Jimmy Riffle’s Old Florida BAR-B-Q

Saturday November 1, 2014
They are going out of business.
Last day is Sunday November 2, 2014.
We are here now and just found out.
They are running out of food.
Do not go.

I liked it. Good ribs and on special $ 9.99 with 2 sides and bread. I am not a Rib snob but they were in a nice kinda sweet sauce not to heavy. Really light smoke but for me pretty good.
Now the green beans and collards? Out of this world. Tender, seasoned just right. I would eat vegetarian next time. :-) maybe not but they are that good.

We were fans of Sonny’s and when we heard they were closing and opening a new place down the street we were bummed. Well, not to worry!
The salad bar is just as awesome as it always was. The bbq, especially the pulled pork is yum to the o! I love their green beans, cole slaw and mac and cheese. All terrific. My boyfriend enjoyed the sliced pork. He loves it, that and the corn.
One of our favorite things to do there is check out all of the sauces. They have all of their different bbq sauces on the table, all delish, and we enjoy making our own concoctions to try.
Every server we have had has been friendly and efficient. And the owner, Hank is extremely personable and really cares about your visit.
Definitely gotta check it out. I’ll continue to frequent the place. Hmm, now I’m craving bbq!

I never crave BBQ. NEVER. But it just so happened that BBQ crept upon my cravings this week and I decided to act upon it. Well I am sure glad I did!
I picked this place because I remember Sonny’s having a great salad bar. It is the exact salad bar as it used to be and it pleased my expectations. It had the usual– bacon bits, croutons, cheese cubes (yum), shredded cheese, sunflower seeds, grape tomatoes, and dressings that included creamy Italian which made me happy. Onto the unusuals– tuna salad, macaroni salad, chicken salad, potato salad, anti pasta salad, rice pudding, cornbread, chocolate pudding, vanilla pudding, and jello! So the salad bar was a major hit for me.
I ordered the salad bar in addition to my meal. For my meal, I ordered the chicken and pulled pork combo. Chicken was smoked which I did enjoy, and the pulled pork was easy and soft to eat. The meal came with two sides plus garlic or cornbread. I got the BBQ beans which were sweet and tangy and their crinkle cut fries (both enjoyable).
The salad bar alone is around $ 8 from what I remember and their is an option to add a side of chicken or pork for a small addition fee. I think this is what I will do next time as I ordered way too much food. The salad bar cost around $ 4-​$ 5 when added to a meal. Overall the price was right when it came the the quality and amount of food.
Service was ok. She was efficient, bland, but efficient overall which is all I can really ask for from a server. She just seemed like she was bored with her job.
I just admit though, the place seemed a little redneck-​ish.

As a big fan of Gator Boys & especially Jimmy, coming to this BBQ restaurant is always a pleasure. From the pictures of the Gator Boys to the TVs showing episode after episode of the show to the big tank with three live baby gators, this restaurant makes you feel like you are in BBQ Heaven.
The menu is made up of just about anything that you would expect from a BBQ restaurant such as delicious BBQ chicken, pulled pork, pulled beef, burgers, multiple types of ribs and lots of garlic toast. They have a unlimited salad bar and plenty of appetizers. My personal favorite app is the corn nuggets served with brown sugar butter. The amount of food that they give you is always too much (but it is a good thing). There are almost always leftovers that taste as good the next day.
Recently I’ve had unlimited BBQ Ribs for $ 16.49. They bring out 6 – 8 at a time. Some times they are perfect but other times they have been over-​cooked and a little tough. The flavor, when cooked right, is excellent and the meat comes off of the bone as
The layout is 2 distinct sections which I like because it cuts down on some of the noise but one of the sections has tables instead of booths, which I prefer.
The service is adequate but never fantastic unless you are a regular & know something. It’s not like they are not nice but they usually aren’t that talkative. I must admit, I do like the fact that the owner does come out ofter to check on everyone. He seems like a nice guy who takes a lot of pride in his (and Jimmy’s) restaurant.

If you thought that being on the show Gator Boys was making Jimmy Riffle a multimillionaire, this is not the case. Perhaps that is why he decided to open up this restaurant– and I’m sure glad he did. (Also a good move because you never know what is going to happen with a television show– and we were all on eggshells wondering if Gator Boys would be able to return to South Florida) …
I myself am not the biggest BBQ fan– but the wife, she adores it and has been on the look out for a place for a long time. We even went to a place several times that she didn’t care for, just because she loves BBQ so much– and really wanted it to work out because it was close, but in the end, realized that it was just not going to be «our» BBQ place. One thing I like is the different flavors of BBQ sauce that you can choose from that are on the table for you. I like to mix them to create my own signature sauce for my sandwich. There is a meal deal for sandwiches they come with a drink and a side– and there is no extraa charge for the mac-​n-​cheese — and it is quite good.
Now, we’ve read other reviews that have some hilarious «You know a great BBQ Place when…» and this place may not make the cut– (Again I am not a BBQ connoisseur) — but for the average person, looking for a decent meal and not break the bank — Jimmy Riffle’s is the place to go.

As explained before — I just made my first Unilocal rookie mistake … here it goes:
I came starving, ordered the rib combo with coleslaw, fries and the garlic bread. Guess what? I ate the whole thing without taking a picture first. Hay Caramba! Well, the baby back ribs we not that good neither the fries. I did enjoy the rest enough to give this place a second try and will definitively come back again. Still, I will only give 3 stars at this point.

I was really impressed with Old Florida BBQ! I went to lunch with my dad, and we were torn between coming here or going to Burger 21 (they are literally right next door to one another). I made the executive decision to go to Old Florida, and I didn’t regret it!
We were greeted warmly, and had a very attentive waitress. We got the corn fritters, with powdered sugar, and asked for the cinnamon butter as well. These delicious little nugs are worth coming here alone!
My dad got a large sample platter that came with pretty much everything (chicken, brisket, pork, ribs, two sides and bread). That crazy amount of food was only $ 13.50! I got a pulled pork and brisket sandwich on garlic toast with fries and a drink for $ 8.50. Even after we were stuffed, we still had enough leftovers for my dad to take home for dinner! The bang for you buck here is awesome!
The pulled pork was hands down the best of the meats. The fries could have been better, but honestly everything else was so good, I have to give them the benefit of the doubt. We also split a slice of key lime pie, which was the perfect cap to our lunch.
I really enjoyed my meal at Old Florida BBQ, and I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for good food at a good value with awesome service. Oh, and as a bonus, it’s in Davie, the greatest town in the world =]

We truly had a bad experience. While the food was not bad, the time it took to get our food was — 45 minutes. The waitress even brought out a basket of free fries when she brought our appetizers (which came out timely) giving us the heads up that our food would be a while.
At first glance the restaurant seems child friendly. They had 4 high chairs for our party of 8: 4 adults & 4 toddlers. How sad to realize that 3 out of the 4 high chairs had serious safety issues. When we pointed it out to the staff, they could have cared less. One bus boy did care enough to ask us if we wanted to switch it out — unfortunately they only had those 4 high chairs.
We should have left from the beginning. It was simply a bad set up for the night.
Finally there was an accident up at the front register with a young child who got ill on the way out. I was horrified to see that there was NO sense of urgency from ANY staff member! It took 5 minutes for someone to put a «caution» sign. Another 5 minutes for someone to bring out a mop & water — however, it sat there for another 5 minutes! Then the same young man who cared that the high chairs were broken came to clean it all up. He brought a broom & dustpan. He began sweeping & a woman at he register started to berate him for using the broom & dustpan when this was actually not only smart, but correct! It needed to be swept away as opposed to putting it all in the mop & water…
It was such a bad culmination of an evening at this restaurant.
It a shame that all this took place because the food was decent.

I had the rib combo, St. Louis style and baby backs. They are advertised as fall off the bone, not mine. Good flavor and the barbecue sauces are good. The green beans horrible, had to send them back for cole slaw, that had way to much mayo. The corn on cob was ok, but not fresh, I will assume because time of year?
I would return to try something else. Staff was nice. I wanted to give it 4 stars but not yet, maybe next time.

Can you imagine a tourist destination in Davie? Well besides being a reasonable local family BBQ joint, Jimmy Riffle’s Old FL BBQ has turned into a mecca for out of towners looking for Gator Boys memorabilia or even a sighting of the Gator Boy himself. The place is often packed! (Tip: we have often seen Jimmy at the Shell station a little south on University)
I am happy to say that this is not just a tourist trap; along with their t-​shirts, toy gators, and photos, these tourists (and the locals) can at least also get some tasty BBQ. Not a huge BBQ fan, but I do like their pulled chicken ($ 10.49/platter) which is my go to entrée. The huge portion is moist, with a bit of a smoky flavor. It does not come with sauce on it which I like, because then I can choose or mix the four BBQ sauces available. 10 year old had the pulled pork ($ 7.99/sandwich combo with side & drink) which is served in a similar style.
Husband had the «Ultimate Combo»: chicken, pork, & 2 St. Louis Ribs ($ 12.99/platter). He loved the pork and ribs (2 ribs is a very small portion though!). 9 year old had the Chicken & Rib Combo. Again, he loved the ribs.
I tasted the white meat chicken on the bone in 9 year old’s entrée: pretty dry & not much flavor. Honestly, I have had so much dry grilled chicken in restaurants it makes me realize how difficult it must be to make moist & tasty grilled chicken. Honestly, Boston Market & certainly Costco chicken beats a lot of the grilled chicken I have tasted out recently and that is sad.
All platters come with 2 sides & garlic bread or corn bread. Both breads are yummy with the cornbread being so sweet it is much more like a dessert. I would not recommend the green beans unless you like yours very soft & soggy. Baked beans were nice and sweet with chunks of pork in it (definitely not vegan!) Cole slaw tasted crisp & fresh. 9 year old enjoyed his Mac & Cheese — creamy & cheesy. My plain baked potato was fine. A nice healthy option is also the sweet potato, and you can add more fat & calories if you wish with their cinnamon butter!
Sometimes, as a healthier option I get a garden salad as one of my sides, There is also a salad bar available. It is $ 8.29 solo but $ 4.29 in addition to an entrée. It is not usually necessary with an entrée as the entrees & sides are so filling, but if one is ravenous, the salad bar has the usual salad fixings plus tuna salad, pasta salad, etc.
We have been to Jimmy Riffle’s several times. The service is always very friendly and fast. Last night it was pretty busy but we got seated right away in one of their roomy booths. Jimmy’s partner, an affable guy in a cowboy hat stopped by our table and others to chat and make sure everything was okay. Great customer service!
We have several BBQ places in Davie and the surrounding area, but would recommend Jimmy Riffle’s for a fast, family friendly, fairly tasty, & economical meal.

Ribs all about the regular ribs here.
I ordered a take out of platter of ribs, pulled pork, and smoked chicken
Side of beans, and macaroni and cheese. The ribs were perfect, succulent, fall off the bone, don’t bother with the baby back ribs.
The smoked chicken was dry. The pulled pork was okay.
The beans were like white beans in BBQ sauce, it went well with the meats. And the Mac and cheese was creamy.
Also ordered the Ribs and cornbread and sweet potato as sides. The ribs are what you should order here.
Wow the cornbread was very fresh and tasted what cornbread should be… maybe the best I’ve had. The sweet potato was baked and great.
You can also choose BBQ sauces sweet, tangy, spicy, and mild. Spicy isn’t at all.
Inside you see some Gator Boys posters, and the TVs are playing a Gator Boys.
They have a Tank with little gators and fish in them so cute! Kids love the tank. Lots of dead animal heads mounted on the walls, lots of wood, nicely carved wood animals on the wooden benches they put outside for those who wait. Some stuffed animals around the restaurant. made it very. authentic?
I give this place 4 stars because those ribs and sides were just so darn Delish. I’ll stick with the basics next time!

My fiancé was craving some BBQ and we searched for a few places and Old Florida BBQ came up and we saw that it had bad reviews about service so we ordered take out instead.
I called to order and I was on hold for 3 minutes so I hung up and called back and the lady answered saying that I hung up on her right when she was going to answer… how convenient… I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with mac & cheese and my fiancé ordered the beef brisket platter with coleslaw and mac & cheese.
We get there and there’s three employees talking for about 3 – 4 minutes before they acknowledge we are there. We get our order and I am paying and the lady at the register is on her phone rolling her eyes about whoever is on the phone. So I agree the service is terrible so take out only is the way to go…
My food was great, the pulled pork was very tasty and the mac & cheese was creamy and just delicious. My fiancé said the brisket was ok because the taste was good but it was really dry.

We used to go to Sonny’s all the time and kinda ended up here by accident when we were wanting Sonny’s and realizes that the old Sonny’s is now a panera bread.
First,.thank you for having a mustard based sauce. Thank you for keeping the recipes the same as Sonny’s. still love the Mac and cheese.
Service is still hit or miss. Tonight’s experience… not so great.
10 minute wait to even be acknowledged. Straws came to the table 10 minutes before our drinks. Had to ask for salad plates after waiting for 15 minutes. Salad bar was not filled in. People were waiting for 10 minutes for lettuce. My daughter’s corn didn’t come out… had to ask and of course the waitress forgot to ask the kitchen to split it for my 3 yr old.
The line to pay was ridiculously long. Thankfully 2 waitresses (not ours) came and took credit cards and helped speed up the line. That was the best service we had all night!
Handling a crowded restaurant is not the waitstaff’s strength.

You’ll find this place listed on Unilocal both as Old Florida BBQ and as Jimmy Riffle’s Old Florida B-​B-​Q. It is my understanding that it is under new ownership and that as such the new owner’s name, Jimmy Riffle, was recently added.
Really a pretty darn good barbeque restaurant, at least much better than anyone of the restaurants I’ve found in the Sonny’s chain.
I had the St. Louis hand rubbed baby backs which had a really just right smoky flavor along with a firm but easy off the bone texture and bite. I also had the Brunswick stew and their fried okra. Unfortunately I can’t say much for their Brunswick. It had all the right ingredients but the overall taste was sickeningly sweet, as if the liquid of it were made up totally of nothing but a brown sugar based barbecue sauce. As for the okra, the breading on it was super fine in texture and though not crispy, not at all soggy.
I hit the place on a Sunday and it was packed, however, the wait staff seemed to handle the overcrowded situation very well.

I hate to say this, but aside from our wonderful server, Alison, I do not have any reason to return here. I ended up here on a whim after spotting the place while driving by. I cannot resist (good) BBQ so I decided to try it out.
Upon entering, we were seated right away. I noticed pictures of the Gator Boys all around which I thought was cool. Apparently, this place is owned by one of the guys from the show. We placed our orders and waited, and waited. We looked around, noticed the place was fairly empty, then we waited some more. The waitress checked in with us often and updated us on our orders which I appreciated. However, it sounded like the people in the kitchen were having a party so we couldn’t help but be a bit frustrated at the long wait.
Finally the food arrived! …BUT that was the biggest disappointment. The bacon looked… fake? The mushrooms on my chicken were not appealing to the eye nor did they taste very good. I tried one and left the rest. The chicken breast was chewy… like eating rubber!
All other orders in the party were also very poor in quality and everyone left most of their food nearly untouched. We actually felt ripped off and the table next to us could be heard with the same complaints.
I am pretty disappointed and regret not driving a little further south to Shorty’s BBQ. If you take your BBQ (or just food in general) even somewhat serious, this is not the place for you!

This restaurant existed under a different name, hence all the terrible reviews, and is now under new management. Jimmy Riffle from Gator Boys is now part owner… and we went there for the grand opening celebration yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. The Native Village came out and brought their snakes and alligators with them, and Gator Boys merchandise was in abundance. The kids enjoyed holding all the different things, and I was happy to get them ANOTHER Gator Boys necklace… because really… how many necklaces can you have?!
When you take a «slower volume» restaurant and blow up a grand opening, it can be a bad thing… but they pulled it off. There were people EVERYWHERE inside and out… and they were able to turn and burn the tables and all of the staff were pleasant and full of energy and smiles. The food and drinks came out within reasonable time, and was fresh. I only have two complaints. the corn was like that garbage frozen corn on the cob which has that funny taste despite what you season it with… and the plates. the plates were WAY too small. and the cups were way too big…32 ounce plastic cups… I get it, you want to deliver a full plate, but it was awkwardly small. Things were layered. and I definitely can not eat a full rack of ribs, corn on the cob, a loaded sweet potato and two pieces of garlic Texas toast on a plate that is not even big enough for the rack of ribs! It’s messy and not appetizing. I want a plate big enough for everything, and *maybe* one separate plate with the corn on the side… so if they got new plates, or reconfigured how to serve their meals… it would work, but we were five adults at one table, with five 32 ounce cups sweating all over the place, five or six different types of sauces floating around, and a lot of food. So go and buy some new plates and you’ve got a nice little BBQ spot appropriately placed in Davie, FL!

The food is good but the waitresses make this place awesome. They’re old-​school: always friendly and will memorize your entire family’s order.
This is the only place my husband will eat a salad. (Weird, right?) I think the dressing is different from when this was Sonny’s, but it’s still good.

I’m on the board for a student organization at Nova and we ordered our huge Thanksgiving Student Dinner at the law school from Old Florida BBQ. We had a building full of law students with very happy tummies.
Their catering was a breeze considering we had an order that was around $ 1000 and we served over 150 people. They delivered to campus, and were very accessible by phone. I dealt with the same person each time I called and wasn’t given the run around. As far as catering is concerned, I would 100% recommend this place.
The food was great. Everyone really enjoyed all of the meat and the mac n cheese was awesome. Super creamy and cheesy.
We hope to do an order with them again for the school, and I hope to make some visits on my own for their bbq. Yum!

You gotta love when you see a new BBQ place open up! Got to try out some Old Florida BBQ recently. I was pretty stoked to indulge in sticky smokey eats. The place was packed on a Friday night. The menu has a lot of meaty options as well as combos to try multiple items. I went with the chicken/​pork combo. The chicken was alright, nothing super special, but I did enjoy the shredded pork. The portions were pretty large, I felt like I needed to be forklifted out of there after. Did I mention a large amounts of sauces at your disposal?! That’s right, sauces with an «s». From spicy to smokey to vinegary.
Besides all this, the service was friendly and decent considering how busy it was.
They also have a rewards program for frequent BBQ consumption. Check it out.