Roberts Meat Market,
BBQ Smokehouse &
Sandwich Shop

3435 S. Westshore
Tampa, FL
(813) 832-3584

I finally found the opportunity to stop in at Robert's for a bit of his 'Q'.
They claim Robert's was voted the Bay's best BBQ. (They don't say
who did the voting.) He features steak, BBQ, Seafood and Chicken
cooked in their own smokehouse. They do have a wood burning pit
enclosed in an outdoor screenroom. The pit is fairly large and similar
to a Klose or LazyQ

Robert's offers a variety of sandwiches and dinners. Multiple sides
are also on the menu. I asked for a pulled pork sandwich and
coleslaw. Turns out they offer a 'BBQ Pork sandwich w/fries for
$5.99. They swapped the fries for coleslaw for me and served it
up.

The sandwich was served on a slightly sweet, seed topped bun.
The meat was more chopped then pulled and generously slathered
with a slightly tangy sauce. The coleslaw was sloppily dressed
with a vinegar and mayo sauce. It tasted pretty good, but looked
pretty runny. The meat was tender, but didn't enclude enough
crust and it was overpowered by a Stubb's like tangy sauce.

I only told them what I wanted. I didn't request how it should be
served. I wanted to see what they'd do. I'll try them a couple
more times in order to sample the ribs and beef before I give
them a real score. Overall opinion is that they deserve a second
look. As of now, neither their pork nor their slaw is as good as
mine.
--
M&M ("The problem is that no matter what you do, there's
Sombody that won' t like it much") Tom Clancy

"M&M" wrote in message
...
Roberts Meat Market,
BBQ Smokehouse &
Sandwich Shop

3435 S. Westshore
Tampa, FL
(813) 832-3584
[snipped to get to the point]
As of now, neither their pork nor their slaw is as good as mine.

Sadly, you will travel the globe and never find a restaurant that makes ribs
as good as yours, pork as good as yours, slaw as good as yours, etc., etc. I
gave up trying years ago. Let me save you some real money. When you go out
to eat, unless it's to a friend or family barbecue, don't eat barbecue. Eat
a steak, a big hunk of roast beef, ham steak, venison, fish, pasta, but not
barbecue. Save barbecue for when you KNOW it will be as good as yours.

I think that the average person who visits a barbecue restaurant knows
little to nothing about barbecue. But they'll swear on a stack of bibles
that this one or that one is the best in the world. The minute they try real
barbecue they realize that they had always been eating second best.
Restaurants just can't afford the time or money to cook to the same level
that you can.

I'm friendly with the head cooks for the Smokey Bones chain. I've eaten
their catfish, chicken breasts with lime, chicken pot pie, turkey platter
and other stuff but never any barbecue. I've had their ribs and pork and
chicken and brisket in competition and they're very good. But not as good as
mine. So I eat in Smokey Bones once a week or so but I couldn't tell you
anything about their ribs because I just don't want to eat them.

Ricky (on my way out the door to get 12 racks of loin backs for Saturday -
champange and ribs for dinner!)

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 12:41:59 -0500, "Ricky"
wrote:
So I eat in Smokey Bones once a week or so but I couldn't tell you
anything about their ribs because I just don't want to eat them.

I have eaten at Smokey Bones on several occasions and have eaten some
good que produced by their team at competitions in Florida.

IMHO, the stuff they sell at their restaurant is not very good.
Actually, bad would be a better descriptive. But hey, here in
Orlando, it doesn't matter if the food is actually good. Corporat-que
exists to get the tourists in, out, and relieved of their money.

If your in Orlando and you want que, go to Jacks in Minneola or
Bubbalou's on Lee Road in Winter Park.

If you want to watch TV and have a beer, go to Smokey Bones.