Lackey's Smoke House BBQ - Newport, Arkansas

Tristan Orr

Well, people. Let me tell you a story. My family and I are on our way through Arkansas to Texas. On the way we wanted to experiment with ChatGPT to give us some good ideas for some amazing Arkansas Cuisine.
ChatGPT recommended this place. Let me tell you, when ChatGPT says it can be wrong, it can be very wrong!
You pull up to this red shack and notice the sign to tell you “This is the place” is 80% gone with missing lettering. The shack it self looks like it’s ac window units are about to shatter and fall out of the window seals.
Anyways, so you pull up, open your car doors, and the family is excited for some good ol’ fashion family bbq. You walk into the door and… your feet are sticking to the floor.
Well okay maybe someone spilled something, then you walk and realize, you were right! Someone did spill something, over the entire floor!
Some of the floor is missing sections as well.
Also, the atmosphere does not smell like bbq, grilling, frying, or anything else. It smells like urine. No other way to describe it.
The ceiling above our head by our round table looked like it wanted to collapse on our heads.
The bathroom… the bathroom should tell you all you need to know about this place.
I know you’re thinking, “why did we stay and order food”. Well, we thought maybe, just maybe, it’s a diamond in the rough.
It’s not a diamond, it’s just in the rough.
We ordered our food, grilled catfish, hush puppies, beef bbq plate, pulled pork sandwich, Tamala’s, etc. Let me break these down for you piece by piece.
Grilled Catfish - edible, small, expensive, and sad.
Hushpuppies - Burnt and about as hard as marbles.
Beef bbq plate - beef is decent, props. However, the coleslaw, flavorless, the beans, sad, and the Texas Toast, just toast, oh well.
Pulled pork sandwich with Cajun fries - sandwich, absolutely flavorless, Cajun fries, fries with salt and pepper.
Tamales - Good, but not worth the price. Presented poorly, and with the atmosphere, scary.

Did I mention the food was served one-person at a time? Every single person had time to finish their plate before the next person got their plate.

Also, the containers of Tartar sauce and ranch were grimy and spotted with black specks. I tried to squeeze out some ranch, but only a thin white liquid came out. What does this tell you about how this place cleans and stores their condiments?

The people are kind, it’s not the workers personality. It’s the condition of the establishment that do a number on this place.

Why do I want to eat food from a place that doesn’t take care of itself? Does that mean it doesn’t take care of their food? I will not always give places chances, and I don’t know if you, reader, will either. However, if you do, do not give this place your chance.

This place needs work, and a lot of it. However, ChatGPT did say this was authentic Arkansas cuisine, so maybe that is exactly what we got.

Kevin Mininger

Went on a Monday at noon and was the only people in the restaurant. The dining area was a haze. The BBQ was decent. Ran low on BBQ sauce and they said they was out. Needs a little TLC inside.

Curtis Carter

TL;DR: THE place to stop for lunch in Newport. Make sure to try the Breakfast Burger.

We started the meal with some banana cake (delicious but slightly dryer than I prefer). It was quickly followed by some Hushpuppies that were served with house made ranch. They were easily some of the best Hushpuppies I've had. The ranch paired perfectly with them.

Although I split a Smokehouse Burger with my wife, it doesn't come close to the flavor of the other burger we split. I cannot recommend enough that you need to order the Breakfast Burger. Egg, American Cheese, Pepper Jack Cheese, and a perfectly seasoned burger patty come together in this flavorful beast.

My daughter had a grilled ham and cheese. What we didn't expect was the quality and amount of ham. Both were above expectations.

It was all so good, we decided to order a family pack of their BBQ to go (I'll update this review tonight when I find out how good it is).

The menu sported other tempting entree's such as the Cajun Burger, Philly Cheese Steak sandwich and Tamales. I'm looking forward to our next visit, but we aren't in Newport that often. Don't make the mistake of not stopping here if you find yourself in range.

Shane Ermitano

First impression: the sign is missing. And appears to have been for quite some time.

You walk in and instantly notice your feet peeling off the floor because of the grease and other residue that have gathered over the decades. Then you look around and realize nothing has been cleaned in… decades, save for the tabletops?

The ribs were dry and salty. Burned to a crisp. I didn’t finish my first.

The microwaved tamales got more bites than the ribs, but then I couldn’t stop thinking about what the kitchen must’ve looked like and I stopped eating.

Now the missing sign makes sense. They’re trying to protect you from eating here.

Adam Ferguson

Place is filthy, from the restrooms to the dining area! When the wife and I ate there the restaurant was filled with smoke! One guy working was doing everything from taking orders, preparing the meals, to busting tables and washing the dishes! We ordered the tamales and they were terrible, definitely not the Lackeys Tamales that I remember from years ago! They were very dry and had a dark singe look like they were overcooked! The one man working doing all was very friendly and the service was good being we were the only ones dining there, which should have been a red flag! The place needs to be revamped inside out! If I could give it zero stars I definitely would!

Tanner Garrett

In the grand tradition of all good bbq restraunt the building is falling apart. But the food is great and the service is good. They were out of ribs, but hopefully rhats not a regular thing

Sherry Mason

Best catfish and hush puppies I ever had!!! We were brought cake and hush puppies when we arrived. Sweet tea was good and to top it off we were sent home with fresh homemade tamales. Friendly staff and superb food. There needs to be a catfish category on Google Maps!

Ann Flores

1 star due in part to how filthy this place was. The BBQ pork plate you see is what was left after I lost my appetite after seeing the disgusting ceiling fan you see pictured. The condiment trays were sticky and dirty and dusty as were the items in the tray. As for the food the fries had been sitting under a lamp a long time, they kinda disintegrated when you bit into them and they were lukewarm, the pork was barely ok and I don't think fresh since today was a holiday, it was lukewarm, beans ok again not tasting fresh, the coleslaw was horrible tasting of very old age. The hush puppies brought to the table while we were waiting were fresh and delicious. Our server was very friendly.