Sonny’s BBQ

Sonny’s was always our family’s go to until recently. Mercy the prices are to the point we can’t enjoy our family hang out any more. I especially like the salad bar but $ 10. add a drink +tip= $ 15. Not bad for one but add spouse n guest, OUCH!!!

Ordered take out. Short ribs were a bit tough. Didn’t taste like they were slow cooked. Texas toast is TEXAS toast. I prefer it with a little more salt and garlic. I ordered the baked potato loaded. It came with a side of butter and sour cream.

What complaints can anyone have about Sonny’s? This location is phenomenal. The only problem I’ve ever had is when we do take out. I can guarantee that if we go through the drive-​through to pick up an order, I will go home with some large part of it missing. Thankfully, we live close. Sometimes, I order their barbecue chicken salad. When we pick it up through the drive-​through, they frequently don’t put dressing on it or in the bag. It’s frustrating. However– inside I’ve never had a bad experience. The servers are friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. The food is wonderful.

We ate lunch here today and all items were very good. Food portions were so large that we decided to not eat anything else the remainder of the day. My wife had a three meat platter and l had a bbq chicken salad. The cornbread with cinnamon butter was very tasty.

food was pretty good, small portions, ice tea was good

Great food and nice restaurant. The server handled our large group very effectively and no meals were messed up! That’s huge… Not one complaint that I could see. Loved the Carolina bbq sandwich!

We went to Sonnys Wednesday. The ribs were hard and barely warm French fries were barely warm. Garlic bread was hard. Nice waitress brought me fresh fries. My husbands second order of ribs were better.
We usually always have good food, but not lastnight.

I think its suspicious how fast the food is being served so I’m come to believe that food is sitting out. We got chicken from here and it was still bloody, and the waitress told us that’s been happening to a lot of people. The food isn’t very good. The service is the only good thing at this place, we’ve never had a bad waitress

Excellent food and service. Very attentive server, kept our glasses filled.
Bonus…covered dedicated motorcycle parking… this is appreciated.

Yikes, went for lunch today after being away for awhile n was SHOCKED @ the menu price increase!!! Wish my Social Security went up like that. Won’t frequent as I used to may have to cut back to once every couple months. Plenty others reasonable places to eat for now.

Then need to hire someone cooks all three meals where dried out .the slice pork dried out then brought pulled pork out was also dried out then to top it off brisket was dry too. service was good

I prefer smaller, local BBQ joints compared to commercialized places like Sonny’s. Honestly, I’m not even a huge fan of barbeque sauce so I’m not the best critic in this situation. But there aren’t a ton of culinary options to choose from in Zephyrhills, so Sonny’s is one of the more popular restaurants.
This location has been renovated in the past few years, so everything still looks nice and new. I think the best addition was the drive-​thru. Sometimes this place gets really packed, especially on Friday nights before football games, so there is additional parking in a side lot.
My go-​to meal at Sonny’s is the sliced turkey Big Deal. You get a choice of meat, two sides, bread, and a drink. The macaroni and cheese is my favorite side, of course! The corn is a great choice as well; it’s always sweet and buttery. The fries are average and the garlic bread is about the same. It is useful for making your meal into a sandwich or it’s even good by itself. For an appetizer, the corn nuggets are delicious. They come with powdered sugar and are the perfect mix of sweet and salty. I don’t drink it, but I’ve also heard that the sweet tea is amazing.
The staff here is friendly and there usually isn’t a very long wait for food, even if you’re with a large party. Sonny’s is nice for a decent lunch or dinner, but it isn’t anything that will blow your mind.

I’ve never had «true» barbeque, and I ordered Sonnys pulled pork. Best pulled pork I’ve ever tried!

I will be the first to admit, I am not a bbq fan, however the hubby is. Yet, I have learned to love it thanks to this Sonny’s! Their staff is super friendly and I am in love with their sweet sauce! Their corn nuggets are Ah-​mazing too! It is normally not a busy restaurant and when it is, well the wait time as expected is longer. However, I have been there during non-​busy hours as well and have had a slow experience before.

This place is just OK. Food isnt anything to write home about. I could make better bbq at home myself. But to each their own. The wait staff is nice and quick but the wait is always forever to get a table and you are hot and miss on whether the food will be good or you have to say something.

First off I would like say the server we had who was Johanna the Ticket # 70 091. She was very professional and courteous; she was very helpful and very attentive to our needs.
The problem we had was with the Manager ROBERT. First off the bathroom was a mess, dirty and unsanitary. The floor had food and cockroaches or something crawling on the floor.
We placed our order. Which were the baby back ribs & a ribeye steak. The first order came out fine, we asked for a second set of baby backs since they were all you can eat. It took the kitchen staff about 25 minutes to cook up less than ½ a rack of ribs. When they came out they were cold and at an UNSAFE temperature to be serving food. Once finished with that we promptly placed another order for some more ribs, 20 minutes later we got 3 ribs and they were colder than the first rack and I would almost bet they were the same ribs from that second ½ of a rack. Made me wonder why would they only bring 3 ribs and why would they be serving these ribs WAY UNDER TEMPATURE (WHICH IS UNSAFE).
Having eaten at Sonnys in the past we want to take some desert to go. In the mean time we asked to speak with a manager who I caught peering around the corner and knew what was coming. He took his time making his way near us and when he got close he turned and walked away until I called out to him. I asked for a to go box and he said ok and walked away. I knew the waitress had already mentioned to him that we requested a to go box for the ribs. I did not know that it was story or company policy that we could not take the COLD ribs with us since it took so long for them to bring them out. Finally the manager came back and pretended that he just found out that we requested a to go box while having the all you can eat baby backs. I have eaten at numerous sonnys restaurants in the past and I have not had an issue when it came to the baby back ribs. After being told that we could not take the ribs since that was «POLICY» we cancelled the peach cobbler. So not only did we waste some ribs, the Store manager Robert did not have a problem wasting the peach cobbler as well and losing a customer as well. His non caring attitude toward customer service, lack of respect and unsanitary condition of his restaurant I am sure he has lost plenty of patrons and future patrons as well. Most people will let these problems slid and not give a review and this will go unnoticed. I for one am tired of some restaurants and managers who refuse to take action and make sure that customer service is number one.
ALL PATRONS AND ANY OUT OF TOWNERS LOOKING FOR A BBQ JOINT. STAY WAY FROM THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR. Save your money and take your patronage somewhere else.

Highly recommended! You will not be disappointed…

Sonnys. ’nuff said, right?
My favorite chain. This one did not disappoint.

How do you describe a place you visit 3 – 5 times a month where you’ve just about tried everything on the menu?
Every Sonny’s is a little different. Some are in older buildings, some are in brand new buildings. The one is Zephyrhills is in a brand new building as of about a year ago. They even have a bar and make mixed drinks.
We usually go on one of the weekend nights which tend to be quite busy. The winter season tends to be busier because snowbirds are in town but we are usually seated within 20 minutes. Once seated, the wait staff is ok with taking your food order with your drink order. A lot of people do this, because they know the menu and know what they want before entering the restaurant.
The All-​you-​can-​eat Classic Rub Ribs are an example of Sonny’s really good BBQ. That is the special they are running right now. When you go, it might be a different plate. Also good is the BBQ ¼ or ½ chicken. The pulled chicken is ok, the pulled pork is better, the sliced meats are usually good. The turkey is a deli meat round that has been smoked and the best is when they slice it thick so it is more like carved turkey. Sweet sauce is the best sauce but try them all. Sonny’s offers a Big Salad — topped with nuts, dried cranberries and your choice of meat, quite the fancy salad for Sonny’s.
The lunch plate or Big Deal are economical choices and provide plenty to eat but if you like a lot of BBQ or want leftovers, get the dinner plate. You will need to pick some sides and choose between garlic bread or cornbread. Mac n’ cheese and green beans are my favorite even though the green beans are usually overcooked. Don’t forget the sweet tea!
Vegetarians: Some nights they have a tomato basil soup. Ask to see if they have it. The Salad bar has options, not as many as Ruby Tuesdays, but the good thing is that it’s rare to find poor produce in Sonny’s salad bars. Soup plus salad bar or a side of mac n’ cheese and some garlic bread or corn bread will get you through the evening at this BBQ restaurant.
As for the BBQ, I did not grow up in a BBQ region so I do not have connoisseur genes. There are a few places that are better or have very unique BBQ flavors, but Sonny’s is consistent and a great staple to add to your monthly (or weekly) diet.
We keep going back.