4 Rivers Smokehouse - Tampa

We decided to come with excitement after reading all wonderful reviews. The restaurant was clean, good decoration details, cafeteria style. They were not busy at all, which was surprising for the time and the day we came. We ordered burned ends, pulled pork, ribs, mold, green beans, collar, French pommes and bread pudding. The parts were good. The food looked great. Unfortunately, the taste and quality was not there. The burned ends were not burned. Very disappointed by the lack of taste as well as try to pass them as burned end. Some of the other pages were also disappointing. The frits were cold, most of them all were room temp and some food sat awhile. The best and it was really great, was the corn bowl.

At the end of Tampa Bay Burger Week and tried her Brisket Burger. The place was large with long picnic table seats. It was not a cozy ambience, more of a clinical kind of vibe. Order, eat and move on. The burger is the only thing I tried at this point. It was a beautiful mix of flavors. It was a brisket burger with melted cheddar, crispy roasted onions, salad, tomatoes and 4R sauce. The surprise for me was the smart Burgerpatty. The texture of beef was as if it were part raw, but it was completely boiled. The strange beef texture is a secret for me and it was a little unpleasant to eat. Something strange about your Burger Patty squishing from the sides of your bungalow on every bite. It did not affect the taste, however, which was very good.

Okay, I'm usually not one to go to a restaurant that has more than one location. This smokehouse will be an exception. I had the sausage, Mac cheese and smoked Jalapeño. Overall it was fantastic. The sausage was perfect. The smoked Jalapeños were certainly delicious. the Mac cheese was good, maybe not enough crisp, but that's just a personal opinion. The prices were reasonable, the serving sizes appropriate. The service was good, typical line order. The only improvement room I could see was the training of line workers on the products they sell. I asked if the Texas BBQ came from Texas, they had no idea. There are a few companies that are aware that these are in Texas and sell sausages to BBQ restaurants, which was the reason for my question. Only for kicks I asked the Gal if the Jalapeños were good, she said she never tried. Neither one of them are problems, only observations. There's nothing I enjoy more than trying to get a word or two with the people who make the food. Everything more than that and it becomes quite pleasant. It's great when you meet someone behind the counter, they know each of the foods, they had them, tasted them, criticize them. Again, only observations. Overall, I would highly recommend this restaurant.

Distinguished sides and delicate meat! You smell the meat from the parking lot. The restaurant has spacious cafeteria-style seating. I went in and looked over the menu. I told the employee what I wanted, and he put together a meal for me. I ordered moist brisket, Texas sausage, green, corn, beans and corn bread. Everything was delicious. Try even better with the bbq sauce.

I have had this 2 other times and they were very good! I usually order the family BBQ sampler and get 4 different meats and 2 sides. The collard greens are very good, the beans are sweet and soft with a smokey aftertaste. While today's brisket was a little dry, previous times they were on point. The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender and savory, the pulled pork and pulled chicken were very good, and the sausage is also very good. Make sure you smother everything with their BBQ sauces! Their bread pudding is not that good, I've had better, but then again, I'm not a big fan of bread pudding. Can't wait until they put banana pudding on their menu. I am going to blame it on me taking too long to pick it up for take out this time as the reason why the brisket and ribs were a little dry today. Dry, but still tender. They did soak up that BBQ sauce though! Get the fatty parts for the brisket, that stuff is spectacular! I'm going to round up to 4 stars. The best BBQ I've had was in Charlotte, NC so far, though they say nothing beats Texas BBQ... unfortunately, I have yet to try any Black's in Texas yet... why did I order take out? Because nobody wants to see me chow down on BBQ in public!! It's a messy affair!