CHOW HOUND: Good Smoke BBQ, Roc Your Pickle, Mario's, Flight Wine Bar, Flour ...

It is of vital importance that your paid professionals know what they're doing. In many cases, you even like to see their credentials. So don't complain if you're temporarily blinded by the dazzling sheen of all the trophies that greet you inside the entrance to Good Smoke BBQ . That hard-earned hardware represents the spoils won during the last five years of barbecue competitions at which the Good Smoke folks - that's Kelly and Brian Wemett, Josh Bickham, Rachel DeBlieck, and Jon Vallone - fine-tuned the food that they now serve at their new brick-and-mortar restaurant.

The big chalkboard menu on the wall tells the traditional story of American barbecue, but the offerings also demonstrate that Good Smoke is confident enough to write a chapter or two of its own. "We want to show there's more to it than just ribs and pulled pork," says Kelly Wemett. And though both those staples are of course proudly represented on the menu - the ribs here are the shorter, meatier loin-back variety ($14.95 for a half-rack) - Good Smoke goes beyond the expected with playful hybrids like "moink balls" ($6.95), which are bacon-wrapped meatballs that have been smoked and then tossed in a spicy-sweet glaze, and "Tennessee tacos" ($8.95), made from flour tortillas stuffed with shredded pork, housemade slaw, and drizzled with a chipotle crema.


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