BBQ and meats. You think it'd be easy to whip up. Anyone with access to YouTube can look up "how to cook sirloin" or "smoke brisket". So when corporate restaurant who you would think has a set recipe for their restaurants, you'd think they would have it down to a science. Sadly, that is not the case. Perhaps it was a holiday weekend and they were short staffed. Perhaps they were suffering from over sat sections. Maybe it was a lack of experience in the cooks who didn't follow the set recipes. But that would be too forgiving since we had a 25-minute wait with tables that were not cleaned or clear of any patrons which I found to be strange. But I was with friends and didn't really care since I'd rather engage with the people I was with. What set me off and give this place this type of review was how poorly they executed the food. First off, my Texas Brisket plate. $16.99 plus tax and tip. The brisket, tender and juicy. That's fine. But brisket should also ooze with flavor and this was the blandest brisket I've ever had. Their chipotle BBQ sauce couldn't save it. The sauce itself only added some moisture but nothing else since it was just a spicy sauce with no flavor at all either. The only highlight to my dish was the mashed potatoes and the salad which was another added $1.09 which didn't thrill me one bit either. Dropped about $21 on a lackluster dining item and I found that disconcerting. Second, the food my friends had. Two of them had the same entree. The 6oz sirloin plate. Do they have different cooks on the same section or is it one person because you would think with the same person on that section, there would be consistency and there wasn't. One friend had a think piece of sirloin that wasn't cooked to her liking since she ordered med. rare and came with a medium cooked sirloin. And made me ask, "Did they pound the meat flat with something because that looks... odd!?" My other friend ordered the same thing and his came with a thicker slice cooked med. rare but he ordered his meat medium. The lack of consistency on one dish is something that a restaurant should be able to do for the most part but this experience made that questionable at best. And both friends said that there was no flavor to the dish other than an extreme smoky flavor that wasn't that great to experience while eating. They both didn't finish their steaks which to me is a telling sign that it's just not worth paying for the dish. They paid because they are good people like that! Granted, being that it was 4th of July, there might have been something of a short staffing. Perhaps there were reservations and such but to see the place so empty should've afforded a quicker service. As a former server, it should take 8-12 minutes for the order to be placed, cooked, expedited, ran, and placed on the table if the kitchen is staffed and based on what our server said, they were short staffed. We waited about 20-30 minutes and granted we enjoy conversation, it was still a noticeably longer wait time than normal. And again, while it's not the server's fault for a sitdown place like this, our server didn't provide the best service. She would pass our table frequently but didn't ensure our drinks were topped off. A sweet tea isn't something you would forget after you made two visits and confirmed the need to refill a sweet tea and that happened. Needless to say Smokey Bones BBQ isn't going to be a restaurant of choice for me. read more

Sounds like Tamara L., whoever she is, needs an attitude adjustment. This is a fun place, the servers take really good care of their guests and Meagan is the best manager there! I come in weekly to see her, Brodie and Nikki!!! Those three are the best there!! Pleaseeee go see them, I hear on Thursdays they do industry night and it really changes the vibe of the place!! Meagan is doing great things with the place!! Go see her, actually RUN to her!! read more

Excellent service and food. My husband got the ribs and I got the mushroom burger. Both were great. Our server, Manny did a terrific job making sure we had all we needed. read more

Came one late Friday night to have a drink and try some wings. Ordered the Pome-Rita drink, not bad. Wings were tasty but lacked sauce. It almost seemed like they didn't have much sauce back there and were trying to stretch it. Ordered 8 wings with the mustard BBQ sauce and all of wings had parts where they werent coated at all with the sauce thus making them The wings had good flavor even without the sauce but c'mon man, if someone orders a sauce then make sure all the wings are thoroughly coated with it. What I actually got to taste of the mustard bbq sauce was hella good. This place has potential but what makes a place great is consistency and also never dropping to a level that is unacceptable even on the "off" nights. I hope this place does well but they need work. The bartender was very attentive and nice. She elevated the experience. I plan on giving this place another shot, maybe next time I'll try the ribs...and them wings with enough sauce. read more

Smokey Bones - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

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Got the smoked wings - while they were good size and well cooked, the glaze and dry rub combo was just a bit too sweet and too salty for my taste. Also, the fact that the ranch and blue cheese dressings tasted like they came from a bottle made me a little sad - a little effort to make these kinds of dressings in-house goes a long way and tastes so much better! A bit pricey. Service received was good for a mid Saturday afternoon, however. read more

It's a must when I'm at the Mall. Wings and a bag of fresh doughnuts. I always sit in the bar area and the food and service is great. read more

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I'm giving this restaurant 2 stars because the food was really good, however the service was awful . You can have great food, but service and the way people are treated is what keeps them coming back. I tried ordering from the app and kept getting an error message about a promised wait time. So I tried to call in my to-go order. I had to call 2 times before someone picked up the phone. When they did the woman seemed bothered that I was calling and told me to hold on as she had 2 other people in front of me. I held as I drove up there, BTW, she just put the phone down so I could hear everything going on. I pulled up to the restaurant 12 min later, still on hold. Waited in the line to get in, they are social distancing (which is a good thing). When it was my turn, I told her I needed to place a ToGo order and she told me I needed to go to the Side door. She wouldn't let me walk thru the inside of the restaurant, I had to go outside. Please put a LARGE sign on that side door noting "takeout", would've saved me some time. I'm still on the phone BTW and realize this is the same girl that had picked up the phone in the first place. I enter thru the side door and now know this girl could've easily come back to the phone to take my order as there are no more customers in line. Instead she is now having a conversation with another coworker that I can overhear. I'm waiting now at the takeout door and on hold for over 20 minutes before she finally comes over to take my order. Just horrible way to treat a customer, please do better! I will say the food was really good and even hot when we got home. The ribs and pulled pork were some of the best flavor around! The baked beans we didn't care for, they were way too sweet and too much sauce. read more

We went to dinner around 8:00 PM and service was a bit slow, but good. We got our food quickly and the staff was very nice. I really enjoyed the Rum Punch and smoked wings. I also had some pulled pork and that was also delicious. read more

How is this place still open????? Serious question The food is absolutely horrible! Food quality is horrible, it's worse than the food court in the mall. I do not see how this is a sit down restaurant. read more

We will be eating here again. The food was just right and the service was even better. We popped in for a late dinner and drinks. The wait staff came over right away. The food and drinks came minutes after we ordered them. I tried the pull pork and the loaded mash potatoes. My friend ordered the 1/3 rack of ribs which were seasoned to perfection. The fried pickles as an appetizer are a must try. The waitress was courteous enough to let us finish our evening before closing us out. I believe we were the last ones to leave after our game went off. read more

Visited: 09/02/2017 We came on a whim while at the Mall of GA for dinner. We had no issues getting seated and our server was really nice and friendly. Ordered: Bowl of Brunswick Stew - Alright, not the best, but it's quite good. MAGNacho - For the server to simply say yea, this is a shared appetizer is an understatement! This is a meal for at least 3-4 or more people. This is serious, serious, serious nachos! Like loads and loads. As we ate it, we felt like we couldn't even eat anymore nachos in the future. Actually, since September I still haven't eaten nachos. Baby Back Ribs 1/3 Rack - It was hard to eat, and just dunked in sauce to cover up the burnt ribs. Overall, if you want to grab drinks and share nachos with a group of people, this is the spot. The bar area is extensive and plenty of TVs to watch a game. It's more of a nachos and drinks place is all I can really say. I even prefer Buffalo Wild Wings if you want to do that. Eat the MAGNacho with caution and bring friends to help drag you out once you've collapsed from consuming it all. Hey, I did warn you :) read more

Smokey Bones - Interior of establishment - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

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This is an amazing place to go with friends before going to the movies . They offer a vegan option (which I loved btw ) The only reason I didn't add an extra star is because the amount of fries could've been maybe a little more lol read more

Me personally, rating them 1 Star is already giving them too much credit. To start off, me and my family just wanted a decent Mother's Day dinner together . Most of our food was cold. I had ordered a medium rare steak, I got a, not even cooked for five minute, steak. My mother ordered a salad, the chicken was frozen still pretty much. My younger brother ordered wings, they were pink! It's ridiculous. When they took the food back in, they took longer than when we waited to receive the plates. By that time we got our food back everyone else was already done eating and we couldn't enjoy the quality time "digging in" as we expected. I recommend taking your family and money elsewhere, where you could enjoy a decent meal since there are other options around tthis "restaurant" read more

Smokey Bones - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

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The lady sitting people . Maybe the manager was extremely rude to us. Threw her hands up and said "then we are on a wait ". She kept putting us off, and told me I had the attitude. We are in our 70's and 80's. We certainly didn't have the attitude. She doesn't need to me working with the public !!!! Waiter Adam was great !! read more

First time eating there and last! GROSS! I had a ceasar salad and the croutons were completely inedible, the grilled chicken on it was dry, tasteless, just weird. My daughter had a burger and fries. It was served warm at best, no avocados on it, the fries were blah. Honestly we could have had better at McDonald's. Our waiter was an idiot! He asked if we wanted a to go box. The croutons and some soggy bread was all that was left. I asked him if he was okay because who would need a to go box for half a piece of bread and croutons? Wow Mall of Georgia deserves way better! read more

We arrived for lunch to an almost deserted restaurant. My wife ordered the chicken salad and I ordered the Brunswick Stew and coleslaw. My Brunswick Stew contained very little meat and was not hot. The coleslaw was very dry. My wife's salad was acceptable but costly. $3.50 for a small glass of iced tea! Will not return. read more

So we tried this place back in the winter because we bought some gift certificates during the holidays and needed to use them. Service then was average (seemed understaffed), but then it was the holidays and figured that business was was probably stretched thin. Food though seemed better than expected. So we just went back today to use up the rest of the gift cards. I don't plan on returning. Only a few people in the place. Waitress seemed busy doing other things, but finally got around to take our order. We ordered the cornbread appetizer which she brought out on a skillet for us to share and left. I had to flag her down because we had no plates. Then once I got her she looked like I had 10 heads for even asking. so she brought out full size dinner plates that were dripping wet. I ordered sirloin steak for my meal that was supposed to be teriyaki glazed. When it came out, no teriyaki (dry meat), baked potato was cold (not even warm enough to melt the butter on the side) and the bbq baked beans were more sauce than beans. Just not good. I didn't complain because I just had enough having to ask for everything and figured this place just isn't worth it. In addition, the prices are just too high in general. These types of restaurants really need to get their act together because people are just not going to take it. subpar service, subpar food, high price. I might as well go to a fine(r) dining establishment and pay marginally more and get much better quality. business model just doesn't make sense. read more

The only reason it's a 2 stars is because of the food. 1 star for service and poor food scores. Had to ask the server multiple times to retrieve the drink orders. My wife wanted to leave and didn't even want the drinks by the time they got around to remembering. They also let many tap beers run out. The Server acted like it was a hassle when I didn't know what to order. Overall a bad experience. Like I said only reason for 2 stars was the food actually came out good. Cooks seem like they care but otherwise it seems the issues start with management. Watching who i assumes was the manager work I knew any discussion would fall on deaf ears so I never even attempted to voice the concerns. Will not be back, at least to the Buford location. read more

I wish I could give this place a lower rating than 1. Do yourself a favor and choose a different restaurant. You will thank me. We arrived at 8:30. The place was empty. We were a party of 35. We had 1 waiter for the entire party. 45 minutes after ordering our food, we were advised that they ran out of Brisket. 45 minutes after!!!! The food came out sporadically. Some people were finished eating while other where still waiting for their food. Some in our group never got their food. It was a complete disaster. The food was mediocre at best. It was as if it had been sitting for a while. The manager only came out once and never offered to lend our waiter a helping hand. This ordeal lasted 3 hours. What a disappointment! We were looking forward to great BBQ for our friend's Birthday. Instead it was a night we hope to forget. read more

Best burger and onion rings I ever had. If you like ginger try the Bourbon blues drink. Delicious! Went on Saturday around 3pm and wasn't too crowded. This will be my spot when I go to the Mall!! read more

The ribs were bland and under seasoned. The ribs were also very chewy. After paying $50 for two meals I expected a better meal. This was a huge disappointment and let down to my taste buds. Please stay away unless overpriced bland food is your thing. I also contacted the manager over the phone and she did not even attempt to try and make it right. read more

Smokey Bones - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

My husband and I were shopping at the mall and saw that the place had opened up, so we thought we would give it a try. I like to look at Yelp reviews or atleast the stars before going anywhere, and it had a 2 1/2 star review out of 5. Right then I should have known! But I thought, hey, they're new, maybe they're working their kinks out... The next thing, there was NO wait at all when we got there on a Saturday night at dinner time. Shoulda been another sign right? But we were hungry and ready to eat. The place looked fun and inviting on the inside, nice table areas, TVs, and menu looked so appetizing, it was hard to choose what we wanted. Our server was Amy, and she was just amazing! Great personality, checked on us often and apologized when it took 30 minutes to get our food. So the one star is for you, Amy! We ordered the sampler platter for two that Amy recommended, it came with 5 meats. Not sure if we just got the bad end of the food but it was horrible. The chicken was so rubbery and chewy tasting, the ribs were hard, like it had been sitting there for a while. So was the sausage... maybe that's why it took so long to get our food? I don't know. Their tea also was terrible, it was watered down and tasted like Splenda. I switched to a Sprite. Like I said, Amy was fantastic. I would go out of my way to see her at a different restaurant but not here. Oh yeah, my husband got sick following eating here. Maybe it must have been the steak because I didn't touch that, and I was fine. Soo, despite the great service and the pretty new place, I come to enjoy good BBQ and food, but unfortunately it is not here. I'm extremely disappointed and wanted to enjoy it so much. Shoulda listened to my fellow Yelpers in the first place! Save your $40 and go to one of the restaurants around the area! read more

Food was not seasoned and very greasy. There was even a certain stench in the restaurant. I did not send anything back because everything my table ordered was sub-par. I will not be back. read more

Smokey Bones - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

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The food here is delicious! I opted for a 2-meat patter (chicken and turkey) with 2 sides (Mac and cheese and sweet potato waffle fries). It also came with two pieces of garlic bread which were better than any Italian restaurant garlic bread I've ever had. The meats were tender, juicy, and full of flavor. I drizzled the chipotle bbq sauce on the meat to further enhance the flavor. The macaroni and cheese was average, but the sweet potato fries were amazing! They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with just the right amount of crunch. They were fresh and tasty, a great complement to any meal. read more

Smokey Bones - Chicken, turkey, Mac and cheese, and sweet potato fries - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

This place is a waste , no smoke flavor in the food. Dried meat and very bland sides. If it wasn't for the great service I would have got up and left after 2 bites. read more

We ordered online Easter evening and drove to pick it up. After getting home with our food ($71.00 worth), it was nothing but pure disgust. We purchased 1 full rack and 2/3 rack of baby back ribs. Out of those, there was 3 bones in them. The rest was nasty Cartledge and who knows what. And things they had total control over, fries. They were not edible either. They were so undercooked the inside was still hard. The previous weekend we had ordered ribs and a side of brisket because we wanted to give it a try. Needless to say, the brisket was not in our bags. We didn't call then just counted it a loss. However Easter, that's a different story. When I spoke with the manager Monday, he said "was that the rack of ribs and wings?" No! It was not. Him saying that tells me we were not the only ones who complained about their ribs. Needless to say, we didn't eat the ribs, or fries for that matter. We didn't even let our dogs have the meat, or lack there of. The only thing that was good, was the Mac and cheese. They are refunding our money, but we won't be eating there anymore. read more

Smokey Bones - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

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I would give ZERO if that was possible. To start, hostess was blah, not welcoming, no smile. Waiter got our order and never checked on us until food arrived (outside I needed more drink). The alcoholic drinks were alright. But the real problem----- we ordered the "Camp Fire" for 3. Food came out COLD!! Cold To touch! it was literally cold!!!! Not warm, cold! Had to go find waiter bc he didn't come back. We also asked is there suppose to be coles under the grate /food ? He was like Oh yeah they looks like they forgot that. We can warm it up. Ummmm no, I don't want heated up food. And hit coles missing, Hmmmmmm that's a major part of the $44 platter- not only to actually heat the food but also presentation of the "camp fire"? It's like fajitas with no sizzle. Then he asked if we wanted manager.., well, yes duh?! She seemed un- phased and most surprisingly, unapologetic and offered to "comp meal". I no longer wanted the food but boyfriend was willing to eat it bc he was so hungry. I wanted to leave , so she brought us the bill for half off. Ummmmmm no I don't want the cold food for half off I want to leave. Everyone there was terrible customer service. Food was cold, not grilled, I think microwaved actually bc even the peppers didn't have grill marks! WOULD NEVER GO AGAIN . See pic (no hot Coles, peppers had no grill marks, and it was cold!) read more

Smokey Bones - No hot- cold! And NO COLES in $44 "camp Fire platter" TERRIBLE - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

Friday night. We are sat in a section where server was on a 10 top. She was at the bar making their drinks because the bar was backed up. We had decided to leave then she showed up and took our drink order. My tea had trash floating in it... We ordered food. The onion ring app wasn't spectacular. I could make similar from frozen. I tried the sauces, no heat, all sweet, except for the Carolina, vinegar but still no heat. 17 minutes into the ticket, the kitchen 86'ed one of our entrees. We opted to cut out loses and go to Marlow's. The bill didn't comp the dirty drink, and a manager never checked on us. We tried it so you won't have to, definitely avoid. read more

Very pleased with the service and food. Had dinner here last night party of 7.. it was very busy when we got here (7pm) we were seated within 20 mins. The service was a bit slow due to how busy the place was at the time. The food made up for the slow service! The grill for 2 is amazing!! Ribs, chicken, sausage it was perfect. My only issue you should be allowed to substitute fries for a different side item. The rest of the party had the ribs, loaded nachos and brisket. Everyone was pleased!! Even tho the service was a bit slow it wasn't a huge deal being the time of evening.. if your around the area and looking for American meal I'd definitely give this spot a try. read more

Horrible service! The manager lacked basic customer service skills. Rude, Waiter nice but unskilled. The kitchen is in slow motion. Although slow night, the food came very late. All in all, an unsatisfactory experience. Friendly advice, avoid this place! read more

Terrible customer service. The waiters sit around talking while you wait and they don't seem to care. I recommend ordering To Go! Live in the area but never coming back! read more

Very slow service and maybe slightly better than average food. We had burgers and buffalo chicken sandwich and all three were just okay. Fries as a side and there were maybe a total of 18 fries total, so I was not full after eating my meal. It's a maybe if we come back again. read more

Smokey Bones - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

Amanda our waitress was the bomb. She gave us some pineapple cider she was spot on with it. We ate salads, a little simple for Smoky Bones but she made sure I ate all my food to absorb the shots read more

Smokey Bones - Ace pineapple hard cider I'm going to have to look for this when I get home! And it's feeling a lil green - Barbeque Near Me - Buford, Georgia

The service and food tonight amazing. Virginia and Lexi were outstanding servers, probably the best service i have ever gotten. Calvin the kitchen manager came out and greeted us and came out to see how the food way,it was an phenomenal experience overall. Definitely will be back! read more

Great for beer and TV but food more on quality of Olive Garden. Stay away from Memphis style ribs unless you like getting over spiced ribs.

I've been to Smokey Bones multiple times and have had mixed experiences. For the most part any item I have tried, other than the smoked wings, has been average at best. This past visit I ordered a burger. The bun was old and crumbly and the burger definitely appeared to be from a frozen patty. My wife ordered the chicken sandwich and it was was without a doubt previously frozen and had the appearance of dry wood pulp. My daughter ordered the pulled pork which was a small "pile" of meat that she said was average. The service at Smokey Bones is always hit or miss. I have had great servers and absolutely terrible ones. One common factor is that it always takes way too long for the food to arrive. And when you have a bad sever you can tell they are completely indifferent to you or their job. Our sever was fine but definitely felt "new". Make sure you check your receipt. We noticed that we had been charged for adding items to our orders when in reality we had deleted items. So I was charged extra for taking off onions and cheese and my wife was charged extra for swapping Swiss for cheddar. She was charged 1.50 for that. What!!??? It's only a 1.50 but c'mon. That's the kinda thing that costs you customers. Especially when you don't say "oh by the way .... we are going to charge you extra for not putting items on your burger and reaching for cheddar instead. I guess the Swiss cheese is guarded by a dragon and it's a bit of trouble for the cook to get at. I would honesty even surprised if this place is still operating in a year. It was definitely dead for a Friday. And I overheard a server telling a customer all the beers they were currently out of. Hmmmm. There are better options out there. read more

Man oh man should I have read the reviews before I came. But we are local and pass by all the time and didn't really give it much thought. We just knew that we wanted to try it! Where to start. The hostess greeted us kindly and sat us immediately asking if a table was fine. That was fine and we realized there were no TVs and we wanted to watch the baseball game that we saw on tv at the bar as we passed through. We asked if it was okay to if we sat in the bar area instead. She said that was no problem and sat us and let us know the server would visit shorty. About 10 mins passed. My wife and I had decided on drinks and food at this point. A young gentleman i think noticed how long we had been there and came over and apologized and offered to get our order. I then realized the bartender was the one that would be taking care of us at this point and we placed our order and told him we would go to the bar to better see the game and hope to make it easier for everyone. I wish I could have said it was busy but it was hardly busy and seemed very over staffed to say the least. We got our drinks just seconds before our actual meal. Nearly 30 mins after we ordered. Now the wait for the food was to be expected however not for the drinks. Especially with the amount of standing and talking there was among the employees and I'm assuming the bar manager? I believe the kitchen manager was the one who had to bring our food out and we never got our salads until I asked where they where when the food came out. The kitchen manager apologized and I believe the bar manager then brought out the salads. I ordered the Hawaiian ribeye and while cooked properly, I would have gotten more meat out of a 6oz sirloin and this was advertised as a 13oz ribeye. Croutons were stale. Pork was dry and the loaded baked potato they up-charge you was smaller than my wife's hands. We were never checked on once but the kitchen manager did apologize and took a meal off with out me complaining or asking to so i add the star for the effort. As for the other manager, she stood around talking on her cell phone while her employees weren't doing their jobs, filling their vape pen behind the bar and charging their cell phones. read more

I'll say this.......I ordered the salmon salad... Please contact Calvin the store Manager for assistance. Great customer service.

If I could leave no stars I would. Went there today for Fathers Day dinner restaurant was not crowded still took 10 minutes to get two beers and waters. Finally we were able to order. Literally 20 minutes later the waitress comes out and says we don't have the half chicken that I ordered. WTF. You didn't know that when I ordered? You couldn't have come some time sooner and told me this. What kind of bbq restaurant runs out of chicken on Fathers Day. They asked me if I wanted to order something else off the menu, and were unable to explain why I couldn't have two quarter chickens. So I went ahead and ordered brisket, but after 5 minutes (an hour wait total) of still no food for the family we got up left. Just an awful experience. read more

Shay was awesome. Will definitely be coming back. Great food great atmosphere for the family. Bbq is a chain restaurant but it's good.