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BBQ
Smoke BBQ Fort Lauderdale

Smoke BBQ

3351 NE 32nd St
Fort Lauderdale FL, 33308
(954) 561-0808
Overall Rating
2.8
Food
Service
Ambiance
Value
Last Review
08/08/2018

Details

Hours: 11:30a-9p, 12-8p Sunday. Closed Monday.
Attire: Casual
Parking: Street Metered
CC: Yes
Alcohol: Beer and Wine
Prices: moderate
Outside Dining: No
Reservations: No

Pros

Well made and good tasting pastrami
Sturdy Bread

Cons

Too many peppercorn husks in the meat.
Dreary Dining Room

Critic's Review

I've avoided trying Smoke as a matter of principle; I've thought the owners were a bit shady based on their first location in Delray, but after trying the pastrami at Blue Willy's I wanted to try theirs.

This space was previously Julian's, a decent venue stuck in this armpit neighborhood that has zero foot traffic during the daytime hours. I drive through here every once in a while; hardly ever seeing a sole on the streets. Half of the restaurants are closed until dinner time; the rest mostly empty.

There's metered parking here, luckily the meters don't have a minimum. A dime bought me enough time to go inside and get a take-out sandwich.

I walked in and there was no-one behind the counter and one woman with a cup; it wasn't clear if she worked in the place or not. She didn't greet me, but in Fort Lauderdale it wouldn't be unusual for an employee not to greet a customer. I took a picture and then another woman came out of the bathroom; apparently they were customers;

Smoke BBQ Interior Fort Lauderdale

I get up to the counter and check out the blackboard/menu; still no-on behind the counter. Time for another picture.

Smoke BBQ Dining Room

Despite the bright sunshine and blue sky outside; this space is dark and dreary.

At this point I'm the only one in the place at 2:35p. Still nobody behind the counter.

Smoke BBQ Behind the Counter

Suddenly, there's a guy behind the counter checking his phone. Interesting that he didn't say a word to me.

I'll have a pastrami sandwich on rye with mustard to go please.

He punches it up, I pay, and he makes the sandwich. No banal banter here.

Smoke BBQ Making a Pastrami Sandwich

I didn't get the camera positioned to show the pastrami slab, but it was more organized that Willy's version. Willy just had a big ole brisket with a sloppy coating; this was a round piece that yielded clean cut slices.

When I got home I opened it up. No fancy packaging at Smoke.

Smoke BBQ Takeout

I didn't know I was getting chips; I'm not a fan of chips that are dusted with anything other than salt. These could have been really good without the dust.

Smoke BBQ Chips

The sandwich was well organized with good, sturdy bread; a much more professional sandwich than Willy's.

Smoke BBQ Pastrami Sandwich

Opening it up provided a bit more insight. (notice the peppercorns on the right, more on this later).

Smoke Pastrami Open

The taste of the meat was superb. Tender, just enough smoke; still not the same as Deli Pastrami; this is smokehouse pastrami; and the sandwich stayed together unlike the mess at Willy's.

People from NY need more mustard than this on our pastrami, I lathered some of the mustard I had left over from Blue Willy's on the 2nd half of this sandwich.

Smoke Pastrami with extra Mustard

Overall, a pretty good sandwich for $12.95.

Conclusion

A restaurant that doesn't care if they're empty is something to notice; I wasn't really surprised about the indifference of the staff here. While I enjoyed the sandwich, I spent the rest of the day picking and spitting out peppercorn husks, which ruined the entire thing for me. While I liked the sandwich, I think I'm done with smokehouse pastrami. When I'm done with food I want to be done with it; I don't want it to rule the rest of my day.

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