Smoke Shack

Great things to say about this place, one critique. The food was reasonably priced, came out at reasonable timing, and was absolutely delicious. I grew up in a family that smokes meat and it felt like home. The service was spot on and enjoyable to interact with. The ambiance gives almost like a speak-easy vibe. Excluding their outdoor dining, it's like a hole in the wall type of place. Rustic ambiance and a nice bar with a quality whiskey and bourbon menu. Great for a bachelor party, and I'd actually love to take my little brother here when he turns 21. My one critique is the barbecue sauce selection. The sauces just paled in comparison to the meat. The world of bbq has many opinions so it's not easy to please everyone. I'd just like to have a sweeter, brown sugar/bourbon sauce. Something more towards a glaze. Other than that, I really appreciate having an establishment like this and I hope they thrive. I'd recommend it to anyone. They even have vegan options (they have seitan which has a lot of protein so gym bros, should really try it out)

Critic Rating: 3.7Scores:- Food: 3.0 * 40% = 1.2- Service: 5.0 * 20% = 1.0- Ambiance: 5.0 * 15% = 0.75- Value for Money: 3.0 * 15% = 0.45- Uniqueness: 3.0 * 10% = 0.30Here's a formula that expresses the quality of a restaurant on a 1-5 scale, considering key factors. Each factor is rated from 1-5, and then weighted according to its importance. Formula: Q = wf*F + ws*S + wa*A + wv*V + wu*U wf + ws + wa + wv + wuWhere:- Q = Overall Restaurant Quality- F = Food Quality- S = Service - A = Ambiance - V = Value for Money - U = Uniqueness FactorWeights (w):- wf = Weight of Food Quality (40%)- ws = Weight of Service (20%)- wa = Weight of Ambiance (15%)- wv = Weight of Value for Money (15%)- wu = Weight of Uniqueness (10%)___________________________________________________Comments:Cool location, nice patio area for watching the game.

Stopped here during a conference on a Saturday night in 2024. The wait staff were incredible! Caleb was awesome and was very attentive to us. First, their bourbon menu is extensive and reasonably priced so make sure to order something you wouldn't normally try. Drinks: I had the pecan old fashioned. It was really good! Not too heavy on the pecan flavoring and it didn't overpower or get overpowered by the bourbon. Starters: the CORNBREAD was a 11/10! The honey butter was the perfect topping as its sweet flavor oozed when you bit into the warm, moist bread. You need to get this. The PIG MAC was good. Typical Mac n cheese flavor (not super rich) and the meat was tender enough. It comes out without sauce so you have the option of which sauce you want to use on the table. 10/10 would recommend.

Heard good reviews about smoked meats at Smoke Shack. The menu seemed to brag more about the bourbons in the cozy little shack. At 1:00 p.m., the lunch crowd had cleared out on a Wednesday, but the music blasted so loud conversation was difficult. Four of us chose very different lunches. The brussels sprouts were burned beyond recognition. My house salad with honey mustard was interesting. Pieces of brisket were interesting as well. Nothing comparable to Heaven's Table on North. Finding good smoked meats in Milwaukee is still a challenge.

Smoke Shack is definitely the place to come to, if you want to finish off that long work week. Even on nights that you just want to chill out, and have a beer or cocktail then you have to come here. As for the food, even though the main thing here is smoked meats. There's still other of options, for people that prefer a meatless meal. The platter/combo meal we ordered was enough to feed 3 people. Everything was good, but my only complaint would be. I wish the ribs were a little more tender.

As others have said, unassuming spot tucked in downtown MKE. We tried the blackberry bramble, poppop's soda, Smokey ol fashioned and toasted pecan ol' fashioned and all 4 were fantastic in their own right. The brisket was tender, but not very Smoky tasting, the 5 bbq sauce options helped in that arena. The sausage was amazing. For side, we did the 4 cheese Mac which was heavenly. I'm not a huge mac & cheese fan, but I was blown away by the creamy gooey goodness. The pasta wasn't over cooked and the cheese was divine. Don't sleep on the creamed corn either!! Bbq corn with some green pepper flavor on the end, seasoned to perfection. The combo also came with sweet & spicy pickles and creamy coleslaw. Opted to do the Campfire pie for dessert and it didn't disappoint. The bruleed marshmallow, decadent brownie with chocolate chips and graham crust hit the spotThe brisket didn't really stand out to me, but everything else, including the service, leave me eager to come back on my next visit to Milwaukee The food and drinks were too good to take time to get pics ‍

I went in when it was not busy, the server took my order right away and the food was ready fast. I ordered take out and when I got back and ate it was still warm because of the packaging which was good. They had a selection of barbecue sauces with a nice range of sweet to heat. Overall very nice establishment.

Brisket had very good flavor. The pulled pork and chicken were just ok. The ribs had a very nice flavor but were way too dry. The brussel sprouts were a hit though.

I tried smoke shack for the first time and I ordered a brisket entree the cost was $19.50 with 2 sides. So I asked for mac and cheese and Cole not knowing it included a small Cole slaw as well. Which that's not my concern. I asked for Tex's and house bbq sauce which was missing in addition the child size portion of brisket. For the cost versus the amount of meat it's highly lopsided. The Cole slaw was tasteless and the cream corn was like paste, it was edible though. The ribs were meh. I believe the cooks here really do not know barbecue. I won't revisit this place.

Really great service and food. Visiting from California and was really impressed with the barbecue. They were great at telling me what didn't have pork as well