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The Smokestillery – https://www.tennesseehills.com/
Fuel your spirit with fire-kissed flavor at The Smokestillery, TN Hills’ on … Bristol and Jonesborough locations.
The Smokestillery | Johnson City TN – Facebook
$$. . Closed now. . 458 West Walnut Street, Johnson City, TN, United States, 37604. . Johnson City, TN · Jonesborough, TN · Bristol, TN. Links. .
The Smokestillery at Tennessee Hills (@thesmokestillery) – Instagram
Welcome to The Smokestillery at Tennessee Hills! Experience unmatched BBQ flavors with unique spirit-infused food.
Reviews
Kevin Combs
Absolutely the best! We came here on a whim. Food is amazing, they smoke the wing then finish on the fryer. It’s insanely delicious! The beans, I can eat those 24/7… we did the tasting and tour. Didn’t expect to buy 6 bottles of amazing but I did. The bartender, tour guide and the entire staff was perfect. The place is not cluttered and very clean. With it was a sunny day to see the view from the outside dining area. The Callahans have created something truly special and hopefully the will be a national wide distribution soon. Definitely recommend the flavored whiskeys. I was never a fan of it until I tried the pecan and tiramisu cream liqueur.
… moreMarshall Young
If I had to choose one word to describe my experience, it would be this: Lackluster.
I had been looking forward to seeing this location for months. I had visited their Johnson City small location several times and had a good, albeit, not mind-blowing experience.
I walked in on a weekday a few minutes after noon. I’d heard some good things about their BBQ, so I went directly upstairs to the Smokestillery Restaurant. There was one server in the space with about two dozen patrons there across several tables. I immediately felt compassion for her because she was obviously running a bit behind with everyone’s request, which is understandable.
Now onto the food. I ordered the Brisket sandwich on a bun. It was $15, and I was given an option of one topping, which I chose the beer cheese. No sides (Bar Bites as they called them) came with the sandwich. It is pictured below. The brisket did not stand out. I’ve had better. A small downtown BBQ joint in Elizabethton provides a much better product on a platter and sides at a similar price point. The bun was sad. I’ve seen better buns at fast-food joints, and it was very apparent that it was sourced from outside vendors. I’d be shocked if anything other than the meat and the Trav’s BBQ sauce was made in-house.
Additionally, my friend and I ordered a trio platter (to the tune of $38), which had brisket slices, pork belly burnt ends, and pulled pork, pickle fries, beans, and pretzel bites. The only thing I would have eaten again was the pork belly burnt ends. They had a nice bark, a beautiful smokey flavor, and a good texture that was balanced between dry and moist. The brisket, again, was not really anything to write home about, and the pulled pork reminded me of the mush you get from a Pal’s BBQ Dog. The pretzel bites, which are of a soft variety, lacked any taste or texture. Even with a soft pretzel, you want some sort of resistance with the “skin”, which this had about the same texture and resistance of white bread. The pickle fries had more fry than pickle, which the breading was soft and slightly moist and the tiny sliver of pickle offered basically no taste at all.
Again, I can only surmise that all those items were not made in-house.
Beer:
I wanted to order a flight, but it became apparent that you could not choose your four pours, that they were all “pre-built” flights, and each of the flights were in the same “family” of beers, meaning, that if you purchased a flight, it would be four darks, or four IPA’s, etc. You could not, without purchasing multiple flights, get a sense of their spectrum of brews. This was frustrating and felt needlessly limiting/restrictive.
I ordered the Midnight in the Hills (an exclusive to that location) pint, which was $7 for that pour. Untappd has that beer rated at a 3.75/5, which I feel is appropriate. It was….good, but not great. I enjoyed it, but barely noticed it.
For me, the Smokestillery has so much potential, but they ruin it by being needlessly restrictive, overcharging for their food (based on the quality and the demographic location), importing in lackluster sides instead of making them in-house (or just making them in-house poorly), and understaffing their location.
The server was cool in her demeanor and you could tell she was not enjoying her job, but why would she? This is not her fault. This is a management problem.
I see a location trying to cut costs and maximizing margin because they might be struggling to recover from the monumental construction project of this location. This is not a sustainable strategy, because underwhelming your clientele base at every visit is going to drive away repeat business, and the Bristol, TN outskirts, even with the Pinnacle shopping center nearby, is not going to drive enough foot traffic there.
My recommendation to them is: rethink your kitchen from the ground up. Your BBQ isn’t good enough to carry the whole experience. Do more in-house cooking with fresh ingredients. Think about investing in a chef that will bring some element of uniqueness and pizzaz, otherwise, you’ll go under.
… moreI had been looking forward to seeing this location for months. I had visited their Johnson City small location several times and had a good, albeit, not mind-blowing experience.
I walked in on a weekday a few minutes after noon. I’d heard some good things about their BBQ, so I went directly upstairs to the Smokestillery Restaurant. There was one server in the space with about two dozen patrons there across several tables. I immediately felt compassion for her because she was obviously running a bit behind with everyone’s request, which is understandable.
Now onto the food. I ordered the Brisket sandwich on a bun. It was $15, and I was given an option of one topping, which I chose the beer cheese. No sides (Bar Bites as they called them) came with the sandwich. It is pictured below. The brisket did not stand out. I’ve had better. A small downtown BBQ joint in Elizabethton provides a much better product on a platter and sides at a similar price point. The bun was sad. I’ve seen better buns at fast-food joints, and it was very apparent that it was sourced from outside vendors. I’d be shocked if anything other than the meat and the Trav’s BBQ sauce was made in-house.
Additionally, my friend and I ordered a trio platter (to the tune of $38), which had brisket slices, pork belly burnt ends, and pulled pork, pickle fries, beans, and pretzel bites. The only thing I would have eaten again was the pork belly burnt ends. They had a nice bark, a beautiful smokey flavor, and a good texture that was balanced between dry and moist. The brisket, again, was not really anything to write home about, and the pulled pork reminded me of the mush you get from a Pal’s BBQ Dog. The pretzel bites, which are of a soft variety, lacked any taste or texture. Even with a soft pretzel, you want some sort of resistance with the “skin”, which this had about the same texture and resistance of white bread. The pickle fries had more fry than pickle, which the breading was soft and slightly moist and the tiny sliver of pickle offered basically no taste at all.
Again, I can only surmise that all those items were not made in-house.
Beer:
I wanted to order a flight, but it became apparent that you could not choose your four pours, that they were all “pre-built” flights, and each of the flights were in the same “family” of beers, meaning, that if you purchased a flight, it would be four darks, or four IPA’s, etc. You could not, without purchasing multiple flights, get a sense of their spectrum of brews. This was frustrating and felt needlessly limiting/restrictive.
I ordered the Midnight in the Hills (an exclusive to that location) pint, which was $7 for that pour. Untappd has that beer rated at a 3.75/5, which I feel is appropriate. It was….good, but not great. I enjoyed it, but barely noticed it.
For me, the Smokestillery has so much potential, but they ruin it by being needlessly restrictive, overcharging for their food (based on the quality and the demographic location), importing in lackluster sides instead of making them in-house (or just making them in-house poorly), and understaffing their location.
The server was cool in her demeanor and you could tell she was not enjoying her job, but why would she? This is not her fault. This is a management problem.
I see a location trying to cut costs and maximizing margin because they might be struggling to recover from the monumental construction project of this location. This is not a sustainable strategy, because underwhelming your clientele base at every visit is going to drive away repeat business, and the Bristol, TN outskirts, even with the Pinnacle shopping center nearby, is not going to drive enough foot traffic there.
My recommendation to them is: rethink your kitchen from the ground up. Your BBQ isn’t good enough to carry the whole experience. Do more in-house cooking with fresh ingredients. Think about investing in a chef that will bring some element of uniqueness and pizzaz, otherwise, you’ll go under.
Shawn Wussow
We visited the Tennessee Hills Distillery and had some great BBQ from the Smokestillery. So I wanted to leave a review for them too. I’m a big BBQ fan and I can say they do a great job and everything we had was fantastic. The pickle fries were my favorite. You don’t see them like this too often. I love burnt end and I had the pork belly tacos. Probably my number two favorite burnt ends I’ve had. The sauces are super classic and really brings it all together. Great collaboration between THD and the Smokestillery.
… moreR Dun
Worst wings I’ve ever had… way too dry… really burnt. Fries were ok, pickle fries were ok. Waitress was great. Maybe don’t try to make wings…
… moreJeff D
Sorry no pics. Thought I’d stay healthy and order the salad with brisket. WOW. Ranch was the perfect dressing for the perfect slightly smoky salad.
… moreHolly Scherer
I dream about the Hawaiian shirt IPA, smoked wings, burnt ends, pickle fries, and Trav’s sauce. One week later and I think I’m still having meat sweats. So worth it!
… moreBILL Gritton
I found this place online and the photos of the food convinced me to give it a try. I’m very glad I did. We had the wings with both the Trav’s original sauce and the bourbon glazed. I like Trav’s and my son liked the bourbon glazed; both were excellent. We also tried the pulled pork sliders and pretzel bites. All the food was amazing.
15 tables that seat 4. 5 that seat 6. 16 seats at the bar.
They have only been open a month and it hasn’t been discovered yet. That will change soon.
… more15 tables that seat 4. 5 that seat 6. 16 seats at the bar.
They have only been open a month and it hasn’t been discovered yet. That will change soon.
Paul Barnett
Can’t not recommend this place enough. Food was cold and very dry. It seemed like we we arrived 5 minutes before closing, but that wasn’t the case.
… moreLos Lobos
This place was a nice facility the drinks were very good and the service was great. The appetizers we had were excellent. Try the burnt ends. They are to die for. The only complaint is small selection of food
… more