Cooter Brown's Rib Shack — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Extremely disappointed in this place after my last visit. Cooter Brown’s has been a mainstay in my visit to the area over the years but last Saturday my experience was confusing and frustrating.

Right out of the gate at about 7pm when I show up, the hostess says they will not seat without the whole party present. Got it, not a problem. After a few minutes, my party showed up and we got seated outside so we could watch the football game. About 20 minutes later another person decided to join us, completely unannounced. I expected them to be a little miffed, I get it, you have rules. We apologized, we didn’t know he was coming, and we offered to send the new guest away. She went to the back and a minute later came back and said “don’t worry about it.” I expected them to be a little annoyed but I didn’t expect every staff member we interacted with the rest of the night to literally be seething. You’re on a college campus, you’ve never experienced, on the regular, someone showing up randomly a joining someone’s group? But, I digress. Also, I want to note that while 2 of us had maybe 2 beers, the remaining 4 had water and we were by no means acting belligerent. We are not college kids trying to party, we are middle aged adults who were pretty respectful during our visit.

Fast forward to 8, a staff member comes out of the back and kind of aggressively and sternly blurts out - “Guys we are trying to shut down the patio area, we need you to take your group inside”. They weren’t closing for another hour but okay. We decided right there to just ask for our checks, the atmosphere was unwelcoming, it was palpable.

When the waitress came by I just asked her point blank - “Ma’am, why is everyone so cranky tonight? It feels off in here for some reason.” Without even looking up at me from her little keypad she curtly goes “We are just trying to our jobs SIR.”

Wow. Got it. 👍

The food was 10/10 as always but you guys had some real winners working...

Cooter Browns came up in conversation as a place to visit while in Anniston Alabama with my colleagues. I was told it was a place to get BBQ ribs and other southern food. Well my co-workers and I got on a shuttle bus from where we were staying and traveled (with quite a few others) just to eat some ribs.

We lucked out and we got the last 4 seats in the restaurant. Mind you, just because it is Anniston Alabama, it doesn't mean the restaurant won't be packed, because it was PACKED!

Well we got our menus and we ordered drinks first....I got the Cooter Juice, which was pretty delicious, although probably very high in alcohol content as well as the amount of sugar consumed, but still highly recommended.

I decided to try more than I could possibly eat! I got the dry ribs (half rack) and 10 pieces of the hot wings. A half of rack of ribs was a pretty decent serving size! Much more than I could possibly eat in one sitting. It also came with fries and I ordered corn nuggets and cole slaw to go with it. I must admit, those ribs were good! Very flavorful, soft, falls right off the bone, and done right....exactly how ribs are supposed to taste. It also comes with a bbq sauce for dipping and a really soft white toast (I guess to but the saltiness of the meat).

The chicken wings however were just okay. Nothing special and it was not hot at all. I expected that since I was in the south, I'd be getting some heat with the hot wings, but I did not. If you want heat, get a higher level of spice.

Drinks were good and a lot of the drinks reminded me of my college days and those sweet mixed drinks I'd have at the bars...like the grateful dead! So delicious!

I'd recommend coming and trying this place out if you're in the area (although it'll be pretty heavy and you'll feel disgusting after eating it) but it's worth a visit just to try some...

They say word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising.

The word was that this place has the best BBQ ribs in NE Alabama. We came here for the ribs but there was so much more!

This place is definitely a shack, a hole in the wall, but don't get me wrong, from the moment I was greeted at the door till my food and drinks were done, it was an experience. The decor on the walls, the service, and just the atmosphere felt right.

My server, Alex, was amazing! Her recommendations and knowledge of the menu items were spot on. She knew the ingredients to the items we questioned and suggested ones that were her favorite. Our drinks stayed full, and she was very attentive to our needs.

I ordered a half rack of ribs dry with mild sauce on the side. Cooters corn and to start some egg rolls.

The egg rolls were filled with some delicious coleslaw and pulled pork. 8/10 I would have preferred the wrap to be a little more on the crispy side, but the flavor was amazing. The sweet coleslaw and the savory pulled pork were meant to be together. I will definitely order again.

The deep fried corn on the cob "Cooters Cob" was also an 8/10. It could definitely use some garlic butter sauce, but it was still delicious. Simple table salt was used, and it was almost perfect.

The half rack of ribs was 9/10. I ordered them dry and was hoping for a little more of a bite and tugging off the bone, but they were a little more on the mushy side. The flavor was great, and the sweet sauce that accompanied them definitely made up for the pre boiled feel of the ribs.

Cooter Browns definitely is in my top 10 for BBQ ribs in Alabama. I will definitely go back for the superb service provided by Alex and try a few other items...