Don’t let surroundings fool you: SNS Diner is smoked succulence

Don'€™t let the location of SNS Diner concern you. Yes, the breakfast and lunch spot is in an industrial area of North Las Vegas surrounded by trucking companies. And sure, SNS (which is short for Southern Nevada Services) also offers semi truck washes, painting services and big rig wheel alignment. But truckers aren'€™t the only ones pulling in for its slow-smoked barbecue and Southern comfort food.

Staff members are up before dawn lighting the wood chips in the smoker outside to prepare for breakfast and lunch. Into the smoker go plenty of the expected — chicken, pork, beef ribs and beef brisket. But then there'€™s the unexpected — smoked bacon and pastrami. And don'€™t expect baked beans. At SNS, the beans are smoked, too.

There's nothing fancy or pretentious about SNS, 1100 E. Colton Ave. Inside the dining room, the menu is displayed on an oversized chalkboard behind bar seating. Laminated paper menus are distributed, too. Plenty of tables and booths are scattered throughout. Just outside the dining area, there'€™s a leather sofa and chairs in front of a television and a coffee table stocked with magazines. Inside the bathrooms, showers remain, remnants from the diner'€™s full-service truck stop days.

At breakfast there are dishes, but at lunch, menu selections come out in baskets lined with checked paper.

The breakfast menu features biscuits and gravy, pastrami hash with eggs, eggs Benedict, oatmeal, French toast, pancakes, waffles and omelets.

At lunch, patrons have plenty to chose from, including burgers, a smoked bacon BLT, rib tips and pulled chicken or pork. For those who want to try a few things, there'€™s a two-meat or three-meat combo with a choice of ribs, brisket, pulled pork or a quarter chicken. The bone-in chicken is fall-off-the-bone good, and the brisket is tender enough to slice with a fork. The tangy sweet barbecue sauce with a touch of heat is served in a plastic bottle, so patrons can squeeze out as much as they wish. Meat is also available by the pound to take home.

Side dishes include bowtie macaroni and cheese topped with bread crumbs, fresh-cut french fries, smoked beans, smoked beans and rice, green or potato salad and coleslaw.

Pies and fruit cobblers round out the menu, and drink selections include coffee, tea and soft drinks, sweet tea and sweet peach tea.

SNS Diner is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call 702-269-9696.

— To reach View contributing reporter Ginger Meurer, email gmeurer@viewnews.com or follow her on Twitter: @gingermmm.