California > Healdsburg: KINsmoke


 
Chris Allingham

Chris Allingham

Administrator
Staff member
KINsmoke
304 Center Street
Healdsburg, CA
(707) 473-8440
Open Daily from 11am – 9pm
http://www.kinsmoke.com/

KINsmoke opened in October 2015 at the Healdsburg Town Plaza. My parents visited recently for lunch, having the Brisket and Apple Slaw Sandwich ($11). They liked the sandwich but wished the slaw had been on the side; they'd have been better off ordering the regular brisket sammie ($10).

It looks like all the usual BBQ suspects are on the menu, plus some grilled items like a Porterhouse steak, ahi tuna, scallops, shrimp, and a couple of burgers and grilled sammies. Throw in some interesting sides dishes, salads, and a nice selection of beer and wine and this looks like a place I want to try for myself soon. Oh, and there's a kid's menu, too.
 
I had a chance to visit KINsmoke for lunch with my parents on April 18, 2017. We ordered 1/2 lb of brisket, 1/2 lb of pulled pork, 1/2 slab of spareribs, two sides of mac & cheese, and two beet salads.

The brisket was quite good. USDA Prime beef, delicious, especially the crusty end pieces from the point. Some of the smaller bones from the spareribs were overcooked a bit, but the larger bones were spot on--perfectly tender but not fall off the bone. The pork shoulder was delicious and included a big chunk of Mr. Brown. So good! I was really impressed with the quality of barbecue coming out of their pit. None of the meats were sauced; six varieties were served at the table: a basic house sauce, a Kansas City style sauce (my fav), an espresso sauce (second fav), a vinegar-based sauce, an Alabama white sauce, and a mustard-based sauce. Something for everyone!

I introduced myself to the manager and he invited us back to see their Oyler pit. I'm familiar with these pits from J&R Manufacturing out of Mesquite, Texas; they are the real deal and very popular with many BBQ restaurants. It was empty, getting ready for the next batch of meat to be barbecued for the next day.

In the BBQ department, KINsmoke also has short ribs, sausage, and chicken pulled and in pieces. BBQ sandwiches are available in various configurations. The usual sides are there--potato salad, baked beans, mac & cheese, slaw done two ways, cornbread--plus sweet potato tater tots, hush puppies, frickles, collard greens, and crispy brussels sprouts.

Also on the menu are several burgers, a pork chop, a fish of the day, shrimp skewers, and several salads. I didn't see any desserts on the menu, but we sure didn't need any after enjoying the barbecue!

KINsmoke has a full bar and a nice selection of beer and wine. Interestingly, there's a big supermarket-style cooler at the back of the restaurant from which you can purchase beer by the bottle, by the six-pack, or by the 12-pack!

Prices are what you'd expect in Northern California wine country...a bit on the high side. At the time of our visit, brisket was $25/lb, pork shoulder $18/lb, and spareribs were $24/rack. KINsmoke also does catering.

Here are some photos from our visit. Enjoy!

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Looks to be a nice and clean restaurant in and out... The pictures of the food looks great Chris, Expensive but that's to be expected in that area.
 
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I grew up in Cloverdale, about 17 miles north of Healdsburg. The wine industry put Healdsburg on the map, along with many other small towns in the North Bay. If I ever get down that way, I'll have to check out KINsmoke. Thanks Chris.
 
The only reason we went to Healdsburg was to swim in the summer. They uses to dam the Russian River just below the bridge on old 101 and make a heck of a nice swimming area. Diving platform and all. State of the art! :)
 
The wife and I did the California wine crawl this past week from southern California north. Spent 6 days in the Russian River AVA, 4 of those days in Healdsburg, my namesake town. We went to Kinsmoke twice. Best brisket I've had in a joint. Pulled pork was very good. Spares were slightly underdone IMO. Brussels sprouts were crispy deep fried and nicely seasoned. The vinegar slaw wasn't what I expected. I was thinking it was going to be an apple cider vinegar slaw. It was more of a red wine vinegar I think. Very tart. I'd definitely recommend this joint. Just have to find the things you like best.

Two other non bbq eateries in Healdsburg I'd like comment on, Drewish deli and Willi's restaurant. Drewish deli has fantastic bagels and lox. They also had corned beef sandwiches etc. But we just did two breakfasts there. The wife and I had eaten here and gone north to the redwoods for a few days, both of us actually wanted to go back to Drewish and we did visit a second time. Absolutely a great, albeit pricey place for breakfast or lunch, but open only Thursday to Monday. Willi's, well it seems to be popular. It's a seafood centric small plate restaurant per the waitress. Wife and I are seafood people, both being of Japanese ancestry. We had great expectations. Both of us agreed the various trendy plates we tried were just too heavily spiced to taste the seafood. The chef seemed to be trying to cater to people that dont like seafood.

While staying in Healdsburg we hiked every day in the local hills to keep our English pointer happy. I like the town, although it seems to be morphing into another Napa or Sonoma.
 
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The wife and I were back up in Healdsburg last week. We went to Kinsmoke again and we had a 2x2, brisket and pork ribs. The brisket was good, but didn't have the heavy bark like our last visit. It was still great. The ribs were a little underdone, stick in your teeth kind of underdone. Overall, very good. Recommend it. Might have hit them when there was a sun spot.
 
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