First Choice Bar-B-Que
| Address: | 10113 E Adamo Dr, Tampa, FL 33619, USA |
| Phone: | +1 813-621-7434 |
| Site: | firstchoicebbq.com |
| Rating: | 4 |
| Working: | 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM Closed |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
FO
Forrest Nelson
On the continuing quest that is my life’s journey to find the nirvana of barbecue we have fell short, very short. My order is always the same. I need a sampling of the most basic and simple BBQ dishes and sides, and at First Choice Southern BBQ this tradition continued. Pulled Pork, Ribs, and Chicken for the main dishes and sides of Collard Greens, Beans, and Macaroni Salad were my choice. After all, if you can’t make a reasonable sampling of these, you have no business in barbecue. --The Main Dishes-- Pulled Pork – Bland and dry, served with a classic discount grocery store hamburger bun. Portion size was more than adequate and if a gun was held to my head I would consider it the only reasonable menu choice. Ribs – Grossly overcook, then served in awkwardly cut and tiny proportions. This was very bland in flavor only to be further mistreated by their in house sauce. The bone, which by the way was not attached to any meat and presented more as a garnish, was ashy from mistreatment and hidden under a still living chicken leg. Chicken – How this chicken came into existence boggles the mind. Under cooked with an unpleasant “smoke” taste to it, and gray in color. Almost as if it was marinated in liquid smoke and microwaved for a few seconds before being slumped into its container. --The Sides-- Collard Greens – Nothing special with a slight kick. Served in a smaller 4~ oz. Styrofoam cup at an additional fee. Beans – Arguably the hardest side to mess up, if you can’t make homemade beans use store bought and don’t try to hide it. However, they exceeded themselves in disappointing me. These… “beans” tasted like cinnamon, and I don’t even want to venture as to how. CINNAMON… Macaroni Salad – Look at the attached picture. It taste like it looks. Cold easy mac with paprika or something… --The Sauce-- “Homemade” sauce – The sauce is where you get to show your true skill in barbecue. It drives the style of your dishes and can tell a story of how it came into existence. Flavor profiles of ketchup, vinegar, or even mustard give us a geographical region. The heat index can make some dishes really shine through, and even more experimental tones from fruits to honey create new exciting flavors. First Choice Southern BBQ took a new route to the sauce fight. They just dumped a bottle of dollar store ketchup on the food. It’s just plain cheap unseasoned ketchup. As of writing this it has a 4 star rating. If this is the best that Tampa/Brandon has to offer I’m putting my home up for sale.
DA
David Anderson
We just walked out minutes ago and Ill be honest, we are a bit shocked. I guess southern hospitality ends at the First Choice door. This is a little hole in the wall place on 60 in Brandon. I was hoping to find some good barbecue when I walked in. First, Im not sure if its part of the appeal of the place for the staff to be rude because it certainly seemed like they were trying to be rude on purpose. The young man with the tattoos and red dreads stood a foot away from us counting change for a solid five minutes without acknowledging us on any way. When he did take our order he walked halfway across the room and expected us to yell it out. Things continued that way, with us having to ask him if it would be possible to order drinks, until they dropped our plates on the counter. No here you go, no enjoy the food, just a drop. My wife had ask if the ribs were hers and if she could take it. Then the food. The chicken was dry and tasteless. The ribs werent very good. Nothing tasted of good smokey barbecue. Nothing was good.
JO
Joe Thomas
if you like BBQ you should enjoy this place. pulled pork brisket, sausage, and the turkey are all winners. great smoke flavor. and the side dishes are good too. the macaroni is spicey but good, the baked beans are a big hit. potato salad is good. frech cut french fires. the only problem with first choice or any BBQ place is consistency. sometimes you can get a pulled pork that loaded with lots of fat. or the meat has sit too long and by the time you get something at 4 pm its a little dried out. when 1st choice is good its really good and sometimes you got a bad cut. i usually ask the guy chopping my pork that i like it chopped well and i dont like any fat. everyone is different so just tell them what cuts you like and dont. the sauce is good its more of a sweet sauce instead of a vinegar base. ive tried nearlly every BBQ joint in tampa and this is one of my favorites
RE
Rea Randolph
They need to brush up on their customer service skills because it was horrible. I waited until it was my turn to order and the guy didnt say "hello or how can I help you," he just stood there and looked at me and waited for me to order. When he handed me my bag he didnt say have a good night or thank you for coming or anything. I ordered ribs and beef brisket and I wished I could have gotten my money back. I paid $15 for 3 pieces of ribs that were dry and very fatty, no smoked flavor and bbq sauce was entirely too sweet. The beef brisket had no flavor at all and I couldnt even eat it! Ive tried two times now and well...that was my last! I try to support small businesses vs. going to big franchises but you cant support a business that doesnt put its customers first! I couldve just ordered sushi from the place next door and spent less money and pleased with my food.
A
A Private User
You can have great BBQ without being one of the dirtiest restaurants Ive ever been to. Everything is filthy. As soon as we walked in they were emptying trash which dripped on the floor, and they just left the drips there. The beans were absolutely terrible, taste strongly of cinnamon. The pulled pork was fatty, and ribs had absolutely no flavor. The worst part of the whole meal was when my daughter spit out her chicken because she said she couldnt swallow it. The chicken was so dry, that it almost turned to powder as you ate it. Its shocking that this place gets good reviews. This wouldnt even be my Last Choice, because Id rather not eat than go here again.
LE
Leilani Rae
Went to this place for the first time with my fiancé for a quick bite and they had terrible customer service. For one, the guy that was serving the food was impatient in waiting for me to figure out my order. Mind you, I answered him within a couple seconds of him asking. Then, the entire staff kept staring at me and my fiance who are an interracial couple which made me uncomfortable. Lastly, the food was simply not good. The chicken looked spoilt and the ribs were undercooked. I shouldve saved a picture to post on here but please heed my warning. Try Dannys All American diner for great burgers or 4rivers for ribs. Anywhere else but here.
DA
Dan Marino
Service is horrible and unfriendly, place is disgusting and dirty it looks like it has not been thoroughly cleaned in years. Full of flies and bugs all over. Discriminitory staff, not a single non-black working there. Pork is very fatty, chicken and beef have no flavor and are very dried out. Over priced and not worth the $$. You are looking at around $10 per person for an average lunch, and around $15 per person for dinner (including soda). I have been there a few times and each time it gets worse. I am always a bit nervous I will get salmonella or botchulism from eating at this place. I wont be going back.
