Date Night gets dinner cooked by twins! Twin smokers, that is.

Twin Smokers used to be a sushi place. We think they will do well in this location, in the strip of buildings that house Stats, Max’s Pizza, and Der Biergarten. It’s an easy walk from the Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, and Centennial Park. Coincidentally, they are all owned by the same restaurant group.

Meet Elizabeth and Matthew. They look very expensive.

They are prominently displayed in the back of the restaurant. Evidently, they have a voracious appetite for wood, four types to be exact.

There are piles of the stuff when you walk in, telling you that this place is serious about their BBQ. The brisket and sausage get the mesquite and post oak. The chicken and pork get the white oak and hickory. Grant Goggans, the undisputed king of Atlanta food bloggers, has a good technical breakdown of the smokers on his blog, Marie Let’s Eat.

The wood goes all the way to the ceiling. I would hate to be the guy that has to get it off of the top pile. Don’t try this at home.

You order at the counter and they bring you your food. You are in charge of getting your drinks, unless you order one of their forty choices of bourbon or forty beers.

Although we are tempted by some of those beers, it’s a little early in the day and we pass. The menu is pretty simple. Most of it is right up on the wall.

We are joined today by our son’s romantic interest Skye, who is buying us lunch. Should we go for the $75 “Pride and Joy” that has has almost everything from the menu and serves 4-6? No, but there are combos on the menu so you can taste a little of everything.

Eve and I split the three meat combo. There’s plenty on the plate for both of us, and it comes with two sides. Our plate has the chicken, brisket, and pork ribs. You can also choose Patak sausage. My favorite is the brisket. Eve is a ribs girl and she likes the meaty bones the best. We feel sorry for the chicken. It’s moist, but pales in comparison to the smoked meats.

For our sides, we pick the mac and cheese and the Brussels au gratin. The mac has a nice kick as there are jalapeños inside. We didn’t realize that we order two “cheesy” sides. The Brussels are tasty and we think we spy some cauliflower in the dish. It’s the seasonal side that may not be there when you visit.

Skye gets the pulled chicken sandwich, also with the mac and cheese.

A word about the pickles on the plate: house-made. Is that two words? Anyway, they are really good and I wish they put more on the plate. And speaking of what’s on your plate, why do BBQ places have to put that lonely, pitiful slice of white bread on the dish, buried under the meat. Wouldn’t a corn muffin be better?

There’s trouble ahead for you after your meal. You can get in “Trouble” with a vanilla milkshake (made with High Road ice cream) or “Double Trouble”, where they add bourbon to the shake. Skye is a celebrity in the restaurant community and knows Matt, the manager at Twin Smokers. He is kind enough to bring us a sample of the Double Trouble as well as a banana pudding.

You need something sweet after a large BBQ plate and the Double Trouble fits the bill. Manager Matt describes it as Christmas in a glass and we agree. There’s a lot of love in the banana pudding and we scrape the cup to get every last bit of it. Aren’t those little vanilla wafers cute?

The bottom line on Twin Smokers: Excellent BBQ for your pre-game or post-game meal. It’s as good as the Smoke Ring, which is about a mile away and it’s in a perfect location if you are going to an event at the Dome or Philips Arena. It will be interesting to see if there’s room for both in the neighborhood. Here’s a Date Night tip for you: they validate three hours of parking across the street, so you can eat here and then have plenty of time to visit Centennial Park.