Smokehouse Live, 16,000 Square Feet of Smoked Meats, Cocktails, and Beers in The Village at Leesburg - Temporarily Closed

[genericeric]

Met up with some friends on Friday night to try Smokehouse Live in Leesburg.  No better way I can think of to describe this place than suburban Hill Country - same system, same basic theme, very similar menus.

The good - The bar area here is bright and very open with friendly service, a limited bar menu and good happy hour prices.  Nice selection of bourbons, some cocktails during happy hour for $5 and a tap selection that goes beyond the Shiner limitations of HC downtown.  But then...

The rest - Hill Country (normally I would say so many comparisons to HC would be unfair, but they don't seem to even be trying to hide the imitation, so...) somehow manages to pull off sticking a room full of bench tables together and have it not seem totally cold and impersonal.  Smokehouse Live can't say the same - plywood walls, disjointed floor plan and an oddly cramped 'market' ordering area made me miss some cheap and tacky kitsch and finished hardwood.

But hey, you're here for the barbeque, right?  The pulled pork was ok - not awesome, but not bad - wished it had more bbq flavor.  I will admit - I order lean brisket - and am used to this being a bit more on the dry side than the 'wet' orders, but this was so dry it was crumbling apart.  The beef shoulder (crod) is just a hard cut to work with - even after trimming visible tough areas I still had trouble chewing (not sure this is as much the restaurants fault as just a tough cut).  Texas Chainsaw sauce was ok, though could have used more heat for being the 'spicy' version; eastern carolina was a little close to being straight vinegar for me.

Please, for the love of God, if you only read one sentence in this write up, read this one: A 16oz portion of collard greens will cost you $14.25.  Just to make sure we didn't miss anyone there - A 16oz portion of greens will cost you $14.25.  Now to be fair, your little order card does list the price for each side in tiny little numbers inside the bubbles.  Generally being a person who is not so concerned with price that I thought a side order of collard greens for two people might break me, I didn't really pay attention - after all, its a side of greens and some turkey that was left over from the day before.  I would love to see their food cost for this.  Or for the $14.25 portion of macaroni and cheese.  Or for the $14.25 portion of lima beans and corn.

But moving on...

It was our server's first day, or at least appeared to be, so I hold her completely blameless but when you are half way through your meal and still do not have someone take your drink order, AND when you have flagged down three different staff members begging for drinks and then a manager, AND when you give you drink order to all three of these staff members never to see said drinks, it gets old.  I'll still never understand why, when the new server finally appeared, she made an Arnold Palmer using Mountain Dew, but at this point I was beyond questioning.

Bottom line - would totally go back for happy hour at the bar and listen to some music, but the dinner experience was approaching 'one-and-done' levels of not good.

P.s. didn't want to start a new topic for a restaurant so far out that wasn't good, but please feel free to move as needed

[Ericandblueboy]

had brunch (buffet) here this morning. Just about everything was cold - thus not appetizing. I had some cold fried chicken, lukewarm stewed cabbage, cold stuffing, lukewarm spinach/ham quiche (it was described as brisket but the cubed meat in there had to be ham), warm brisket lasagna, cold biscuit, lukewarm pulled pork, and rightfully cold Cole slaw.

[DonRocks]

Thanks to an informed member, I followed a trail to this note on their website, which leads to the .pdf file which follows:

Mar 28, 2018 - Smokehouse Live is Temporarily Closing

[Ericandblueboy]

What Beard award has Foss won?  

That release you posted said ‘his James Beard award winning cuisine.”  So what did he win?

[Pizzaandbrew]

On 3/31/2018 at 9:59 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

What Beard award has Foss won?  

That release you posted said ‘his James Beard award winning cuisine.”  So what did he win?

Not a Beard award per se but recognition of a guy who knows his stuff.

"Chef Magazine Special Report: Chefs Nationwide Reflect on 2009, and Offer Their Predictions for Next Year" on chefmagazine.blogspot.com

[DonRocks]

2 hours ago, Pizzaandbrew said:

Not a Beard award per se but recognition of a guy who knows his stuff.

"Chef Magazine Special Report: Chefs Nationwide Reflect on 2009, and Offer Their Predictions for Next Year" on chefmagazine.blogspot.com

I think it's clear, given the tenure and content of the two pieces of writing, that Ms. Bourgeois - a leasing and brokerage director, and not in the restaurant industry - mistakenly extrapolated something about a Beard Award.