Kinfolks Bar-B-Q

We had a work crew lunch in Feb 2016, As a group of 11 people military group from around the world (bringing first timers) our combined score was 2.7 soo yes I rounded up.
Pros– Waitress was nice and helpful
— Food smells amazing from outside
— The food didn’t take to long to arrive.
— Seating area adequate not fancy but alright
— Waitress kept the sweet tea coming
— The French fries were liked by all :)
Cons– The special BBQ sauce was like runny water no thickness to it and (I’m from TX) not flavorful.
— we got there at 4, they close at 5 and the chicken, chopped brisket were dried out and almost unbeatable. A lot of the meat lack moisture or juiciness to make you want to keep eating.
— The highest score 4.5 lowest score 0 got a refund she won’t be coming back.
— The sides were mediocre nothing fancy and no Mac-​n-​cheese :(
— Out of 10 grown ups 5 said they would return if they were in the location but ½ would not go out their way.
Maybe if we got there once they opened it would have been a different experience but we were doing a local restaurant hop and decided to try this one.

I round this place up to 4-​stars since I’ve only been once and got the chipped pork sandwich with fries. Looking to go back and sample the beef and ribs. Overall the pork was a bit on the soft side texture-​wise, appearance was pretty good with some charred bits, however it was a little tough to tell the flavor since it came with sauce on it and I couldn’t get a plain chunk to gauge the smokiness. Seemed mildly flavored despite the sauce.
I’ll be back and I’m rating it slightly above average for BBQ around here at the moment. I went at lunch time on a weekday and it took a surprisingly long time to get a to-​go sandwich (15 min).

Been a City favorite for as long as I can remember, I was born and raised in Fort Walton Beach. Their trademark has always been the smoke drifting on Racetrack Road. The food is always top-​notch, no matter what you order. The service is great. The sweet tea is always good. My quick go-​to meal is the pork sandwich with fries!

Been all over the south but this is the best BBQ anywhere. Many factors contribute to my claim. 1) Most BBQ joints don’t serve small cubes of pork. The charred outside cut is key to the flavor and you cant get that with an inside cut of pulled pork that most other restaurants provide. 2) The hot sauce is amazing, it leaves your eyes watering just a little but not overpowering. It has just the right mix of hot. The sweet sauce is really great as well, mix the two and you have a unique flavor that cant be beat. 3) Its a home town restaurant and there is a family atmosphere there that wont get it at a chain or big bbq joint. We are in Arkansas now and still searching for BBQ that even comes close.

Amazing food. Best in FWB. I even rode my motorcycle and they packed it for me to where it wouldn’t spill in my book bag while I was riding. Everyone is so welcoming and polite. Service is awesome!

I’m from Texas and am very particular about my bbq. The ribs weren’t half bad. The sliced beef was just o.k. I’ve had way better bbq, The biggest issue is that they drenched the sauce on the meat and not in a separate container. Just a personal thing that bugs the crap outta me. but if you are in the area and are hungry for bbq, it’s not a bad place to stop.

Located in an older small shopping plaza, it’s got that «homey» feel to it with service to match. Probably more popular for lunch than dinner due to it’s laid back ambiance. The prices are real reasonable, with most lunches around $ 6. Very attentive and friendly service. The food is good & it’s served quick. I’d say the real standout with food here is the fresh and crispy french fries.

This has to be one of the best BBQ places in Ft Walton. I have eaten here many times and will continue to do so. The sweet tea tastes good. Not overly sweet and not unsweet. They have a spicy sauce and a sweet sauce to try and both are delicious. The chili cheese fries are just like any other, nothing too special. The food is definitely worth stopping in, and the price is fairly decent.

This is a great place for a good BBQ sandwich. I normally got the pulled pork with fries dinner as did the wife. You can walk in and see the owner smoking the meats in a chimney type thing inside the restaurant. This definably a local place as its kind of in a place that you’d easily drive by.

Eh it was okay. We dined in and service was good. I had a beef sandwhich all i remember was the cubed beef. Kinda hard to eat a sandwhich with cubed meat, anyway the potato salad tasted store bought and the beans were okay. Its nice to try new places but i wont be back.

Mediocre.

Not my choice for good BBQ. I was drawn in (fooled) by the billowing smoke that can be seen and smelled as you’re driving down the road and the food I tried did not live up to that particular hype. They’re fond of the vinegar-​based BBQ sauce here, as well. My food was not particularly tasty, nor was it moist and tender. They do have a loyal following, because they’ve been in the area so long. It takes a bit more than that for me to say that your BBQ is great. The chain BBQ joints are better, IMO.

First off Kinfolks deserves a lot of respect because it’s a local place that has been around a long time. not many places you can say that about in FWB… as a BBQ Snob this place meets a lot of key criteria that lets you know your in a good joint… some are as follows… not a chain (Sonny’s and Famous Dave’s are a pox on real BBQ).when you pull up you see smoke coming out of the chimney so you know they are actually cooking there… place has the requisite amount of «diveiness» which all real BBQ Places should have. and 80 percent of the customers that are there at any given time don’t need menus or even have to order because they are so regular the waitress just brings them their standard order. as for the food they have all the standard meats chicken.pork.and beef but lets be honest this is the South and all that matters is what they do with The Pig… they do Pig 3 ways here… Ribs. Chipped Pork. and Sliced Pork… maybe I just always have had their Ribs too late in the day but they are always drier than a Stephen Wright Comedy Show. the Chipped Pork is cooked in their standard BBQ Sauce which is a mix of the standard 2 Carolina Styles (Mustard and Vinegar).not a fan of ordering it like this because it’s too much like a Sloppy Joe. the sliced pork is the best way to order here to me IMO. it just comes plain and you can pick which one and how much of their 3 sauces you want to put on your meat. they have their standard sauce (mix of vinegar and mustard).a hot sauce and a sweet sauce. their sliced pork sandwich just comes with a bun. meat and pickles and then you can sauce it up… it’s my favorite order here… sides are good as they have all the BBQ Standards.fries.beans.potato salad. etc…and like any true Southern BBQ Place they have sweet tea that is so sweet that they warn diabetics to not even enter the restaurant. special mention has to be made for the reasonableness of the prices… small pork sandwich is 3 bucks. the large sandwich is 4 bucks and a sliced pork dinner with 2 sides and white bread only runs 7 bucks. definitely a deal… I am a tough grader on BBQ since I have eaten at many of the best BBQ Places across the country and I would say this place does a lot right and is worthy of about 3.25 stars, but since Unilocal does not allow that I will give it 3 stars. definitely worth a stop if in FWB and you are sick of eating fish at every restaurant

I can see why everyone is raving about the prices here. They are dirt cheap. With that in mind, you get some reasonable quality vinegar flavored meat product for the price and the staff is very friendly. I can’t say that I’ll never be back after having their chopped pork but I am going to try everything else Fort Walton has to offer before I do.

I was drawn to this place by the smell across the street. The food is really good! You’re missing out if you haven’t had lunch here!

My husband loves this place, but this is my Unilocal account. The couple times I have eaten here I didn’t really care for it. They get 2 stars because I do value my husband’s opinion and he likes this place. I would definitely not recommend the pork. Hubby insists the beef is better.
Their hours are kind of weird too. They are not open very late.

Went here for dinner. I ordered the family pack, with Brunswick soup and beans. I was feeding several people, so I ordered a few extras (chicken, and ribs). When I finally made it home, there was no BBQ. There were buns, and LOTS of BBQ sauce, but nothing to put on the buns. When I called, they tried to say I was not charged and they «thought» I wanted the ribs as the main meat even though I made it very clear I was ordering for a big group. The service was friendly, but dumb as $#!%. Now to get to the one star. I could get over the fact that the employees are intellectually challenged, but the food was terrible. The ribs were so dry, they could pass for beef jerky. The chicken seemed like it was sitting out all day at room temperature. No flavor in the chicken at all; also dry. The Brunswick stew tasted like it was out of a can. The beans were good.
All-​in-​all, I paid a lot of money for a little bit of crappy food. Can’t bring myself to go back.

Down-​home country goodness! I had a half-​rack of ribs here recently and was very pleased with the quality of the food and the service that I received. Kin Folks is in a sort of out of the way part of Fort Walton Beach (in my opinion) and is easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it. They are a family owned operation and on the night that we went in here, the owner was at the pit cooking the ribs.
The ribs were very good and had a nice smoky flavor to them, they come slathered in a really good mustard sauce that in my humble opinion is much better than their sweet or hot sauce. I couldn’t tell much about the rub or the spices that were used; the mustard sauce sort of hijacks your mouth once you start eating. The portion size was good and the ribs had plenty of meat on them, I have noticed that a half-​rack is not always the same size in every establishment. They only serve spare ribs here and that’s worth one star all by itself in my opinion, LOL. I had the potato salad as a side and to be honest, I didn’t care for it too much but that’s just a personal preference. I think that I have come to the conclusion that the potato salad is much better in the state of Georgia for some reason and it kills me to say that since I’m a Florida boy, LOL. The prices are very reasonable and I felt like I got my money’s worth. This place has a real homey/​comfortable feel to it and is worth a stop when you’re in Fort Walton Beach and want some good BBQ.

Great little bar-​b-​que place outside of Destin and Ft. Walton. It’s not upscale, but who cares. When you want bar-​b-​que you want it good and they deliver in spades. Great selection of sauces and really friendly service. Give it a try instead of The Shed in Destin.

Best Que in the Panhandle, bar none!
It’s the classic BBQ pit right there behind the counter where it belongs!
Everytime I drive past there my mouth waters ’cause you can smell the BBQ, I always roll down my Windows and stick my head out to get a good whiff…