Comments on: Smokey Joe’s BBQ, Teaneck, NJ

By: Howie

Howie — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:59:43 +0000

On the way home to the Massachusetts from a wedding in Lakewood, my family (myself, wife, and 5 kids) met “Grandpa and Grandma” for lunch @ Smokey Joe’s. I had been trying to find a reason to get down there for some time, but it never worked out for me.
Luckily for us, it was a weekday and the place was empty.

Three of my boys (ages 9, 5, and 5) had the children’s steak with a side of fries. My daughter (age 7) and another son (age 5) had the children’s hot dog plate with fries. As it was lunch, I opted for the shredded BBQ brisket sandwich, with an appetizer of buffalo wings. My father had a sausage plate, and his wife had the BBQ chicken. My wife decided to remain chalavi.

In my humble opinion, the food was excellent. The kids attacked their steaks and hot dogs with gusto, and really enjoyed the cowboy/cowgirl plastic cups for their sodas. The wings, while not super spicy, had a good amount of vinegar and were delicious. The shredded BBQ sandwich was outstanding … perfect tang to the sauce. My father and his wife also enjoyed their meal so much that they took home some brisket and trimmings for Shabbat dinner the next day.

I hope I can find a reason to go back to try more of the menu.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:24:17 +0000

I am sorry to say that Smokey’s Joe’s food is horrendous and I am embarrased that I paid $40 bucks for a stale roll to go along with my mishmashed together (barely round) $13.00 hamburger and $12.00 for two tacos that tasted like cardboard to go along with a $8.00 kids burger that came out burnt so my toddler could barely chew it.

Only a kosher restaurant would have the audacity to serve and charge so much for this garbage. I want all kosher restaurants to succeed but this one deserves to go. I actually made them return the wings I ordered b/c they tasted old and the Ari’s sauce awful. A real shame but I’m looking forward to a Carlos and Gabby’s opening up which will teach “Smokey Joe” you can only serve slope and charge a fortune for so long. Utterly displeased.

By: Susanne

Susanne — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:59:48 +0000

Best kosher joint around! Friendly owner mingles with guests and probably one of the best servers I’ve ever had wait on me. She remembers us everytime we come in.

By: Michael Rogovin

Michael Rogovin — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:42:42 +0000

Recently had a chance to go back to Smokey Joe’s. The food was very good. Joe was there, attentive to all diners. You can now get the heat adjusted to your preference. The expanded place is roomier and the menu expanded a bit since my last visit. Service seemed a tad slow, but was not too bad really (my kids were hungary and impatient so the wait may have just seemed longer), and was certainly friendly, responsive and helpful. It would be nice if they provided more of the complimentary yummy corn bread rather than charge for refills. We like it and recommend it, even if spicy BBQ is not your thing.

By: Too Old to Jewschool Steve

Too Old to Jewschool Steve — Mon, 26 May 2008 23:08:21 +0000

Finally got the chance to try Joe’s out last night, after another kosher rest. on the other side of Teaneck refused to take a reservation (we were to be a party of 10, somewhat spontaneously celebrating my birthday). Joe accomodated us on less than 2 hours notice.
Quality of the food was well received. Sampled various forms of brisket and chicken, all were delish. Fried chicken went down well with the youngest, my sophisticated teen appreciated the grilled chicken sandwich with pesto. Grownups enjoyed various bbq brisket and chicken combos.
Looking forward to a return visit.

By: Smokey Joe

Smokey Joe — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:02:38 +0000

To all our fans out there, I wanted everyone to know that we will be hosting a new radio show called “Smokey Joe’s SUmemrtime Kosher Cookin’ Show” on 620 AM and webcast at talklinecommunications.com – Wednesdays at 11 PM.
It is all about bbq and grill with recipes and general discussions about technique and how to make great meals in teh summer.

We also added 35 seats to the restaurant during the Pesach holiday, so we can no waccommodate a lot more guests plus a private party.

I hope that you will both tune in to our radio show and join us for a meal at our newly expanded location.

By: Mrs. Mann

Mrs. Mann — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:18:50 +0000

My husband and I decided to try Smokey Joe’s last night. I’m very sorry to say that we did not have a good experience. The waitress was slow and inattentive. She should have waited until we were done with our appetizer (of wings) before bringing our main course. She didn’t offer us a wet wipe to cleanse our hands before moving on to our meal so we leaned over to the next table to grab some that were piled in a container. While the wings were decent, our main course of smoked ribs was so disappointing. My husband struggled to cut a piece of meat off the bone with the butter knives that were set out. Once he had a piece of meat in his mouth, he declared it to be so tough that he spit it out into his napkin. I fared a bit better with a rib that was tough, but not as tough. The problem I had was that it was way too salty. However, the underlying smokiness that I detected had a nice flavor. The waitress never came by to ask how our dinner was so we didn’t bring any of this to her attention. When we flagged her down for the check, she still didn’t inquire about our meal. We paid our bill and left. Perhaps we should have tried the chicken.

By: Gluten-Free Bay

Gluten-Free Bay — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:38:28 +0000

I adore Smokey Joe’s. Hands down the best kosher restaurant food I’ve ever had. I feel like it’s one of the few kosher joints where I could bring non-kosher friends and family and they wouldn’t feel like they were getting ripped off by paying high (kosher) prices for sub-par food. The brisket is stellar and the grilled chicken fajitas are amazing.

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:49:17 +0000

My friend and I had dinner at Smokey Joe’s tonight. The food was really great. They had flavors and foods that were presented in a unique way. We shared the vegetarian chili and the tofu salad, both were super, we left stuffed. I will admit that it took a while to be waited on, it seemed more of a casual take out. They are new so perhaps they will improve on that.

By: DeisCane

DeisCane — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:35:17 +0000

That sounds feasible, Craig. I was merely addressing Joe’s point about spice before, but I tend to agree with you that it’s more about smoke. In fact, what smoky BBQ I have had (in pre-kosher days) hasn’t been particularly spicy, to the best of my recollection.