First off, they were short staffed. No one waited on me at the entracne lobby for about 5 minutes until a waitress that had walked past several times waiting on tables finally said she would be with me in a minute which turned out to be another 5 minutes so I stood there for about ten minutes total, waiting to be seated. She was nice enough when she seated me but it took what seemed like another 5 minutes before I got a drink. The food came out in decent time, about 15 minutes or so and the food was alright, I got the smoked wings and ribs combo. What bothered me the most about the experience was the interior, it was dark inside, everything was painted all black and it was very drab looking. It wasn't exciting nor a good experience. I felt like I was eating in a mausoleum, it was that boring and lifeless in there. read more

Great take out. Our group had ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork. We also brought in coleslaw, green beans and mac & cheese. Then there's the garlic bread and those cornbread muffins. Loved the original BBQ sauce. Our kids loved the sweet sauce. Favorite was the pulled pork and brisket and of course those cornbread muffins. read more

East Bradenton Location. Received several corporate emails from Sonny's advertising a pricing event. When I went to this location to order, they had no idea. I showed them the email and manager went in to call the owner who after some time agreed to give me the price. When I went to order 2 (takeout) I was told it was only good for one. That is not the way that Sonny's typically runs these promotions. Left, never to return. Lost a customer and got a bad review for a $10 discount..... read more

Finally: I finally found a Sonny's I like. The food was prepped properly, the table and dining room was cleaned and organized very neatly, the service - The Service -THE SERVICE was impeccable. I very much appreciate your entire staff working so seamlessly to ensure everyone was taken care of. Greetings, periodic check ins and the staff assisted each other to ensure each customer got what they requested. read more

Staff argues about who will be burdened by having to take your table. So you wait, and you wait, and you wait some more. Then you decide to leave as you can take the hint that you are not welcome and would not get good service there. Just as you are getting up to leave, "Nicole"the missing waitress shows up and makes a scene that you are leaving. She tried to make us feel bad for not liking the lack of service, we will never return. read more

Thought we'd try this bbq place, no complaints about service. Michelle our server was great! I had the 1/2 chicken with coleslaw and beans, and cornbread. My chicken was good but could've been a little more tender. Coleslaw, beans, and cornbread were good, and not overly spiced,like they are at other restaurants. I would definitely come here again. read more

We stopped by here after seeing their TV commercial and on our trek to Costco. We are new to the area and were pleasantly surprised. The service we received from Trina was top-notch. She was highly attentive to us, had a great personality and brought us our food quickly. The pulled pork sandwich as excellent and the meat was flavorful and not fatty. The meat portion was large, and the side of BBQ beans was especially tasty. My husband, who is not a lover of BBQ, had the Cuban sandwich and thought it was great. The bread was perfectly toasted and again the portion size of meat was impressive. I think the prices are reasonable for the amount of food and the quality of meat is outstanding. This restaurant was clean and every single one of the team members we encountered acknowledge us and even told us to have a "Merry Christmas" which was nice. Overall, we had a great experience At Sonny's BBQ Brandenton and will definitely be back soon. Bravo Sonny's BBQ! read more

The meat is a little dry today, folks. Usually a bit more tender. What happened ya'll?

We were there for my birthday, last night March 8, there was no host/hostess. Dirty tables filled the dining room. No staff members even acknowledged our presence and after 20 minute of being ignored we left. So much for their "Southern Hospitality". read more

The only reason this place is getting a star at all is because our waitress was very kind to my kids..we came In for a quick lunch with my husbands aunt. Quick would not be how I would describe the food service, our waitress had to go back and check multiple times. Restaurant was dirty, the air didn't seem to be working, and the floors were greasy/wet. I almost fell a handful of times one of those almost with my 6 month old son. The main reason for this review was because of my daughter (3 years old). She was walking from my seat to hers (not very far) she slipped and busted her eye on the chair. On the way out she almost fell again WHILE HOLDING MY HAND. When I said something to another waitress about their floors being dangerous we almost fell she rolled her eyes at me. I noticed a wet floor sign.. but it was in the front next to host stand. Not anywhere near around where we slipped walking from the bathroom or where my daughter fell. I tried to call back to speak to someone and the phone rang and no answer. I'm very disappointed bc the food was actually really good. We won't be going back here, and let's pray my daughters eye doesn't get worse and we have to go to the doctor for it. Then SONNYS you will be hearing more from me and my attorney. read more

Sonny's BBQ - Eye bruised/cut from the chair she fell on after she slipped - Barbeque Near Me - Bradenton, Florida

Stopped in to get takeout of brisket, ribs and sides. Everyone was very nice and helped us with recommendations. They also gave us a generous sampling of BBQ sauces that were delicious! Would definitely go back! Thanks for a great meal! read more

We went there for all you can eat ribs and our party of four was told AFTER they seated us that they were OUT of ribs!!! They wouldn't even substitute baby back ribs on a dinner. Won't go back. This was Sunday March 10, at 3: Waited a week for someone to call us about our issue......guess they have so much business they didn't need to call us as promised. Still amazed they didn't have the advertised special, wouldn't substitute and would venture to say that Sunday at 3 is Prime Time and would think you would have the special all day long. Please don't call now, it only would be a required gesture versus wanting to improve your operation. read more

I ordered the family feast last night and it was awful! Ordered ribs, pulled pork and sliced brisket. Received chicken, dried out ribs and something that vaguely resembled chopped brisket. The "brisket" was nothing but scraps of bark and could not be chewed! Spent over $100 on what mostly had to be thrown in the garage! Never again! You give Sony's a bad name! Worst bbq ever! read more

Absolutely freezing! It's been this way for several months. Take your jacket. Servers are great. Food is really good. We went back tonight to give Sonny's another try. It was much warmer than last time we were there but still chilly. Our server, Tiffany, is the best. read more

Trina is a wonderful waitress she always have a bright smile.The food is wonderful and breathtaking

Absolutely horrible! We arrived and the restaurant was nearly empty. There was two people sitting at the bar and about seven or eight people working we were told about 12 times that the host seat us shortly by each individual worker. When the host finally showed up she did not greet us. I asked if she was the host and she said yes and then she asked how many and I said to and then she said I will be right back. And then never returned. We waited for a total of about 10 minutes... everyone was just standing around.. so.. we just left. With as many people working as there were and as few people in the restaurant as there were I was shocked. Do not recommend read more

We had a catering order for my son's 16th birthday. From start to finish everything was great! The food was packaged perfectly and tasted great!! We were impressed and so were our guests! read more

Had lunch today at the newly remodeled Sonny's. The decor is fresh and warm. Enjoyed the salad bar and pork sandwich. Love the original sauce with the pork. The huge Diet Coke always makes me smile. Wish I'd saved room for the banana pudding. Fried okra is a great choice as our appetizer. I'd recommend coming and seeing the newly remodeled location. read more

Sonny's is an absolute no frills BBQ joint right off of I75, complete with old license plates and "trophies" that decorate the walls. The food is definitely average and nothing to brag about if you know anything about real BBQ, but the value makes it worth a stop during that family road trip. What makes this place want you to keep coming back is the extremely hospitable and friendly service! So accommodating and patient, considering we were a large group and admittedly pretty demanding! Haha Definitely try the Pit Masters BBQ Burger or the Sampler if you can't decide! read more

The entire time I was there they were putting up chairs and sweeping loudly while still serving customers. Also yelling loudly at each other about cleaning up speeding to get out of there instead of taking into consideration customers spending their money for a good atmosphere. Like how long does it really take to clean up. Really big turn off won't be going back to this location. read more

Below average decor but the staff is friendly and the food is decent at the prices they charge. Beware of the bathroom though-- not for the typical bathroom horror story reasons but because there was a bee in the bathroom and I was almost stung! Other than that is a great place. read more

We stopped for a quick lunch. Arrived at noon on Sunday. We were seated right away. By 1:00 PM the place was very busy. Service was friendly and efficient. I tried the all you can eat chicken special. My son had the all you can eat pulled pork. We both liked the pork the best. The chicken was nothing special. My wife had the baby back ribs and liked them. Good prices. This is the second time we have eaten at Sonny's while traveling on the road. We'll definitely stop again. read more

Sonny's BBQ on 64 is HORRIBLE Rude hostess, broken salad bar, terrible service, dirty silverware with food stuck to it after 3 different sets of replaced utensils. We walked out after an hour of waiting after placing our order with no food! We will never go back! Sad thing is, we have been going there for 15 years, and it continues to go down hill every year, but this was the last straw! read more

This food was not fresh and gave me indigestion for days. Skip it and keep driving until you see a Chik Fil A.

Decided to give the place another try. Took family from out of town. Greeted promptly. Our server Tina was friendly and informative. Ribs and redneck egg rolls were tasty. I would return. read more

Took 10 minutes to place an order over the phone, was put on hold 6 different times. hot the family fest which according to them feeds 4 people and there wasn't even enough meat to make 3 sandwiches. Was told they were out of chicken and could only get extra pork Because the brisket is too expensive to substitute. To top it off, we got a gallon of sweet tea that was boiling hot as if it was sitting outside all day. Biggest waste of $55. I have never had a good experience with this place and would not recommend anyone order from here. read more

Hadn't been to Sonny's in awhile and decided to eat there. Forgot how good it is. Our server, Pam, was awesome as usual. She does such a great job and is always upbeat. We will be back sooner. read more

This location USED TO BE the best and cleanest Sonny's I have ever visited. Just went there thinking about having the smoked wings and the burger usually a great and beyond tasty meal. Well we showed up and sat down orders our wings and they came out black in color (not the golden brown from the past) and as dry as can be! These wings used to be the juiciest wing with the best smoke flavor you ever had! Then went to the restroom they are absolutely disgusting both the mens and ladies had t.p. all over the floor, no soap, and a roll of wet paper towels on the sink to dry your hands. Just disgusting! If you can't keep the bathrooms clean that your customers see what is your kitchen like? When I returned to my table I asked what was going on? why just a drastic difference in only a month or two? Found the answer... The old manager left and the new manager has dropped the ball... So if you think your going to see the old Sonny's don't get your hopes up! The business is still there but the quality and cleanliness are sadly gone. read more

This review is for the drive-through service, based on 3 trips. First, you'll need a megaphone to place your order, as the speakers don't seem to work and the order taker can't hear what you're saying (it wasn't just me--the cars in front and behind me were having obvious issues, too). This resulted in 2 of the 3 orders I'm reviewing here being incorrect. My trips there were a few weeks apart, so there should have been plenty of time for the owner to get this fixed, if in fact it's a result of equipment failure. (My brother has waited inside for takeout before and reported a lot of horseplay going on by the staff while customers were being ignored, so that's why I'm not sure if it's actually equipment to blame.) You can also expect a long wait in line once you've placed your order. Today it was 40 minutes--and there was only 1 car ahead of me. I waited at least 20 minutes at the window to get my order. BTW, all my trips there were in the afternoons, so you can't blame a high business time for their sloth rate of speed. To top off the bad service, when I got it home my order was incorrect. And, yes, I'd thought about checking it before we left but frankly after waiting so long I didn't want to go through the hassle of spending another 40 minutes there for them to correct it in the event it was wrong. I decided to take just my chances and eat whatever they gave me. To wrap up, the food is pretty good, but it certainly isn't worth the hassle, especially when there are plenty of other barbecue restaurants in the area that provide good food and good service. I won't be going back to this Sonny's. read more

Worst Sonnys bbq experience I've ever had!! Tried to pass off old dried up pulled beef as brisket, waitress was slow to bring out my food, I refused to eat the fake brisket sent it back and ordered the bbq chicken instead, the waitress again took forever to bring my food not to mention she forgot part of my order, which she finally brought 15 minutes later, was so disgusted I left most of my food on the table, when it came time to pay the bill i had to track down the waitress getting up from my table to find her she didn't even bother to give me my receipt, one look at the managers attitude and you will see where the problem lies. APPALING SERVICE AND FOOD, STOP WASTING PEOPLE'S TIME AND MONEY DO BETTER PLEASE! read more

Had the brisket dinner two weeks ago and it was great! Carry out was hot when I got home and the meat was tender and lean. Tonight, it was cold like it had been sitting out for a long time. There were several chunks of "meat", but half were just chunks of fat. The ones that weren't just fat were really tough and hard to cut or chew. Thumbs down this week. May try one of the other bbq places next time. read more

I've eaten here several times in the past. I have had some slow service in the past. Tonight as I sit here to right this review, it is extremely slow. We were seated quickly. We watched what seemed to the only waitress walk past us a dozen times or better to a 10 top. The restaurant was not very busy. The hostess finally came and too our drink order. We place out order. 10 min later a man came and asked if we wanted to place a drink order. Drinks came. Food ordered. 3o min or better wait for our food. A few people stopped by to say they were sorry for the wait. 48 min from time seated to food. Burger was supposed to well done. It came out med rare. We had cut it open to see if it's done. Someone came back and we told them. They offered to recook it or make a new one. We ask for new. They let us keep the uncooked one. No onion no tomato. It wasn't offered. Fries seemed sparse. 16 in all. Not very well done either. Kind of raw. Burger came out and it was hot and very tasty as is Sonny's. Tradition. Sweet tea was good. The hostess girl did a fantastic job. Sorry Sonny's has reached this level read more

Horrible.......dont waste your time or money. Third time here all three were terrible.cold food.... Just no a big disappointment Doesnt Sonnys get tired of the bad reviews and replying to each bad yelp review with " sorry to here that email us at blah blah blah but nothing ever gets done to improve the locations terrible reviews... Bad reviews and comments are there for a reason and its from the top down. If owners and management dont care neither will anyone else. read more

Well we tried it again. I can't understand why THIS Sonny's never has a hostess up front. There were 18 people waiting for someone to greet or seat them. At this Sonny's the wait staff has to seat you when they have time... again tonight they didn't have time. This issue used to never be an issue, now it happens on a regular basis. Last time we waited almost 15 minutes before anyone approached us. Tonight we waited 15 and saw no attempt to seat any of the full waiting area. Good thing Cracker barrel is next door. Our group along with other people went there and was greeted, seated, and served as you would expect. Someone needs to manage this place. We assumed there was no management on the property as no manager would let this occur, lose customers because they weren't at least acknowledged and told they were working on seating customers. Get it together and hire a hostess before you lose customers permanently. One customer from Ohio said he always stops at Sonny's in the south to eat... he's never seen a Sonny's that didn't have someone to seat you. read more

I have a dietary restriction that prevents me from eating bread. Wherever I go, the restaurants are willing to substitute out the bread with something else. Not Sonny's. Very disappointed in this policy. Will be contacting Corporate to report this. read more

Not without it's service speed challenges the food here is alway good and the staff friendly.

My husband and I can't get enough of this place. We live part time in Bradenton. We visited Sonny's six times during a ten day trip down here. BBQ is our favorite type of food and Sonny's is as good as you can get. (I have celiac disease and they have a huge selection of gluten free options). The food is fantastic, the prices are great and the staff are all so friendly and attentive! We can't recommend this place enough. read more

The food was good snd the service was good. However , upon entering the restaurant I noticed that every other table was blocked off due to Covid. I felt safe and relieved that they were taking steps to keep their diners safe. When we got to our table we were given the middle booth of three that were along the back wall. There were diners inches away sharing the back of the seat behind us. There was no barrier so we kept our masks on as long s we could. We did ask to move and were told there was no seat available. We hurried and ate. Afterwards I nicely went to the manager and told him it would be nice if there were barriers up there or to please block off the middle table. He was defensive and told me "this is how we are set up" I told him it didn't make sense to do it everywhere else in the restaurant but there. He said "if it were up to me I would have all the tables open" so there you have it....he did not agree and didn't want to do anything to make it safer. I will only go where I see restaurants working to keep us safe during a worldwide pandemic where 300,000 have died in the US alone in the last 8 months. There are too many places to choose to eat who are taking great steps to lessen transmission. This Sonney's was defensive and didn't care. read more

I think sonny's has some of the best baby back ribs around! We do take out all the time and I never had an issue with food quality. Value for your money is great too. read more

Worst lunch! Best thing was Strawberry lemonade! Order lunch Brisket meal. How can you sever cold meat and bean. Garlic toast one slice was toasty and warm the other pale as a ghost. Whi made this food. Not worth time or effort to go. read more