Rub Smokehouse and Bar

This place is a little hard to find if you don’t know where it is. We eventually got here around 6.30 early than out booking. But we went up a flashy lift and we were seated straight away by our super smiley enthusiastic waiter.
The place is designed like a school hall/​gym. With old classroom primary coloured chairs. Timber palate tables and fancy neon lighting adorns the walls. The bar area is painted with Jack Daniels wall murals.
We chose some drinks to start us off the drinks are good but expensive for what it is. £7.00 for a cocktail in tea cup. Not impressed but it was a tasty cocktail. From what I know there is no happy hour. Neither is there free WiFi here. Well there no WiFi whatsoever.
The food arrived very fast the restaurant was very empty at around 6.45 and only started to fill up around 7pm. My Friend ordered Mexican bean and i ordered fried chicken with waffles which cane with a side of Mac Cheese. The food for me was a little disappointing the Mac cheese wasn’t moist it was dry and the pasta went hard quickly. The chicken had been deep fried too long for my liking. So when I got home I now have heart burn. Not the way I want a meal to make me feel. Can’t review the median bean as never tried it.
Overall a strange experience was like walking back in time to primary school listening to 80s/​90s music… The drinks are expensive as is the food considering its fast food quality. I won’t be rushing back here anytime soon.

I have been hearing good whispers about Rub, so last night me and a friend decided to take the plunge.
Upon arrival you take a lift up to the restaurant, which is located on the second floor of a building. When the lift doors open, you are immediately hit with the buzz and noise of the restaurant… even on a Sunday night! A rare thing in Birmingham…
As always, I was trying to be healthy and decided to go for a salad. I’m not sure if you can call what I received a salad! It was honestly one of the biggest plates of food I have ever experienced, packed full of interesting flavours, and given a boost with the hot sauce on our table… I can never resist a good hot sauce!
If you are going to Rub I would suggest not eating for a few days… these are some seriously large portions! The only reason I am not giving 5 stars are the restaurants policy on birthdays. Every few minutes the staff are singing to someone at a table, personally I think it cheapens the whole experience. Sort that out Rub… you are doing so much right!

One of the most awkward dining experiences ever.
After making our ascent in the lift, the waitress on ‘meet & greet’ duty smiled as she looked at me as if I had 3 heads. She just… stared. It was bizarre.
We found a table and sat on uncomfortable packing crate type seating before scouring the menu looking at things that would ultimately disappoint.
Calum our waiter, was without a doubt, the most awkward person I’ve ever had the pleasure to encounter.
He took our orders on his iPad, and just lurked a few feet from our table waiting for something to do.
We started off by ordering some tap water, and a milkshake each, followed by starters. The starters came within 3 minutes, the water took 15.
The milkshakes were £4 each but seriously lacking compared to some of my favourite shakes, like the Oreo shakes at Byron burger for only a quid more, so thick and ice-​cream-​tastic. This was amateur hour in comparison.
I ordered the sliders which came in a subway-​style 6inch bread roll, filled with MEH. 3 fillings: overcooked but adequately tasty burger patty, a minuscule amount of dry shredded chicken, and some pretty good pulled pork.
My pal ordered the wings which come in 3 levels of hotness; mild, hot and insane. Hot was ordered, but calling them hot is like saying chocolate is a good material to make teapots from, it’s just not true. He vowed to order insane next time
Next up were the mains. My friend had a Beat the Meat Taco Burger, a burger with two meat-​filled tacos on top of tasty patties. I ordered the brisket which came as a very tasty and generous portion, slow cooked and drowning in gravy, with Mac & cheese which could have used a lot more cheese sauce.
The most surreal thing about the whole evening happened at the end.
I called Calum over and informed him that I’d like to take the rest to go, as I was very full. He was more than happy to accommodate my request and bought a takeaway box over to the table. Rather than him taking my plate away and transferring dinner to a box in the kitchen, I was stood in the middle of the restaurant scraping gravy-​soaked brisket into a cardboard box. I have never before, nor do I ever want to scrape my own plate in the middle of a restaurant again. Totally inappropriate, and pretty bizarre.
Like a few of the other reviews said then, the food was quite good, but the service was not great.

I was undecided between 3 and 4 stars. I really like this venue-​great views across to the cube through big windows. The décor is simplistic but fits with the Modern American style diner. The music was brilliant too– 80’s tastic!
We had booked a table for 6.15 and the restaurant very quickly filled up after us, so it was lucky that we did. It took a while to order our drinks as the cocktail menu looked brilliant and we really couldn’t decide. Some drinks came with donuts or chocolate pretzels or popcorn-​meals in themselves! I think I would go back after a light meal just for drinks next time!
I ordered a half rack of ribs, as I always seem to have burgers and my friend had a steak sandwich. Both sounded great but sadly didn’t deliver on flavour. I enjoyed the pancakes and maple syrup but they weren’t anything special. I think maybe we just chose badly as other people’s meals looked fantastic! The service was far to quick though. Our food came before our drinks as wasn’t prepared to order as it arrived too quickly-​more so than McDonalds! We found out as we were deciding on another drink they we were only meant to have the table for an hour and we’d been there two! They hadn’t tried to get rid of us, but it explains the fast service. At no point when we booked or arrived were we told there was a time limit.
Worth a visit but not for a long romantic dinner!;)