Smokin Bettys

Stopped by here around 4:30 for a bite to eat after the Philly Auto Show yesterday. My friend and I were looking for a pub-​like atmosphere with decent food. We were seated right away, and the waitress was quick to come over and take our drink order. We both ordered a beer off their draft list (priced very reasonably for the city) and settled on getting burgers. My friend had the Betty Burger and I just got a regular burger with caramelized onions and cheddar. Both came with hand-​cut fries which were delicious. The burgers were very large, messy and good but nothing to write home about. Our server was very attentive in the beginning but disappeared after that. We waited about 15 minutes from the time we finished our meal to the time she actually came back over and asked if we wanted another drink. At that point, we decided to just head home. I’ve heard the BBQ here is really good and it’s a cool place to hang during the summer when they open the front of the restaurant up. I’ll probably try it again when I’m down in the city and it’s warmer out.

Came here for a happy hour on a Thursday night. Not sure about pricing because everything was covered.
We shared a bunch of appetizers, including wings (large and good), these mini philly cheesteak appetizers (really good), and some quesadillas (average).
For my entrée I got the half chicken /​half rack of ribs platter with fries. Chicken was good, ribs were on the dry side, but the fries were really good. I also tried some sweet potato fries which were good albeit soggy.
They validate parking (a few bucks off) if you park at a lot on the block.
Pretty standard American /​bar fare. Not a bad stop if you’re in the area.

I love it here. There are two floors with a bar on each level, ample seating, and wonderful atmosphere. The wait for attendance after seating was a tad long but nothing bad. The «Betty Burger» is a must try. The eggs in the burger are «runny», therefore, may get a little messy, however the flavor pairs well with the seasoned burger. Also, There drink, «Root of all Evil» is very tasty if your a fan of root beer.

One server during brunch?. Host could care less that we waited 30 mins for our check. He stood there with his lil sweater on and did nothing. Server is good, but need more than one during peak times

I think this is a great casual restaurant in the city. I went here for the first time a few years ago for a friend’s birthday and have been back several times since. It’s great if you’re craving comfort/​American food. They’re reasonably priced and it has a very laid back atmosphere. Love all of the side choices they offer.

The service is amazing very friendly and welcoming. The good is great. Will definitely come back. I had the riblets and they are finger licking good

Took some out of town colleagues from work to dinner. Disappointed that upstairs wasn’t open, possibly due to being a Monday night. Happy hour appetizers were great including Dr rub wings. Ribs and chicken combo platter great too. Everyone enjoyed their meals!

We visited Smokin Betty’s for a late New Year’s Eve lunch. We were looking for a casual joint that would not break the bank and we had a pretty good experience.
The homemade lemonade was tart and delicious.
The grilled wings were an excellent starter — crispy and well done. The buffalo sauce was nothing to write home about, but the bleu cheese was pretty awesome. I would go with the dry rub and skip the buffalo next time. The 3 sliders on the slider appetizer were not worth the price paid.
I went with the tur-​duck-​en burger based on my fellow Unilocaler’s recommendations. To be honest, however, I think I enjoyed the idea of ordering a tur-​duck-​en burger more than I enjoyed the actual sandwich. I did not find the meat of the burger to be flavorful enough and the stuffing and gravy was also bland and took away from the rest of the burger.
The rest of my party enjoyed their sandwiches. I think the brisket tacos were voted the best entrée on the table — flavorful and a nice portion size. The pulled pork sandwich was tasty, but I have had better pulled pork at other places. The Betty burger was very good although my dining partner recommended getting the avocado on the side in the future. The sweet potato fries were especially delicious, but the hand cut fries were also well received — crispy and well done.
Smokin Betty’s was not a bad choice for our lunch, but I would not go out of my way to visit here in the future.

Great BBQ! Had dinner here on a Saturday night. The place was not crowded and there were lots of families grabbing a bite before the theatre.
The menu isn’t very large but there are lots of great things to choose from. We split the Brisket Sandwich and the BBQ Chicken and Ribs Platter. We had mashed potatoes and cornbread muffins for our sides. The cornbread muffins are delicious! We loved them. The brisket is incredible. Wish the brisket came in a platter form because the bread was just a bun nothing special. (However the pickle was delicious)! The ribs fell off the bone and were really good. The chicken was just chicken, nothing special. I wasn’t a fan of the mashed potatoes but my mom enjoyed them.
We started with a small Mac and cheese which was very good! Nice and creamy! The perfect little appetizer size for 2 people.
Our waiter was very friendly and gave us lots of recommendations. Our biggest problem was that the food came out cold. Then when we told them, they just stuck it in the microwave. The flavors were good but it should not have been cold and we expected more than just a warm up in the microwave.
We will definitely give it another shot because the food was good enough to make up for the temperature!

Had dinner there on Friday nite before seeing a show in Philly. Food was GREAT!!! Service was wonderful too! Three out of the four of us got the «Betty Burger» which was delish! My mom had the California Turkey sandwich, which looked yummy too. I’m always on the lookout for a great burger, and the «Betty» didn’t disappoint!
I was happy that they accommodated our party, as we were running late (traffic getting into the city on a Friday nite, go figure!) and Allie pushed us back each time I called until we got there — THANK YOU!!! I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who is near S 11^th Street!

My first time at Smokin Betty’s last week. I came Sunday noon-​ish for brunch. Everything was good, but nothing mind blowing. I was so excited when I read the brunch menu, everything looked amazing. Once the food was served, it was just average tasting, and looking. Nothing was bad, but the dishes were missing a special something. My Huevos rancheros was pretty boring looking, it wasn’t piling high, and you couldn’t even taste the avocado crème. But the corn and beans were good. My friends liked their breakfast burrito, but it was half the size of Chipolte lol. My other friend liked his pancakes, but it looked very boring, just pancakes on a plate like I cooked them with my eyes closed. Simple. The eggs Benedict looked the best, but I’ve had better. Don’t order the cottage fries, they are literally just kettle cooked potato chips.
The drinks were great, I liked the Fuzzy Peach Mimosa and the Weekend Fizz. The Bloody Mary was also tasty and spicy. But $ 10 drinks for brunch was a bit much. But good!
Overall, I liked it here, cool atmosphere and great menu choices. But the execution of the items needed some work. Brunch Only… not sure what dinner is like, maybe dinner is better?

I have been here two times recently and loved it both times! Their happy hour is wonderful with a great array of discounted drinks and appetizers and I have been impressed with all of the food that I have had thus far on the menu. I have tried the cobb salad, and the short rib enchilada. I have not had an opportunity to try the hamburgers yet, but they looked amazing!

Great service and their turkey Reuben sandwich was on point. Wish it came with a side item though — $ 2 addition seems overkill! Even some chips would be nice. The Paloma (tequila with grapefruit) was overpriced, but tasty! I’d come back to try their Cobb salad. My friend got it and it looked great.

Underestimated place I think. Great food… love the ribs. Usually great drinks although don’t buy the scotch as it’s overpriced… $ 14 for a single??? Usually pay between $ 8 and $ 11 for the same scotch everywhere else.
Other than that excellent place and they’re on open table.
Recommended. Will return.

I went here on my way to the Forrest theater and I was a little disappointed. The service was extremely slow at around 5 pm despite no one being in the restaurant. I am okay with slow service since I like to take my time when I go to a restaurant but then the food came out and the order was wrong. I didn’t want to send it back and waste the food so I ate it. (it just was a different burger) When I ate it the burger it was good not great. I have had a lot of burgers and it just wasn’t anything to write home about. My girlfriend’s dinner was a little bit better so I don’t think the food is the problem with this place but it is the service. The waiter seemed like he didn’t like his job nor did he come to our table except for our order and he check.
Recommendation: The food isn’t bad but the service could hinder people from enjoying it.

Went here a few times since it was easy to find parking.
The restaurant is divided with a bar and dining area. The dining room was a bit dark the times I’ve dined there. They had a policy of not seating a party unless everyone was present. I understand the rules… But I think those rules are meant for very busy restaurants. The 2 – 3 times I came were Saturday nights and place was almost empty except for the bar side. Awkward…
The food is decent BBQ joint. I guess it’s a fancier famous Dave’s but slightly smaller portions. Service was prompt considering we were the only large party [4, and 6 the second time]. Others tables were on dates. Tried the BBQ combo, short ribs taco and the traditional sides. Food was good as I recall.
Overall, it wasn’t the best, but not the worse. I think I’d prob eat here before fette sau, but prob goto fette sau for the up tempo environment depending on my mood. I guess it boils down to what type of night/​meal you’re into!
1 star knocked down BC I remember it being a bit dirty and tables not cleaned off throughout the meal. And the awkward waiting for party to be all present with a near empty dining room.

I just tried Smokin Betty’s for the first time for restaurant week, and I was surprised at how much I loved this place! Not going to lie, restaurant week has been a bit disappointing these past couple of years and I usually opt out. My friends convinced me to go try this place, though, since they had such a tempting menu, and I am ever so grateful that I went!
Their BBQ is seriously so good. I don’t like a ton of sauce on my BBQ meats because I like to taste the meat. I’m also particular about the fat content and the amount of smoke flavor/​bark on my meat. It can’t be overly fatty but still fatty enough to be moist and flavorful. The smoke flavor should also be present enough so that it doesn’t taste like it’s just been boiled. Smokin Betty’s totally delivered on all aspects for me. I ordered the cola short ribs off the RW menu and my husband who opted out of the RW menu ordered the ribs off their normal menu. Both were absolutely delicious! I also ordered the sliders with crab and a cheese stuffed fried green tomato/​frisée salad for the first 2 courses and the Apple cobbler for dessert. Everything was really good and service was great.
My only 2 complaints with the whole evening, which my friends also agreed with me, were with the presentations of their food and the quality of their drinks. The food was great but the presentation was definitely lacking. Our two small sliders were served on a huge blank plate, as was our BBQ main course. It looked like I had taken a plate from a buffet and just plopped the food on it. It didn’t take away from the taste, but I was a bit disappointed in this minor thing. As for their drinks, the sangria was not that flavorful and my friend who tried 3 different cocktails from their suggested list, also wasn’t impressed with any of the drinks.
Overall, I was impressed with their BBQ and would definitely go back again.

Seth was our waiter. It took a minute for him to get to us, but he was working the whole floor. Let me back up. Sit upstairs when you come. it is great to sit and people watch, have the breeze come in on you and just say AAAAHHHH… We came after my youngest sister graduation and walked all the way from south broad… we were hungry and thirsty.
Ok, back to Seth. Whoever hired him needs a pat on the back and needs to give him a raise. He was a riot and then some. Very professional with just enough silly to keep us going. He dealt with our requests with smiles and laughter and such flair. He described the items so well we had images of the food in our heads. once he got going he was quick, kept checking on us and having fun.
Now the food. man. heaven. the mac and cheese… the cornbread and jalapeño butter… portions were great, food was tender. some appetizers were a bit cool vs hot, but the flavor was great. We enjoyed it all. I can’t say what was the best though as we loved it all. My mom is a Baker and she loved the cake. She doesn’t like many places cake since she knows what it should be like, but she loved yours! the fresh ice cream was awesome. it even had that ice cream machine taste. if you ever had fresh ice cream you know what i mean! i could go on and on. but this is a must stop if your in philly…

3.5 stars!
I wasn’t super hungry but I didn’t want a salad and couldn’t decide between the sandwiches, so I got the BBQ sliders — beef brisket, pulled pork and pulled chicken. All three were tasty, but the brisket was my favorite by far. Texture was perfect and I wish I had more! The coleslaw that came with it was good, nothing too special. The presentation though… el oh el. Let’s just say that it left a lot to be desired. The restaurant itself is really nice, bright and spacious, so this plate of sloppily presented sliders and coleslaw just looked out of place, almost like it had escaped a middle school cafeteria. But other than that, food and service were both pretty good.
My friend got the Betty burger which looked pretty amazing, I’ll probably get that (or the tur-​duck-​en burger which people talk about) if I come back.

We went on a Friday night for dinner, we had 7:30 reservations — we were seated within 5 minutes. For an appetizer we had the wings, delicious!!! For our entrée he had the roast pork and I had the bbq sampler, both were ok — the best part of the meal were the wings.
We were originally supposed to be upstairs but asked if we could still downstairs after noticing how noisy it was upstairs. Our service was good, not over the moon great, but good. This would not be on my list of top places to visit again for dinner — I have been here before for lunch and enjoyed the experience much better during that visit.