Smokey J’s Pit Bar BQ

Now managed and operated by Felix’s BBQ with Soul.
Same food as Felix’s other Oceanside location which means it’s great. I had a bowl of gumbo only because I have a cold, nice an spicy, now I feel great. That’s what soul food will do for you. Tonight they will have a live ban playing gospel music. Waiting for the San Diego location to open.

I came here on a Saturday night and although the restaurant was a nice place there seemed to be only 2 employees that work in this establishment. For a bbq restaurant, my first impression of the atmosphere was that it seemed a little up tight for a place where you would have to eat with your hands. My husband and I ordered our drinks and then asked to try their sweet potato fries as an appetizer. We waited and waited… and waited. Over 20 minutes pass and still no fries!!! It would have been okay (wait time wise) had it been a full house… but it was not! We noticed that another party who seated a little after we were seated walked out of the restaurant after not being helped or not even being offered a drink. So my husband and I were inclined to leave after noticing how unusual the restaurant was and after not receiving our fries we placed $ 7 for our drinks that we ordered on the table and left. As much as I would have liked to try the food… it was not worth the wait and the awkwardness of the restaurant… Don’t waste your time!

Pretty sure this place is gone and in it’s place is Felix’s. So this isn’t really a review so much as it is a head’s up that Smokey J’s isn’t around anymore.

When this place first opened, i was kinda stoked. There really isn’t a whole lot when it comes to legit barbecue in the area (mebbe I just haven’t looked hard enough). But I was with my lady and we figured we’d give the place a try.
Real nice looking place inside — not the rag-​tag barbecue joint you’d think it would be. So nice, in fact, I almost felt under-​dressed. But with the exception of all three employees and a family waiting for take-​out, we were the only ones there this thursday afternoon.
We get seated and handed our menus. Drinks came pretty quickly. I mean we were the only ones there. Took a little bit to pick a couple things out — the menu was kind of confusing. You’d think that barbecue would be pretty cut-​and-​dry (selection-​wise. Hopefully not the food.) But I think there was just too much variety, too much to choose if you aren’t a barbecue connoisseur. Pricey, but we place our order.
Maybe 20 minutes later, the food comes out. It was really tasty and tender, but my first thought was «what the f*&$ is this???» Apparently a meal here is considered a plate of fries with a couple slices of barbecued whatever on the side. Huge disappointment. We ate, payed the bill, and drove to carls jr for something a little more filling. Like the last review of the place said, a kids meal of spaghetti is about $ 10. It was good, except it was in a bowl the size of a teacup.
Friendly staff though. But thats about the only good thing I have to say about the place.
Tasty, but pricey, and you get very little food.

We went to Smokeys bbq on saturday, i had a friend wanting to know what it was like so i figured i would tell u guys as well.
we ordered:
the bbq feast for 2 = $ 38
a bbq bacon cheeseburger= $ 12 (dont remember the exact amt)
a kids meal-​spaghetti= $ 10 approx
a la carte side fried okra= $ 3.50
a la carte side rice and brown gravy=$ 3.50
1 pulled pork sandwich=$ 0 we never got it
plus 3 drinks (kid meal included its drink) and tax
total= $ 75 even
my son said the burger was good. hubs had a bite of it and he said yes it was good, not anything special though. came with fries. standard fries.
daughter said she liked her spaghetti, my problem with it is that it wasnt enough. she’s 9 and the serving was more for a 4−5yr old.
our bbq feast for 2 read on the menu as:
1 ½ slabs of pork ribs
1 ¼ bbq chicken
1 ¼lb of pulled pork or brisket
2 fries
2 bbq beans or cole slaw
2 corn on cob
2 cornbreads
well when they brought it out we noticed that there wasnt very much meat at all and the waitress told us that it wasnt 1 and ½ slabs, that it was one ½ slab, one ¼ chicken, and one ¼lb of brisket= hardly enough for my hubby much less, me too.
the corns were your standard frozen half ear, asked for cole slaw we got side salads with a sesame/​thousand isle-​ish dressing. i liked it so didnt complain about the substitution.
the rice and gravy– horrible. the gravy was not sure if it was watered down or what but was a very light tan color and had absolutely no flavor whatsoever. just tasted like water and flour.
the best thing of the night was the fried okra– it was perfectly breaded and crispy fried. — it was ruined though. hubby asked for cheese sauce (on the menu for $ 1extra to dip the okra) she forgot it from earlier so we had already tasted the plain okra. she apologized and said she forgot. went to the back and came back and said she could take it back to have cheese poured on it (that should have been a warning to us) when i heard the ping of the microwave i immediately knew what had happened. they took a slice of american cheese and microwaved it over the okra– which as you all know when u microwave fried food– it made everything all soggy, and the melted cheese slice turned to rubber as soon as it cooled down.
the flavor of the meat– memphis style was actually not too bad but $ 38 for a 1 person meal was waaay too much to pay for that.
so after $ 75 i ended up cooking again about an hour after we got home, everyone except my son (the burger) was starving.