Critic's Review
This place has had a big Coming Soon sign up for months, and they finally replaced it with Now Open. It's the same owners as Sonny's which has closed; Why do you close a BBQ on one end of a shopping center and open another one on the other end? Sonny's is a franchise operation. It's likely that these owner wanted to get out from under the umbrella of having to pay royalties.The place is your typical bbq joint with the all wood interior; the difference is that this one is new and the other places are 30 years old.
Old Florida BBQ Interior
Apparently, they server Coke here. They were out of cole slaw, so I went with beans and Mac and Cheese as my sides. You have a choice of corn bread or garlic bread when you order.
The tables here are stocked with 5 BBQ sauces; I doubt if any of them are home made.
Old Florida BBQ Sauces
As I picked up my order, the counterperson asked what sauces I wanted, and I told here to give me the best ones. She asked if I liked spicy and I said no, so she threw a couple in the bag.
Old Florida BBQ ribs
When I opened the bag I was surprised that there were no tops on the side containers, and the ribs looked kind of small. Obviously the orange sauce was tangy and the other was spicy; I didn't like either one, so I used some sauce I had in the fridge.
I didn't like the beans; they tasted a bit off. The Mac and Cheese was fine if not overly inspiring. The ribs weren't very good. First, they didn't have much meat on them, they were dry and didn't have much taste. Not smokey either. They call them "sweet and tender". I found them to be neither.
There's nothing Old Florida about this place. It's more new-fangled than anything else. And it's not as good as Sonny's.
We liked Sonnys, thought maybe this was the same owner so we tried it. Not the same, the sweet sauce was terrible, and the food wasn't that good. Bring the old one back, we'll never go back to this place.
Waited for months thinking this would be a new place with good BBQ but guess not.
Glad I found these reviews. Saved me tire and money. Thanks
The only Sonny's I've been to that is really good is the one in The Villages outside of Orlando (my Parents visit the Villages often).
Why is it so hard to fina a good BBQ place in South Florida??
There's plenty of good BBQ around. This just isn't it.
I have been eating in Sonnys for many years and thought that once this place moves that they will get away from the old habits of being a Sonnys franchise but they stayed right on track as same ole same ole!
I walked in tonight for the first time at the new location, the front was so congested that people were walking out for the length of time that they stood waited to be seated. Right in the front entrance they have take out, people paying their bill and people waiting to be seated, to me something has to go because you can only fit so many people in one little area at one time.
Finally sat down and saw that they brought all of the old tables and chairs over from the old store and looks like the same lighting too. Windows are dirty, they need to be cleaned!
Ordered the food and most of it came out room temp, had to send back the chicken twice and still not right. After we ate our meal then it was a wait at the front counter to pay the bill and customers upset. I saw that on the take out that they were giving little one ounce cups for sauces, what a joke!