Smokin' Joe's BBQ — Restaurant in Bartow

Friends in Bowling Green suggested with have lunch at Smokin's Joe's BBQ and said people drive from far away to eat there. It does not look like much from the outside, but that is common for a BBQ place. I will warn that the parking lot is set up so the entrance is on the south end, if you come in from the north end you will not be facing the correct way for parking. You order at the counter with the menu on the way with specials on boards and pieces of paper all over. Three of us had the Pork Sandwich Platter that was $7.99 with 2 sides. They have a large selection of sides and one I chose was a "Side Salad", where I was handed a Styrofoam plate since they had a small salad bar. I filled my salad plate about 2/3rds, which was more than enough. There was enough pulled pork with the sandwich I ate at least half of it with a fork. Many places would have made 3 sandwiches with that pork. They had four kinds of BBQ sauce at the tables, mild, spicy, sweet and Carolina (mustard). The spicy was not that spicy, but was quite good. My wife chose the Chicken Tenders for $6.99 that came with fries and a drink. She was not expecting much and found some fishy taste (using the same deep fryer as the fish and shrimp), but the pieces were decent sized. All the meals came in Styrofoam containers and the place is about as informal as they get. Drinks were in Styrofoam and they poured them for you. Yes, they had sweet ice tea along with lemonade for those not into soft drinks. The people were friendly and the food was very good, especially for the price. I can see why people will drive from far away to...

I'm all the time running up and down Highway 17 for my job and if it's anywhere close to lunch time I usually stop in to Smokin Joe's. I've had their barbecue before and it's good but I tend to get the hamburger special every time I go in there because it's a good deal. For what seemed like the last couple of years they're fryer was broken and today was the first day I've stopped in and actually had french fries in the place in all that time. What's also cool about this place is they have a little ice cream counter in there that sort of reminds me of the old school ice cream parlors.

At any rate, this place is not a whole lot to look at but the restrooms are clean, the food is good, there's an assortment of hot sauces and other condiments available for customers (including four house barbecue sauces that are all pretty good), and the people are nice. If you don't mind that it looks a little bit seedy on the outside, stop in and enjoy some barbecue...

We have passed by this place a million times on our way to and from Orlando, and we finally decided to stop. The portions for the price cannot be beat! The food was AMAZING. This is by far the best bbq I've ever had. The ribs fall off the bone, there are many types of BBQ sauce to choose from. Everything was cooked to perfection. A couple things to improve; they need a fountain soda machine and better inventory; I came with 3 kids 2 of which are extremely picky , I would not have stopped if the menu had not said chicken tenders, when I ordered the chicken tenders they told me they did not have any. I almost left. 1 of my picky eaters decided to eat the ribs and he was happy. As for my other picky eater, I had to stop somewhere else further down the road which is obviously not...