Willie Jewell's Bar-B-Q — Restaurant in Florida

For starters every BBQ place I go gets compared to Mission BBQ, so you've got to be at least that good. First visit to Willie's. The ambiance starts very similar to Mission BBQ. You go straight in to the cashier and order you're food. As with most places these days, I couldn't complete the transaction until I decided on a tip amount. They don't have sauces on the table. There is no military theme and I doubt the troops are getting a piece of the action. They give you a choice of garlic bread or corn bread with you're meal. I'm a cornbread kind of person. The bread is Texas toast and I didn't see any garlic flakes on it like I would expect at an Italian resto. It would be nice if they would give you butter with the cornbread like they do at Mission.

I tried the pork/beef combo. They don't give an option of ordering lean or moist (fatty) beef like Mission. I got a very fatty portion of Beef. The fat was interleaved with meat, so I pulled it apart to get at the meat, similar to how you would pull fish and bones apart. The burnt edge was tasty. The pulled pork tasted smoked, but didn't seem to have any bbq flavor the way it does at Mission. Adding sauce was necessary.

Sauces are what really tend to set BBQ places apart. At Willie's, you pump your sauce into plastic cups and...it's Heated! Hmm, that was an adjustment. I'm fine with a squeeze bottle and really not even a fan of the heated sauces at all, it reminds me of soup?🤔 The "smoky" sauce is basically regular BBQ sauce like you'd use on chicken. The mustard based sauce tastes like...mustard. They also have mustard packs, I suppose, in case you do not like your mustard heated. The sweet n sassy was close to my preferred Mission BBQ Memphis Bell, but more oily. It wasn't too bad once it cooled off. Definitely seems like some molasses in there. I didn't try the spicy hot sauce. The potato salad flavor was very onion heavy. The coleslaw had a lot of purple cabbage, it was more chopped than minced, which is ok. However, the sauce they used with it gave it a kind of Sour-ish taste. I would have preferred a more neutral or even slightly sweet flavor. I've been told that the Mac n cheese is a kids type of recipe, not like the baked-in-cheese of Mission BBQ, so I passed on it . The coleslaw, potato salad and cornbread were a slightly larger portion than you'd get at Mission, but IMO, Mission is higher quality and about the same price. Overall, I'll probably call this a one and done experience. We'll just go up the street to...

I have just moved into the area and have eaten here a total of 4 times including today 10/10/2019. I was so impressed the first three times being served by the same person the first 3 times. The food was good but the banana pudding was and is really good. The servers were quick to explain how to order, how to use the app and that I can call in. A manager previously let me know that I can order larger sizes of banana pudding given availability and calling ahead. I did that today to have a young lady tell me “No, you can not order the larger size without calling ahead. We can charge you for additional single sizes.” I explained that I indeed called ahead and she said, “Well the girl that answered didn’t realize you were ordering.” Although I followed directions she wanted to penalize me for their error. She then asked the other girl and someone in the back if I had called and if they had enough and said fine. (I’m standing there feeling confronted and as if I’ve done something wrong.) When my order arrived they still gave me 3 little single servings versus the pint in a one pint container that I have purchased before. I was purchasing this for a group and this was not appropriate. I will not return and cannot understand why such a stance for my order and debating with me and causing a stir. I felt set up for failure as all previous encounters were the opposite. This has demonstrated a lack of consistency in customer service and relations. So many other BBQ places to go and I will do just that....

This place is fantastic. My wife and I found this place just driving around exploring. We were looking for a good BBQ place locally, and we found it.

I got the their 3 meat combo plate so I could try a lot of different things. I ordered the smoked turkey, jalapeño sausage, and the 1/4 chicken (white meat/breast and wing). My sides were red skin potato salad and red beans and rice. I can tell you it was all great!! I was very impressed with my whole meal. The turkey and chicken both had a great smoky flavor and very juicy. Sausage had a nice little kick to it and great flavor. Both the sides were done very well and nice sized persons.

My wife had a pulled pork sandwich with cheesy potatoes. She also agreed with me on the flavor and portions. She really enjoyed her lunch.

The atmosphere was really nice as well. Typical BBQ atmosphere and not very loud.

I really recommend this place, and will certainly make this my go to BBQ place...