Critic's Review
I'm not doing any "real" restaurant reviews until we hit Phase II so here we go. I would never eat in here anyway, so it seems fair game.
Jenkins is now the only place you can get BBQ downtown, as every other place has closed. Hard to compete with these guys.
They're not doing any Dine-In at Jenkins; its probably too much trouble for them to clear the tables. It would have been nice if they didn't eliminate ALL of the seating so you didn't have to stand up while you waited for your order. There's no place to sit in the joint.
The counter is as boisterous as usual, and the place seemed louder than usual. The lady behind the counter didn''t seem to like wearing a mask.
In however many 100s of years that Jenkins has been open, they've never improved their packaging. Still with the flimsy styrofoam 1985 style containers.
Luckily the sauce containers are pretty tight.
This is the $11.99 2 Meat Combo; not a lot of food for $12+. The Ribs, and sauce, are good though. You don't even get a hamburger bun with the sausage in the meat combo. No fork or way to apply the sauce to the ribs.
Protein and fat. This is a very Keto lunch. The ribs were near perfect.
I only had rye bread which isn't ideal for making a sausage sandwich. I figured something out.
Tasty stuff, although a hot dog bun would have been better.
Conclusion
I've finally gotten the formula down for this place: Spare Ribs and Sausage and forget the sides and Brisket. Expensive but there's no better BBQ around.
Review 4/19/19
I felt like some BBQ and I've tried just about everything at Jenkins except the sausage. I'm not a fan of the sides here, and at $6.49 it seemed worth a try. I I also saw they have meat-only options for ribs; so why not pick some up for a late night snack?
Everything at Jenkins is old, except for the new smoker, which takes up 1/2 the miniature parking lot. There always seems to be a spot at 2:30 however.
The front porch is a lot fancier than the inside; although I've never seen anyone eating or even waiting outside.
I ordered the food and gave them my name; you pay and then you wait until they call your name. No numbers or beepers here.
The place seems a bit cleaner than it used to be. Freshly shellacked picnic tables. Not as dreary as yesteryear. But I have no interest in sharing a table with these people.
When my order was ready I wasn't sure it was mine; the counter girl had botched my name so badly that I didn't recognize it. Imagine if your name is Peter and they called out "Peach". It was that bad.
When I got home I opened the package. It appeared they gave me an extra rib, but the outside was really a 1/2. They certainly didn't cheat me on a 1/2 rack. They looked pretty good.
The sausage, however, lacks presentation.
The hamburger roll is obviously ridiculous; how about a hot dog roll for a sausage?
The ribs were terrific. Once in a while you get perfect ribs; The perfect amount of smoke, just moist enough; so good they have you skipping around the room. These were OUTSTANDING.
The sausage, as uninteresting as it looked, was also quite good. Spicy, smokey, juicy. Unfortunately I didn't have any appropriate bread in the house, so I had to make due. I decided that onions were needed; and some Gulden's mustard.
A pretty good sandwich; it's too bad Jenkins isn't a real restaurant, because this would be great with red peppers, onions and a proper roll.
Conclusion
You can go to Jenkins 5 times and wonder how they could still be open after all these years, and then you'll get the ribs I got today and you'll know why. I know better than to think they can consistently produce perfect ribs; and their sides blow, but once in a while you can get lucky and it's a real treat when you do.
Finally, a $20 lunch worth the price.
Review 10/25/16
I used to go to Jenkins every few months, but my cravings for BBQ have diminished to the point that I rarely am in the mood. As I was driving down US1 I though of Jenkins, but then said to myself "Drat, they're closed on Mondays". But as I drove by, I saw cars in the lot, so I hung a right a circled around the block. I double checked the sign, which still said "Gone Fishing" on Monday. It was about then that I realized that it was Tuesday.
Inside seems a bit brighter. Still loud, bad music no doubt chosen by the all-black staff here. They're jigging and jagging behind the counter. I place my order and my receipt goes right into a puddle on the counter; it's kind of hard to sign wet paper. i'll be sure to check my CC statement on this one.
So you sit and wait for them to call your name.
It took about 10 minutes; I got my bag and out the door. When I got home I opened up the bag.
Presentation isn't big here. Pulling off the wax paper reveals the food. They're now using containers for the sides; they used to just slap the sides into the compartments in the cheap take-out container.
Looking at it, they still don't know how to make mac and cheese. The cheese they use is just separated globs; so they're either using the wrong kind of cheese (like aged cheddar) or they make it in a microwave. It tastes ok, but it's a pretty sad version.
The cole slaw is garbage; too sweet, with pickles or relish in it. I was going to order "meat only", but I felt obligated to give the sides another try.
The ribs themselves were good but they were very fatty; I found myself spitting out pieces of fat more than a couple of times. Nice tasting stuff, but I'm wondering if they're using lower quality ribs.
Conclusion
When I first moved to Fort Lauderdale, all people ever ranted about was Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza and Jenkins. I've since discovered why; the bar is set very, very low in this town. People continue to pour into Jenkins despite the bad sides and inconsistent ribs.
This is the most conveniently located BBQ in town; Texas BBQ was better than this but they've gone out of business. So this is about all we've got unless you want to take a trip into the sticks.
Review 3/28/14
The first time I went to Jenkins I was wholly unimpressed. There aren't a lot of Rib Joints up on Long Island, and BBQ takes a bit of sampling to figure out what you like. Over time I've come to appreciate Tom Jenkins for what it is.
The first thing you need to know is that it's not open on Sunday or Monday. Don't come here on a Sunday or Monday.
The second thing to know is that this is not a special occasion venue; This is not a place for a first (or second) date, and don't take your Mom here for her Birthday. It's low-end all the way.
There's a cutout where you order your food; there are a lot of people in the kitchen milling around. You'd better know what you want. They don't take AMEX at Tom Jenkins.
Ambiance is non-existent here. The "dining room" is a bunch of picnic benches; it is "indoors" so you don't have to worry about the weather as with some other BBQ huts.
They have beepers here, which seems a bit out of the element for the "leftover" concept. It takes quite a long time to get your order; a guy who came in before me was still waiting after my order was ready.
1/2 Babybacks, Mac & Cheese and baked beans. I'm not a fan of the cole slaw or collard greens here.
Consistency is a virtue here; they have a big smoker out back and they've been doing this forever. The ribs are very smoky and very dry. These are NOT "fall off the bone" ribs. Sauce is on the side. Note to Bokampers: Notice that 1/2 rack is 6 ribs?
I ate about 2/3 of it for lunch; the rest will be a late night snack over the weekend. Not a lot of meat on the babybacks. The Mac & Cheese is very tight. Everything is pretty good. $14 and change for this. It should be a few dollars less considering the ambiance and self-service.
Tip: The Spare Ribs are better than the Baby Backs.
Review 8/11/12
Tom Jenkins is BBQ fast food and has been a fixture in For Lauderdale since 1990. The small house on the side of the road sports a kitchen full of Rapper/Chefs and 6 picnic benches. There's no table service; as I said, its basically fast food. You place your order and wait and then either sit down at a bench with a bunch of strangers, or you take the food home.
The first impression is that the place is noisy. This is NOT a place for a date, or to take your Mom for Mother's day. The clientelle can be a bit seedy, so take out is recommended if possible. If you plan to eat at your office, make sure you have napkins, because the little setup they give you is far from sufficient for eating ribs.
The first time I went here I had sky high expectations, and the food was good but not great. I had the babyback ribs, and they weren't as meaty as I've heard, the cole slaw was too watery and the mac and cheese was pretty good but not very cheesy. On a subsequent visit, I tried the chopped beef brisket, which New Times had listed as one of its 100 Favorite Dishes.The brisket had a nice smokey flavor, but was too fatty. It was an annoyance to eat. And not that great overall. The beans I had were soft and swimming in too much sauce. The collard greens were pretty good as collard greens go; but they're not my favorite food.
On a stormy day, I decided to try the spare ribs. I remember the first time I went to Jenkins thinking that they were pretty expensive. 3 years later, the spare ribs are still $12.99 with 2 sides, which is at the low end of the price spectrum.
The cole slaw is still lousy; too watery and I think it has pickles in it. The beans were OK, not too bad but nothing particularly memorable. I liked the ribs, smokey and semi-meaty. The big thing at Jenkins is that they don't put any sauce on the ribs; the sauce is on the side. And the sauce is good; not too sweet.
A food rating is tough for this; 3.5 stars for the ribs but only 2 for the sides. So I'm going to leave it at 3 stars.
The problem with this place is that from all of the raving reviews on "other" sites, you expect the food here to be out of this world. But its really not. Its an OK place for lunch and the kids should enjoy it, but its not the kind of place I'd want to go for dinner. The sides are pedestrian at best, and it's not a comfortable place where I'd want to eat in.
Review 9/23/10
Tom Jenkins is BBQ fast food and has been a fixture in For Lauderdale since 1990. The small house on the side of the road sports a kitchen full of Rapper/Chefs and 6 picnic benches. Theres no table service; as I said, its basically fast food. You place your order and wait and then either sit down at a bench with a bunch of strangers, or you take the food home.
The first impression is that the place is noisy. This is NOT a place for a date, or to take your Mom for Mothers day. The clientelle can be a bit seedy, so take out is recommended if possible. If you plan to eat at your office, make sure you have napkins, because the little setup they give you is far from sufficient for eating ribs.
My expectations for this place were sky high, but I'd have to say I was disappointed. The food was good but not great. I had the babyback ribs, and they werent as meaty as Ive heard, the cole slaw was too watery and the mac and cheese was pretty good but not very cheesy. On a subsequent visit, I tried the chopped beef brisket, which New Times had listed as one of its 100 Favorite Dishes.The brisket had a nice smokey flavor, but was too fatty. It was an annoyance to eat. And not that great overall. The beans I had were soft and swimming in too much sauce. The collard greens were pretty good as collard greens go; but theyre not my favorite food.
The problem with this place is that from all of the raving reviews on other sites, you expect the food here to be out of this world. But its really not. Its an OK place for lunch and the kids should enjoy it, but its not the kind of place Id want to go for dinner. The sides are pedestrian at best, and its not a comfortable place where Id want to eat in.
