Restaurant review: The Original Smokey Goodness
The Original Smokey Goodness in Barrington, NH is a relatively new establishment - they just opened their doors last year. It's a barbecue restaurant that smokes nearly every item on their menu including things like ketchup, butter, and their mac & cheese. Fred and I had to check it out; we love a good bbq joint!
The menu was larger than I was expecting with many different sandwiches, meats, burgers, and a good number of daily specials to choose from. I went with their fried pickle sticks as an appetizer and a half slow roasted chicken for my main meal. The chicken came with cole slaw and smoked mac & cheese (I'm a sucker for good bbq sides). Fred got a cup of smoked corn chowder and a pulled pork sandwich.
The good: the fried pickles were more like pickle fries and came with a great dipping sauce. A very unique way to do fried pickles! I enjoyed the smoky flavor in the mac & cheese quite a bit, but Fred wasn't as big of a fan (he found the consistency to be a bit glue-y). The pulled pork sandwich was fantastic and let me tell you, Fred is a connoisseur - often times, you get one and there's not enough sauce so it ends up dry. This was just perfect and the fries and pickle strips that came with the sandwich were great as well. The skin on my chicken was incredibly crispy - I'm not usually a person that enjoys fat of any kind but this skin was almost potato chip crispy and I ate every bit of it.
Also, the service was excellent - the waitress was even kind enough to give me a little extra smoked ketchup to take home (the ketchup was phenomenal). You can really tell that the employees believe in the restaurant and love what they do.
Could use improvement: the corn chowder was delicious but wasn't all that warm. While the chicken was very good (especially the dark meat), I did definitely need some sauce to dunk the dryer white meat in. I'd suggest offering more local beers on tap - nothing like a good cold one to go with your bbq!
We look forward to seeing this place grow - our waitress told us that they have plans to expand this summer with an outdoor patio, gaming area, and more. Plus, they hope to start bottling their sauces for sale - trust me, I'll be the first in line to grab some of that ketchup.
In summary: a great homestyle restaurant that's on the move in our hometown!