Lake Martin Voice Realty
Uncle Nick’s Smokehouse – New Q And Brew At Lake Martin
Uncle Nick’s Smokehouse is the newest of Lake Martin’s waterfront restaurants. Its main gig is barbeque – offered lots of different ways, but it also has many non Q items on the menu.
They opened earlier this summer, so my “new” description might not be all that accurate. Sorry, but it has been a (blessedly) busy buyer summer and I am just now getting time to upload all of these video and photos.
Nick’s menu ranges all over the BBQ spectrum. They offer brisket, chicken, and turkey dishes, though the focus seems to be more on pork. At least when I have been there I have had mostly the pork dishes. I have had the BBQ turkey sandwich, the BBQ pork sandwich, and, while they were good, they weren’t my favorite. My favorite thing I have eaten at Nick’s so far are the BBQ potato skins. I don’t see them on the online menu I linked above, but trust me, they are awesome. I had the pork ones, and liberally applied their Carolina and Alabama sauces. Yum.
As of yet I haven’t tried any of their non Q items like steak or burgers or shrimp, but I have heard good reports from other folks.
Ambiance
Waterfront. Need I say more? No, but I will. You can dine alfresco – in riva al lago. If you don’t like that, I have concerns about your salvation. Inside is nice, too. They have plenty of room, nice tables, and a nice bar area. I would say that it’s a little more upscale feeling than nearby Oskar’s and Niffer’s.
Location
One of the many cool things about Lake Martin is the fact that we have many waterfront restaurants like Sinclair’s at Kowaliga, Chucks, and Harbor Docks Anchor Bay. Uncle Nick’s Smokehouse now joins that group. If you’ve never tried it, you should. There is something about arriving by boat that makes the food better, the sweet tea sweeter. If you are going to Nick’s by boat, please note that they are located on the east side of the Blue Creek Bridge, aka the Highway 49 Bridge.
Blue Creek Bridge is kind of low, so take care to note if your boat will make it under. At full summer pool of 490, you definitely will not make it under the bridge in boats like sport cruisers, fixed roof pontoon boats, T top fishing boats, or ski boats with fixed wakeboard towers. If you have a smaller boat with a droppable bimini top, or if it’s less than full pool, you might be OK. Just check it out beforehand and be careful.
If you are coming by car, no worries. It is the latest proof that the Blue Creek area of Lake Martin is becoming known for its restaurants.
Uncle Nick’s Strengths
Uncle Nick’s Smokehouse has several strengths which I think will give it staying power. Forget good food and a great waterfront location, although it has both. Other restaurants in this same location have had both, and not lasted.
I have been impressed by Nick’s management. They are professional. They are serious. They know what they are doing. Here are some examples:
Social Media – they have embraced social media marketing. For the last couple of years I have tried my best to help local businesses understand and take advantage of social media marketing. Nick’s gets it.
I see Nick’s reaching out and interacting with the Lake Martin community on Twitter and Facebook. I see they have started a blog. They are not waiting for you to walk in the door. They are reaching out to meet their potential customers on the web. I like it.
Synergy – This word is a tired MBA cliche. But Nick’s is living it by working with their sister company, Creekside Lodge and Conference Center. They share a parking lot, and cross promote each other very well. Indeed, I had some buyers in town from Florida last month and I recommended Creekside to them. They stayed there and ended up eating a couple of meals at Nick’s because it was such a short walk. They enjoyed their entire Lake Martin experience and they recommend both.
We at Lake Martin Voice Realty welcome Uncle Nick’s Smokehouse to Lake Martin and look forward to many more delicious meals there!
Lake Martin BBQ Fans – Check Out The Red Hill Cottage Cafe
Cotton’s BBQ has some competition.
Last week I ate at the Red Hill Cottage Cafe with my fellow Lake Martin realtor John Christenberry. He had been there before, and claimed that their barbecue was as good as Cotton’s. I laughed at him and accepted the challenge.
Verdict:
John was right, it is really good. Apparently their angle is that they cook everything on Green Egg Grills. They are also distributors for the Green Egg and you can get related supplies there, as well as a bunch of other lake home decor and furniture. It all looked nice, but I was there on a mission for Q.
I am an admitted stickler for good BBQ, therefore I am really tough on Q restaurants. The Red Hill Cottage Cafe passes easily.
Method: As stated before, they cook on Green Egg Grills, so that means their Boston butts are directly suspended over the coals. The good thing about this is that when the fat is rendered out, it drips down into the coals, sizzles, and returns as flavor bombs that return to the butt. Yum.
Presentation: I ate a sandwich, and the meat was of the pulled persuasion as opposed to Cotton’s that chops. No judgement here, to each his own. But I do think that the pulled method helped Red Hill expose the fabulous job on the meat.
Sauce: The sauce was good. Tomato based, sweet yet not overwhelming. They also did not put too much on it to hide 
the meat. That’s one thing I don’t understand about some places, they purportedly spend 12 hours cooking the meat and then smother it in sauce that they cooked in 30 minutes. Personally I like Cotton’s tomato based sauce better. One suggestion – I wonder how good Red Hill’s pulled pork would fare with a vinegar based sauce that can penetrate every nook and cranny on that sandwich? Plus they would be the only ones in the area with a vinegar based sauce.
Cost: It was cheap. $2.95 for a sandwich. Every lunch gets free dessert. I would say that the same meal at Jim N Nicks would be $15 pre-tip and it would not be 1/2 as good.
The Last Word: Great – a welcome addition to the list of Lake Martin restaurants. Their barbecue is so good that I wonder why they do anything else. It is every bit as good as Cotton’s, and for me that is saying a lot. I think they will benefit each other, because they all help traffic, which helps all area restaurants. In fact, Red Hill, along with Green Valley, Cotton’s, and Catherine’s, are worthy foils to the east side eateries of Niffer’s and another of my prime favorites – Oskar’s. But thankfully Red Hill’s menu is different enough from each of them that I think all can peacefully coexist. Johnny G’s, however, had better step it up.
Where: The Red Hill Cottage (I guess it’s the name of the decor store) and Cottage Cafe are located on Alabama highway 229, just south of the intersection with Highway 50, by Castaway Island Road. Official address is 4068 Red Hill Road, Tallassee. Phone is 334-857-2233.
When: According to their menu, they are open 7 AM to 7 PM Wednesday through Saturday.
What: DOWNLOAD RED HILL’S MENU HERE – they serve a lot more than BBQ. Even breakfast. In fact, I went back the day after the Q meal and ordered 2 smoked turkey sandwiches, 1 smoked ham sandwich, 3 bags of chips, 3 co-colas, and got 3 free desserts (nanner pudding, bread pudding, and strawberry cobbler). My bill total was like $15 pre-tip. Not bad, and the sandwiches were great – a worthy “chick option” to the Q.
Hey Reader – what’s your take? Leave a reply below and let me know about your experience! If you don’t see the “Leave a reply” below this, click on the word “Comments” and leave one so we can all benefit.
