Smoking Jay's BBQ

On a trip and decided to stop here in my Mother's Hometown and have some bbq . At first the parking lot was bone dry not a soul in sight , but don't let that fool you ! The bbq is great and the owner jay has great service! Thanks again brother!

Friday night and the end of a busy week. I asked my wife what we wanted to do for dinner. She was considering the options and mentioned having a taste for barbecue pork. My mind thought of more well known chains, and questioned if a local grocery might have something to offer. And I landed on Smoking Jays, which is located just a few minutes from our downtown Omaha residence. I asked her if she wanted to be adventurous and she said yes. We were feeding three adults. She wanted a barbecue pork sandwich. My son wanted ribs, coleslaw and fries. I decided to get chicken, which like the ribs, comes as a meal with two sides. The sandwich gets one side, and she wanted waffle fries. For the purposes of sampling, I decided to get onion rings and potato salad, and let everyone taste whatever they wanted. Our two dinners and sandwich meal costs $76. I was concerned about how much food would be given. We all ended up with leftovers for later and were full. My half chicken was packed with a piece of garlic toast and a square of cornbread, which I thought was a little odd, but I appreciated the cornbread because the garlic toast was very obviously seasoned with garlic salt. The onion rings were also a bit salty. They seem to be homemade and battered, so tasty but with a bit of salt with each bite. I tasted a waffle fry and didn't taste any salt. They were part of my wife's sandwich and she enjoyed her meat and the fries and said they were not salty. The rack of ribs were very tasty and very much "falling off the bone". My son enjoyed the half of the ribs he was able to eat at the first sitting. He had some coleslaw and I had potato salad for sides, both of which were fine. Almost sure they are pre-made items, but they were acceptable. The final comment is about accessibility to the store. You can only get in by making a right turn, from the right hand lane, on 13th, and to exit during the rush hour traffic, I made a right hand turn onto Vinton (you can enter this way, too, but you need to have a blinker on and be very clear about your intentions) and when you get on Vinton, you need to be prepared to turn right again to navigate back to the Old Market area. So if you are downtown and in the mood for barbecue, it is a good option to check out, especially to bring home a lot of tasty food.

When I saw this place I was very excited to check it out. Since I was new to the Omaha and just getting here from Texas. This was the first BBQ restaurant I visited and I must say that I was very disappointed.I like the restaurant decorations and the staff was very friendly. I even had the pleasure of talking to the owner and we had excellent conversation. From the discussion he convinced me to get a sample of most the meats and he had me excited to dive in. I so glad that I did not add the beef rib, because I can't imagine that would have been any better.Once I arrived home and opened my food the visual was absolutely disappionting and things went down hill from there. The meat had pretty decent flavor but it was rather dry (not moist). Everything looked like it was a few days old it really killed my adrenaline.Everything was mixed together and it just looks horrible. I think the owner should have talked to the cooks in the back, so they could have prepared me a plate that matched his hype; because the two were definitely disconnected.I always love to support small business but I can honestly say the I will not try this place again. Everything looked like 3 day old leftovers. I did not even try to finish my food.

Left the zoo and needed some lunch, fortunately found Smokin' Jays on Google maps. It's in a small building on the street corner. We had the best barbecued brisket we have ever had. My wife had the brisket reuben sand wich which was also delicious. The restaurant was tidy and comfortable and the service was welcoming. If you're ever in Omaha, we recommend it highly.

This is your typical small family BBQ joint. The food was good and the service was good. Pricing was fair. It's a bit out of the way if your staying in downtown Omaha but it's worth an Uber ride. If I ever find myself in Omaha again I would eat here.

This place is all around amazing! The brisket is some of the best that I have ever had, not just in Nebraska but nation wide! Sides were amazing too. I highly recommend trying Jays potato's if you like mouth watering goodness. Service could not have been better and hospitality was out of this world!

Bro.Corn bread dry. Meat dry.. sauce taste like ketchup.Potato salad no seasoning Beans try again. Whoever is on here saying this is good I know you lying!! I'm from Texas standards are high .. but yall ain't even on the board !Just nasty

The brisket was awesome. We ordered to go and had it for supper. They give you a lot of brisket. This is the second time we've been there and like I said it was awesome.

I made a wrong turn in Downtown Omaha, turned out to be the best thing I could've done. I saw the smoking Jays sign and figured what the heck. the ribs were fall off the bone delicious and the Brisket was top notch. The service was awesom. not from around here but will be a regular when I'm around. everyone should check this place out.

Bad "BarBQue". Waited 2 years from the last experience and it was horrible food and service. Dry brisket and you have to buy sauce. Unheard of to have to buy BarBQue sauce. Pick another and thank me later