Stone Mill BBQ and Steakhouse

2000 W Reno St
Broken Arrow, OK 74012
(918) 258-4227
Open: Sun. 11:00-2:30 Mon.-Thurs. 11:00-8:30 Fri.-Sat. 11:00-9:30
http://www.stonemillbbq.com/
Equipment: Ole Hickory


You can tell when you first arrive at Stone Mill that the owners(Steve and Debbie Ohman) wanted to create a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. From the koi pond and waterwheel outside, to the cabin-like interior, a lot of attention was paid to the decor. Themes run the gamut from the nautical pirate bar area on one end of the restaurant to the jungle room on the other end, complete with a rope bridge and stuffed animal jungle creatures.
When you walk in, you feel like you are in a steakhouse more than a BBQ joint. The atmosphere is a nice but comfortable family restaurant. We were some of the only customers in the place on Saturday afternoon though they could have been serving more via the drive-thru window on the backside of the building.

My wife, my in-laws, and I were warmly welcomed by our waitress and seated in the middle of the main dining area. As the name suggests, the menu offers more than just BBQ and is more of a full service restaurant than some of the other BBQ places we'll be visiting. From the salads to the steaks to seafood, there is much more than BBQ at the Stone Mill, but the BBQ is what we came for.

Randy ordered the pulled pork sandwich and enjoyed it very much. He liked it so much that he didn't even save me a bite. Carolyn ordered the Stone Mill Spud which she enjoyed thoroughly. I did get a chance to try the chopped beef that was served on the spud and it reminded me very much of sloppy joes. The meat was almost minced, with lots of sweet sauce holding it together. I was glad I didn't order it, but Carolyn seemed to like it just fine. My wife and I ordered the Stone Mill Sampler from the appetizer portion of the menu which allowed us to try the ribs, the pork tenderloin, the brisket, and the chicken. I usually gravitate towards the pork dishes, with ribs being my favorite, but here I enjoyed the chicken and the brisket the most.

When I found out that Stone Mill uses an Ole Hickory smoker, I was anxious to try out the meat. I've found that some restaurants using similar equipment will sometimes turn out a "mushy" product, and others using the same smoker will turn out some great BBQ. I was glad to find that Stone Mill's meat was not too mushy, though the brisket was so tender you could cut it with a spoon. The chicken had a good flavor and was very moist. I found the pork tenderloin to be actually quite dry in the middle. It had a decent flavor around the outside though there was little evidence of a smoke ring, but you needed to sauce it to keep from choking on it. The ribs were a disappointment. Though they were somewhat tender the flavor of rendered pork fat was missing. They were decent but not worth bragging about. Another food item worth mentioning--the rolls served warm with honey-butter. Yum!

All-in-all we were pleased with our experience and our food though I don't know how often I'll make the trip from mid-town. If you live in Broken Arrow, it's a gem of a family restaurant with a fairly extensive menu.

Ratings: 7 ribs (out of 10)

If I were rating this on the restaurant as a whole I'd give this place 8 ribs, but judging as a BBQ restaurant I give it 7 ribs.

Price: $$