Sonny's vs Southern Pig and CattleWhat happened to Sonny's? Check your to-go order before you leave! I have been going to Sonny's BBQ in Florida since 1994. Around 2015 I stopped going to Sonny's as I felt the quality of the BBQ had severely diminished. The food did not taste or look home cooked anymore, the food looked and tasted more commercialized. The quality fell to the level of Golden Coral buffet food. Then I discovered Southern Pig & Cattle Co. on Maricamp in 2020, and I was again, back to tasting wonderful BBQ food. Recently I decided to give Sonny's another go to compare the two. I noticed in recent years the Sonny's franchise has revamped their restaurants, their logo and branding etc.Is it possible I have caught the Sonny's restaurant on a bad night? The food was sub-standard. It was a Sat night 9pm and they close at 9:30pm. Let me begin with what I ordered. Baby back rib dinner with fries and coleslaw, dry texas toast. Chicken tender dinner with fries and bbq beans, dry texas toast. Big deal sliced pork on a bun with mac n cheese, and a large sweet tea.Ordered and paid using the drive thru, Silver Springs BLVD Ocala FL. I was never asked what sauce I wanted. So I asked for an assortment including the mustard sauce.So when I arrive home. No coleslaw. The chicken tenders were extremely dry as if they were deep-fried twice, or sitting under a heat lamp for hours. Texas toast is now a slice of thin french bread? No assortment of sauce, I only got sweet sauce. The ribs were not tender at all. The ribs were tough as if they were not cooked very long. I know this sounds hard to believe but they were very hard to pull the ribs apart. The ribs were not basted and wet in sauce, at all. (See the photo of the ribs)I called and spoke to Lauren about my missing coleslaw and she said to come in the next time I visit to get my coleslaw. She said they are closing for the night as it was 9:30pm.I almost want to return the un-eaten food tomorrow. Let them see the ribs, they are tough and like rubber. the last issue is why does take-out food always skimp on the french fries? 10 french fries for each order? Really?The price may be high, but it's expected as gas is $5 a gallon now too. So inflation, I get it and I am okay with it. But what about getting what I paid for?I am in no way affiliated with the Southern Pig & Cattle Co., I certainly think you should give them a try, and compare them to Sonny's yourself.
Thank you for serving the local community today!I had a decadent ribs and broiled shrimp combo for a late lunch this afternoon, and the ribs were fall-off the-bone good, the shrimp was seasoned and cooked perfectly!Thank you for the friendly, great service (shout out to Rosa!), and great meal (shout out to the cooks and staff!).The list of businesses worthy of patronage these days is dwindling, so I appreciate you!Peace.
We went for lunch and the place wasn't crowded at noon. Food ordered by three of us included pulled pork sandwich, pulled pork without sandwich bread, smoked half chicken, green beans, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad and cornbread. There was no disappointment in any of the food and we all agreed food was excellent. Extra special treat was small complimentary ive cream cone before we left. We felt very clean place, and prices were fair.
We had never been here and had heard good things so I chose to go here for my birthday yesterday. What a big mistake! My husband got the salad bar which he said was good. He also got the lunch rib plate. He got three very small ribs with barely any meat, two tablespoons of baked beans and turnip greens that were saturated in pepper!!I love beef brisket so I ordered the combo of brisket and turkey with baked beans and french fries. I got a lot of fries!!! About a quarter cup of baked beans. I got three paper thin small pieces of beef and two small pieces of turkey. Brisket is suppose to be thick and moist. It was awful! No flavor at all on beef or turkey. And the beef and turkey were cold!!! That wonderful ? meal cost 48.79!!! I would never recommend this place nor would I ever eat there again. We work hard for our money and to have to pay that much for such horrible meals was awful. There are so many better BBQ places in the area....
Great food and reasonable size portions. The St. Louis Ribs were delicious
Great portions, and a salad bar!!!!! So happy to see that after Covid took them all away. The server I had was a little slow pace, but when she brought up our food, everything tastes great!! Also FREE ice cream when your done eating!!! Definitely will be going back!
My sister and I went there through the drive-thru first time tasting the food. And my sister being from Chicago she wanted some barbecue the smell and taste of it that's exactly what she got. The food was fresh and hot and delicious!!And the drive-thru employee she was awesome she knows how to do awesome job!! Definitely recommended way over Sonny's and fat boys BBQI got done smoked turkey fries coleslaw baked beans and the pulled pork and the sauce was delicious everything was nice and fresh!! Garlic bread was nice and buttery and fresh and garlic just the way I like it!! Definitely recommend it to try it!!!
Our 1st time here and the service was great. Good food and environment. Cindy was our waitress, she gave us excellent service, attentive, and friendly. We will definitely come here again.
We decided to skip our usual bbq go to’s in town and try this restaurant. The food was disappointing. We each ordered combo plates to be able to try more items. Between our two meals, we were able to sample baby back ribs, pulled pork, sliced pork, and sliced smoked turkey. The portions are very small, unlike the prices charged. The sliced pork and turkey were sliced so thin it was like eating deli cuts. The pulled pork was average at best. The ribs were the best of the 4 meats, but still were very average and forgettable. The baked beans were watery and the garlic bread was odd shaped (perhaps cut sideways out of a baguette) and had little garlic flavor. The potato and macaroni salads were run of the mill as well. When you spend $50 for two people to eat bbq, you hope for much more than they are delivering. After giving Southern Pig and Cattle a try, we will not bypass our normal bbq places in the future.
Each time was perfect. My husband had the catfish 2 times and loved it. But after seeing me devouring the baby back ribs each time he decided to try them. We both agreed they were the best baby back ribs in a very long time. Everything each time was exactly what we ordered. We will be back!