SOUTH STREET SMOKEHOUSE
Address: 3305 South Street, Lafayette, IN 47904
I’m a pretty big fan of barbecue. Sure, you have your stovetop cooking and baking in the oven, but I think that barbecue is just as much of an art form as the other two, using grills and smokers, things like that to really enhance the flavor and help showcase the star of the show: the meats (with my personal favorites being chicken, pork, or beef). That being said, I was excited to hear about South Street Smokehouse when one of my friends here at school recommended it to me to give it a try. Believe me when I say that I’m very glad that I took that trip out.
The food is definitely highlighted here, as evident by the diverse selection on their menu when you first take a look at it. Ranging from pulled pork or chicken to beef brisket to ribs, South Street Smokehouse has something to satiate your barbecue needs. During my most recent visit, I opted in for a Kansas City brisket sandwich – slices of beef brisket layered with two onion rings and a slice of melted provolone cheese served over a toasted bun, served with a side of French fries. The restaurant also has two different types of barbecue sauce: Smokehouse and Mike’s, with both ranging in three degrees of heat, making for six possible barbecue sauce options. For me, I tended to lean more towards the Smokehouse sauces, since they were more sweet than the tangy Mike’s. I added some barbecue sauce to my sandwich, which definitely pulled everything together really nicely. The brisket was very tender and the onion rings gave the sandwich a nice crunch, while the barbecue sauce added moisture and the sweet finish to each bite of the sandwich. In the past, I’ve also gotten their pulled pork sandwich, which I found had a very good balance between the taste of the meat and the flavors of the barbecue sauce, something that I’ve tried to match when I’ve made pulled pork sandwiches at home.
The interior of the restaurant is not overly decorated, and the dining area itself is rather small. The staff themselves were friendly and would give recommendations to customers if they were having a difficult time choosing a particular item from the menu. I would recommend South Street Smokehouse if you’re looking to get some good barbecue flavors in town. It’s a very reasonable price, and the flavors of the food definitely speak for themself.
Here are my rankings for South Street Smokehouse:
Food: 5 / 5
The barbecue taste is great and the selection of dishes is outstanding, with the restaurant doing a great job on all the ones I’ve tried.
Atmosphere: 4 / 5
It’s not an extremely fancy place, but it does the trick. Windows all around the dining area let in a lot of light, but the table seating arrangements can get a bit cramped sometimes.
Service: 4.5 / 5
Your food is always ready very expeditiously, and the people behind the counter are very efficient.
Price: 5 / 5
I think that for the price point of about $7.50, you do get quite a bit of food. Between my brisket sandwich and my French fries, I walked out of there stuffed.
Overall: 18.5 / 20 (93%)
Categories: Indiana, Restaurants