Big Johns Alabama Bar B Que

Have lived in Tampa all my life and grew up eating from this place. Not the same anymore! They will serve you old bbq (chewy and tough) mixed with a little fresh bbq (tender and succulent). Don't get fooled by the smoke! Just because they are taking it off the grill from being warmed up from last week's unsold food. They think people are not on to their game. Several of my family members as well as friends have had the same bad experience. If you want fresh bbq don't spend your money here, you'll be better off going to Sonny's BBQ or some other franchise. I gave it one star only because it's newly remodeled. more

Just moved to the Tampa area a week ago from NC (BBQ Capital), was driving down the street and smelled meat cooking. It smelled great! We turned around and went inside. First of all, the security guard was extremely rude (a kinda R. Kelly reject) Secondly, the meat was tender but the bbq sauce tasted horrible. Like it was made with 10 parts vinegar to 1 part ketchup. Not a cheap place to eat by a long shot. As a North Carolina resident for well over 20 years, the BBQ in the entire states' BBQ is PERFECTO! Mustard based, vinegar based are great. I've read some of the earlier reviews and thought, ""Wow, are these people on hallucinogens or what. Wouldn't recommend to any one I knew, maybe to those out of staters. more

Recently re-built on 40th, just north of Hillsborough. Same high quality open-pit meats cooked as you watch. Particularly like the grilled sausage.....excellent sauces, beans & slaw to complete the meal. Mostly take-out but now tables available to eat immediately. Grand tradition continued. more

I stopped in on my lunch time to get a chopped beef bbq sandwich - what a DISAPPOINTMENT - after arriving at my destination and preparing to consume my sandwich it had barely any sauce on, I am actually scraping the sides of the paper to try and extract more sauce - to little avail. Come on guys SAUCE IS CHEAP. You wouldn't want to lose a customer over sauce. I thought I would choke to death trying to eat this sandwich. I ordered a bbq sandwich not a peanut butter sandwich. This sandwich was 95% no sauce, not to mention that I spent my hard earned $6.00 - AND THIS IS WHAT I GET. I have visited there many times before, mostly in the old building - 5 mins. sandwich in hand, out the door. this visit it took about 15 mins. if not longer then I had to step outside a couple of times waiting for my name to be called because the smoke started to bill up. The building is beautiful, but you have got to add MORE SAUCE. You have got to do better. more

This was our first trip and after reading the reviews, we went expecting a great BBQ meal. We were surprised and quite disappointed. The chicken leg was good but the chicken thigh in the kid's meal was so dry that the skin was too hard to eat. After seeing/reading about the desserts, I was suprised when the cookie in the kids meal was a package of oreos. The macaroni salad tasted like what comes from the grocery store. The beef sandwich was good and hearty but wanted more sauce and there was no BBQ sauce on the tables. I saw a charge listed for 1/2 cup of sauce but charging extra for BBQ sauce at a BBQ restaurant is a complete negative for us. Also, surprised that the entree didn't come with a side. Obviously, others writers loved it but we definitely didn't. Maybe we went on the wrong day. more

Take it from someone who knows her BBQ when I say that Big John's hits the mark! Most of all, I found the staff to be nice and for me, customer service is more important than anything. There are lots of places with good food but fewer with good service! Way to go and please keep the smiles coming! more

This was my first time at Big John's, but it won't be my last. This is Bar-B-Q Pork like I remember it growing up, cooked over a hickory wood fire to tender-juicy perfection, chopped into bite sized pieces, and doused with a vinegary sauce laced with a generous splash of tabasco. I ordered the sandwich, but found the bun was completely overwhelmed by the pile of succulent meat heaped on it. Forget about eating out of hand, this is knife and fork food, and that's fine by me. I had a nice size serving of potato salad on the side, smooth and mustardy and full of chopped pickles. I followed up with a slice of homemade sweet potato pie; tasty and not too sweet, but I would have preferred if it had been a little browner on top. Overall, a very satisfying experience, one I will be repeating on a regular basis. Pros: Authentic Bar-B-Q, Generous Servings, Polite Staff more

I have been eating Big John's for 11 years now, and it is my all time favorite BBQ restaurant. I remember going in as a small child and watching them cut the ribs up, it amzed me how fast they could go. I havn't got a chance to eat Big John's in over a year and I swear I have dreams about going back lol. DEFINETLY EAT THERE Pros: it's good duh more

From Memphis to Lexington to Tuscaloosa and everywhere in between, I've tried them all, and Big John's is good. The meat is properly prepared in the smoker, the ribs cooked to perfection, but the sauce was more like Buffalo Chicken sauce than any vinegar base NC style or molasses tomato base associated with Memphis that I've ever encountered. Baked beans are awesome and coleslaw was OK. Pros: Authentic, slow cooked meat preparation Cons: No homeade ice tea more

The best there is. From NC to Tenn. KC or Texas none better. Melts in you mouth . Sausage, Ribs, Beef or the best Pork anywhere. The Greatest. To die for beans, cole slaw I'm hungry now Pros: Quality more

This is the epitome of the genre. Best ever Makes Sonny's taste like crap sonny's Pros: best 'que in FL ! more

It doesn't get better than this! The food is great! The service is wonderful and friendly! The atmosphere is down home! I've never been there that people aren't courteous, helpful and nice. The ribs are fall off the bone good, the chicken is mouth watering and they also have some of the best beef this side of the northern South! It's like goin' home to eat without the long travel! Thanks, Big John's for bein here! (they didn't pay me to say this! I love this place!-A Georgia Peach) Pros: Friendly Atmosphere, Great Food, Eat in/Take out Cons: It's not next door, It's not open 24hrs. more

This is definitely the best barbecue I have ever had in my life. It tastes like real barbecue. And the prices are good. more