Toms Smokehouse

The Eyes of Texas are Upon You
Part 3

Tom’s Smokehouse
3125 Bellmead Drive
Waco Texas 76705
(254)-799-2345
M-F 10:30 to 5:30 **hours may change upon owners whim**


So today my dad felt good enough to go to lunch with me and he wanted to try out this BBQ joint out in Bellmead, he had heard of it in the past, but never made a trip out there. Originally we were goin’ to Food For Thought, but I decided I needed some real food, not some organic vegan stuff… at least, not today, today I needed some real protein.

So we find the restaurant, but parking was exactly easy, it was a full house, front side and back. Luckily one opened up while driving around the block. So we park and head in. Its is fairly crowded and we are greeted by a guy behind the counter. Real nice guy and friendly, kinda funny. He tells us the daily special and hands us a menu to glace over. They have a nice variety to choose from, 7 different meats, 9 sides, potatoes, sandwiches and couple salads. I ordered the “Pig Out” Plate, which is 3 meats and two sides. I picked brisket, ribs and chicken for the meat, cole slaw and mashed potatoes for the sides. So we tell we get our drinks and take a seat, waiting for them to bring us our food. After sitting for a while, waiting, there is a nice and steady flow of people coming in… which is generally a good sign. The place had a overall great atmosphere. The guy behind the counter, probably the owner was very friendly. Walking around checking up on customers and striking up conversations.

Finally our food comes, my dad got the brisket plate and well my plate was massive. Came with a big ole chicken breast, a nice size rib and a few slices of brisket, along with a nice size serving of mashed potatoes (w/ gravy) and cole slaw. So the first thing I try is the mashed potatoes… they were alright, nothing really special about them, but they were still good. Next I tried the slaw, I loved the slaw. It has a slightly creamy dressing, rather sweet and the veggies were fresh and crunchy. I could’ve eaten a full bowl of this stuff. Then I tried the brisket, I don’t think they put a rub on it (if they do, it is very light) it had a decent smoke ring and subtle aroma, was fork tender and had a nice overall flavor. Was a little dry at times (like much lean brisket can be), but nothing a little bbq sauce couldn’t resolve. Speaking of sauce, they serve it in empty Louisiana jalapeno bottles, it isn’t a thick bbq sauce and it a little sweet. I liked it. The rib was good, could peel most of it just right off the bone (but probably could’ve been cooked a little longer), had a nice smoky flavor and covered with sauce… was pretty good eats. But my favorite meat was the chicken. They clearly smoked the chicken for at least park of the cooking, as it not only had a smoky aroma to it, but you could also taste the smoke from the skin to the meat. The skin was nicely seasoned, well smoked and crunchy, and I love chicken skin. The meat was juicy and tender, had a nice smoke flavor to it as well and it went great with the sauce.

After eating all that, believe it or not I still had room for some dessert. So I ordered their blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. Was a great way to end the meal.

Over all I enjoyed the meal and will deff go back to try some of their other meats as well as their other sides (tater salad and mac specifically) and potatoes.
So if you are ever in the Bellmead area, give them a try.