Akins Bar-B Q & Grill

This place is friendly and great food. I enjoyed it a lot. I recommend it to anyone.

One thing I love about the south (I know, I know, FL isn’t really «The South», but at least I didn’t capitalize it) is that it’s often stupid-​easy to find great BBQ.
I took this for granted growing up in Florida.
The I moved West, and North… and good BBQ is a rarity.
So, I was delighted to be in ruralish Florida, in-​between roadtrip destinations… to scout for BBQ. I fired up the Unilocal app, and rolled the dice on Akins.
It was pretty great.
My favorite side is collard greens, which wasn’t on the menu. Uh oh. But it just so happened to be the special side for the day! YES!
I got the beef/​pork combo lunch plate and it was good but not mind-​blowing.
There were lots of folks in here talking with extremely thick Southern draws, and tons of what were probably local folks.
I’d stop in again if I were in the area, but probably wouldn’t make a special trip.

Friendly staff greeting at the door! Reasonably priced meals! The brisket has a good smoke to it and the baby back ribs were tasty! I recommend this place!

The food was yummy, especially the brisket, the salad bar was not great, outside in the parking lot was very dirty with hundreds of flies that made the waiting outside very uncomfortable.

Awesome food. Nice and clean. Friendly folks.
Enjoyed the fried shrimp and ribs. Nice large ice teas. Worth the drive.

Yummy BBQ fried green tomatoes & hush puppies are tasty as well ! Ribs are great and the home town atmosphere is great!

Went to Akins after hearing so much about it. Food was fantastic — I had the sliced pork dinner with cheese grits and mustard greens. Everything was perfectly seasoned. The service was outstanding! I would highly recommend it, and yes, it is worth the trip.

I went for a late lunch with a party of 10 on a Saturday, and we were seated pretty quickly. I had a pulled pork lunch special. $ 6 included a substantial amount of moist and tender pulled pork, cornbread (garlic bread is also available), green beans (typical fare), and sweet potato fries (thin, flat, with a great crust). There were a couple sauces at the table, but I only tried the (South) Carolina mustard sauce, which I liked a lot.
Service was friendly and attentive, but not overly so. I’d happily come again if I were in Bell.

my gps didnt even have BELL, Florida on it. I found it thru Unilocal and the map but I search for the ‘perfect RIB’ everywhere.
First it is not a barbq house. It is a restaurant that seves ribs …
They are pretty good but not worth a special tripo and dont make my FAVS LIST.
The sauce is too vinegary for me …
People inside are really good people. Everyone there knows everyone but they all know to order ahead for takeOUT because they are very slow when you order takeOUT but if you are in Bell, you have a lot of time because there is NOTHIG there… but the people there seem to be really «good folks»
If I was in the area, I wold get some more ibs … IF i was in the area.
To be the «best in the area» does not say much — there is not much in the area … but after the reviews I had to try them just in case.
I would give them a 3.5 …

Best BBQ ever. Turkey, pulled pork, ribs all great. Desert (pudding, was poor, but that’s not what I came for.

Without a doubt 5 stars. Great BBQ, great steaks, but the tender lightly battered fried shrimp were the best I’ve ever had. It has always been busy, but have never had to wait. Be sure to get some home made peanut brittle (by the cashier) on the way out.

Absolute best place in town to eat. We were in town visiting and we ate here breakfast and lunch 3 days in a row. Steak was wonderful, ribs awesome. Love the huge cups they give you for drinks. Next time we are in Bell we will go back to Akins. Service can not be beat.

I was surprised — this is more a grill than a BBQ joint, but the BBQ was killer! I got the BBQ pork dinner and was extremely pleased to see that the meat was thick, sliced pork that was nice and juicy. The pork tasted great on its own, but was amazing with the sauces. I’m partial to the sweet BBQ sauce and Akins’ was great.
I got several sides — potato salad, baked beans, and mac ‘n’ cheese. All were delicious. The beans were particularly nice, with a good smoky, almost BBQ flavor.
My friend got the fried shrimp plate and I have to admit that I was jealous — the shrimp were perfectly breaded and had a nice salt-​and-​pepper taste.
Next time, we’ll take more people so we can share a lot of different dishes! There were a few appetizer specials that looked good, including a fried green tomato app (yum!).

Rachel G. and I went to Akins’ tonight after hearing much hype about the place for months and I can’t say we were at all let down. Akins’ is oft-​claimed to be the best BBQ in north-​central Florida, and I will gladly give it that honor. I had fried shrimp, a non-​BBQ item, but Rachel G. had BBQ sliced pork and I tried it and it was some of the best BBQ I’ve recently had anywhere. Moreover, the fried shrimp were fried in a very light salt-​and pepper batter that wasn’t heavy at all like many Southern cookin’ places do fried seafood. My side dishes, sweet tater fries and grits, were both perfectly fine and Rachel G. also seemed pleased with her sides. The BBQ sauce was very tasty too. All prices seemed very fair (the shrimp was even on special tonight!) and their variety is outstanding for a BBQ place with the aforementioned seafood and also some non-​BBQ sandwiches on offer. The waitress was prompt and polite and the whole staff seemed on top of their game.
Bell is a small town in Gilchrist County, to the west of Alachua County. It has a high school, some churches, and some local businesses. Aside from that and the fact it’s half-​way between Branford and Trenton on 129, there’s not so much there. Still, it’s easy enough to get to Bell by driving from Gainesville out CR 232 and the north on 129 to Bell and it’s worth the trip to eat at Akins’. I feel very strongly that if Akins’ opened up a location in Gainesville, they’d soon run the other lackluster BBQ joints here out of business.