Smokey Bones

252 Montgomery Mall
North Wales, PA 19454
(267) 436-4630
Website

I was invited to the opening month of Smokey Bones, a BBQ place in a mall. As usual, I am interested in free food and BBQ (even if it is from a chain, I don't discriminate).

The place was very well put together. Tons of TV's, a huge horseshoe shaped bar, and good lighting. The first problem encountered was that it was really cold in there. I mean frigid. I am fat, so I can take the cold, but the staff and customers were all complaining about it. Not a big deal, still working out the heating kinks.

I hated the menu. It was like a cross between Applebee's and Famous Dave's. The font was all over the place, the menu itself was like a rubix cube. Order this, get that. Some things were more with certain fries etc. Not a fan.

Next up came the beer. They had a good selection, and I chose something to drink while I waited for my wings. It is a good thing. Because the wings almost never came. It was over 45 minutes from ordering to having to remind the bartender I was waiting on an app. It was not just me. I heard tables screaming at the servers, asking for managers, and generally causing a scene all over the restaurant. It was a Tuesday night at about 25% capacity. There should not be a staffing issue. The manager was all over the place. I have never seen more angry customers in one sitting. It was embarrassing to be a part of.

Finally- the wings came. I was all ready to load up my criticism cannon, but damn if these weren't some damn good wings. Actually, I was shocked with how good they were. Smoked after a dry rub and coated with a sweet glaze, I would definitely order these if I were stranded at the mall while someone was shopping. You can see how well rendered they were with the meat pulling back off of the bone. Delicious.

Next up was a pulled pork and hot sausage platter. The pork was good (though if you mess up pulled pork you should be shut down), however the Texas toast it was served with was a bit much.

They had the standards of BBQ sauce to choose from- vinegar, sweet, spicy, mustard.

The babyback ribs were part of my second combo order. They were again, well cooked. Tender, fat rendered out, and the collagen was nicely cooked down.

A good smoke on these ribs (check the pink ring).

The baked beans were okay, but nothing special.

A vat of mac and cheese was another decent side, but very greasy and heavy.

The slaw was okay, vinegar based with a sprinkle of celery seed.

The hotlinks just didn't do it for me. They were too coarsely ground, and had been sitting (like most of the food that night for everyone).

Just to top it off, the loaded fries. The fries themselves were undercooked, which led to a bad intro for the rest of the crowd. cheese and bacon alone can't make loaded fries good.

Below is an idea of where this place is located. Some guy was waving when the pic was snapped, so he was hit with the anonymous dot. Despite the food being better than I had expected, the service and poor management was hard to get over. It was the first time I have seen a number of different tables literally yelling at the manager. If they got that sorted out (remember, it was the first month open), it might be a passable place to eat at the mall.