Smalley’s Caribbean Barbeque and Pirate Bar

We ate at Smalley’s on a Saturday afternoon (6÷4÷16) and we were able to sit down right away, no wait.
The Wench Festival was gearing up. There were people in elaborate pirate costumes, complete with a cannon and miniature ship. It was fun, dorky, and kind of cool.
We were sat in the front (street side) area it was slightly pirate themed and felt like a family restaurant. There were kids at almost every table.
After we ate we took a tour through the rest of the place. We had to laugh, the décor and atmosphere really changes as you head through the building towards the river. The middle is a dark bar, at the time of our visit a few men were sitting at the bar. Above the bar, on the next level up there was a large table of guys. There are skeletons decorations on the ceiling. The back outside area was great, another bar and another crowd. This area seemed to be populated by a group that rode in on motorcycles.
We had a beer each and split the shredded chicken sandwich. We were between meals and not very hungry. I am glad we ordered the sandwich because it was really good. I would order the sandwich again.
Overall, this is a fun spot. We had a drink, a good sandwich, and we were entertained by the pirates.

Went to Stillwater for wenchfest. Had Carolina bbq sandwich. Tasted a little off. Went home and was sick all night. Only thing I ate all day

TASTY!
Went there to celebrate our anniversary on a Saturday night. Got there around 6pm and downtown was packed. I had called ahead to get my name on the list and once we got there we waited only about 5 minutes. It was wench days and a captain Jack look alike came by to talk to us and gave some suggestions, and a couple wenches came by throughout the meal. I loved everything I got and my husband raved about the fries as well. The bbq chicken was good, fell off the bone almost, the shrimp appetizer was amazing and desert– mine blowing. We will for sure be back with the whole family AND the in-​laws.

I honestly don’t know what all the hype is about with this place. Maybe it’s been a while since Guy Fieri visited. Jerk Pork Tacos were just ok. Way too salty for our taste buds. Service was mediocre and this food was way too expensive. Really? $ 15 for 3 tacos? The place was not crowded and they put us upstairs in a dark corner next to what could only be the beginnings of a bachelor party. There was plenty of room downstairs or outside but that apparently was not an option

My husband and I didn’t know what we were really in for when we decided to try this place out. We had heard about it through Triple D and since Guy Fieri pretty much goes to ANY restaurant these days, we thought this would disappoint. So we basically didn’t have much expectation.
Nope.
First off, we sat in the bar area, since there was such a long wait and this pregnant woman was getting hungry! I ordered a housemade blood orange lemonade (DELISH; I want this recipe). My husband got some kind of craft beer, as always.
Next up, we ordered the jerk wings and the BBQ shrimp. We thought we’d start off with appetizers and move on to one of the sandwiches. (Everything looked so good!)
The wings were GREAT; smoky, tender meat that just falls off the bone… yum. The BBQ shrimp was unlike anything we had expected too. It was in a brown butter sauce of some kind with jalapeño corn bread. What. A. Combination. (I’m trying not to drool as I write this review actually. TMI, sorry.) The quantities were huge too, so we never ended up ordering an actual meal– we were full for a while!
We are definitely going back for some more and will be bringing friends and family when they’re in town!

This place was lot of fun for the kids I was with, ages 6 and 11. Décor was cool, food was delicious, We had four pirate burgers and one jerk chicken sandwich, two with plank fries, one with grilled curried vegetables, and two with roast sweet potatoes with caramelized pork and sausage. Everyone liked their customized burgers. Kids liked the fries. The grilled curried vegetables were delicious. The sweet potatoes were described as good, although the people who ate them said the pork was not a big part of the flavor. I had the mahi mahi tacos and coleslaw. The tacos were wonderful and I liked the coleslaw, It had horseradish! Adam, our waiter, was friendly, considerate, and helpful. This was a great place for our kids on a rainy day. The one down side was that the prices are pretty high.

I ended up at Smalley’s due to a last minute change of plans and it turned out to be a great choice! The staff is wonderful and provides excellent service. I always worry about eating wings that proclaim to be hotter than the others, but these wings were amazing! Just the right amount of spice and flavor combined. If you’re feeling bold, ask for the triple six sauce. It makes Smalley’s an unforgettable experience after trying out the triple six sauce!

This restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive in’s and Dives, so it was definitely on my list of places to try for our day trip to Stillwater. First off, our one friend recommended that we tried the 666 wings, which is made out of one of the spiciest peppers ever! We ordered two orders so that everyone from our group can give it a try. I LITERALLY CRIED. These honestly were one of the spiciest wings I have ever had. One (semi) positive thing I can say about the wings is that they do actually have FLAVOR and its a good flavor. I’ve tried some «ghost» wings in the past that have just been pure spiced with no flavor but the ones here at Smalley actually had flavor. The spice makes the wings less appetizing. For my entrée I got the BBQ combo which included the pork spare ribs and the Ropas Vieja. My sides were cole slaw and sweet potatoes. The sides here were amazing. The meat were really tender. The caribbean flavors were really good, my only complaint about this place is the flavors/​quality of their bbq sauce. I tried every single one of their bbq sauce and they were all mediocre. (Honestly, I think there were 4– I can’t even remember because they weren’t anything to remember). For a BBQ place, I definitely put a huge emphasis on the importance of the BBQ sauce flavor and unfortunately it was not memorable. I still however, would definitely give this place another try.
PS. Try the blackberry beard mojito– AMAZINGGGGG!

We visited this place after seeing it featured on an episode of «Diners, Drive Ins and Dives». We found the bar and dining room to be clean, the service was friendly and the wait to be seated was tolerable. (We only waited 25 minutes on a Saturday night — not too bad.) The food is where the place fell down a bit.
My husband and I ordered the mahi mahi tacos because we both love fish tacos — especially ones made with mahi mahi. We assumed the fish would be deep fried (and it was), but the fish that came in our tacos was unusually tough. It tasted almost like the fish was fried the day before, left in the fridge overnight and then reheated in the microwave before serving. I had a hard time actually biting through the pieces of fish on my taco — super chewy and very disappointing. The price for the tacos was hefty ($ 17), but you did get three of them and a side — too bad the side dishes weren’t good, either.
My husband ordered black beans and rice and I ordered the curried vegetables. The beans and rice did not taste good. The beans tasted like they came out of a can, which made the entire dish taste somewhat metallic The curried vegetables were covered in a thick, yellow curry sauce and included red and green bell peppers, huge chunks of onion, cauliflower and green beans. The vegetables were well prepared (still had a crunch to them), but the sauce was a little too much. I thought they would have been tossed in curry powder of some sort — not drenched in so much curry sauce.
My kids split an order of pork ribs and those were pretty tasty. They came with two sides — my one son liked the French fries he got for a side, but my other son ordered the beans and rice and didn’t like his, either.
On the plus side, we did order the (free) roasted jalapeño peppers, which came with lime and salt and found those tasty — and kind of fun to eat while waiting for our food. I had a tasty blackberry mojito and my husband had beer. We also had the conch corn fritters (served with a spicy aioli) as an appetizer and my husband and I both liked those. They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and the sauce was delicious. I would order those again.
Overall, I’m not sure I’d come back, mostly because I felt for what we spent on our meal for four (a little over $ 90), it just wasn’t worth the money and the drive… and I am still upset that any restaurant would do that to mahi mahi.

Smally’s is a favorite spot for us and our family for years. The wings and fish tacos are amazing!!! We love Stillwater and stop in every weekend. Smally bought our dinner tonight! Love this place!

Meh. I really should not have looked at all the drool worthy pictures of food before trying this place out or watched the episode of Diners, Drive-​Ins, and Dives because those actions made my expectations just skyrocket out of this world. Decided to give it a try on a cold afternoon and arrived around 4pm on a Friday. There was no wait at all and we had a really good waitress who was able to be very attentive and was super helpful with navigating the menu. The restaurant itself is pretty cool, maybe a little touristy with the pirate theme, but a neat location right by the river and at the beginning of Downtown Stillwater. P. S. the parking lot is right next to the building and it’s free until May (yay for not having to pay for parking).
Here’s the lowdown on the food:
–Jerk Pork Tacos: This is the stuff Guy Fieri was dying over and I’m a little confused why… I think it must have been the batch of pork we were given but the meat was very dry and salty. I was expecting a flavor explosion in my mouth but instead finished about ¾ of the taco and had to call it a day with that one. ¹⁄₅ stars for this one.
–Chicken wings: we had the jerk wings and ginger (?) sauce wings… I can’t remember what it was off the top of my head. These were decent. I don’t have much else to say. I’d say they are pretty average, maybe I was just expecting more. ³⁄₅
–Fried Green Tomatoes: do not compare to the ones at the Minnesota State Fair, and I think they were over fried, but the seasoning in the batter was good. The BF really enjoyed the horseradish aioli though. ²⁄₅
–Bacon and green chili mac and cheese: I’d say these were the star of the show. The noodles were perfectly cooked the cheese was ooey and gooey, the bacon was crispy, and the green chilis gave it a little «somethin’ somethin». This paired very well with the burger we ordered… and I don’t even like Mac and Cheese. ⁵⁄₅
–Pirate Burger: we got ours medium with candied jalapeño, cheddar, grilled onions, and lettuce. A very well-​made burger that was even better with the candied jalapeño. ⁴⁄₅
–Plank fries: Delectable! Crispy, hot, and steamy. That is all :) ⁴⁄₅
Overall, I don’t think I would make the trip all the way to the border to eat here, but I think the mac and cheese with a burger would hit the spot after a long day of exploring downtown Stillwater. I just expected a lot more given all the hype. Would like to make a point that the service was excellent.

I’ve been wanting to try this place for the better part of the last two years but couldn’t convince myself to make the 45 minute drive. Yesterday I finally decided to road trip and give it a shot. This place is known for smoking their meat with pimento wood, which is the way they prepare traditional jerk in Jamaica. I also really wanted to try the 666 wings I saw Guy Fieri try that almost gave him a heart attack.
I ordered the jerk wings medium and the 666 wings. The jerk was ok, nothing too special I guess. Had a deep and unique smokiness to it and I think there was a light sauce? It really just tasted like smoke and I couldn’t pick up on any allspice or scotch peppers. And it’s a taste that lingers for hours. My brother and I were joking on our car ride home that the aftertaste is on par with licking an ash tray. The blue cheese that came with it was average, and quite flavorless.
The 666 wings on the other hand had a great flavor to them. They were tangy, vinegary, and you could taste the sweetness of the habaneros and jolokias. Now I’m not going to lie, these were quite hot. In fact, they were probably the hottest wings I’ve had. If you don’t regularly eat really spicy food I’d suggest you pass. For example, I don’t find Blazin wings at Bdubs to be that hot and they’re the only wing sauce I order when I’m there. But these, these are pretty damn hot.
Ambience was good, service was ok, food was decent. I don’t think I’ll purposely revisit this restaurant, but if for some reason I’m in the neighborhood I wouldn’t be against stopping in to try the jerk pork tacos to see what those are like.

In theory, I should like this place.
It’s not a chain, it serves some original dishes and isn’t afraid of flavor. Its in a nice space (though the music was very loud when we were there).
But in reality… it just doesn’t work for me! I’ve been there twice and have felt meh each time.
This past visit I had some sort of BBQ pork sandwich. The serving was huge, though it mostly just made it too big to eat on the bun. Everything fell apart! (though it made saving half easier). The fries were super good — maybe they’re coated? I just remember liking them.
Speaking of fries though… Their sides. Again, on paper the sides sound great but in reality they just aren’t that great. I’ve had the mac’n cheese and it was dry. Beans were dry. Sweet potatoes were… weird (and probably dry).
Jerk wings — the bomb.
Fried green tomatoes — underwhelming as usual. I don’t know why people order these anywhere?
Conch fritters — eh. Either the fritters or the tomatoes had a sauce that was delicious though.
If you like hot — ask for the grilled jalepeños. I believe they are free.

I’m afraid I must admit that I use an app called TV Food Maps. It comes in handy when you’re in some suburb you’ve never heard of.
This particular establishment was featured on «The Best Thing I Ever Ate» on an episode about BBQ. I didn’t see it, but the app said the Jerk Chicken was the bomb. I ordered the Jerk sandwich to go, and, I have to admit, it’s very tasty! I wouldn’t say it’s the best BBQ I’ve ever had, but I’m not really keeping score either. While waiting, I imbibed a «Jesus Christ» Apricot flavored beer. It was lovely.

Any type of slow cooked spicy meat can steal my heart away. We ordered the chicken, pork, and roped beef entrees each come with two sides and deliciously awesome cornbread. Meat galore with as many sauces to pair. All the meats were perfectly cooked with the right amount of Caribbean spice. The sauces were on the table if you ever wanted to add more. We left happily stuffed.
There’s empanadas and tacos on the menu so the degree of authenticity wanes, but this is still some of the best Caribbean style meals you can get in the Twin Cities area.

This place is pretty awesome for those who are looking for some good food with quality spice! I was really impressed with their spice levels! They for sure brought it!
I asked if the hot was minnesota hot and the waitress said no, but i was a little worried it was going to be. NOPE! They bring some actual kick to the food which is a great change from what we see all too often!
Great menu options are available, but not the best place for everyone (by that i mean people who don’t like spice). So if you are with people who like spice, check this place out. If you are with some people who think Hot Sauce at Taco Bell is hot, you may want to check out someplace else.

My buddies and I were at Smalley’s right when they opened at 11 on Labor day Saturday. One of the top 3 BBQ places in Minnesota (Q Fanatic up north and Rack Shack in Burnsville are the other two)
I ordered an IPA and it was delish. For our food, one friend got the pulled pork sandwich, which I have had before, and he said it was fantastic, and my other friend got the ropa vieja, the sausages, and grilled shrimp with potato salad and jalapeño creamed corn, which looked awesome. I tried the pork and I got a taste of the ground up pork in casing (I’m not saying I had his sausage) The meats were amazing but the shrimp looked pretty non amazing, he said it was good, but nothing special.
I ordered the goat roti. I took a few bites and it was almost cold, so after a few bites I asked them to warm it up and they made me a fresh new order and took ½ off my bill for the trouble. I would have been happy with them throwing it under the broiler for 30 seconds, but they made me a fresh order, which was cool
The goat was Sooooooooo good. Lots of Indian curry flavor and the roti flat bread was a perfect starch to pack my maw with the rich goat curry. It was hot, but not chili hot, it was delicious spices hot. I was starting to dew up from my sweat glands towards the end.
The service was super great and I love the décor of this place. Highest recommendation!

Back again… mmmmm!
Beef and Cilantro Empanadas… Delicious!
Pirate Burger and Pulled Pork Sandwich up next :)

Hubby and I shared the jerk pork tacos which were delicious and the jerk chicken wings! The tacos come out 3 to an order and are quite big. They also come with one side. I got the sweet potato as a side and that wasn’t a very exciting dish. I’ve had better at Brasa but the main portion of my meal was super good. The wings were good and I kept feeling like the flavor of the wings were very similar to something else I’ve had before and then it hit me! It tasted like the «whole sha-​bang» sauce from Boiling Crab! So needless to say, the wings were great. I would definitely be back to try some of their other menu items like the conch fritters! We sadly did not get to see the interior since we sat in their patio, which is a nice area except when you get about 7 people squeezed into a 4 person table next to you who are loud, obnoxious, and trying to get their drunk on during lunch hours.

We went on a sunny Saturday, the patio was busy and the wait list for it was long. (From what I saw you can put your name down for the wait list and they would give you a call on your phone when your table was ready so that you could take the time to explore Stillwater.) I don’t know if they took reservations or not… but going here was a last minute decision on our part but we were able to grab a nice table near the sun right away.
Adam our waiter and was very nice and informative. after looking at the menu and wanting to order everything jerk, we decided to ordered the combo where we could pick 3 type of meats and two sides for $ 20. So that we can try a little bit of everything Adam was able to help decide what sauces should go on the meats. The food came out really fast. All the sauces worked great and Adam suggestion of getting the beef brisket with sauce on the side was perfect because then we could mix and match what we liked at the table. I wasnt too wowed by the sides they were very small but i guess if it was for one person it would be more then enough. I wished we were able to get more cornbread instead. The house rum was great for only $ 3 and it definitely did the job.
Overall the best Caribbean restaurant I’ve been too service was great food was Awesome and surrounding was fun (loved the caribbean music) and according to my bf this place has the closest jerk taste that he has had since he’s been to Jamaica.

Smalleys was on Diners, Drive in’s, and Dives, so naturally I was like dang they’re in MN, my hood and I haven’t been there?! The bonus here is they’re in Stillwater, and I find this town to be a nice and quaint area to visit. Which also makes this pirate themed restaurant a standout.
This visit was my second time here, the first was in the summer when the patio was open. They’re not on the river, but close enough to make outside seating enjoyable. There’s only street parking, and their sign is small from the road so pay attention or you might miss it like I did.
On to the food. Their jerk sauce is suppose to be the best in MN. I didn’t try it the first time so I was on a mission. We started with the conch fritters with a chipotle aioli, then jerk pork tacos because it was $ 3 taco Tuesday, and then beef brisket, pork shoulder, corn bread, Mac and cheese, and cole slaw with horseradish. All this for two people. We’re fatties and we know it.
The conch fritters were crunchy balls of goodness. The conch was chewy and didn’t add much flavor, it was more for texture. The aioli was the star. They should put that on the side of everything. Tacos were fine, I couldn’t find the jerk flavor and found them a bit too smoky.
So the main events. Beef brisket was also just fine, not anything I’d order again. The pork shoulder had a lot of the jerk sauce and it had a strong spicy kick for being mild. However, the meat was not cooked evenly. One piece was so dry I may as well have been chewing on a rock, and another piece was really moist. I happened to pick up the rock. I also didn’t feel like I got a great sample of the jerk sauce.
The sides, Mac and cheese, and coleslaw should have been my main dishes. Who doesn’t love macaroni drenched in silky, creamy cheese, then topped with pork bits? I would have never put coleslaw and horseradish together, I’ve never even seen it anywhere. Bravo to Smalleys for this introduction! Corn bread was dry though, no points here.
Great beer selection from some local brewery’s. The service is fine. They’re not jumping out of their pants excited, but they get the job done. I’d like to come back and try a few more items and hopefully update this rating to a four.