We had visited this particular Smokey Bones a few years ago shortly after it opened and remembered the tasty ribs and juicy burgers. When we happened to be in the same neighborhood today we stopped in. We were seated quickly and received our drink orders promptly. Although it was the day before Valentine's day and the mall accross the street was packed, the restaurant did not seem particularly busy. The staffing was more than ample, there were at least 5 servers in the general area we were in. \r
Our waitress appeared to only be handling 3 or 4 tables, which were not full the entire time we were there. I ordered the classic burger (med well) with blue cheese and coleslaw and he ordered the stacked baked potato with pulled pork and a salad.\r
We then waited about 40 minutes for our food, excessive but I was patient, figuring that my burger carried the brunt of the wait. When our order finally arrived, I began to disect my burger. Standard procedure goes something like this; top half of bun to side, eat pickles, put lettuce on burger, no ketchup, no mustard, sometimes mayo, eat with knife and fork. Upon chewing, many times, my first bite and attempting to swallow it, I realized that the burger was horrifically dry. On inspection, I found that the bottom half of the bun wasn't even moist. No wonder I felt like I was eating cardboard. Then we attempted to flag down a server but now there wasn't a soul around and when one would fly by they avoided eye contact and somehow missed the waving and ""excuse me""s that were being brandished about. When we finally gained the attention of one gentleman, we asked him for mayo and he looked at us like we were some kind of alien creatures and asked what was wrong. I told him simply that the burger was very dry and could I please have some mayo. He said he would get the manager. What? Why? Huh? But he was gone. When the manager came she asked what was wrong... mind you I was totally willing to eat the burger at this point, but I told her that it was very dry and I just wanted some mayo. She offered to recook it, but not wanting another 40 minute wait I just asked for mayo for the third time. \r
I got my mayo. I ate the burger. I exercized my jaw muscles. We got out of there.\r
Overall: burger - good flavor but far too dry, coleslaw - flavor was good but less celery seed would be good, baked potato - dry and overcooked, salad - mushy tomatos and wilted lettuce and far too little given dressing for such a big salad, service - was okay but I would expect better with the staff/patron ratio the way it was and what was the deal with the mayo request?\r
What happened Smokey Bones? You used to be good. I'm sorry but I'd grade you a D+ today.
Cons: dry and overcooked seems to be a theme
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