The Smokin´OX Premium BBQ — Restaurant in Winter Haven

I've lived in Florida for about 6 years now, and have been trying different BBQ places, looking for a really good one. I've found some okay ones that I occasionally go back to. I was in Winter Haven running some errands and noticed a bunch of BBQ places as I drove around, so decided to pick one for lunch. Smokin' OX was nearby and I decided to go there. The interior was nice and clean, nice views out the windows, good layout, order at the counter and have a seat. The menu was pretty simple, which I like, too many items and then nothing is your specialty. And pretty simple pricing too, sides and drinks all the same price. The food came out and looked good. I had a 1/2 rack of ribs, green beans and potato wedges. The meal came with 2 pieces of garlic bread. Very reasonable portions. There were 4 sauces on the table to choose from. My favorite was the Sweet, the Original a close 2nd. The Hot was good, but a little too hot for me. Too much heat to me can cover up the flavor of the meat itself. This is one of the first places where I could have eaten the ribs by themselves with no sauce, they were that good, and tender. I could just scrape the meat off the bones. The green beans were very flavorful and excellent. The garlic bread was even good, some places you barely taste the garlic flavor, but this was just right. Even the potato wedges were excellent, they were sliced a little thinner than most places, and they started to curl and were crispy, somewhere between the thick wedges most places serve and chips. Very, very good. And to repeat myself, the ribs were awesome. Later someone came out, either the chef, manager, owner, not sure, but she walked around checking on how people were doing, knew some customers. Overall, great service, from ordering, checking up on things, etc. So, this is the place for BBQ for me. I will be back. I'd highly recommend it also. Only one thing, I'd recommend providing a couple wet-naps when you bring...

Stopped in to try this place with my party of 7. Placed our order and asked 2 sweet teas and cups of water for the kids because they don't drink soda or tea. Nope. Not allowed.

They said you have to buy bottled water for $2.49/bottle. They have cups, but said their customers take advantage of them, so they don't offer cups for water anymore. We had our own Tervis tumblers in the car - can they use those? No, she said. The water dispenser is 7 feet away - can you watch me only put water in a cup? No, she said. Can you put the water in the cup, and we'll sit on the other side of the restaurant, so you know we're not sneaking it to "take advantage of you"? No, she said.

I even offered to pay for the cup and ice water. Nope, not an option. Felt like a silly rule designed to sell me 5 bottles of water for my kids for $12.45. No thanks. Whoever manages this place needs a better business sense or imagination to solve this problem. We canceled the $75+/- order and went elsewhere.

Edited after restaurant's reply: I asked the person behind the counter what a bottle of water would cost after she said that was my only option, and she said $2.49. Maybe there was a language barrier. I do not recall a sign, but maybe it's there. IDK if it's inflation or scurrilous customers, but this is a weird solution. If you're going to have the fountain out in the open, those who'd cheat you are regrettably part of the cost of doing business; you're essentially treating everyone as a potential thief of your soda. Not a great first impression. You could put it behind the counter as another solution. As I said, I offered to pay for a cup of water, and she said my only option was...

I feel like this place could definitely pop off better if they fixed a few things with their menu

#1 - The Brisket, it’s cooked well and is tender and wasn’t dry, that I can give a lot of credit for because a lot of places I’ve had end up overcooking it and it just ends up dry. The one issue I have is the flavor, I couldn’t taste any type of seasoning, no salt, no pepper, no nothing. If they use a strong seasoning rub and maybe inject the brisket with some type of marinade or something this could be really well

#2 - Fat Mac. Now for this one, it’s cheesy, but that’s about it, the noodles were definitely cooked a little too long because they were very mushy. Just like the brisket previously the flavor is pretty much absent, the pork had very minimal flavor as well. It’s basically just noodles cheese and meat with no flavor, if they add seasoning to the cheese/cheese sauce they’d use especially with some type of BBQ spice, this will be a HIT

#3 - Fried Pickles. I have no complaints with them, they were pretty good and the ranch that came with it was also nice!

Overall I think if they put a little more love and seasoning into some of their food these guys could definitely become the #1 BBQ spot around here! You guys have the potential to do so and I believe you...