Smith & Jones

I really like this place. The calamari with mango salsa is to die for as is the florida dolphin and penne. I prefer it to Johnny V’s which is a much more expensive option.

***I LOVE their Banana Cream Pie and the live music!***
My experience has aIways been just Dinner.
But from what I know about dinner: I love the Basil Pesto Flatbread (huge portion and delicious). Also the Iron Skillet Fresh Florida Dolphin (with Melon Salsa, the closest it gets to «fusion») is delicious. Their Banana Cream Pie is HEAVENLY!!! Also the Red Velvet Cake and their chocolate Molten-​like cake (can’t remember the name). Great desserts, full bar (good martinis), GREAT ATMOSPHERE — somewhat loud so you can’t really talk there, but they have such AMAZING musicians, you SHOULD shut the front door :-).
Staff is very friendly and they do Valet Parking. You should go!

My mother insisted that we meet up there, since she had pressed time and still wanted to see us for eats. At first, we thought it was a sports bar, but then you could see that it was more than that. We were being served by someone whose shift just ended after getting the appetizers (pulled chicken quesadillas, which were yummy).
My entrée was Uncle Betty’s «Meatloaf» — don’t we sometimes eat something because they describe something that sounds so interesting? I also haven’t had meatloaf in a while. not the usual thing to get outside home, either. Well, sorry, Uncle Betty. I might have to try another dish next time. I couldn’t finish it because it had an nasty taste that left my mouth, which led me to borrow some of Ralphie’s cranberry sauce. then I went with a glass of Riesling to wash that down.
I remember in the wine list they had a bottle for a few grands. that must be some special wine.
Next time!

Was on Las Olas Blvd and stopped in randomly. We were just looking for some simple food and weren’t expecting much. We were quite surprised. The food here was really good. Use of fresh ingredients was the reason. I had the Mahi Mahi Tacos and they were amazing. Also had the fries and the chips which were quite nice. My date had the Potabello burger and she had nothing but raves. Was nice to sit out on the ‘porch’ area, eat, drink and relax. Service was great too!

Been here a few times since my last review and sucky date. No more rubbery gator fritters (and I now have a cool regular date.) :)
Still great flatbreads here, and the specialty martinis are pretty darn tasty. So are the sliders. If you’re strolling (all the way to the end) of Las Olas– this place is worth a visit.
p. s. Live music sometimes, too — and $ 3 valet.

Unilocalers are being tough on this place! I suppose the head chef and I share some eccentricities in common.
First, I love mexican food. Fajitas, burritos, the whole gamut. Even more so, I have a small obsession with spiciness, especially, chili peppers and adobe sauce. So, imagine how happy I was when my grilled chicken sandwich came out with some delicious homemade guac (guacamole for the newcomers) and a spicy chile sauce that packed a perfect punch… alliteration :). It was everything I love about food neatly packed into a buttered bun.
My cousin ordered the «Chicken Club Sandwich Soup.» Her soup came out with the rest of our entrees, and she asked where her sandwich was. I guess the name sort of explains the dish, but there was no sandwich headed her way. The waiter explained, «It’s everything thats in a Club Sandwich in the soup.» (For those of you who have seen Zoolander: «In the Computer?» type moment) Mmmhmm. No one at our table fancied the miscommunication.
On to dessert! The brownie… I mentioned the chefs chili obsession right? For better or for worse, dessert was not spared from the hotness. After my great meal I was looking for some relief from my fiery sandwich to no avail. The Brownie was hotter than the Las Olas pavement.
My P.O.V.:
Lunch: Check
Spicy food: Check +
Dessert: … Never Again
Waiter Attentiveness: Below Avg.
Menu Variety: Above Avg.
= 3 stars

Starting off with my drink: I order a dry Hendricks Martini. I specified «very cold.» a twist, and once again: «the most important thing about my martini is that it should be very, very cold.»
It arrived almost warm, with three olives! I shook my head. My wife decided that she wanted a beer. She asked for it. It never came.
The waiter came for our order. He took it. Went to the kitchen. Came back. Still no beer.
My Hendricks: warm. No beer. A bad start.
OK – I order the baby back ribs. Perfect! The potato chips Perfect. My wife order a hamburger – not bad. Better than most – but could be better. By the way, the waiter never asked how she wanted it. It came medium rare which was okay, I guess – but shouldn’t a waiter ask?
We ask for the beer again… no apology. But the beer comes.
Check – $ 55.00.

Not to be confused with the Smith and Wolensky.
If you are expecting a hearty variety of steaks, you will be disappointed. Luckily, I pulled up the menu online before arrival and quickly glanced at the offerings. No menu item decisions were made, but at least I knew what to expect.
For American Fare, S&J is average. There’s about 6 different flat bread options to share with the table as a starter. There are specials, one only comes to mind called Thanksgiving. There’s BBQ items, Sandwiches and Burgers. Three meat options and 2 pasta options. So, technically a little bit of everything. But really, no WOW’s.
Dessert was interesting and tasty. We tried the strawberry shortcake with orange frosting which was big enough for four and decadent. The humungus chocolate cake slice was also good, but strangely came with a small cup of cold malted milk. You guessed it, I double dunked.
A plus about this Las Olas establishment is that it’s off-​set from the hustle bustle with a cute brick atmosphere and seating outside. The service came with a smile and it was reasonably priced.
I know there are better places to dine at in the area. It’s just there. And, if it wasn’t for the company, this dining experience would have been bland.

I heard that the head chef here was a competitor on Iron Chef. Unfortunately, the menu doesn’t reflect what you’d think would be Iron Chef chops.
Sure, there is a special note at the bottom of each menu that reads «we make everything PAINSTAKINGLY by hand… blah blah blah…» Also, the manager came over to make sure we were happy. Plus 1 star.
If I could just make chicken quesadillas and «flat breads» I can open a restaurant too?! Really?
Our server was friendly, but the food was way overpriced for what it was… glorified bar food. BBQ chips were awesome, but still second to Smoke Daddy’s in Chicago. Ch-​ch-​ch-​check it out if you want to, but the only thing that’s overwhelming about Smith and Jones is it’s average-​ness.

Pretty sure The Boy would say 3 stars is generous, but we apparently had completely different experiences during the same visit. Overall, service was robotically perfect and food was exactly what I was craving but totally disappointing to him. We would have liked to order an appetizer but nothing sounded, well, appetizing (ha.ha…get it? appetizing/appetizer…oh nevermind). I had wanted a philly cheese steak sandwich, which they had and though it was nothing to write home about, it was exactly what it should have been. Shaved meat, cheese, sauteed onions. Coulda used more mayo, but… I pretty much always think that. Should there be a next time I will definitely request a side of may and extra cheese. I subbed out fries for mac & cheese, which after tasting The Boy’s fries I was a little regretful… those fries were by far the best thing served. I liked the mac & cheese though he said it was bland. To be fair, I looooove me some mac & cheese so if they don’t completely screw it up I’m pretty much excited. This would not be on the top of my mac & cheese hot spots, but it was sufficient.
The Boy ordered the BBQ pork sliders which come with mango coleslaw on top… they were … well… they tasted like hot dogs. Now, I love hot dogs due to lotsa childhood camping and summer pool parties, but apparently The Boy was expecting something… well…not hot dog flavored. I can’t tell, but I think it might have been the combination of the BBQ sauce (which there really wasn’t that much of) and the coleslaw. The mini buns were quite good, though nothing particularly special about them. He was also definitely not full from the trio of mini sandwiches.
I wanted to try a dessert to see if they could redeem themselves, but nothing really jumped out at us (chocolate chipotle brownie sounds like something that should be delicious but they’d probably end up screwing up so we passed). Since this place is located on Las Olas, we simply walked down the street and enjoyed the people watching/​really weird shops in our search for something sweet.
Oh, and valet is $ 3 but street parking is like $ 1/​hr… I don’t know why you would pay a valet at this place, there was plenty of street parking right in front. I’m pretty sure they just wanted to be fancier than they are.

The one positive thing I can say about the food here is that it is definitely not bland. However, the execution is just not there. We started with alligator cakes, and they were covered with a mustard sauce that was so strong that all we could taste was mustard. Next, I had the «pig on a pie» which the server recommended. It was barbecued pulled pork on top of flatbread, which sounds really good, in theory. Unfortunately, the whole thing just tasted like very strong barbecue sauce.
I think the chef might just be too inexperienced to understand concepts like nuance and complexity of flavors. When I order alligator cakes, I want to taste the alligator. When I order flatbread with pulled pork on it, I want to taste the pork. The sad thing is that I generally like the flavors of mustard and barbecue sauce. However, this just goes to show you that even good ingredients can be used for evil when they fall into the wrong hands.

I came here for an early dinner and to catch whatever was left of a ballgame I was interested in. The server put the game on the main projection screen which was nice and big. The restaurant was very nicely laid out and the staff was awesome.
The menu offered many good options and the group I went with was very happy at the end of the night. I had the BBQ pork sliders and they were really good. I had a taste of one of their flatbreads too and it was quite tasty. We went with a regular to this place and his praises of the staff and food were right on the mark.

I like this place. The main thing that sticks out in my mind as I type this is the great service. My server was Chase. He was professional, down to earth, and pretty damn cool. He explained the menu and how S&J has a great vibe. Mr. V you better buy this dude some drinks because he represented you and the restaurant in an unbelievable way.
I started off with the small Smith Salad. I loved the house dressing, which is a vinigrette. It had a very nice flavor to it. I then had THE Cuban Sandwich with homemade Fries. This was pretty good. I have eaten a lot of Cuban Sandwiches and I rank this one near the top. The meat they used was described as roasted lemon cumin pork and honey glazed ham. The meats and the well toasted bread made this sandwich stand out. It was a different take on a classic sandwich and it’s worth trying. I would love to hear what other people think.
Remember to tell them Dan sent you and ask for the 25% lunch discount card you can use for a party of 6 Monday thru Thursday until November and Stay Hungry!

Yep. Liked this joint.
Stopped in for lunch while on vacation with the family and really couldn’t find fault (and yes, I look). Great waiter (Bobby) took great care of us and pretty darn good food right on Los Olas.
I’d go back… and I actually did. Might do it again.

I’ve been there for a couple of weekend dinners and for weekday lunches. The experiences are like Jekyll and Hide.
On weekend nights, the place is full, the food is pretty tasty and the live music is fabulous. NOTE: Do not show up at 9:00pm expecting to have a conversation over dinner. The music is so loud, all you can do is focus on your food and pretend nobody else is with you. I recommend making a reservation for 8:00 (along with the rest of the cattle) and listen to the music over coffee and dessert.
On weekday afternoons the place is deserted. The service is spotty and the food (practically the same dinner menu… if not the same) is just uninspired.
Their flat breads are really good and crowd pleasers if you are with a group that’s undecisive about which appetizers to order. They don’t sit well, so don’t bother taking any home if you have left-​overs.
I’ve sent their salads back a couple of times because of bruised and less-​than-​fresh greens. I don’t make a big deal about it and both times they replaced them with something else.
I like their BBQ sliders, the meat loaf, the Thanksgiving dinner (which is not really) and their French fries.

I wanted to like this place based on the «value» concept and I did but there’s limits to what they have to offer. I had the portebello flatbread with goat cheese — quite yummy — but not outrageously good. I think the balsamic drizzle overpowered the other flavors. I did love the crispiness of the flatbread (I’m into texture) and it was a nice light appetizer.
The tomato and mozzarella salad really missed the mark by using romaine lettuce instead of including any basil. It just didn’t have balance of flavors.
Our server was outstandingly good.
We sat on the street side and it was a Sunday afternoon, sometimes the street noise overpowered any possible conversation. It’s not easy dealing with cars, ambulences, etc but it took away from the enjoyment of being outdoors on a balmy Sunday afternoon.
I’d like to go back and listen to some of the live music they have during the week and maybe even dance a little if they are good.

It might be the curse of 1313, but like every restaurant in this location before it, Smith & Jones is nothing great. Still good enough to enjoy, but not the gourmet they want to think it is.
Food:
Smith & Jones is envisioned as comfort food, traditional Southern dishes and barbeque all wrapped into an upscale dinning experience without the cost. The menu reflects that American cuisine with dishes like mac and cheese, pulled pork sliders, pot pies and meatloaf, but with a large Floridian influence: Alligator Cakes, Florida Marlin and a lot of mango.
I did partake in that gator appetizers, and it was okay. Definitely real gator, chewy and delicious, but the presentation was a bit off. The dish looked like it should be perfect, but there were a lot of flavors that weren’t necessary, like the olive oil on the bottom of the plate. I associate comfort food with strong and filling meals, not intricate platings.
Considering I was there for lunch, I opted for the turkey club. The triple decker had two main sticking points. One, the herb mayonnaise was great, cream and not too overpowering. And two, the bacon was way too crispy. Think Beggin Strips hard. They weren’t strips of bacon, but rather bits that were probably left too long in the pan. The sandwich hit the spot for me, save for the hard bacon, and the french fries were well done, but the menu’s really not that innovative. And granted, comfort food doesn’t necessarily have to be, but for what this place wants you to think it is, one would hope for a little more variation on the originals.
Venue:
Well, I must say I was astonished. Gone is Louie Louie, an establishment on Las Olas more than a decade old. And in its it place is the newest restaurant from a legend on the boulevard. Johnny Vinczencz of the popular upscale Johnny V further west on the street opened his new restaurant hoping to fill a void Las Olas is hurting for: with the closing of jazz club and restaurant O’Hara’s, Smith & Jones has weekly live music (on Wednesdays for now, but check as this may change).
The exposed brick and dark wood interior does work better now than it did as an Italian restaurant, I’ll give them that. If it weren’t for the skylights the darkness would really lend itself to the air of jazz and Southern influence. Seating for over 200, there’s and indoor and outdoor areas, a private room and a large bar.
Good thing about Smith & Jones is the low prices as compared to Johnny V up the street. They will get some more of your money if you want a different side with your entrée ($ 4 each), but it’s still one of the cheapest places to eat on the strip with everything under $ 20. Be weary though, because while the service is nice and they’ll refill your beer, $ 5 for a pint of Stella is NYC prices, not SoFla. Still, the place is worth a look if you want some BBQ and jazz.