Smitty's Brickhouse - North Bend

First, the positives: the food is solid. More often than not, it delivers as good bar food should. Now for the negatives: the service still leaves much to be desired. When we arrived, we walked past the bar where the only server was busy eating a bowl of soup. She didn’t make any effort to acknowledge us. Even when the phone rang, and she answered it, she still didn’t greet our party or come to our table right away, despite the fact that the place wasn’t busy at that moment. After that initial interaction, the service continued to be slow. Our drink orders were delayed, and my son’s drink didn’t arrive until ten minutes after everyone else’s. We ordered our food, specifically asking for onion rings to come out first, but they were served after two of our main meals had already arrived. Speaking of which, the two entrees came out, and we waited another seven minutes for the remaining two. Overall, the wait for food was about 35 minutes, which isn’t terrible compared to previous visits, but still concerning. As we were leaving, I noticed several large groups came in, yet there were only two servers on duty. On a Friday night, that just isn’t enough staff to handle the potential crowd. It’s possible they’re struggling to find help, but this is an issue that needs to be tackled. The owners are genuinely nice people and clearly putting in the effort, but the ongoing problems we’ve experienced since they opened have yet to be resolved. A number of my friends have decided not to return due to the persistent issues with slow and unsatisfactory customer service. Competing with a well-established restaurant in town, alongside another eatery (the bowling alley) that has significantly improved since its opening, makes it especially tough for Smitty's.

The service was dreadful. I visited for the Illinois game and was informed that the food would take 30 to 40 minutes to arrive, despite there being only 13 tables occupied. The restaurant was clearly understaffed, and the kitchen seemed to be in chaos. It appears the owners are out of touch with the operations. I would not recommend this place at all.

The smoked half chicken was fantastic, and the homemade mashed potatoes with gravy made for a great meal.

Great place great food small town charm .

Always a great meals Smitty’s.