Smoqued California BBQ

If you’ve ever wanted a meal where everything is just meh than this is the place for you. I went with a group and we ordered something from all over the menu, everything lacked seasoning and flavor. The waffles in the chicken n waffles were burnt. I have eaten bbq all over the world and this place isn’t far better than the mcrib. The only thing I would ever order off of their menu is the avacado fries. They were the only thing that was actually good.

I walked in right when they open the doors at 11am. My server Kyle was very attentive and nice! I ordered the pulled pork nachos and a side of mac & cheese. Best decision I’ve ever made! The portions where pretty big, I could have easily shared this meal with someone else. I’ll definitely be returning for their food and customer service!

I love Smoqued, but where is my chili-​mac? Ok, so I am hete with my buddy, enjoying a nice Alpine Duet and some burnt ends. Don’t skip this meat candy. Anyway everything is great until I try to order my meal. No chili-​mac. Bummer. I really enjoyed that extra rich side. Not for everyone but i loved it. Fine, I didn’t come here just for this amazing side, and I will be back since it is my favorite BBQ joint in Orange county. But please, I would have paid an extra few bucks for that side.

After circling the circle a couple of times trying to decide on what to have for our Valentines Day lunch, me and my wife decided on Smoqued California BBQ… and we are happy we did. The waitresses where super friendly and knowledgeable, especially after telling them we have never been there. She let us know what to expect from each one of the their sauces and about the meats. I got the two meat platter and my wife got the Hangover burger. Neither one disappointed. I will say the only thing that I was not impressed with was their Mac and Cheese. But I was surprisingly impressed with the avocado fries, especially since I was worried about the texture… they were amazing and add the sauce they serve along side it! WINNER! It was an all around great experience and I look forward to going back very soon.

Went in for a late lunch with my friend on a Friday. Not busy at all. There was only one server to tend to the 4 tables he had.
Food:
I ordered the 1 meat combo with beef brisket, mac and cheese and deviled eggs.
Mac and cheese comes in a skillet so it’s a pretty big portion. It was a good cheesy flavor, and wasn’t dry.
Deviled eggs came in 3. Topped with a smoked piece of bacon on top. Really like that side as well.
The brisket unfortunately came to us cold. But I was hungry and didn’t want to wait to ask for a new one. Meat was pretty tender though.
Not once was my water refilled or were we asked how our meal was after our food was dropped off. So minus one star for the service.
Will come back again and try their HH.

Been craving good barbecue lately found this place while shopping in old town orange. Gotta say the décor inside had me excited about how great the food might be because it looks nice. The ambience has the feel of eating outside with friends sharing stories and good laughs. But I was wrong we were being ignored by the waitress she helped two couples that had come in after us. Prices of the food were too high and the food is terrible barbecue tasted like heinze 57 and A1 gross. I got the bbq burger left a weird taste in my mouth and $ 16 and the Pattie is not even fresh it was previously frozen so let’s recap overpriced and frozen and bbq isn’t even anything close to bbq. My wife got corn on the cob for her side and kernels were actually visibly old. My son actually decided to make a fort out of his corn bread rather than eat it and I don’t blame him looked radioactive. You live and learn I guess but next time should live closer to a place known for good bbq and learn that shouldn’t be sold on the décor alone.

I love smoked BBQ. Too many people grill in California and think it’s real «que». So I was excited when I bumped into smoqued for lunch. I heard how they had won at a competition in Pechanga from the waiter and expected consistency overall. Imagine my disappointment when the links I ordered were scored, burnt, and dried out. There was no plumpness or juicyness and sank to the bottom of stomach like bricks. I would have given them a «1» if not for the waiter, the ambiance, and chili-​mac side. $ 15 for the two burned up links, they should have been embarrassed to serve. I am sure the brisket is great and award winning, they have lost my interest on the most simple dish— hot links. Shame on you smoqued, it definitely left me wondering how long ago these were made and what other old que they may be microwaving and serving up.

This is the best Smoked BBQ joint in SoCal. Loved the brisket, ribs & hangover burger. Great way to enjoy Saturday or Sunday afternoon with my family. Service is A+. Great service. Thank you!

Love the pulled pork fries! nice atmosphere and good variety of beers.

Pro tip: start your meal with the burnt ends. I don’t care if you ordered a three meat combo and intend on finishing the entire plate. Get the burnt ends — sweet, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I could eat these as my entrée and be satisfied.
However, my eyes are as big as my stomach. I ordered the pulled pork with a side of bacon and green beans. The bacon was wonderful — perfect combination of sweet, salty, and peppery! The green beans were also great, as they had tons of garlic (just the way I like it). The pulled pork I was indifferent towards — not the best I’ve had, but still pretty good. However, next time I think I’ll go with the ribs.
Overall, my first visit to Smoqued BBQ was a good one. Wonderful service, no waiting, and good food!

If you are a meat lover like myself this is your spot!!!
I’ve been here time and time again and they never disappoint.
My go to is the chicken, ribs, and fried avocados EPIC!!!
Service is awesome, sauces are tasty, and they have some killer beers on tap.
Vegan proof
I LOVE IT!!!

I wish I could give a 0 to this place. We ordered this plate with 2 meats and 2 sides for $ 20.99 and they fuckin rip you off. That’s how much they give you. This was my first time here and I am definitely not coming back. So stingy.

Get ready to wear some stretchy pants as you step food in this restaurant because you will be stuffed!!! I came here with my friend around 4:00pm and it was super dead. We weren’t that hungry but we decided to order a few things!
420 MAC ($ 11.99) bucket layered with corn bread, mac & cheese, texas chili, roja pork, bacon, corn, tomatoes, onions, cheese blend, sour cream and caramelized onions. Omg this is amazing! There was so many different ingredients in here! Loved the corn bread because it just soaks up all the other ingredients which makes it delish! Definitely share with more than two people!
SMOQUED PORK NACHOS ($ 12.99) pulled pork, shoestring fries, mac sauce, mixed cheese, onions, tomato, fresh jalapeño, chives and drizzled with our house bbq sauce. This was also another heavy dish that you would want to share. The pulled pork is so soft and tender! Really makes the dish taste wonderful.
We also got something off their happy hour menu. The fried pork belly. This was okay. I thought there was too much fat and it just tasted I was eating some slimy stuff.
Overall, I’d come back here with at least 4 people because afterwards, I just wanted to unbutton my pants, which I did when I got to the car ;) I can see this being so good the next day when you reheat it, or when you’re drunk ;)

Went here for lunch on a weekday. We were able to snag a table for 9 as the place wasn’t very busy. Service was pretty good and the food came out with good time~!
I went for the pulled port dish, served with 2 sides, a pickle and a piece of white bread (~18 $). the sides that come with the dish are fairly large, they definitely do not skimp out on those! I got the cole slaw and mac-​n-​cheese. Cole slaw came in a little bucket, but had a lot of juice on the bottom. I like the flavor but it got a bit vinigery near the end. The mac-​n-​cheese was amazing! I actually really liked it! Cheesy but not so much, nicely baked, only wish it had bacon in it or some kind of meat! The pulled pork was alright. They have 3 different sauces that you can pour all over the meat, which gives the meat a lot more taste. By itself, the meat was okay, a little bit of flavor but not as tender as I think it could have been.
Didn’t get a beer but they have a nice collection of beers on tap!

Food was absolutely amazing. Barbecue Shepards pie was delicious, especially when paired with the «habanero raz» barbecue sauce. Slightly drizzled over the macaroni to complete the exquisite dish. Our waitress Kendall was extremely nice, with fantastic customer service!
I am often times dining in the circle and this place is always a fantastic choice!

I have never really been a big fan of BBQ. So I wasn’t too excited to come here however, being a good sport I came here with my sister and her boyfriend. They love BBQ.
We ordered the FRIED PICKLES house breaded pickle chips, flash fried and served with spicy ranch $ 8.99. They were awesome and they even had one fried pickled egg in there which we were all little afraid of and then after we tried it were fighting over. It was the best part of the dish.
My sister ordered the STREET TACOS (3) pulled pork, cole slaw & avocado sauce on a fresh tortilla. $ 12.99 Which were amazing a lot better than I thought they would be. Great salsa as well.
Her boyfriend got the SMOKED BRISKET SANDWICH with caramelized onions on a challah bun $ 13.99. He let me take a bite and I thought it was good for BBQ. lol lol. I didn’t love their BBQ sauce that much; the Habanero Raz is a little sweet for my liking.
Lastly, I got the FRIED TOMATO SALAD panko fried green tomatoes topped with roasted corn, chopped smoked bacon, shaved Parmesan cheese & mixed greens drizzled with balsamic & a side of BBQ ranch $ 11.99. It was okay, I enjoyed both the tacos and the brisket better, maybe I should try the tri-​tip salad everyone raves about that.
OH! The best part of our lunch though was the Emperor Norton– a dry hopped Belgian-​Style Ale brewed with apricots. So good, very refreshing on a hot summer day. The beer alone gives them an added star. :) Mmmmmm!!!
Food 3 Stars with Beer 4.

So my brother Josh suggested we try this spot for lunch. We had our dad and my daughter in tow. This place looks really cool and has a great variety of beer. I tried the IPA, it was delicious.
I ordered the tips, ends, whatever the call em to start. My brother said it takes 48 hours to make it. Also the three little pigs sandwich with chili mac. The tips, ends, whatever might be one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten in a bbq place. Tender, moist, and basted with a delicious sweet sauce.
To die for.
The three little pigs sandwich too was out of this world. Pork, ham, bacon and gravy piled high on a quality bun. This sandwich is nothing less than incredible.
Im happy to report that the service here is very good and everyone else at my table raved about their selections. Im going to hit this place at least one more time before I head back to Florida.

So here’s the thing.
My dad is an EXCELLENT BBQer.
I am spoiled weekly by his skill and Big Green Egg so much to the point that I very rarely eat ANYONE else’s BBQ — unless the majority of a group wants it and I’m only feeling peckish.
I start my review with this preface to set the stage for this «a-​okay» review.
The good: This location is steps from the Orange circle, has both an early happy hour and a late happy hour, the place is cute and cozy and the food was easy to share and not break the bank.
The bad: the seating along the walls is half bench & half chairs and needs at least 1 table for two removed to allow breathing room between parties. We sat in the corner booth because we were a party of 5 but the party of two next to us was literally giving us stink faces as we sat down because there was maybe 10″ between our tables which apparently ruined their romantic date… Meanwhile the long table down the middle of the restaurant remained empty which left us confused why we were now essentially group dating and no one was going to get lucky.
But I digress… Once we decided we didn’t care, we checked out the happy hour menu and ordered the MVP of the night: the nachos — they are actually French fries coated with both a creamy cheese sauce and shredded cheese as well as jalapeños and tomatoes… They were scrumptious and huge! Enough for ¾ people to share for sure. We also ordered cornbread which was moist and deliciously sweet but the nachos were way better.
We then proceeded to order a 4 meat plate and a bacon/​ham dinner with fries, green beans and Mac and cheese for our family style meal — so awesome!
Apparently you can order 4 meats but they all must be different and the chicken is a half chicken so it’s $ 4 more… The point is we got Tri-​tip, ribs, chicken and some stringy fatty meat that I can’t remember the name of… The Tri-​tip was the best! Chicken was moist but I don’t eat the skin so I missed out on some flavor. Ribs were saucy but still moist and fell off the bone! I didn’t like the look of the fatty stringy meat so I left that.
The sides were hit and miss: the friess are these tasty show string kind (my favorite) and they seem to come sprinkled with Cajun spice, the green beans were tender and buttery which was great (I hate when they’re mushy) but the let down occurred with the Mac and cheese. I had set the bar pretty high when I ate the deliciously cheesy nachos just minutes prior but the skillet of Mac and cheese was so soooo dry I was confused if we had actually even ordered Mac and cheese — or just pasta cooked in butter with breadcrumbs and a few cheddar shreds sprinkled on top.
Seriously. I’m not even a Mac n cheese snob as some are but I know for a fact that BBQ places take Mac and cheese very seriously so I was sorely disappointed with the offering here. It looked good… But it just wasn’t. ((Insert sadface))
Overall, it wasn’t bad, especially for the price eating family style & splitting the bill ($ 15pp) but the Mac and cheese really made me lose faith in the BBQ community… and for that, with so much variety available around the Orange Circle, I think I’ll try somewhere else next time. Unless it’s happy hour — in that case, the nachos and I will have a quickie at the bar!

My friend and I stumbled upon this place just by walking by and smelling the wonderful BBQ aroma wafting from the storefront. We headed inside for an early dinner and immediately loved the ambiance of Smoqued. The exposed brick walls are contrasted with soft lights and chalkboard displays of beers currently on tap. Definitely a hipster haven.
Our waitress was kind enough to let us sample beers before selecting one. I ordered the Holy Gose which I really loved because it tasted like a Sweet Tart. It was pretty low in alcohol content (4.2%) but packed a punch with its initial tart notes. It definitely had a unique flavor that you don’t consistently find with others beers. My friend had a summer seasonal beer that was refreshing tasted like Shocktop.
The food definitely met our high expectations. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich which was served on a brioche bun with coleslaw. I slathered their original BBQ sauce was which really good with the perfectly cooked pulled pork. It was truly a melt-​in-​your-​mouth pulled pork BBQ sandwich. The entrée also came with a side so I ordered the baked mac n cheese. It was served in a skillet and looked really appetizing. It wasn’t too creamy which was nice because I was already having such a heavy meal. The portion of the mac n cheese was pretty big and could have been a small meal in itself.
Overall, I would definitely return. Great BBQ with a hipster, trendy atmosphere. I definitely want to try their avocado fries next time!

Meh, pretty disappointed with this place. I didn’t expect much coming here because of the reviews, but I was already getting ice cream across the street at a la minute so this was convenient and I gave it a shot since OC doesn’t really have that many BBQ places.
–Burnt ends: This was probably my favorite item of the meal. It was flavorful and fatty. So bad, but so good.
–3 meat platter: This comes with 3 meats of your choice + 2 sides. For the meats, we ordered the brisket, tri tip, and ribs. ALL were so dryyyyy so I was definitely not a fan. For sides, we ordered fries and mac & cheese. Unfortunately, they were out of deviled eggs when i went :(. The fries were surprisingly good and well seasoned. I am usually not a big mac & cheese person, but everyone raved about it so I gave in. It was too rich and heavy for me, but if you are a hardcore cheese lover, you will probably love this!
Overall, the food was whatever and really disappointed that all our bbq choices were so dry. Not worth the $$ in my opinion.