Just Ribs

BADD TO THE BONE!!!
I LOVE this place!
My wife & daughter & I were driving from Orlando to Sanibel we saw this place. My daughter said «DON’T STOP! I said, no, it’ perfect. Having grown up in the south I know this is just the sort of jewel one looks for for the best BBQ. The owner was wonderful to talk to. It was Africa hot when we were there, but it was still nice sitting out on the picnic table.
Honestly, it was some of the BEST BBQ I have ever had.
Well worth the trip & a pleasant drive on Florida’s back roads in stead of the normal interstate grind & bland food.

We were just passing through and it happened to be lunch time. Saw this place and figured I’d give it a try. I ordered the ribs and fries dinner for $ 10. I got four large ribs, rubbed with seasoning, fries, a roll, and a mustard-​type sauce. The ribs were so good! Tender and juicy, just like my Dad used to make. Just wish I didn’t live over 2000 miles away. I would so be a regular if I lived in Southern Florida. :) Definitely give this place a try!

Just Ribs in Fort Meade is the epitome of the road side BBQ place. The service window slash kitchen is, in fact, a converted cargo container. The smoker is under a shed next to the kitchen.
The owner told me he’s the second generation to operate the place. It has been there, he said, 37 years. It is take out and catering only, though they do have a couple of picnic tables under the oaks.
This was the best BBQ I’ve found so far on US 17 from Punta Gorda to I-​4.
So far I’ve had the pork sandwich and the half slab of ribs. The pork sandwich was excellent. It’s not stringy pulled pork, served from a watery bath with a scooper. It’s chunks of moist smoked pig served on bun. The sandwich is the size of a small dinner plate — I kid you not. Sauce is on the side. I had the Carolina style sauce, which was good.
On the ribs — buyer beware that the portions are enormous. The ‘half slab’ was more like 16 big assed Kansas City style ribs weighing roughly the same as a Christmas turkey. When I finally gave up, the owner said ‘I’m impressed. You did better than I thought you would.’ The ribs are prepared with a mopped on marinade. I’m guessing garlic, onion, and vinegar. They don’t use a dry rub, and you have your choice of five home made sauces. I thought they were damn fine.
Great way to spend the first day of spring, sitting under the oak trees, sipping a cold beer (bring your own — be discrete), and pigging out on ribs.
Not sure who goes to a rib shack and orders a fish sandwich. Maybe someone who’d rather go to McDonalds???

A cargo shipping container converted into a roadside BBQ joint. Really. Mainly takeout, but there are a few picnic tables alongside a main highway. We stopped early on a Saturday night while driving through town with the family. They were out of about half the items on the menu, including chicken and shrimp. We ordered the half slab of ribs, a fish sandwich and sides of bean and Mac & cheese. In the 45 minutes we waited for our food, the kids got fidgety and terribly hungry. we saw quite a few regulars come and go with their food. Chatted with a few who said the food was the best around, so our expectations were high.
The fish sandwich came on top of 3 slices of supermarket wheat bread. Fish was good, but not great. The ribs were terrible — tough and fairly bland and fatty, with no sauce. Not what I would have expected from a place called «Just Ribs». The sides were the best part of the meal! We later figured that they could tell we were passing through and gave us the leftover ribs from last night, just reheated.
If passing through Fort Meade and hungry, stop at McDonalds, just a ¼ mile up the street.

This is the best rib place in the county, at least in my opinion. There side dishes are home cooked tasty too.