By Chelsea Vollrath
Driving through Lake Lure on Highway 64, you will pass the Lake Lure Smokehouse, located across the street from the beach at Lake Lure and beside the Lake Lure Inn & Spa. The inside of the restaurant is cozily adorned with wooden accents and furniture, but with the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains surrounding the restaurant, you’d be hard pressed to turn down eating outside and having that scenery be the backdrop of your dining experience. The outside dining area maintains a similar homey feel; diners are served their meals in baskets with checkered-paper on wooden picnic tables.
The menu has most items one would expect to be served at a barbecue restaurant: different cuts of pork, barbecue chicken, the option to eat both on a sandwich, and the typical sides, including hush puppies, regular and sweet potato fries, beans, slaw, and potato salad. There are a few items labeled as being “Signature Smokehouse” items, including the Signature Smokehouse BBQ wrap, that are more unique to the restaurant. Served with a side of your choice, the crispy wrap contained the Smokehouse’s tender pork and a variety of sautéed vegetables. I chose the “Ranch beans” to accompany it. At first I didn’t want to order the ranch beans because I assumed they had ranch dressing in them, which I don’t like, but after the waitress described them to me, I changed my mind. The side dish is a mixture of pinto beans, peppers, onions, garlic, and some unknown spices that gave it a little kick. They were more interesting than most beans you’d get with barbecue, and interesting in a good way.
The wrap wasn’t what I expected. The outside covering tasted must have been fried, as it tasted like the casing of an egg roll. It wasn’t what I expected or would have wanted, so I wasn’t too happy with my selection, but the ranch beans I ordered were great, so with those and the amazing atmosphere, I was still satisfied overall.
Paige ordered a smoked chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries. The chicken sandwich was pretty average, though the bun was particularly fresh and made the sandwich more noteworthy than it would have been otherwise. The sweet potato fries were good, but also nothing spectacular. Paige had the same opinion as I did though: the scenery and experience of eating at the smokehouse made it a worthwhile stop.