The Smoke Shop- Harvard Square

Ladies and Gentleman, I would like to kindly announce that this may be my new all time favorite restaurant in Harvard Square. WOW. This is finger-licking good stuff... great BBQ! The service here is super personable, we had a great time!My girlfriend and I stopped here for dinner on a Thursday and were thoroughly impressed. We are both fans of smoky flavor, so this was perfect. We ordered the Pit Boss combo (platter) to share, it was the perfect size and so delicious. It came with a choice of three meats and three sides-- for our meats we got the brisket, famous St. Louis ribs, and chicken wings. For our sides we got the pimento mac & cheese, zucchini salad, and Texas toast. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!The meats were so smoky and tender, cooked well. My favorite was definitely the brisket-- it was the best brisket I have ever had. I also really enjoyed the STL ribs-- a classic, you can't go wrong. The wings were great too! I liked the mixture of drums and flats. I wish they had a choice of sauce to go with though. The sides also did not disappoint! We really enjoyed the Texas toast, the garlic butter was FANTASTIC. The pimento mac & cheese was also great, awesome with breadcrumbs, though I would've liked a stronger pimento cheese flavor. And the zucchini salad was pretty good as well. Paired this with some pickled jalapeños, onions, watermelon, and sweet pickles-- can't go wrong at all!!! We were so full and happy! WE WILL BE BACK VERY SOON!

This is hospitality. Great service and food in a comfortable environment. My kids even noted how great our server was. Good value for kids meals too!!

TLDR: solid BBQ. Reasonable for Cambridge prices, it's always nice to have more options.

I take my BBQ super seriously. I was SO impressed here. My girlfriend and I made a reservation, however you'll be fine if you don't make one. Not only was the food out of this world, it was served wayyyy quicker than I thought. Our waiter was fantastic, offering great insight, advice, and humor for our first time here. We opted for the three meats and three sides combo, and we had a lot of trouble picking what components would make that up. You seriously cannot go wrong here. We ended up going with the brisket, ribs, wings, zucchini salad, texas toast, and mac and cheese. We thought wrong when we predicted having leftovers! We loved every aspect of this meal, including the wide variety of sauces that complemented everything. I would mention a more specific aspect of the meal that was particularly delicious, but I had way too much trouble picking a favorite. We will 100000% be back and I can't wait to take friends and family here!

Instead of being a maverick, it is sometimes well advised to just heed the advice of fellow foodies in certain areas of cuisine ESPECIALLY if they are absolute fanatics about it. Here, I was warned early during my move here that most - if not all - BBQ spots in the immediate area would be a letdown. It wasn't a case that they weren't good...but they were now missing an element of consistency of what made them once great.I obviously did not heed that advice and followed the other rule of thumb when it comes to BBQ. That is, be there when they first open as that is when the ingredients are often just off the smoke process and resting prior to being served. This way...nothing stays in hot hold for too long (or whatever holding process they choose to follow) that results in the meats drying out. So I placed an online order right before they opened thinking this would indeed be the case...and was absolutely wrong.I wouldn't dare say in the moment that I was served a reheat but it might as well be. Ribs were dry, brisket was really dry, and the pulled chicken was only edible after drowning it with the provided sauce. That in itself proved my fellow foodie right and I didn't want to tell him what had transpired to avoid the "I *told* you so".I am going to just guess that it was an off day. Everyone has one for all possible reasons. I'm going to sit this one out for a while and try again another time. In the meanwhile, I'll keep my hopes up that my fellow friend can be proven wrong by what this area has to offer.

Just had the combo plate of ribs and brisket with a side of beans and cornbread--a takeout order. Fabulous! Everything was delicious, the portion was generous, and service was speedy and courteous. Even found a parking spot right next to the restaurant. I'll be back for sure!

Was so excited that they brought back the collard greens I just had to order. There is something different about the Smoke Shop, and I'm not feeling it. It used to be my favorite place to eat in Boston. I would bring every date there, my friends, my family. I had a whole neighborhood hooked on their burnt ends like I was making illegal deals. Then they got rid of the collard greens, and the burnt ends weren't the same. Now burnt ends still not the same, and collard greens are not as delsish, and what the heck have they put in the beans? It's crunchy. I couldn't tell what it was, but it was like green pepper almost. Don't let me change your mind, tho. The food is still good. It's just not how it was a few years ago. Bring those chefs back, and let's have all the kitchens mirror each other so it's the same no matter which one you go to. Still the best BBQ out here.

Love this place. Inside is beautiful. The food is delicious and the online orders take less than 20 minutes. The staff are all nice and friendly. Very welcoming The food is worth every penny. This is my second time having this ultimate fried fish. Honorable mention to anyone who is into spicy foods The Clucking Hot chicken sliders.......are exactly that. I got through the first one and struggled with the second one. Anyone looking for a challenge should try. Back to the food. Yes the 1/2 sour pickles are exactly that.

We stopped in here for lunch today. Hubby got a beer & I got a backyard luau which was very good. Food was very good as well - BBQ peanuts were spicy! BBQ pulled chicken, Nashville Hot Chicken sliders, etc. Service was good as well. Would def stop in if ever in Cambridge again.

I was pretty stoked to try this place, but like everything else I've experienced in Cambridge, I left disappointed. Good setup inside with outdoor seating and plenty of tables and high tops. Took a bit for a waiter to come over and handed us waters and disappeared. The staff just hung out by the sidebar area talking with the bartender and you had to really make eye contact with them. We had our food order taken before we were offered any other drinks. Food did come out fast, and my first bite of burnt ends was delectable. However, everything after that was hard and dry. My wings were as dry as the Sahara as they had been way over cooked. The pickles were tasty and so was the corn bread. The only reason I got a second beer was that I had to stare at my waitress for a few minutes to get her attention to come over. Towards the end of our meal a new waiter showed up and asked if we needed boxes or deserts. He took over taking our payment and everything else. As we were leaving we saw our waitress in civilian clothes sitting down with the table of guys sitting behind us, guess she got off for the night? Pretty dog crap service, food was bland for the most part, wouldn't return if I was in town. Seems to be the running theme here.