Being born & raised in the South I am by birth a fan of BBQ. Knowing this about me, several friends have for some time encouraged me to try The Oaks touting it Sarasota's best BBQ. So on a recent afternoon, my husband & I decided to see if the accolades were deserved. When I walked through the door I seemed to be enjulfed in testosterone & symbols of male over-compensation. Amid the wood paneled walls stood a menagerie of taxidermed animals rumored to have been hunted by the owner himself. Some people aren't bothered by this, my hubby being one of them, but me on the otherhand, it sickens. Now I'm not a vegetarian & you won't find me demonstrating or tossing red paint on a fur coat-but I don't approve of hunting for sport & I really don't like to see Bambi's murdered mother staring at me while I eat. But my husband insisted we stay so I tried to focus on the menu & ordered the pork BBQ dinner with fries & stew (which later, to my disappointment, I discovered was Brunswick Stew). My husband had the Beef BBQ with double fries. The service was friendly & amazingly prompt. The portions were so huge that each of us could only manage to finish half & took the rest home for dinner. The meat was tender & well cooked with the rich flavor that all BBQ should have. Although there was a good amount of fat in the meat it wasn't so much that we minded considering the generous portion size. As fas as the BBQ sauce goes, neither of us caared for it. We agreed that it tasted too strongly of vinegar & we would have preferred a darker, sweeter sauce. The fries were large, crisp & not too greasy. The Brunswick Stew was well, Brunswick Stew I guess. Not being a fan of it I can't fairly say if it was good or bad since I think it is all bad. All in all we spent a little over $20.00 which was fair but we didn't like the food enough to go back, & honestly, even if the food had been better, I wouldn't go back because of the decor.    [21 Sep 2001 09:40:55]

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I believe its the best I've had in all of Florida for pork. I eat there all the time when passing through. I've only order pork where ever I go because - it ain't bbq unless it's pork.

Their sauce is like Johnny Harris's (Savannah, GA) and is home made. A perfect match served on or off of the meat. Brunswick Stew is very good and slaw has pickles in it for a twist.

I drive out of my way to eat there. My wife and I love the decorations.    [23 Jun 2004 15:57:17]

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     ­Anonymous