Recently some friends invited me to try a BBQ place that they enjoyed, so I went along hoping for the best, never know what you’ll get with off the path bbq, but hoping for a good meal and to  BBQ in Florida that my friend Wes Dumey hadn’t tried yet!

To end the suspense early, it was Carters Barbecue in downtown Mulberry, FL (not far from Tampa/Lakeland area). It’s walk-up/drive-through only, basically a house converted to a restaurant and the carport is the drive through. To give you an idea of the venue, when you get to the window there is a sign that says for service step on the black hose. The ‘black hose’ is one of those hoses that you used to find across the driveway at gas stations, and sure enough if you step on it you hear the ‘ding ding’ inside.

I’d heard about the menu on the way over and decided not to try the oxtail, going for a chicken sandwich with fries and iced tea, and indulging a little with a side order of hush puppies. It was the rare cold day in Florida so we waited as patiently as we could for the food, then headed back to the office to eat.

Now if you’re anything like me, when I said chicken sandwich you’re probably thinking something like you’d get at Chick-Fil-A. So imagine my surprise when the sandwich turns out to be two slices of white bread slathered in a mustard based sauce, and in between, a chicken leg and thigh – with the bones! The fries were good:-)

The ribs the other guys got looked very good, and from what I hear the rib sandwich is good too (yes, you get bones and all with it as well).