BubbaQue's, Lakeland
When we moved to Florida, one thing the family was happy about is the abundance of barbeque joints. Or, at least it seemed that way. Right up the road from our first house was this fantastic place, Potbellies. They were later purchased by another restaurant owner, but he kept both locations until the lease was up. (and it was replaced by yet another 'que joint, but it wasn't nearly as good). Then there was another 'que joint about 2 miles from the house in another direction. If we drove down to Brandon, between our house and the mall one could find a half dozen places, each pretty darn good. Then we moved to Lakeland. We had a Smokey Bones right by the mall and back then, it was good stuff. Then Darden sold off that concept to someone else, and it is now horrible. We also have Sonny's, another chain that is okay. Put it this way-if you can have Golden Corral or Ruth's Chris for steak, which would you go for? The independent 'que joints are much less comm...