Lizzie’s Memphis Style BBQ. — Restaurant in Florida

Southern hospitality vs. Dining Disasters

After a local advised our family of the poor food sides and service, I decided to give it a try because we are from Memphis, TN and I was craving that flavor of BBQ! However, the experience was unforgettably horrible!!!

First red flag! The lobby had 3 families eating. (Nearly empty lobby!). However, I still placed my order.

Second red flag!! The server that took my order kindly seated a couple with menus and flatware. I didn't get this service! Even after using my military discount. Nevertheless, I quietly got up and got my own flatware.

Third red flag. I had been waiting for 10-15 minutes when the same couple that was seated after me received their order.

Now I'm starting to feel neglected! So, I politely asked their waiter "Excuse me Sir, I ordered before them but haven't received my order?" And he rudely stated "I don't know where your order is, I didn't take it!" (I'm thinking, that's obvious but my order please)

WOW! And things went downhill from there but I remained calm and polite!

As I got up to get a refund, the rude waiter walks to me with a bagged order and stated "What's the name?" I'm thinking did he mean what's the name for the order?" So, I stated "my name is Kim." Again, he rudely again stated "Here!" Who says "here" to a customer! And with no apology!

The final straw! The rude waiter sneakily went to the server and tried to ask him "did you take her order" but stopped talking when he noticed that I was looking. Disappointed at the rude waiter behavior, I sadly stated to the server "You forgot about me? I wanted to eat in and my ticket and receipt stated "dine in" the sever stated "I didn't forget I was busy closing out registers but your food should still be hot." Seriously, did he just admit making me wait till he finished another unrelated task!! With no apology! Really, who does that?

As I checked my order, he stated "it should all be there." I'm thinking, Really! Don't rush me!!!!

After getting back to my cottage at Margaritaville Orlando I began eating my order. Honestly, the ribs were tender and the sauce was savory! But no way was it Memphis BBQ! (My son and husband were not pleased). The greens were unseasoned, chopped small and tough with bits of uncooked bacon. The sweet potatoe casserole was mushy and gritty!

Southern hospitality wins...

Today we decided to visit Lizzie’s for the first time. We ordered Hottie Tottie’s with brisket (loaded tator tots) $10, Bacon wrapped Jalapeno’s $8, and a Brisket entree with cornbread and choice of two sides ( we chose sweet potato casserole and potato salad) $15. The Hottie Totties were the best. The Tots were cooked just right, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside and they were covered in melted cheese, shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Ours had pieces of brisket throughout but you could choose pulled pork instead. The jalapeños were a little different as they were barely grilled leaving them crisp which was a nice surprise. They were filled with an herbed cream cheese and wrapped with a thick tasty bacon. The Brisket entree had a perfect portion of smoky flavorful brisket. The potato salad was good but they use a real Mayo leaving the flavor fairly bland. The sweet potato casserole had a nice crust and the sweet potatoes were sweet as expected. The only negative that we can share is that the brisket had more fat on and marbled through it than was comfortable. Coming from Texas, my taste for brisket is high and while a little fat is expected and nice, the percentage of fat marbled through was not edible. So, one of the few times ever, we left more brisket on the plate than usual. Usually, there is no brisket left on the plate. We interacted with two staff members (male and female) and both were friendly, helpful and charming. This restaurant features both indoor and outdoor seating. You order at the counter, self serve sodas and iced tea and they deliver your meal to your table. Today the weather was nice so they had the front door open and the large window garage...

Service was good, but the food was fairly sub par for local barbecue. I ordered the brisket plate with Mac and cheese and beans, and my other half ordered the ribs.

The brisket was extremely dry, and had the texture of pot roast. There wasn’t a whole lot of smoke flavor on them either, though the bark was pretty decent. My guess is that the brisket was overcooked, as it was definitely part of the flat which is particularly troublesome to keep moist. A tip to the chef — add some beef tallow to the wrap, it will prevent this. To any Texans reading this, it’s the type of brisket that needs sauce if you know what I mean. The Mac and cheese didn’t have much cheese flavor, and the beschamel sauce appeared to have separated at some point because it tasted and had the consistency of milk. The beans were ok, they had lots of bacon in them. Many barbecue restaurants use canned baked beans as a base for theirs, but usually dress them up with some spices and their own barbecue sauces. These basically tasted like beans straight out of a can, even if they were heavy on the bacon.

The ribs seemed like they were decent. They appeared to be baby backs that were grilled and slathered with sauce. The ribs were less dry than the brisket, but the small end was a bit burned up. The side salad was large and well prepared.

I wanted to find something to love about this place but it just came up short. If you’re looking for good Memphis and St. Louis style barbecue in the area, do yourself a favor and go to Ellie Lou’s in flamingo crossing one exit...