Smoke & Rye in Stafford

Holy smokes! One of the best burgers I've ever had... Called by on a busy Saturday early evening, Lauren still managed to fit me in... Lovely fast, polite service by Tilly (thanks Tilly). The other food going passed looked even better... it's the Short Rib next time! Just go there, you won't regret it...

Lovely food and cocktails, the rib eye steak was perfectly cooked and the lobster mac n cheese was the best I've had in a restaurant. Staff were super friendly and efficient. Excellent!

Second visit and just as good as the first. Lovely service from all the waiting staff, delicious hot food, fab portions, tasty as hell.

My partner booked a table as a surprise for a celebration meal and it was fantastic. We have driven past a few times but neveractually been. Great vibe inside, loved the music, staff were attentive and friendly and the food was absolutely top tier. But the star of the show for me was the vegan hot dog. Hands down the best vegan meal I've had in a long time. Will definitely be coming back for more

Lovely venue, great cocktails on offer- will recommend the walking dead, do not be put off by the name! It comes in a beautiful glass and it comes on fire! Tasted amazing. We just turned up and had to wait a while to be seated which we didn’t mind as we sat by the bar and had a few drinks. Staff were helpful, only reason why we have had to knock a star off is because we had an issue with one of the mains but this was dealt with quickly and efficiently- feel like the chef gave a bit of a sorry excuse for the mistake (think he was just a little embarrassed if anything) but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt here as everything else was superb!

Did not disappoint. wanted somewhere to get lunch not too far off the M6. Found this and reviews were good so stopped in. amazing food and lovely setting next to the canal. parking just round the corner. totally worth the small detour off the motorway instead of grabbing some rubbish expensive food from a service station.

Delicious food, great service, lovely location.The ribs were so tender. The portions were huge but they can box up left overs to take away (cue ribs for a snack later). The staff were the correct level of attentive. I'll have to visit my friend again just to come back!

Went to this place at the old location and enjoyed it, so was very glad to see they’d had enough success to warrant a move to a bigger location. Have tried a few of these sudo-BBQ places (not aware of any proper pit smoke places in the UK though to be fair), and this is the best. Really excellent portions too, so you definitely get your monies worth. Sides are generally excellent too, wasn’t sure what the tomato chow chow was meant to be - but easily made up for. Staff are very friendly and handled a large group with ease.

Absolutely gorgeous food, best music playlist, great service and delicious cocktails! Went when it was quiet as we so service was v fast, food cooked to perfection and again, service was second to none. Will be back!

Judging by the other reviews, I can only assume we came in on a bad day!It was a strange start, having to ring the front door bell and be let in by the staff… but I get the COVID thing so we just laughed it off. Once inside the living room - sorry, restaurant - things didn’t get any better.The £8 Mojito was probably the worst we’ve ever had, if it’s possible for a drink to look sad, this one did… but then again, it’s a restaurant and not a cocktail bar. Sadly, the food was worse. Unable to eat the starter and the burger was dripping in and tasted of grease,to the point it was just too messy to carry on eating. Really poor all round.Girl/lady/woman that served us the food was lovely, the one serving drink, I can only assume was lovely too but she wasn’t much of a talker or maybe she was having a sad day and took it out on our mojito 😂