I just wanna say that I love Sonny's. I love their brisket. I love their ribs. I love their baked beans and I love their coleslaw! I've gone to Sonny's for years. I can't afford them right now if I'm being honest, but that's on me not on them, but I WAS there the other day for someone else and I was blown away (!) by one of their employees and I just had to take the time to leave this here hoping that she sees it and her managers see this. Five stars for Kennedy, who deserves far more recognition than a review can give her. I watched her navigate an overwhelming number of orders, delivery drivers, and takeout customers with no visible help. People interrupted her. People were rude to her--including grown men old enough to be her father, who certainly should have known better. One man even walked into the kitchen. Through all of it, Kennedy remained remarkably composed, courteous, and professional. She addressed each situation without allowing someone else's behavior to dictate her own. That takes patience, judgment, and a level of self-command you cannot simply put in an employee handbook. What impressed me most was how much her presence mattered to the entire restaurant. She kept things moving, gave customers her attention, and maintained a calm atmosphere under circumstances that could easily have become chaotic. She was protecting Sonny's BBQ's reputation with every interaction. There was no manager standing beside her, no audience of supervisors to impress. This was someone taking pride in her work because that is the standard she holds herself to. Kennedy should be training people. Kennedy should be managing people. Kennedy should be teaching managers how to manage themselves. The composure and leadership she demonstrated are exactly what you hope to see from the person in charge. In my opinion, she is very misplaced and underutilized. She deserves a position--and compensation--that reflects what she brings to the business. And if someone outside of Sonny's BBQ is reading this and has an exceptional opportunity to offer, please consider Kennedy. If you want someone who cares about her work, treats people with dignity under pressure, and takes responsibility even when no one is watching, I hope you recognize the potential I saw. I sincerely hope someone offers her the opportunity, support, and compensation she deserves. What I witnessed was someone any employer should be proud to have--and smart enough to invest in. To the decision-makers at Sonny's: please pay attention. You have someone exceptional representing your business. Give her the support, recognition, and opportunities she deserves. Kennedy, I don't know whether anyone told you how well you handled all of that, but I saw it. Your effort, your grace, and your professionalism did not go unnoticed. read more

It wasn't the greatest, but ur wasn't bad. We were surprised by the new menu. It took a lot of searching to find out they still had the smoked wings we loved, but yes - they still have them. We tried the brisket mac and cheese, and we had to get a side of fries! Our waitress really didn't seem to want to be there. There were two of us at the table, I said We wanted the wings and We wanted to try the brisket mac and cheese.... but she only brought one plate and didn't even bring silverware. We got that fixed and had a good time despite the bad service. The dry rub wings were crispy and tasty. The brisket on the mac n cheese was as good as I remembered. The fries were not great, but we were there right at 5pm, so I know they were busy. Overall, this is still a great place to remember how awesome Sonny's used to be. It's a huge, clean restaurant and the food is almost as good as I remember read more

Sonny's BBQ - Dry rub smoked wings - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

See all

I had the Sweet Carolina sandwich with the macaroni and cheese. It was excellent! The pulled pork was tender and flavorful. It has a nice mustard sauce on top. I also use some of the sweet sauce on the garlic bread. The macaroni and cheese is very good and has a cheddar flavor. My brother Jonathan ordered the BBQ wings mild with crinkle cut fries. The wings had a good flavor. Both the sauce and chicken had a great taste. The service was the best I've had in town. She took our drink order right away and made sure we had iced tea refills. The food came out right away and she asked us how it was and if she could get us anything else. The ambiance is nice we sat in a comfortable booth. 5 stars! read more

See all

We were craving barbecued ribs and they were sweet and fall off the bone delicious . The coleslaw was homemade style and yummy. I have a small appetite and ordered the baked potatoes with sour cream and bacon bits. The potato was a bit overcooked but other than that it was good. That's why I only gave four stars. Our server was Joose and he was friendly and very attentive. He would pass by and ask how the food was and if we needed anything. I'd go again and try something new . read more

See all

The Chicken Power Plate was excellent don't know why the some the reviews say it's bad? Also the beans were amazing lots meat in them. The staff was friendly, did not even have to wait long. I recommended getting the pork egg rolls read more

Sonny's BBQ - Loved the mustard sauce so I picked one up - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

I'm overly frustrated with this location from the customer service to the food. It all started a few months ago I ordered some food through the drive through and the young lady who took my order displayed poor customer service and was rude during the cash exchange , I never mentioned she could keep the change she just kept my money and gave me the food , I then asked for my change and she was upset I ain't let her keep it. I'm honored you guys offer military discount which is why I choose to eat here but I'm disappointed. I've never received a hot order/ meal from this place. read more

Got dinner portion brisket at lunch with yam, coleslaw, and garlic toast. Brisket portion small, only 4 slices, was not very warm, was not tender, and not juicy. Other than that was great! Garlic toast rather sad too. Never asked how meal was by waitress, but at end of meal I told her. Told me she would tell the kitchen, that was all, no offer to make it all better. Did not want to send back, it was edible that's about it. So if you are looking for so-called great bbq, keep looking! $20 good-bye, with reluctant 15% tip $24. I won't return. Wish I would have looked at Yelp before going, other reviews I pulled up on Google maps gave 4/5 stars. No way today. read more

This place really needs a whole overhaul. The employees are less than friendly, the food is never hot and fresh, and it often takes a very long time to get your food. It is an underwhelming experience to say the least, especially considering the price. Inside the restaurant is rather clean, the seating is plentiful and it's usually quiet which is nice. If you walk in to order to go expect to wait... it's rare that someone is at the counter. They recently added a drive through which is nice but it's not labeled and it honestly looks like parking spaces. read more

Delicious Sweet Carolina and sweet potato! My daughter loves the Mac & cheese! Our server Lexy was so good and everything came out quickly!The restaurant has good booth seating as well as tables for large groups and a counter if you like to sit with others! And they have closed captioning on the tv.The music was a little weird this visit but normally it is good! Love this place! read more

Lots of hard working ladies just not enough staff. The wait was 30 minutes due to short staff . I was picking up a take out order . We loved our last pick up order so I decided to do another take out order for a Sunday night. The food is always delicious. It's a shame people don't want to work hard anymore or is it companies don't want to pay staff anymore. read more

Horrible location. Lazy staff. Slow service. Snappy non informative and rude. They close the kitchen before closing time.

Wow talk about a MASSIVE disappointment for a meal!!!! A simple pulled chicken sandwich and a prine rib dinner ($40) came out after nearly an hour of waiting. Only for the sandwich to be cold and my prime rib to somehow be overdone (Not medium rare like they said it would be) and cold. Not to mention the fact it was like 40% fat and inedible. We tried to alert the server but we were only seen again for the check. Never even got my sides or horseradish (that comes with the dinner) Gotta say a swing and a massive miss and yet I'm still to here back from this place. Guess they just want your money and forget how they treat the customer. read more

Sonny's BBQ - 3 bites out a overdone cold slice of prime rib with literally 50% being the fat. Solid waste of an hour for this. - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

By far the worst Sonny's out there. Love north Lakeland and Bartow Sonny's. Only gave this place a couple of shots again after not coming for several years because it has always been one of the of the worst due to the Bartow Sonny's fire. Ordered the brisket big deal extra lean and thinly sliced. Came with two slices of meat and it flipped on the end of just fat. Asked if we could get it a little more lean. Came back with straight PINK meat, not just a smoke ring. Have gone to Sonny's almost weekly for the past 30 years. I have family that has worked for the company and even have complained to them before about how bad this facility is. I will definitely be driving the extra 30 mins to north side until Bartow is back open. This is just this experience I have had serval and experience as well. Last time we were here the A/C was out, was super hot and it's never very clean. Every time you walk in there is always empty food plates on the bar. read more

Sonny's BBQ - Unclean bar, same plate sitting there from when we got there to leaving - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

Reasonable prices with large portions. Excellent customer service. Pork was a little dry but the side dishes were always amazing. read more

Sonny's BBQ - Sonny's pulled pork. - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

My rating comes from an Amazonian that stayed all shift for the annual Thanksgiving Feast! This year Amazon got the dinner catered by Sonny's bbq! I usually don't eat heavy food at midnight but come on!! How am I supposed to say "no" to freaking Bar-Be-Cue!? Lol i literally took one serving of everything n for the first time... I forgot to take a damn picture!! I have a pic to share of half my meal. Sense I'm my moms care giver. I always take out the healthiest n most delicious stuff for her. I put in my to go box the Sliced turkey, huge corn bread And the mac n cheese. I kept the Chicken, corn, mash potatoes and the peach cobbler cuz i work my A$$ off n deserve a good dessert! Besides i got her ice cream at home. Here's my verdict; the chicken although it was delicious? It had a light aftertaste of Liquid smoke. I am very neutral with liquid smoke, i just rather smoke my stuff with chips or wood chunks. The chicken was well cooked. No red spots n the skin like leather. It was bueno! The turkey to me was amazing! It's why i kept it for mom. Lean, white n not dry. Mash were delicious, i got lucky n one of my leaders scooped me a nice corner burned one. I love the corner ends cuz u get something crunchy n soft. Same with the mac. Cheese was nice n delicious to. The corn was good. I loved the corn bread also., now the peach cobbler? That thing was phenomenal! Tarty, sweet n then crust hidden under layers of gel n fruit. I'd would love to use it as a pie filling. Make some mean empanadas! Im a fruit n meat type of gal. I love the food from catering perspective. I will have to visit them in person in the future to give a proper review. I would love to try their beef n pork options. I just want ribs all over ma face lol read more

Sonny's BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

See all

It was raining outside and they sat us at a table that had rain leaking on it. We had to ask twice to be moved. Then when we got the food it was cold. I was very disappointed because I had gone to the one in Lakemary several times and loved it that's why I went to this one. Honestly was completely surprised. I will not be going back to at least this one which is ashame. read more

First off we should have known it was going to be bad it was a Saturday night and there were only 4-5 tables sat down. They had hell of room and to sit people. As a family of 10 we waited 45 minutes to get sat, not only that they cater to the drive through first. We waited 2 hours for our food, lady comes over and tells us food is being made now. Speaking of waitress wow she had to be the worst I have ever came in contact with. I eat at a lot of places if you check my ratings I'm always fair, this place was the worst place I have ever eaten at. By the 3rd hour we are getting super hungry and all we see is them pump out order after order for drive through, like this isn't a fast food place you should cater to your insiders. Anyways food was cold when we got it and I mean cold not a little warm, I would go as far as not even edible. Burger was pink not cooked all the way, egg rolls sat in the grease way too long because they came out greasy like dripping with grease and they were cold. Everybody meat the brisket pork and turkey all came out cold. Sides like fries onion rings tots same thing all cold. Hell one of my peoples onion rings was still frozen. Now thanks to them my entire family of 10 has food poising because they can't cook the food right. Will never go back here and if anybody ever asks me I'm going to tell them straight I would eat a bag of dogfood before I go back here. The entire 3 hours we weee there the waitress slowly made her way back to us once ONE fucking time in 3 hours. If you guys are looking for somewhere nice to eat this is not the place. If you want terrible service cold food and shitty attitudes then you got the right place. I would not advise you eat here unless you wanna get sick because you will get sick there is no doubt in my mind. read more

We were in the mood for BBQ and ordered Sonny's online. The website was fairly friendly and easy to use. We ordered two of the Cubans and an order of the fried pickles. Service was quick and friendly. The carry out setup is one of the best I've encountered. I usually add pictures to my reviews but only have a couple this time. The BBQ Cuban was to be honest greasy, fatty and really not great. Some may like it but my wife and I wished we had ordered something else. The pickles were the worst I've ever eaten and fried pickles are a favorite. They were greasy. The breading was sliding off every pickle and they were just dumped in a small paper bag. No paper tray, just a bag. I'm being polite with three stars. Maybe others will have better luck. read more

Sonny's BBQ - SBBQ Cuban - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

See all

I wish I could give zero stars. I need to stop giving them chances because it's worse every time. This time, I placed a pick up order for a kids Mac n cheese meal and a large sweet tea at 6:10pm and given a pick up time of 6:30 pm. I arrive a little early and it's not ready because "there are several other orders ahead of me." Ok, that's fine, I can't wait a little bit even tho there's like 2 other ppl waiting on order and it's only 10 min before 6:30. Again it's only a kids Mac n cheese. I didn't get my order until 6:55 pm. The Mac n cheese is a smaller portion then you would have gotten if you sat and ate inside. The corn bread was stale and my sweet tea was watered down (probably got made at 6:10 and sat around). If it's going to take you that long to get an order together at least have good food. I'm tired of wasting my money here. read more

I've always been a fan of Sonny's and this location didn't disappoint. Went for lunch with a group of 6. Server was fantastic and the food was great. I had the pulled pork sandwich with the garlic bread on the side. And broccoli. They have Coke zero so that's always a plus in my book read more

Sonny's BBQ - Pulled pork - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

While service could be a little better, the food is bangin! The pork is full of flavor and love the variety of bbq sauce! The corn nuggets are a great starter, and don't forget to finish with the donuts! read more

Since Sonny's is chain, you would think there would be some consistency and it's a pretty safe place to go when traveling. This location, not so much. We got seated right away. When we sat down the table was terribly sticky. There was a chicken bone still on the floor under our table from the previous guests. Our waitress was very friendly. The service took forever though. We got there around 8:15 and by the time we got two sandwiches and a kids meal and paid it was 9:45. I didn't order a meal, but had a few bites of my husbands loaded tots. Not sure what they mean by loaded, but BBQ sauce and queso is not what I think of. My daughter wanted a hot dog, but they were out of hot dog buns. The waitress did however offer garlic bread, which was fine for my 3 year old. Not the best experience at a Sonny's. read more

My family and I had enjoyed our time for a quick bite. Food was good. Our server Aliyah was friendly helpful and attentive but not overly attentive which was nice. read more

The pulled pork eggroll is life-changing! The other food is all really good, but, do not skip the eggroll!

This place is absolutely terrible. My last 3 times going/pick-up have been horrendous. It should be a crime for this place to still serve food. Everything is always cold. The service is comparable to a run down McDonalds. I will never spend another dollar at this establishment and I hope you take my word for it and do the same. DONT EVEN GIVE IT A CHANCE. IT IS NOT WORTH IT. I PROMISE. read more

Wtf what is going on with this place? The workers from the wait staff to the cooks in the back all look and sound like they hate being there. I picked up a to-go order - a family meal. I got there a little early, and when I got my food, it was all stuffed in one bag. You can only imagine what happens when. You pick up an overloaded bag. The bag stretched out and the handles snapped, sides tumbled out of the bag with my Mac and cheese spilling out and over. I picked up the container and cleaned up the mess. I asked the to go counter person for another bag and a new Mac and cheese because this one had fell and split open. She had the most annoyed look on her face. She brought over a new bag took the container of Mac and cheese and just dumped the Mac and cheese from the busted container into another contained and handed it back. I did not want a confrontation with someone who was probably having a crappy day, but Sonny's get your stuff together. Keep your sanitary standards high and you might get more than one star from me. But stay away from this location, and if you want better bbq, there's another establishment that serves better food with better customer service down the street. read more

Very disappointing. I went for lunch and had to wait 30 minutes and still no food. Asked waitress to make my order to go since I was out of time. When she brought it to me I opened it and the brisket was fat and thick, I asked for lean. I had to throw most of it away. When she returned I told her the food was crap and she went to the kitchen and got me another order. This time it was better but for the price (18 dollars for the big deal) it was very disappointing. The service was good and it wasn't my server's fault. The kitchen was concentrating on to-go orders and making the dining room patrons wait. That is not the way to keep customers. read more

Although the service has always been great I find Im disappointed when I get food to go! Twice now I have ordered the Pit combo and both times I get home and find the brisket is too tough or too hard/dry to eat. I request the marbled option and unlike the sandwiches Ive enjoyed when eating in the togo option is not edible! read more

I love the fact that the crew at Sonny's remembers me by name and appreciates my business. It also helps that they make one of the best hamburgers in town! read more

Took mom out to dinner to meet my friends and the restaurant comped our meal and they told me that I looked so much happier now! read more

Sonny's BBQ - Good friends and Good food! - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

Tried this place out on my birthday, phenomenal food, terrible service. so i gave them another try on a date with the lady, service was terrible. it was like the server was terrified of us, i couldn't even hear her. Food then came out and it was cold. whatever it is what it is. so i gave them another try last night and not only was all $60 worth of sandwiches, literally cold, i had THREE bones in my pulled chicken sandwich. yes, three. i will never be back. servers 10/10 times have a terrible attitude. read more

We have been visiting this Sonny's for as long as we have lived in Lakeland, but this evening may be the last time. Usually the service is great, and the food very good. Today being "Tax Day" they were running a half price rib special, and of course were busier than usual. Busy yes, but not so that customers should be ignored. After taking our order and bringing our drinks, our server , Pam, walked past the table at least 10 times. Never once asking if we needed refills, or giving us the status of our food order, or even acting as if we were there at all, at 40 minutes we decided to leave. Speaking to the very rude manager, we were given nothing but a line of lame excuses for the terrible service. She ( the manager) then walked away while we were still speaking. We have all intentions of contacting the corporate offices to go further with this. In my option, this location needs a new manager and several new servers. There are two ladies that work the lunchtime shift, that are phenomenal, so it's not all bad. read more

broccoli cold and uncooked .. ordered brisket platter and had a lot of fat laoded in meat.. read more

Sonny's BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

We used to really like this location. The food and service were consistently good. On our most recent visit, while the service was good, the food was very bland. I had the smoked wings and lean brisket. While cooked well, both had no flavor at all. A big draw of a BBQ place is experiencing their unique seasoning profile for the meat. I guess the chef expected people to use BBQ sauce to add flavor -- but a good chef would never expect the customer to,have to add something else to give the food flavor. Disappointed. read more

Apparently there are no more Sonny's BBQ in Hillsborough county so we made a pitstop on the way home from Orlando to the Lakeland location off of I4. My husband absolutely loves Sonny's Barbecue, so I was excited he finally had the chance to have some after many months. I haven't had it for a while either and it definitely sounded appealing on the drive home. The reason I gave them four stars was for the long wait time to get seated and the long length of time it took for our food to arrive at the table. I ordered the three meat plate for $13 which was a really good deal, it came with 2 sides and the coleslaw on the menu looked very appealing so I ordered that but it was about a third of the serving as shown on the menu. I am. It a fan of deceptive menu pictures! I definitely enjoyed the ribs and the garlic toast was the best I've ever had at a barbecue place. It was very buttery, garlicy and toasted on both sides -which apparently is not the norm for barbecue garlic toast. I'm excited that we found the Sonny's in Lakeland! I will definitely be back with my husband when he has his Sonny's craving! read more

Sonny's BBQ - Sonny's Barbecue | Lakeland FL - Barbeque Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

See all

Good food, great server (thank you, Amanda!), and quick seating for the lunch time hour. What's not to love? It's Sonny's! We even got some to go the next day! read more

we have been coming to this Sonny's for over 20 years and it was always great. The last three times are our last. We thought well, maybe just a bad experience this time but then happens again. It's almost like we get day old bbq as it is sliced too thick and very dry. I'm actually shocked that they would send this out on a to go order. If we had been in the restaurant we would have sent it back. So disappointing because we use to love this sliced bbq. 4 Rivers Smokehouse is coming to town early 2023 and will clearly put Sonny's out of business. read more

Haven't been in at least a year or longer, after tonight it will be that long or longer. There were maybe 5 tables of people got seated waited, and waited on a server. Came and took our order finally my husband got the sampler his ribs were over cooked to the point there was no meat left on the bone and I got the pork plate my pulled pork was cold. Waitress didn't bother to come back and check on us until we were almost done. Over all poor experience. read more

Ordered a pick up meal today and made the mistake of not checking it til we were home. We live not far so no biggie. We called and informed them we didn't get one of the meals we ordered and they said we could come back to get it. We get there to pick it up and the worker, Jennifer, doesn't believe us and argues with us saying she packed it herself. Had an attitude and it seemed every employee we dealt with had one. It's not until we show her the photo that she says "oh I packed the salad by mistake." We already had the frustration of not receiving our full meal and now we are getting accused of lying for one meal? Not cool. We just wanted to eat what we ordered. Now we can just eat cold food since we had to stand there and prove to her we weren't lying. Once we got the sandwich, get to the car and check it, wrong sandwich this time. Didn't want to deal with attitude again so we just left read more

I don't understand all the bad reviews ... maybe people are expecting too much from a place that charges a mere $11 for all you can eat bbq?? This is comfort food at it's best ... don't expect gourmet hipster food here ... it's just regular family style BBQ. Sonny's has been around a while ... I used to eat at this location 2 decades ago and still come back when I am in town. It USED TO be more of a family type of restaurant with warm wood paneling on the walls, lots of brass and it looked like somewhere you want to bring your family. They have since renovated the inside and hired an interior decorator to make it look more modern and IKEA-ish. I am not a fan of the new décor and think that maybe it is why they are getting dinged by so many bad reviews on here. I think its trying to be something it is not and people come in expecting more of a modern/trendy food restaurant because of the décor. They get good ol' fashioned chain BBQ and are let down because its not fancy. That's my guess. The actual food is pretty filling and pretty good. Surprisingly fresh tasting for a chain joint. You can definitely taste the smokiness. I spend a lot of time in Los Angeles and New England ... all the people leaving bad reviews of Sonnys should try the BBQ restaurants (or what is supposed to pass a BBQ) on the west coast or northeast before leaving a bad review here. My favorite thing on the menu is a pulled pork sandwich on two pieces of Texas Toast garlic bread. It doesn't get any better. I have to admit that the All You Can Eat has gone down hill. Now you have to keep re-ordering tiny portions of the BBQ instead of just getting decent sized portions the first time. I brought a friend in and he got the All You Can Eat ribs ... they brought out 4 small ribs and then each order came with 2. By the time he ate 8 ribs (a full sized order) an hour had gone by and he was like, 'Why didn't I just get the regular order and we'd have been out of here in half the time?'. The sides are typical ... mac and cheese, texas toast garlic bread, cole slaw or crinkle cut fries. They are supposed to be pretty famous for their baked beans. This isn't fancy food ... it's pretty much no frills, good tasting food. I hope all these reviews don't send Sonny's out of business. They closed several locations in southern Florida recently. This is the type of place you won't miss until its gone. read more