Hot Rod's BBQ and Grill

I thought it only made sense for my first review on my blog to be about, what is perhaps, my favorite restaurant in the Tampa Bay area. Hot Rod's BBQ and Grill isn't very fancy, so go ahead and keep your big boy and big girl clothes at home. From the outside Hot Rod's is the kind of place I would have scoffed at when I first moved my big closed minded ass down to Florida from the north east. Well, much like I was about Florida when I moved here, I would have been dead wrong about Hot Rod's. The food is absolutely unbelievable and the family who owns the restaurant is as fantastic as the food they serve. The food is what BBQ should be.

When you first arrive to this treasure in Lutz you immediately know you're not at a typical restaurant. From the water spicket door handle on the front door, to the swamp bat on the menu, down to the deer head in the men's room Hot Rod's has an atmosphere all it's own. Their is only a handful of tables in doors, but they have ample seating outside. Despite the amazing food that comes out of the kitchen, I've never had trouble getting a seat indoors when hitting up Hot Rod's.

When it comes to the food at Hot Rod's I basically just call it the best BBQ I've ever had. All of it. I've had some great BBQ around here and I'll talk about some of the places like On-Q and others, but everything I've had at Hot Rod's is the best. They literally have the best ribs, pulled pork, turkey legs, collared greens, or baked beans I've ever had. Yes, the best of each of those. Hot Rod's even smokes whole turkeys for the holidays and my wife and I have gone as far as to get a smoked turkey one Christmas, and it was fantastic.

I don't really have a rating system just yet. Perhaps I never will. If I did, Hot Rod's would get the highest rating possible. I love great expensive food and restaurants out of my price range, but at the end of the day, this is the place that comes to mind, just about every year when my birthday comes around. The only thing I find disappointing about Hot Rod's is their hours of operation. I think it's fantastic that this family sets aside time for family, but there's nothing more devastating than the moment when you really want some Hot Rod's BBQ and you realize it's not Wednesday through Saturday! As I said earlier in the article, get over to Hot Rod's (and I don't care how far away you live, it's worth it) and thank me later.