Mike’s Smokehouse

Decided to eat some lunch here before going to Rock City, which is very close by. Ended up ordering the chicken plate, pork plate, and brisket plate. Each comes with bread and 2 sides. The waitress tried to memorize the order, but I ended up having to repeat the order several times to make sure she got it right. The food was good, although the portion size of the brisket was a little small. I really liked the broccoli casserole side. I thought perhaps the mashed potatoes could’ve used some gravy. Overall it was good value for the food and price.

Driving through and wanted some good BBQ — I’m from Central Texas and the reviews drew me in, since I live in Atlanta now and am always looking for good BBQ. The brisket was sold out (good sign), so I went with the ribs. Good alternative. Mine were’ dry and it fell off the bone. The one reviewer who didn’t like the ribs must have gotten a bad batch. Mine were yummy. Sauces were good too. Wasn’t a fan of the coleslaw, but the fried okra was great. Banana pudding wasn’t too special. Wished they had soaked the wafers in it a bit rather than simply placing them around the rim. Overall, great place. I wavered on giving 4 stars to take off for the pudding and slaw, but that wouldn’t do the ribs right – so put it at 5. Service was great too. Sweet and courteous. I’d go back.

We stopped here after visiting the incline railway. So glad we did. I had the brisket which was spot on and the fried squash did not disappoint. Daughter-​in-​law had the pastrami and raved about it. My son had the pork along with a side of the broccoli casserole and really really liked it. Great job on the BBQ and wish you had more locations.

Mike’s has legit central Texas style brisket. Period. I am from central Texas and have been to most of the top ten and this is the best I have eaten outside Texas. Great bark and smoke ring. Sides were excellent along with service. Cheaper than a road trip to Lockhart or Lexington!

I been wanting to come here for awhile. I’m glad I did. They have 3 BBQ sauces. One was a vinegar type sauce that I didn’t touch. The second was Tennessee Whiskey which was a dark hickory smoked taste to it. The third was Kansas City Sweet which was sweet and good. I couldn’t make up my mind which one I liked best so I used both on my sandwich.
menu items ordered: BBQ sandwich, macaroni and cheese and sweet tea. The sandwich tasted great. The meat was tender and my decision to mix the two sauces was a right one. I put one on half of it and the second sauce i put on the other half. It made for a tangy taste to which I liked. If o came here again I would do the same. The macaroni and cheese was about the best I have ever eaten because it was so creamy and had just the right amount of cheese on it. The sweet tea has a great taste to it as well that was different from any other I have had.
Although this is not the best Bar B Q restaurant I have eaten at, I would come here again.
It is in a Log Cabin which made me want to try it

I have mixed feelings about this place. Was excited to learn that they do a real brisket, sliced, Texas-​style. The BF is from Texas and we’ve been on a quest to find good BBQ that meets his standards.
The place is super cute and very smokehouse-​like. Old rustic cabin style. Lots of wood, fireplace, very cozy scene.
The menu is small, which is perfect. Do what you do best and don’t fill up a menu with lots of stuff just because. We both ordered brisket plates, but mine also had ribs. Side choices were typical bbq joint sides. I ordered mac & cheese and baked beans and the BF ordered potato salad and fried okra.
So our food came out and everything smelled and looked good. There are 3 sauce choices on the table. One that is vinegar based and has that vinegar tang, one that was sweet and hot and one kind of deep smoky flavor. They were all flavored well but were very very thin in consistency.
First thing I noticed is that my ribs seemed very dark, almost burnt. They were super dry and tough. I ate 2 of them and couldn’t eat any more. Bummer. I had read other reviews that the ribs were really good and fell off the bone. Maybe I just got a bad batch.
The brisket was done Texas-​style and was pretty good. It passed the BF’s taste test so that was worth it all. LOL. He was very happy with the brisket.
The sides were hit and miss. The mac & cheese is fantastic!!! I would go and just order that. Super cheesy and creamy, just what it should be. Finally someplace around here makes really good mac & cheese. Congrats, Mike, and thank you!
My baked beans were super super sweet. Way too sweet for my taste. They were also not all the way done. They were a bit too firm and needed more cooking time. I had a couple of bites and the BF tried to eat them but he thought they were too sweet as well.
The BF’s okra was good and too his liking. I’m not a huge okra fan, so I take his word on that one. They looked good.
The potato salad was interesting — good flavor, but maybe a bit too much onion. That was the overwhelming flavor. Now I like onion. The BF couldn’t handle it. Speaking of the onion, it wasn’t chopped up very well. I literally had huge chunks of onion quite visible in the potato salad (see pic). Someone was in a hurry to get that done that day and just hacked at it.
Overall, it was good. Love the atmosphere, the mac & cheese and the brisket. I’ll go back and try something else.
As for service, it was good. Our server was attentive and very sweet. I did notice that a couple of the other servers looked like they had just woken up and rolled out of bed, maybe a bit hungover? LOL. Poor things.

A must try. Best brisket in Chattanooga. Mike’s sauce is awesome. The hot cougar at the table next to me had sauce all over her face and was raving about the bbq chicken. I don’t think you can go wrong with anything on the menu.

BBQ tacos with chicken and pork, meat was so good they didn’t need sauce but mike’s wing sauce was so good I used it anyway.

As compared to BBQ restaurants in Texas I must say Mikes Smokehouse is disappointing. I ask for lean brisket and what I reviewed was anything but lean. The portion size is very small with only two strips of fat filled brisket. The taste is also lacking. These guys have a lot of work to do to get this place close to a real BBQ house. I suggest you wait awhile before trying it.

I got the pork barbecue plate with two sides. Barbecue wasn’t good at all. Wasn’t flavored well and had limited sauce options (none of which were very good). My original sides were mac and cheese and creamed corn. Upon first bite, I immediately spit out the creamed corn, as it had been made with very potent soured milk. Replacement side was mashed potatoes that were clearly instant potatoes. Mac and cheese was sub-​par. Way too many good barbecue joints in this town to try this place again.