Smokin’ Rib Shack

This probably the best BBQ I’ve had since moving to FL! Sonny’s is what Sonny’s is, chain BBQ that is just OK. Never been a fan of BBQ places that put the sauce on for you but here I have to forgive it because it’s amazing! The food is smoked extremely well, juicy tender and flavorful. The ribs have just the right tug and chew.
We come here often and yet to be disappointed. I don’t know that I would recommend eating in but taking it across the street to Barley Mows is a great idea.

Well, you only get one mistake, and then you are thrown out of the game. ribs are great, but while at the counter I saw they had a squeeze bottle of hot sauce. I said hey can I get some of that? they said sure, $ 1.07.
what? charging for a little sauce? the cook said, gee there is a little on the ribs.
deep breath buddy… just don’t come back ever. I dropped 27 bucks on dinner and they want to hit me up for SAUCE? get out of town you cheap… fill in the blank. that’s like buying a hotdog and they say, o sir, that doesn’t include the mustard.

This was a disappoint. I got the lunch special BBQ sandwich. The bun was to big for how much meat they put on it. And the side of baked beans was a shot glass size. It wasn’t over priced just to much bread and not enough meat. If you stop by don’t get the lunch special. I’d like to try the ribs next time I stop by.

Next door to Barley Mow brewery, you HAVE to stop at this place. Classic local, hole in the wall spot.
Managed to make it nearly at closing time but the guys manning the shack were all too kind to oblige me with an order. Thankfully!
Man, this is some good BBQ. Ribs were tasty and fall off the bone. Sauce was excellent — tangy and spicy. Chicken wings were FANTASTIC.
The sides are good too, but let’s be honest — we all know you’re here for the BBQ.

I used to eat here a lot, a few years ago. I was really excited to get back for a C-​Dub Sammich– not quite as good as I remember.
I ordered the C-​Dub with no sauce and a side of potato salad. I asked for no sauce because a few weeks ago when I was here and got the same sammich and it seemed to have less meat and MORE sauce than I remembered.
I got my food and I grabbed one of the 3 sauce bottles on the counter, the HOT sauce!
But, it wasn’t really HOT or SPICEY or even FLAVORFUL!
It wasn’t BAD or AWFUL, but it just wasn’t as good as I remember. Perhaps I’m remembering too fondly.
The meat was definitely LESS than it used to be! I have some evidence to back this up.
I have been doing food reviews around the Tampa Bay area since about 2009. I have photos of C-​Dub Sammiches from 2009 and 2010. I have included them for your inspection.
Now, some lily-​white in the audience is going to say something like «Well, it STILL LOOKS like a LOT OF MEAT TO ME!!!»
It is, but it’s not the monster sammich it used to be and that is the main selling point of the C-​Dub– that it’s A GIANT PULLED PORK SAMMICH!!!
Not so much anymore.
There was something missing in the taste also, not quite as smokey as I remember.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad… it’s just not the greatness it used to be.
The potato salad was O.K., a little too «mustardy».
Smokin’ Rib Shack is the real deal.
It’s a ghetto rib joint that smokes-​up REAL BBQ. It’s not one of those sterile, corporate «BBQ themed» McRestaurants.
It’s kinda grubby, even a little dirty, run-​down, UGLY– but they have real BBQ!
Your clothes will smell like smoke after you leave here, and your car will too if you park in the wrong place.
I’m deducting one star because of the shrinking C-​Dub and the lackluster sauce.
But, I will be back because I loves me some Bar-​B-​Que!

What kind of restaurant serves a BBQ chicken sandwich with full chicken carcass and breast BONES?! There was more bones on my sandwich than meat. I just paid $ 5 for bones, dry meat overloaded with BBQ sauce, on plain white bread. Sigh this is worse than Sonny’s BBQ. The employees are less than interested in working there. «What do you want» (to eat).
Only upside is The fast service.

Got BBQ sandwiches to go while enjoying brews at Barley Mow Brewing across the street. The Pork sandwich was huge and delicious! The sauce is on the sweeter side but definitely not too sweet. The pork was tender and tasty. The wife had the chicken sandwich which was also large and tasty. The beans were fantastic, too!

OK so I have been here twice now and have been delighted both times. The sausage is out of this world, as is the potato salad. The pulled pork and cole slaw a decent, but the sausage and potato salad stole the show for me.

Grandpa Johnnie Mack would be proud! His BBQ sauce is good! We got the chopped pork sandwiches with baked beans and greens. The portions are big and our smiles were bigger. We really enjoyed our meal.

This place is hit or miss for ribs. I’ve had great ribs here and some pretty bad ones. Last week I got the half slab and each rib was what you would expect; thick, good smoke flavor, nice chew but tender. This week the half slab must have been a thin end piece because it was way over cooked with a bad jerky consistency. The pieces that were thicker were like mush while the thin pieces were like tree bark. They’re usually good here but a bbq chef knows a good rib from a bad one and what I had today should not have been put on a plate which is why I gave only three stars.

Stopped in for lunch after being in the area for business. There was not a chance I could not stop in after the smell of the ribs smoking coming out of this place. Glad I did. Got the rib sandwich which was not a sandwich at all. Basically 5 bones on slices of bread. Thats a good thing by the way. The sauce was fantastic and the ribs were fall of the bone. Pretty small place but easy in and out with friendly service. Pumped that I found this place and look forward to not only getting the ribs again but trying the whole menu! Good stuff.

Finger licking good absolutely great the chopped beef sandwich and ribs will come back soon make sure check it out

If you weren’t paying attention, you will probably drive right past this place without a second thought. But if you follow your nose, it will lead you here.
This place is your classic hole in the wall type of joint. A small little shack looking building with a giant smoker out back that’s almost as big as the shack itself. This is where ordinary swine and cocks turn into BBQ ribs and wings. This is BBQ done right.
They smoke the meat daily. They do stuff from ribs to beef to chicken wings to pulled pork. The menu is simple and easy. Pick your meat, then pick some sides (if you want). I highly recommend the chicken wings. I’ve had some good wings, but they do an awesome job here. The ribs are fall off the bone and served with a thick, spicy, and tangy homemade bbq sauce.

SRS catered our lunch at work today. From a customer service standpoint, each of the three gentlemen were very hospitable and didn’t mind answering questions or talking about their food.
From a taste point of view: the Cole slaw was very good. Not too creamy with the right amount of vinegar tartness to it. The potato salad was good. A very typical creamy potato salad, but it’s flavor complemented the sauces very well. The beans were complimented with smoked pulled pork. Not too much to impart the smoke into the beans, but enough to enhance the flavor.
The chicken was excellent. They smoked chicken quarters and breasts. Very moist and tender, and thoroughly cooked.
The pulled pork was… well…great. very tender, lean, bits of bark mixed in and had a nice dosing of their vinegar based sauce on top.
The ribs had a very nice spice rub on the outside of them. Without sauce, they are great to eat and the meat comes right off the bone with minimal work. It isn’t tough, and is no where close to falling off the bone. An excellent pork rib.
In all, great catering, great food and true salesmen of their product. I will now HAVE to visit their restaurant to make sure it lives up to the bar they have set with the catering.

I have to say the sauce is fantastic. Place is definitely a hole in the wall, and that part is ok with me too. But the sides are very small and I found bones in my pulled pork. The ribs were tasty but seemed to contain more bones than most.
Will we be back? I’m not sure. Still looking for great BBQ.

Looks like in a hole in the wall but good bbq. I think that’s how good bbq is anyways. Gotta have that old authentic smoked feel and Southern comfort which this place delivers.
If you like a lot of sauce in your bbq then this is your place! I like the sauce on the side but real fresh and delicious bbq. Well be back!

Not our first choice for dinner on this Saturday night, but since our first choice was SUPER busy, we decided to give this place a go. There were 2 couples inside, one sitting and eating, the other waiting for their order to go.
We walked in, and took a moment to familiarize ourselves with the menu. I asked what was good, and got the standard answer of «everything» and then I was told what was popular, such as their Pulled Pork, pulled chicken and their greens. Taking those things into consideration, I ordered the Pulled pork diner — 2 sides being the cole slaw and potato salad. The husbeast had the Pulled beef with Cole Slaw and french fries and my friend who was joining us had the sausage dinner with 2 sides of their greens.
Since it wasn’t busy, we had the undivided attention, which pretty much included table service and everything. We asked for our sauce on the side, and it was given. There is no. choice of sauces, it is only Daddy Mack’s sauce, which is light, kind of sweet, with no tang. It’s good but it’s not Spectacular, and they will sell a 32ox bottle to you for $ 6.99.
The food was tasty, well the meat was. The Pulled Pork was tender, a bit on the dry side. The beef was flavorful and the smoked sausage was standard Keilbasa. As for the sides. The fries were hands down the best thing we sampled. The cole slaw and potato salad were institutional — i’m not even kidding. They were store bought and getting close to ending their cycle of freshness. And the greens were Ok.
I’d come back, but not often.

I had the rib dinner with coleslaw and potato salad. The ribs came really wet with a delicious sweet barbecue sauce and a couple of slices of white bread. Awesome!
The coleslaw and potato salad we’re good as well. Will return when I travel to this area again

not 5 because its not the best place to sit n eat. other than that their food is a good value with some great sauces. She had the pulled pork sandwhich SUPER MOIST. i had the ribs which were fall off the bone good.
if you order then take your food to Barley Mow you will be stared at constantly because it smells n tastes so damn good. next time i go to the brewery i will def hit this place up.

I’ve had this place on my radar for awhile, and when I got up this morning, I had barbecue on my mind: it was time.
I had a different experience than other reviewers. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing? It smelled good from the parking lot, it seemed authentic when I walked in, I was expecting decent food at the very least.
I always order the same thing my first time at any barbecue place: pork, beans, and collard greens. I ordered their pork dinner with my regular sides, and a bottled water. It came to nine bucks and change which I felt was a good price.
I went to the counter when my order was called out, I picked up my container of food and I squeezed two of their sauces in to test them out. The pork used on my sandwich was dry, even with the sauce. It also lacked any sort of flavor. I moved on to the beans. Now, I’m not saying that they use Busch’s Baked Beans, I’m just saying that they taste identical. The collard greens also left much to be desired.
Maybe the other dishes are better, perhaps I should have tried the ribs, but alas, I did not. In an effort to say something positive and not one star them, the barbecue sauces were pretty tasty.