Smoken Bones Cookshack

Totally disappointed in the experience. Went with another couple and from the poor attitude from the wait staff to poor tasting ribs guaranteed we will not be returning. The chef obviously tried to disguise the poor quality of the ribs with excess sauce. We uninimously felt it was poor value for our money.

Smoken Bones sounds great on paper. Who wouldn’t want to eat at a «Cookshack?» And their signs and menus tell of how they are preserving a great tradition of BBQ through house-​made sauces, authentic bbq technique, etc.
Unfortunately, it simply doesn’t deliver, mostly because there is nothing «cookshack» about the space or atmosphere. It is hard to eat down-​home soul food in a cold, high-​ceilinged room where seats are so far apart you feel no connection to other diners, and lighting doesn’t compliment the strengths of the space.
The food was 3 stars, which is actually pretty good for BBQ in Canada. They do use authentic methods, and you can taste it. It’s just too bad they don’t provide anywhere suitable to enjoy them.

I’ve had barbecue all over and Smoken Bones used to be up there. But as of my last visit definite decline in quality:
1)Chicken was tasteless, skin rubbery, no real taste of smoke (almost if had been smoked the day before)
2)Deep fried pickles were doughy, no crunch when you bite into them
3)Smoked sausage tasted as if it were about to go off, I wonder if there was even a casing as it did not pop. Seasoning again was an issue.
Now the good, the special cocktail was great and the server was fantastic.
I love Barbecue but not at Smoken Bones, not any more. SAD

Had a groupon so tried it out even though reviews were mixed. We were not disappointed! The pulled work was delicious and the Shake Burger so yummy! Not to mention that our waiter was very friendly. I spilled my water on the floor and there was no hesitation or rudeness about cleaning it up. Oh and the Mac and cheese was pretty good too! Big portions — I was stuffed! Super cool that they added the pulled pork to my burger for free. Glad we have it a shot!

Had a groupon for the place and saw some decent reviews so I thought I’d take the risk.
I wasn’t too impressed with this place. Physically it was lacking. Not only was it very cold inside (make sure you dress warm) but the exposed roof and the enormous concrete beams made the place look cold.
To start with our waiter didn’t even walk us to our table. He just pointed and told us to sit there. He followed a minute later with paper menus. It looked cheap. One of the pages was still curled as if fresh off the printer. Jeez. They couldn’t bother to laminate them?
The waiter came by a few minutes later asking for our drink order. When we said water he gave us a weird look and looked taken aback. Really? You’re the waiter. Please don’t give me attitude.
I was going to get oysters as a starter but for $ 11 I wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting ripped off so I asked how many came in it? The waiter told me 2. Two oysters? For $ 11? Wow. Just wow.
My boyfriend and I both got a basket of wings. These are a pretty good deal. You get 11 – 12 wings for $ 11. My bf got bbq and I tried maple garlic. We both didnt liked his and really enjoyed mine. His were cold too. Mine were a bit too crispy for my taste but my bf loved them. The little buckets that you put the bones in are cute. I also like how they don’t skimp on the napkins. Wish they had wet cloths or finger bowls for you to rinse your fingers in though.
My bf and I shared our main which was a full rack of pork ribs. Half a rack was $ 20 while a full was $ 28 so we thought why not? The ribs were good but they weren’t warm like I’d preferred. The bbq sauce that was slathered on here wasn’t as bad as the wings but it still wasn’t good. It tastes like it came from an old can. It was one of the worst I’ve ever tasted. I didn’t even know you could screw up bbq sauce.
With the ribs you get a free side. We chose cornbread. It tasted okay, it was nice and warm but the whipped butter was heavenly. It melted great on the cornbread and transformed it from something I’d reluctantly eat, to something I really enjoyed. The only complaint I have is with the size. It was small. That was barely enough for one person let alone two. For something that would normally cost $ 3, we should’ve been given at least 2 pieces (or a bigger size).
For $ 5, you can get a ¼ of a chicken. The size wasn’t too bad it came with a large drumstick and breast but it wasn’t quite worth $ 5. The chicken was rubbery and that god awful bbq sauce was so overpowering.
They didn’t have a desert menu. The waiter listed off three choices, apple crumble, mud cake, or candied bacon ice cream. He didnt say the price which was a bit awkward because you shouldn’t have to ask. Thats why a menu is great. So you have time to think about if the price is worth it. They didnt even have a desert menu online. 3 items doesn’t use up much paper and how hard is it to make another pdf?
For desert, My bf and I shared the bacon candied ice cream. To it’s credit it was a decently large portion. Two to three people could’ve comfortably shared. Not bad for $ 6.50 The single slice of bacon on top tasted great but the bits of candied bacon in the ice cream wasn’t all that good. We ate it but it would’ve been much better if they left that out. Then again, maybe that’s my fault for ordering candied bacon ice cream! The caramel drizzle was great as was the caramel crusting around the ice cream.
At the end, when we asked for our bill, our waiter said «I’m guessing you guys have a groupon?» And when we smiled and said yes he said, «I can always tell who’s using one.» After he took my credit card, my boyfriend and I looked at each other. We weren’t sure if he just called us cheap or insulted us or???
He did make check in with us every so often and asked how everything tastes but his attitude and the way he spoke to us and other customers wasn’t very professional or polite.
Advice to the owners: before putting out groupons to increase customers, try fixing your bbq sauce or put the maple garlic on your ribs instead. Give larger portions of cheap sides to make customers feel like they’re getting more.
All in all, it wasn’t horrible but for the prices it wasn’t at all worth it. If you want to get the groupon and a good deal then my advice is to dress warm, stay away from the bbq sauce, get the chicken wings (good and filling) and try to get the female waitress. She seemed much more polite.
Don’t expect much from this place.

Simon is right. I hated my chicken and waffle sangy. What happened, guys? The waffles were dry, I would guess reheated in the MICROWAVE. The chicken was the size of a toonie. I was kicking myself for not ordering some BBQ.
Highlights — DFP, especially the batter, yum. And the Bacon Ice cream. It was high quality vanilla with lots of candied bacon, in fact you could make that at home, nicely. There was even an incredibly flat strip of bacon as a garnish. The green sprig that was also used as garnish — unnecessary.
Some really great photos/​décor and in the beautifully restored Hudson Bay building on Douglas. It was busy here for a Tuesday night in DT Victoria, we do not know if it was due to the popularity of the place or Dine Around.

Dine Around and Stay in Town 2014 $ 20 menu had very good portions for price (at least in comparison with downtown Vancouver prices). Beet salad and meatloaf were both really decent and filling portions, though the meatloaf probably doesn’t really showcase what they can do with the BBQ. Overall tasted pretty good. Bacon ice cream turned out to be vanilla ice cream with candied bacon bits mixed inside. Disappointing, but my friend loved it.
TIP: Get more BBQ sauce for your meatloaf.
She however hated her chicken waffle. There was real white breast meat, but such a miserable portion — basically two chicken McNuggets worth. Stick with BBQ meats here.
House seasoning is pretty decent — slightly sweet, not super-​salty.

There is nothing remotely green aside from pickles on the menu, and everything else is quite bland. This place is good for senior citizen tour groups, or maybe high school sports teams. If you want BBQ that is well seasoned, go somewhere else. You won’t even want to lick your fingers afterwards, it’s that tasteless. Fatty food should taste awesome; I have no idea how they can screw it up. I’ve been back a few times hoping it was just an off night, but it seems to be the norm.

Liked it better when it was out in Langford…
Ordered the same as I would in the old location: Beef brisket on a bun. On this visit at the «new» location, the brisket was well smoked, but dry, and not enough BBQ sauce. I was naughty and used ketchup. I should have asked for more sauce. And the beef wasn’t sliced, it was in crumbles, falling all out of the bun, making for a knife and forker. The «random starch» side was quite a good scalloped potato — turnip. Free pop refills is good.
There were four of us: two said their order was wow (a spinach salad, and a 2 egg, shack fries, fresh fruit and back bacon, etc.); myself and another (pulled pork) said it was just ok.
The exposed ceilings, concrete floors and industrial interior makes for a cold atmosphere. Not the cozy diner when it was out in Langford. The kitchen has no door, so you see and hear more than you want. Service was spotty. Meh …

This restaurant has gone through many phases since startup, some that left me unimpressed. I decided to take my wife for her first visit with a Groupon.
The popcorn prawns were very nice, and the sauce on the slaw was great. The hush puppies we weren’t impressed by, they were very heavy and dense, and a little dry.
The Thunda Burger was really good, the only thing that could possibly improve it would be a slice of onion and a slice of tomato. The yam fries were also good.
Overall good.

Our hotel person gave us his recommendation to have a special meal. The four of us had sandwiches: beef brisket, chicken and bacon, sloppy joes, and pastrami. I would say that the food was a little better than average. Certainly not worthy of a four or five star rating. Service was good, and the atmosphere was very comfortable.

Tried them when they were on the West Shore and wasn’t that impressed. After seeing them on «you gotta eat here» my hubby and I decided to try again.
We had the fried pickles and deep fried prawns for appys. The pickles were ok, but the prawns were excellent. They were fresh and cooked perfectly. The batter was crunchy but tended to fall off the prawn while eating. The seafood sauce mostly just tasted like ketchup. I only got 5 for 11 $ so I feel like that was a little expensive.
For our main we had the in house home made sausage and the pork ribs. The sausage was excellent. Nothing more to say about it. The ribs however were a let down. They tasted like they had good seasoning, but were dry, overcooked and tough to even put a knife into. I honestly wish I had sent them back.
The side of macaroni and cheese was a disapointment but I did enjoy the butter cabbage quite a bit.
Overall i would go back for the prawns and the sausage but certainly not their ribs.

When they were open out in the WestShore we ate there quote a bit. It was a small place but the food was amazing. Now in their new home, the atmosphere match the amazing food. Highly recommend!

Went with Victoria friends with high hopes, but mediocre and expensive, don’t waste your time or money. Meats had weird flavours, maybe liquid smoke? Corn bread — well that’s what they said it was! But worst of all — bartender didn’t know how to make a Negroni. I could have showed him, but not interested. Disappointed.

Was looking forward to some good BBQ but this was just ok. I tried the meat plate to get both the pulled pork and the brisket and both arrived drenched in sauce; a sauce that simply sweet with no other flavors. No notes of spice or vinegar. While the brisket smelled well smoked the sweetness overwhelmed any smokey flavor it may of had. It is hard to tell once everything I’d bathed I sauce but I wood say neither the pork or the brisket was particularly juicy. Yam fries were great, the mac & cheese was average.

I was really hoping for some out of the world bbq and friends of my sister in-​law raved about this place. It was good, but not great for the price.
Hot wings, I got it with their Killer sauce and all it was was Franks Red Hot, never have I been to a high end bbq that used bottled sauce.
I also had their Smoke Shack Stack and the sandwich was good. It lacked a sauce. Had to ask for their regular bbq sauce and pour/​dip the sandwich in it. All in all it was a little dry. Their bbq sauce is good. They need to use more of it!
Also had their Hushpuppies and it was alright, half was over done, I’m pretty sure they burnt a batch and split the burnt ones between the two plates we ordered. Seriously who does that?!
Also had their grits and it was not something I really liked. The rest of my friends loved it though. It had greens in it which I wasn’t a fan of.
Then I also had their pulled pork sandwich and that was great! Very saucy. Like I said, their sauce is good. they need to put more of it on the other dishes. I would have been happy if their wings were used with the sauce but I wanted some heat. Just not Franks Red Hot.
All in all, it was a mixed bag.

I’ve been to this place three different times trying many different things on the menu. Honestly the ribs are not good at all they need to cook them longer they are filled with fat and are tough especially the pork ribs. The beef ribs were much better in my opinion. When i received the BBQ’d Chicken it was under cooked and still pink inside i had to send it back. The service was good. They haven’t open at there current location very long hopefully the can get it together. One the brighter side of things the Macaroni and cheese is amazing and the deep fried breaded Oysters were the best that i’ve tried! I rarely give poor reviews but i have given this place ample time to impress. I might go back in 6 months see if things have improved.

I was really excited to come her with my friendsas I heard great things. I have to say i was a bit dissapointed. we got the meat platter and I’ve had better. The pulled pork and yam fries were my favorite part. The ribs, both pork and beef were not very tastful or tender at all. and there were many cuts ofthe brisket that were too dry (there also were a couple juicy pieces as well). Lastly i didn’t feel our waitress was that outgoing or welcoming, We all went thirsty for the majority of the meal. If I was to come here again it would be to try the chicken.

The Good: Free WiFi, friendly and professional service, interesting mixed drinks, comfortable atmosphere (though the music was a little loud). The BBQ was great quality and a good price.
The Meh: The fried pickles consisted of 5 pickle spears (not whole pickles) deep fried in possibly the worst batter imaginable. Soggy, corn-​dog type batter that didn’t work with the pickles at all. I’ve had deep fried pickles in the past and they seem to work best with a much crispier batter (cornflake etc.) The smoked tomato soup earned points by being non-​cream based, but lost points with the inclusion of tomato stems? Stick-​like seasoning bits? I was spitting out things that reminded me fish bones with every couple spoonfuls.
The *facepalm*: If you’re going to have the kitchen clearly visible from where people stand to pay, make sure your kitchen staff keep their fingers out of their noses.

Meat lovers rejoice! Smoken Bones has moved into Victoria from their original location in Langford.
One of my favourite spots. Their pulled pork is the best in town (better than Pig… sorry guys). If you like meat, get the BBQ taster!
Smoken Bones uses local ingredients and is a member of the Island Chef’s Collaborative.
You will know you are near the restaurant when you can smell the BBQ.
The yam fries are great… and so are the carrots. There is a reason they have been rated one of the top 20 places to eat in Canada.