DINING OUT: Smokin Pete’s in Geneva

This roadside spot serves some of the Finger Lakes’ best barbecue

By Jacob Pucci

 

Beer, bourbon, burgers, barbecue, Buffalo Bills. That’s a lot of Bs for a place serving A+ barbecue.

If the roadside signs outside Smokin Pete’s Barbecue along Seneca Lake south of Geneva don’t catch your attention, then the seductive smell of slowly smoking meats certainly will.

What began as a food truck grew into a brick-and-mortar restaurant with a cozy, honky-tonk feel decorated with a heavy dose of Buffalo Bills memorabilia (the restaurant is an official team-recognized Bills backers bar) and other quirks — perhaps none more so than the signed dollar bills tacked to the ceiling, fluttering like little green butterflies. Even though the restaurant only opened in 2022, it feels like it’s been around forever.

The parking lot was full when we arrived for lunch on a recent Saturday, though judging from the “line starts here” sign outside the door, it sounds like it’s often even busier. Ordering is done at the front counter; the wait in the winding queue gave us just enough time to read the menu written on the chalkboard adjacent to the counter (paper menus are also available) and plot our next move.

The menu is large and includes a variety of barbecue dinners and sandwiches house-ground brisket smash burgers. Because we wanted to sample as much as we could, we opted for the three-meat combo ($35), one of several platters that range from the $27 Pete’s Trio built for one or two diners, to the $190 American Dream XL that feeds up to 10.

We picked the brisket ($2 upcharge), pork spare ribs and half chicken ($1 surcharge), leaving the pulled pork, turkey and sausage for another visit. For our two sides, we opted for the mac and cheese and, at the front counter staff’s suggestion, tater tots. Yes, vegetables were an option. Perhaps those will be for next time as well.

The combo platter was plenty for two, but the allure of the chicken wings — smoked first, then fried until crispy — was too strong to ignore. Available in orders of four ($7) and eight ($14), the wings are served with carrots, celery and homemade blue cheese. The Buf a Cue brought the best of Buffalo and barbecue, with a moderate amount of heat and none of the goopy, overly sweet flavors that often bog down inferior barbecued wings.

With its creamy mayo base livened up with the zip of vinegar, cayenne pepper and other spices, Alabama white sauce doesn’t look like most other barbecue sauces. More tangy than spicy and mild enough to let the flavors of milder barbecue, such as chicken and turkey, shine through, it’s an ideal wing sauce.

While “fall-off-the-bone” is a common descriptor for barbecued ribs, it’s also a bit of a misnomer, as competitive pitmasters and many barbecue fans (myself included) would consider that to be overcooked. If you pick up a rib and the meat falls to your plate with a wet thud, that’s not good. The ribs at Smokin Pete’s fall squarely in that competition-style, where the ribs cut cleanly and the meat still clings to the bone, but easily pull away with a gentle bite. Hitting that sweet spot is the difference of moments in a many hours-long cooking process full of variables.

While Smokin Pete’s serves a wide range of meats, their barbecue is Texas-style and in Texas, that means brisket. A tender, juicy, intensely beefy brisket might be the cream of the crop in terms of barbecue, but do something wrong in the 18-hour cooking process and you’ll end up with a dry, crumbly mess light on flavor and rich in disappointment.

Thankfully, Smokin Pete’s nailed it. The thick slice was fatty, though not overly so, with a deep bark heavy on black pepper that gave way to a pronounced pink smoke ring that’s a sure-fire way to tell it spent a long while in the smoker.

Chicken can be tricky, not only because the meat is relatively lean, but also because it includes four distinct parts — leg, wing, thigh and breast — that all cook differently. The half chickens at Smokin Pete’s are brined, which seasons the meat and helps it retain moisture, before being smoked and glazed with barbecue sauce. The resulting bird a deep reddish-brown, with meat that effortlessly falls off the bone. That’s a good thing here.

The mac and cheese was creamy and heavy on the smoked Gouda cheese, a natural complement to the barbecue. With a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs and grated parmesan on top, it was a well-executed version of the staple side dish.

Same goes for the tater tots. Back in the food truck days, Smokin Pete’s first made a name for itself with its loaded tots, topped with pulled pork or chopped brisket, along with cheese sauce, bacon, barbecue sauce, sour cream and chives, which twice won top prizes at the New York State Fair food truck competition.

Those loaded tots are still on the menu, but even for the plain version, it’s fair to say that Smokin Pete’s knows its way around the humble tot.

Smokin Pete’s could pair its excellent food with sweet tea and bottled beer and call it a day. Instead, they have dozens of local draft beers and wines and a liquor selection with one of the most robust bourbon lists you’ll find anywhere in the area. A counter-service barbecue spot might not seem like the kind of place where you could order a pour of Pappy Van Winkle, but not only can you do that at Smokin Pete’s, they’ll ask you if you want the 10-year, 12-year or 15-year.

If you’d rather have your bourbon for dessert, go for the mini bourbon pecan pie ($7). A solid punch of bourbon balanced out the sweet filling and paired nicely with the whole toasted pecans on top.

We’re more than a few miles from Texas — or Memphis, Kansas City or the Carolinas, for that matter. But there is still plenty of good barbecue to be found in Upstate New York and with its combination of top-notch food and a welcoming environment that so perfectly encapsulates an ideal roadside barbecue spot, Smokin Pete’s ranks up there among the best.

 

Smokin Pete’s Barbecue

5286 State Route 14, (West Lake Road), Geneva

Open daily during the summer, from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

315- 412-9542

Reservations: Not accepted.

Facebook: facebook.com/SmokinPetes

Instagram: instagram.com/smokinpetes