Smokey Bones Wellington, Fl.

Tonight as a spur of the moment decision, we decided to eat out. We chose Smokey Bones because it had been a while since we had been there. We arrived around 4:30 PM and the restaurant wasn't too crowded. Sadly, they didn't seem to be very organized. The hostess started to sit us down, but one of the waitresses told her that she was leaving, and there wasn't any coverage in that section. So the hostess had us go back to waiting area.

After another short wait, not even 5 minutes, they got us seated. That being said, and for those who've worked in the restaurant business will understand this, our poor server dude got sat 2 parties at once. Our party which was just me and the wife, and another party with about 6 people in it. As you can expect, the service level was slower than normal. What was really annoying, was the fact that although our server was busting his but trying to take care of his tables. The rest of the staff was just standing around the kitchen area just talking. It seemed like there was NO teamwork at all. Also, in my opinion, in the restaurant industry, if you as a server are not actively getting something for a customer or cleaning something, then you should NOT be seen. The last thing a customer wants is to have an empty drink and see staff members laughing and joking with one another.

Now I'm sure there were other circumstances such as the ones standing around were either the oncoming dinner crew or something. But still, it's just not professional and shouldn't be done.

As for the food, the wife just ordered an appetizer sampler called the "Crowd Pleaser", which she really enjoyed and said she would order again. It came with seasoned fries, chicken tenders and South West spring rolls. Portion size was good for an appetizer, with enough left over (after one person eating) to take some home. I ordered the pulled pork platter, and I wasn't impressed. The pork was too dry, even with extra BBQ sauce at the table. And there were lots of inedible fatty parts. The pulled pork is not something I would order again from here.

All in all, we were disappointed by our adventure out. Although it was obvious our server was really making an effort, he remembered special requests such as extra ranch and he brought full drinks with out being asked, he was hindered by the lack of teamwork. He was sat with way too many tables (I believe he had 4 or 5 more in addition to us and the large party) at one time.

Grades:
Service C- (Our server was at least a B+, but all the others standing around not doing anything made it slower and lower)
Food: C (Wife liked hers, I wasn't a fan)
Portion Size: B

Mississippi Sweets BBQ (Wellington/Lake Worth)

I'll start out saying that hands down, the food was wonderful. I had the pulled pork platter with the home made applesauce and cornbread, The wifey had the pulled pork sandwich. The pork was very full of flavor and I found it had a great texture and tenderness. I preferred mine without the BBQ sauce. The wife liked hers better with the BBQ Sauce, and overall we were both extremely satisfied with both the flavor and portions sizes.

Despite how good the food is, I think this restaurant will turn into a "Take-out only" venue.  The service was sub par. We either had a waitress who was very new, or didn't care about service quality. The meal started out well, she came over, got our drink and appetizer orders and fairly promptly brought them out. The food was also served in fairly short order, this is where the issues began. Once we got our food, our waitress never checked on us again. She walked by several times, but not once did she even acknowledged our presence.

The manager was making his rounds and checking on his customers (like a good manager should do) and we ended up asking him if he could get us another drink (This would be a good time to add, they they don't do free re-fills at this establishment, at least for soda's) and a to-go box. He brought the drinks and box out very quickly. As we were finishing our meal, our server came back over to collect the plates and asked if we needed anything else. We said no, just the check. About 20 minutes later she finally returned with the bill and we were able to pay and leave.

All in all this was a very "meh" dinning experience that could have been a wonderful outing. It really is true that it no matter how tasty the food, if the customer is not happy with the service it really takes away from the whole meal.

This restaurant is located in the Publix shopping plaza at Lake Worth Rd and SR-7.

Grades
Taste: A+
Portion Size: A+
Service: D-

Recommendations: Take-out only.