokestack Burger. I really wanted to try the Grand Champion challenge, but I knew I wasn't man enough. The restaurant is made up of one table in the middle and a bar at the end, with open kitchen behind. Drinks wise they serve Orchard Pig cider, obviously, as it's the same guy owns Orchard Pig and Grillstock (what a legend) and a few other soft drinks. The food comes out on metal trays with nice branded paper underneath. The burger was delicious. Not the best in Bristol, but a very decent burger all the same. Our friends had the hot dogs and the brisket; the sauce around their mouths and instant silence said it all! All in all a decent place, Grillstock. There is A LOT of competition in Bristol for BBQ, Grill, Pulled Pork style dining - but these guys are the originators! read more

Grillstock Smokehouse - Smokehouse Near Me - Bristol, BST

A trip to Grillstock was in order after so many recommendations when we went to Rib Nights in Birmingham a while ago. When we would be passing Bristol (ish) on our way to Cornwall it was the perfect time. You can't book and from what I'd heard it can get quite busy around lunch so we aimed to get there when I opened at 11:30. It didn't take us long to decide on our food. The sharing platter for two is £30 but comes laden with half a chicken, a rack of ribs, pulled pork, brisket, fries, slaw, pickles and bbq beans on a school canteen sized tray. The pork and brisket just fell apart into tender morsels of deliciousness, the chicken was as juicy as any I'd ever had and whilst the ribs weren't up there in my favorite ever they were pretty damn good. The service was swift (although we were the first people to order so you'd hope it would be) and the staff were friendly. They've definitely got the right decor and vibe going here for top quality, downright filthy, sauce covered BBQ. read more

Grillstock Smokehouse - Sharing platter for two - Smokehouse Near Me - Bristol, BST

I had heard of this place and thought id give it a go with some mates. The only way i can describe it is Man VS food style. I had the Biggest burger on the menu and it was a beast (way too big to eat as a burger) Managed to eat it all pretty swiftly cos i'm a fatty, (even finished a half rack of ribs another mate couldnt handle) but i really enjoyed it. service was quick and staff were always very eager to help, the menu is small enough to not get too indecisive.few negatives i can add are its quite a small place so busy times it might be hard to get seated and the fries are really waaaay to salty. I will be back for a bigger meaner challenge though. read more

Decided to see what the hype was about. The order taking service was good but meats were horrible. We ordered takeaway of beef brisket platter, half a chicken platter, burnt ends and some bean side with pulled pork, cornbread. The fries and slaw were good, beans side decent, cornbread dry n burnt, no point in burnt ends as literally burnt chunks not crispy and cannot chew and swallow. The worse was the brisket. It was so dry that it was almost like jerky only crumbles apart. The chicken had an amazing seasoning but the meat was mushy. I'm sure they would prefer to call it "tender", but my experience tells me that particular chicken was unfresh before cooking. Or it was frozen, defrosted and refrozen... You couldn't identify the grains on the chicken breast, again the meat just crumbled. Perhaps it was quality control and consistency as for my partner, his last experience eating the chicken before this time was really good. It seems to be hit or miss. To be fair, go for the pulled pork sandwich. I've tried their stand at st Nick's market twice. Their pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw while not juicy was still good and not smothered in BBQ sauce. Their ribs were chewy and doesn't fall off the bone, you had to try to scrape the meat off of it and some still stuck on. For a place that specializes in ribs, the ribs was a disappointment unless my standards for Bristol is too high coming from the US. Their burgers at the restaurant looked decent but I don't want to risk wasting my money again. read more

Such a huge fan of Grillstock. Their pulled pork is amazing & their slaw is just delicious. Prices are reasonable and they even do takeaway. Would recommend to anyone who loves meat. read more

I'm a real fan of Grillstock at the moment, it ticks a lot of boxes. I have never actually eaten in before because it's not really the kind of place to take a toddler but the fact that they do takeaway is a real win. I usually have the smokehouse burger with fries & slaw. The pulled pork is melt in the mouth amazing & the slaw is delicious. The burger itself isn't the best I have ever had but everything else makes up for it and at a very reasonable £8 you can't go wrong. Would highly recommend to any meat lovers out there. read more

I want to love this place more than anything in the world but had a few issues sadly so its not perfect. They have a stall in St nicks market which was OUTSTANDING. First time we went in the food was not perfect but liked things overall. The place looks great and feels great, shared table space is cozy but fun. Although the family that sat around us were far from the best company last time as i thought they, us and a few others were going to end up in a fight. Not the restaurants fault, unruly rude children. Menu selection is good, a number of items a little pricy for what they are perhaps, i love a good southern Bar B Q and they have Root beer so that's a winner! The pulled pork is delightful, fries are great, burnt ends can be hit or miss but when good they are really good. Had a burger and was actually wondering how to go about getting it in my mouth its so big!! That's also a winner from me. Corn bread was like a stodgy brick, nothing like the real stuff in the USA so i'd save your money on that one! Meat is what they do best and they do it well. Great sauces chilli or BarBQ. If you want posh dining this is not for you, its finger food served on a tray basically, consistency seems to be an issue but doesn't stop me wanting to eat here all the time, sadly my wallet hinders this dream. It does get really busy so expect a queue at busy times, i wouldn't suggest taking kids there, especially after our last experience, you are sharing close space with others in a small restaurant. Food is well worth the wait, all i say is the restaurant needs work as the stall in St Nicks is SPOT ON! But don't let it put you off the sit down version i am sure it will all come together eventually. read more

We visited Grillstock on a Saturday evening. As they don't take bookings, we expected a wait but in the end it was only around half an hour - considering this is their busiest day and the restaurant only seats around 30 (at a guess) people I think this is pretty good! We were able to have a drink at the bar while waiting as well so we weren't too bothered! The food was great - I had half a rack of ribs, my sister had a burger. Both were delicious and cooked to perfection. My only regret is not getting the full rack of ribs! We also got a mac and cheese to share, which wasn't bad but didn't blow me away by any means. However drizzling it with their homemade BBQ sauce was a game changer..SO GOOD. I think they sell the sauce but I couldn't find any in stock online. I'll definitely be trying to get my hands on some in future though. Grillstock knows it's BBQ and does it really well. I'd definitely recommend it for a casual meal out with friends - the one thing I would say is that the food is decently priced but drinks are expensive! read more

Favourite place to go and just 'beast' it out, you get to the end of the week, or even sometimes half way through and just go - i need smoky, american, Dodge Ram, shotgun, freedom tasting meat, and GrillStock delivers every time. It's not just naughty food, it's all fresh and you're no being served greasy rubbish, the chips are always cooked and seasoned to perfection and the fresh coleslaw is always a winner. The seats are brilliant to, whether your someone who likes to keep to themselves or socialise with others the big bench is fantastic way of dning. 10/10 would always reccomended to anyone, except from maybe my gran, who knows! Keep up the good work. read more

SO MUCH FOOD. My stomach was definitely not happy after dinner and I probably smelled like meat for 3 days. But was it worth it? probably. Came here with a really large group and took almost half of the only long communal table inside. A few guys shared the massive plates of all meats while others got their own plates. I had pork and ribs, and I suppose from my American taste buds, they were definitely not bad at all! The meat was tender enough so you didnt have to fight to get it off the bone, authentic tasting bbq sauces, and I adore their fries! I want to try the wings & chicken in the future. This is the only BBQ place Ive been to in Bristol, so I cannot compare it to others. Maybe my opinion will change when I taste something better. read more

Last time I came here this place had delicious food, more meat than you can shake a steak knife at and good music in the background. It was my kind of resturaunt. Or it would be, if I didn't have to bump elbows with strangers sat around 1 big table while being hurried to finish my meal by a line of about 7 people waiting for a seat that were eyeing how much I have left on my plate... I only came here once and that experience has taught me 2 things. 1: I LOVE steakhouses and I'm glad to see the trend is catching on, the food is amazing. 2: Come here in a group, with a 'I don't give a crap how long I take to eat' attitude. You should have a good time. This place was let down by the size and poor organisation of customers. If you tell too many people to just 'Wait and there will be a seat soon' you will end up with a crowd of people making your eating customers feel uncomfortable. Also, it's not cheap. The food is worth the money but it IS quite expensive. They'll rip you off on drinks, like most places. read more

I shared a tray with a friend here nd probably ate more than i've eaten in my life. The macaroni cheese side and hot dog are both ama\ing and the best things. Ribs were fine but too many and difficult to eat. Chicken was perfect. Favourite thing was the alcoholic iced tea! Really cool surroundings and vibe though. read more

This is a cool place with an informal vibe, a big sharing table and great root beer (Dominion). The seats are a bit low. I asked for a hot dog in a bun, no extras. It came with some strange stuff on top because they weren't listening, then they just scraped it off and gave it back. Nice hot dog, rubbish service. Give it a try - the root beer is excellent! read more

It's surprising to find a good American smokehouse in Bristol. It's a small joint where you're seated on one long communal table. You can tell the owners are passionate about their food and it shows in the flavour. I have to say, my favourite is the chicken and then the burnt bits. Packed with delicious flavour. Both times I've been to Grillstock they've run out of the pork ribs which I find strange. How do you run out of pork ribs :) read more

I enjoyed this restaurant. Good food, reasonably priced. Went with my American brother-in-law. He also liked it, and said it compared favourably to back home in the states. The cornbread wasn't like cornbread in the US, but he loved the meats, especially the ribs. read more

Sadly we won't be having ribs again, have been a few times and they always seem overcooked and not much meat... complained last time and was told 'no one else is complaining'... what an idiotic reply!! Went to TGI Fridays and their ribs were fantastic in comparison. The pulled pork had big lumps of not pulled pork... maybe try the burgers if you go there. Apart from the idiot I spoke to staff are very friendly. read more

Loads of food for the price. Second best southern BBQ spot in Bristol. Place is small (but nothing they can do about that). Flavoursome food and quick turn around from order to food being ready read more

Disappointingly bad service and very dry and tasteless food with expensive canned beer that was not even chilled. Shame, as I'd heard good things bout them.. Avoid in my opinion. read more