For openers, if you think the best barbecue is usually found in the worst part of town, in a place with bars on the windows, and just enough grease on the table to write your initials - then this isn't it.
If, on the other hand, you think you can find some great barbecue in a small shack on a highway leaving Florida in the shadow of Alabama, then this isn't it either.
What this is, is a local entrepreneur's effort to lure people into his business with a sign that touches too many bases to do any of them well. The sign says Big Johns Barbecue, ice cream and donuts. They're on the highway in Bonifay, Florida.
For a guy who has spent a lifetime in pursuit of the perfect barbecue (read my more than 135 barbecue reviews from across the country on Yelp), the sign was too good to be true. There was a world class barbecue joint in Peoria, Illinois, named Big John's Barbecue. It became very apparent the two Big Johns weren't related.
First off, the only barbecue the Bonifay Big Johns had that day was pulled pork. No ribs, no brisket, no chicken, no sausage, just pulled pork - so then you know what the Brown Shoe Gourmet ordered: a pulled pork sandwich with a couple donuts for dessert, Out of donuts.
First the positive (the one): the sandwich was big, the meat piled high. Now the bad news, it was bland, no flavor from the meat or the sauce. The server explained "it came from the bottom of the pan - we're almost out"). Hot dogs. Big Johns Barbecue also sells hot dogs. We switched and tried one of Big John's hot dogs, which came with catsup, mustard, and onions, and tasted a lot like a hot dog with catsup and mustard and onions.
Then there are the sides: potato salad with bits of cardboard crisp bacon (fair to middlin'), seasoned fries (didn't try them) and baked beans that tasted as though they were doctored as they came out of can . Everything served in one of those to-go Styrofoam gizmos that made it easy to pitch the bland pulled pork without drawing attention.
The sign said that "Big John's Barbecue was where great food and sweet treats come together for an unforgettable meal." Isn't there a law about false advertising?
Big John, one of the servers told us, also has a donut shop and I'm hoping for his sake, his donuts are better than the barbecue we tried. To be fair, the three young men servers, were friendly, eager to please but obviously handicapped not having but one kind of barbecue to offer and that was from the bottom of the pan.
One Star. And that's being generous. read more
