What are the best BBQ restaurants, food trucks in Sarasota, Bradenton? Check out our faves
While Florida may never compete with heavyweight champs such as Texas and Tennessee when it comes to best barbecue, the Sunshine State does offer numerous destinations for quality que, with many right here in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
For this story, I focused on restaurants and a food truck that I have visited multiple times in recent years. Each occasion provided a memorable dining experience, including one happily spent standing at an outdoor festival with sauce-covered fingers and face!
In addition to the four establishments featured below that you can readily visit, I also recommend following private chef Horace Park Jr. at instagram.com/halfplate, on Facebook or he can be reached by phone at 941-879-7633. His smoked chicken and ribs were a favorite of mine this past season at The Downtown Bradenton Public Market, which takes place Saturdays from October through May.
Another smoked meat maven you'll want to seek out is Perry's Roadside BBQ, which I discovered at a private event but see he has also made appearance at Phillippi Farmhouse Market, which also resumes in October, and can be contacted for takeout in Sarasota by calling 941-351-1445 or visiting perryssauce.com.
For the record, though, this is by no means a definitive list of the best barbecue restaurants in Sarasota and Manatee counties. Did your favorite not make the list? Email me at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. For now, here are my current faves, presented in alphabetical order.
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Brick’s Smoked Meats
1528 State St., Sarasota; 941-993-1435; brickssmokedmeats.com
Open now for more than five years, Brick’s Smoked Meats in downtown on State Street is the top restaurant for barbecue in the city of Sarasota. Offering a fun indoor setting with a full-bar area as well as covered outdoor tables and sidewalk seating, the entire room is smartly built around the open-air kitchen and "Big Red." It's a custom-made J&R Manufacturing Oyler Pit, the smoker brand that has been helping people create mouthwatering, wood-fired barbecue since 1974.
Treat yourself to the Texas Trio choice of three smoked meats and be sure to order the brisket that has been cooked for 18 hours (point cut, aka the fabulous fatty side) along with the St. Louis-style ribs with the exceptional house rub, and the tender pulled pork boasting a brilliant char. And, yeah, go ahead and do the upgrade on the Texas Trio for links of their house sausage filled with jalapeno and cheddar. Also, seriously consider beginning your feast with a serving of Brick's smoked wings and an order of their caramelized bacon burnt ends. They're like a serving of highly addictive meat candy and can also be enjoyed in tacos with cilantro, slaw, queso, and candied jalapenos.
Hickory Hollow
4705 U.S. 301, Ellenton; 941-722-3932, hickoryhollowbbq.com
Open since 1984 and operated by the local James family, Hickory Hollow is an Ellenton landmark occupying a former two-bedroom, one-bathroom home and predating the nearby stretch of interstate and the popular Ellenton Premium Outlets. Currently open for lunch and dinner Wednesday through Saturday starting at 11 a.m., the restaurant offers cozy indoor as well as outdoor seating with a funky, Old Florida feel. The humble eatery also happens to be one of the best barbecue joints you'll find in Florida.
While the restaurant serves sweet and hot versions of a highly craveable tomato-based sauce, they specialize in eastern North Carolina barbecue that they smoke using white hickory imported from Virginia, the meat marinated in a sweet vinegar that makes each morsel a tangy delight. You'll also want to try the char-grilled baby back ribs served with their sweet tomato-based sauce, and the garlic roasted beef open-face sandwich drenched in jus.
For appetizers, let me recommend the slow-cooked Brunswick stew brimming with soft clumps of chicken and pork, as well as a ridiculously tender pork shank you should order covered in their blackening rub and served in a pool of the traditional sweet barbecue sauce. You will also want at least a half dozen char-grilled chicken wings, covered in the roasted garlic pepper rub with a side of hot BBQ sauce, which our server wisely suggested having warmed up before poured into the ramekin. It was very good.
All the main dishes come with corn fritters, which are deep-fried orbs of joy, and a choice of two sides. The sides, by the way, would make the trip from, say, downtown Sarasota worthwhile even for a vegetarian, who could order the platter consisting of a choice of four from Hickory Hollow's extensive list of veggies. You'll find the rotating menu of 20-plus sides presented on little white signs velcroed to a portable wood pig that looks like something your dad might have made during his high school wood class shop. It's adorable! And you will want to spend as much time as possible studying your myriad options.
During our recent visit, I started with the collard greens. I have deeply loved collard greens at places across Florida for many years and Hickory Hollow's might just be the best. Served fresh and firm, the inherent bitterness is offset by a broth that recalls the same inspired vinegar flavors that propel their Carolina-style pork to greatness. You also must try the squash and cheese casserole and the corn pudding, with the baked beans, black-eyed peas and mac-n-cheese also among my new faves. Finally, save room for dessert, especially if they're serving peach cobbler.
Smokin’ Momma Lora’s BBQ
facebook.com/smokinmommaLorasBBQ
Events in Sarasota and Manatee counties are always more exciting when attended by Smokin' Momma Lora's BBQ, the wildly popular food truck launched by nurse-turned-pitmaster Lora Rust Wolters about seven years ago. Most famous for her slow-cooked pulled pork sandwiches covered in a homemade, Tennessee-style, tomato-based barbecue sauce laced with honey; pitmaster Wolters' team recently picked up a best burger award for their version of a Big Mac. And the one I devoured in March at the Manatee Pride festival on Bradenton Riverwalk definitely eclipsed anything you'll find under the Golden Arches.
During past visits, I've also been wowed by the Buffalo pulled pork sandwich with Carolina sauce and then there are the cheese fries, which you will want to get topped with pulled pork, jalapenos and more of that Carolina sauce. The crispy cuts of potatoes covered in gooey yellow cheese are an ideal foundation for the shreds of pork blanketed by the tangy sauce with lots of spicy peppers for the delightfully-decadent win.
Smoqehouse
1701 Gulf Drive N., Bradenton Beach; 941-242-5340, smoqehouse.com
Owned and operated by the Kubes family from Minnesota, Smoqehouse has been serving fusion barbecue in the city of Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island since 2017 (they opened a Sarasota location in early 2020 that didn't survive the pandemic). The compact menu features seven core items and they're all $10 handhelds, which can also be served on a bed of greens for the same price. Perhaps the best example of the Kubes' globe-trotting take on smoked meats, they offer a ciabatta roll filled with cuts of tender shaved beef topped by ginger and lime slaw and goosed by a nice shot of sweet and savory Korean barbecue sauce.
On my most recent, I also tried their deftly seasoned Cajun chicken with sauteed peppers and onions, pepper jack cheese and "Cajun sauce," which indeed had a Louisiana-loving kick to it. And then there's the burger, which I will definitely have to include on my next best burgers list. It's a ridiculously flavorful ground brisket patty covered in smoked cheddar cheese and caramelized onions. And regardless of which sandwich you choose – I'm looking forward to returning for the Cuban – be sure to pair it with the poutine featuring thin, hand-cut fries or perhaps an order of their hand-cut chips, which can be topped with a glorious garlic thyme aioli and blue cheese crumbles.
Stottlemyer's Smokehouse
19 East Road, Sarasota; 941-312-5969, stottlemyerssmokehouse.com
Opened in 2015 on the same expansive property as their Fruitville Texaco gas station found a mile east of I-75 in Sarasota, Stottlemyer's Smokehouse features a chickee hut encompassing more than 5,000 square feet. It's an ideal spot for cocktails at the tiki bar, perhaps a game of cornhole and to attend concerts by nationally acclaimed country, rock, and blues acts. It's also a top destination for Southern cuisine and barbecue.
While still just operating the gas station, the local Stottlemyer's family perfected their double-hand breaded fried chicken that is still among the best poultry dishes around. But you will also want to try their smoked meats, beginning with a nice, fatty cut of brisket that has been judiciously seasoned and slow-smoked for about 12 hours over pecan wood. And save room for their pork "long bone" or baby back ribs, which are covered in the secret rub and also slow-smoked, for four to six hours, over the flavor-enhancing pecan wood.
Stottlemyer's also serves smoked chicken and pork as well as a bunch of tasty sides, including outstanding sweet collard greens with bacon. As for the appetizers, bacon-enthusiasts will want to try some of their Smoked Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos, while the fresh cornbread stacked with your choice of meat and topped with remoulade is another exciting option. Yeah, you can't go wrong at Stottlemyer's, especially while sipping a mojito and getting ready to watch a show there under the chickee.
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Wade Tatangelo is the Herald-Tribune’s dining and entertainment editor overseeing the weekly Ticket publication. He's also co-leader of USA Today Network's Uniquely Florida team creating statewide content. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He may be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Best restaurants food truck BBQ Sarasota Bradenton Lakewood Ranch
