Shorty's BBQ Davie — Restaurant in Davie

On Father's Day today... the hostess refused to seat our party of 4 because the 4th person was not yet with us... while the restaurant was 80% empty !! Brainless !! My 74yr old dad is on portable oxygen and absolutely cannot be outside in the 90+deg heat... and the hostess tried to make us sit outside and wait- with empty tables everywhere, with servers ! We really needed to get seated and get some cool drinks ! I had to argue with her, while my dad was made to continue to stand, not able to get to a comfortable seat at a table ! I had to demand to speak to the manager, whom apologized and sat us... but made it very obvious, that this was their "protocol", to put off arriving loyal patrons in order to seat bigger more profitable parties- that weren't even there nor the restaurant being busy enough to think they would have the need to prioritize seating ! This has happened on several occasions, at times when I have gone alone or with one other person. Shorty's tries to "pick and choose" their patrons as they arrive, giving priority to $$larger$$ parties, forcing others to take a back seat, getting passed over again and again- even though they arrived first !!! To add to this the food was terrible, which has become an increasing downward trend for Shorty's ! My baby-back ribs were "stale", hard, had no flavor, and had obviously been sitting around for HOURS if not days- yet, it was only around noon time shortly after they opened. The meat in my daughter's pulled pork sandwich "stunk"- foul, which was brought to my attention half way through the meal. I tasted it, as well as another family member, to confirm, and yes, the meat was bad, it had been microwaved, again... "stale" with coarse "plasticy" texture and absolutely no flavor except the repugnant nasty aftertaste of fouled meat !!! The rudeness of the hosting staff and their naive willingness to march to the orders of their "profit-before-loyalty" manager, and along with the now apparent "more often than not" poor food quality... has made this my VERY LAST trip to Shorty's ! There's other much better choices way too close to their location... like Mission BBQ and Flanigan's (for baby back ribs) that will proudly and happily seat patrons upon arrival, "first come-first serve"... with much better quality food...

We’ve loved Shorty’s BBQ for years and would visit the Deerfield and Boca locations when they were open. Since they’ve closed the closest location is in Davis and we will still drive to get good BBQ. Our latest trip was the most disappointing we’ve experienced. Not the food; the food was excellent, as always. Rather, we had terribly poor service. A server who wasn’t familiar with the menu and then, after taking our order, came back and told us we couldn’t have it. Not a strange order either: Seat 1- chicken and ribs combo meal; Seat 2 - 1/2 lb of brisket and 5 chicken wings. (Just to clarify, you can order this exact order online with ZERO issues.) We were told that we couldn’t have the brisket and wings and that a different entree would have to be ordered. Later when the food was brought we asked if the food could have been added to Seat 1’s order and was told, “yes, you could have done that.” No explanation of why THEY DIDN’T JUST GO AHEAD AND DO THAT. And then, our table was ignored. We had to ask for drink refills, we had to ask for the check. We asked for a manager, as well. We posed the question regarding the meats to the manager and was told that the Server was wrong and that “management doesn’t allow you to purchase additional meat unless TWO entrees are ordered.” This makes NO SENSE. You can order it online with no issues. There’s a walk up window outside where you can just buy meat. What about the solo diner with a big appetite? They have to order multiple entrees because they can’t just add more meat? So, no resolution reached. Under-educated server ignoring her tables; meat-less diners, leaving unhappy. We did leave a tip because we’re not monsters, but talk about a disappointing experience....

We have been regularly coming here for the past 6 years out of convenience, since we moved up from Miami, where the better ones are located.

Food wise: This Shorty’s is probably the worst of the group. The ribs are unpredictable. Sometimes they are OK, other times they are mediocre, and sometimes they are just horrible. A chain like this should not be this unstable with their product.

Service wise: The servers were fine and host was nice, but there is a great lack of common sense from the person running the place (Manager Rob).

We had a party of 10 and were seated. After ordering, the two kids in our party wanted ice cream. Unfortunately, Shorty’s doesn’t sell ice cream. Well, to keep the kids happy, one of the adults took the kids to the BK that was right there and bought them ice cream. When they got back, they were not let into the restaurant because they had two ice creams from somewhere else. They made them throw out the ice cream or eat it outside.

This was just ridiculous. I understand if company policy is to not let outside food in, so as not to provide an eating area for someone with food from another establishment. But if you have a large party of 10 and two small kids (4 & 7) want ice cream and you DON’t SELL ICE CREAM, a very common and popular item with kids, you let it go. It’s not the kids fault you don’t sell the item. But apparently, common sense is not something the franchise requires from their managers. Had we not started eating yet, we would have gotten up and left.

After today, our regular customer status has expired, at least until better management...