Blackwater Bar-B-Q Review: The Quest for Best 'Que Continues

After my recent lunch visit to Blackwater Bar-B-Q in College Park, I’m pretty close to being able to say that I’ve eaten at every barbecue restaurant in Central Florida. An accomplishment, I must say, that’s been a pleasure to achieve. I love barbecue. Barbecue is like pizza to me; even when it’s bad, it’s pretty dang good.

The Pulled Pork Samie ($6.75) I enjoyed at Blackwater, was pretty dang good. I was immediately impressed by the presentation. The sandwich looked awesome. The meat seemed just pulled from the bone and was perfectly smoked with nice pink and dark sections. I loved the dark, crispy edges that gave each bite a crunch. There wasn’t too much of a smoky flavor - that’s a good thing – it can often over-power the meat. One disappointment: the sandwich was served between two large slices of plain, white bread. Why not garlic bread? That would have been so much better.

Two squeeze bottles of barbecue sauce were on each table. One labeled sweet; the other nameless, but in a different-looking bottle. I’m assuming the nameless bottle was regular, but it tasted nearly identical to the sweet. Both sauces were sweet to fruity, and not spicy at all. Luckily a bottle of Tabasco sauce allowed me to turn up the heat on each sauce.

I selected two sides: slaw and pork and beans. The slaw was chopped coarsely, and was what I call dry. There wasn’t much liquid in the slaw, but what liquid there was, seemed too vinegary for my tastes. In fact, the slaw was on the cusp of being sour. The pork and beans were ordinary, but full of pulled pork and chopped onions. I’d have preferred the beans be tarted up to barbecue beans status, or even baked beans status, but the plain old pork and beans weren’t bad.

For dessert, I had to try the Pecan Pie ($3.50). Boy, am I glad I did. It was simply delicious. Full of pecans, the filling was super sweet, but tasted of caramel, not just sugar. The graham cracker crust was flaky and browned nicely. The only way to improve this pie would be to serve it between cold and room temperature. Pulled directly from the cooler, the pie slice was too cold, but warmed quickly outside in the sunshine.

Service was friendly, and the food served quickly. I ordered at the counter, and a server brought my meal to the table.

There are a couple of metal picnic tables inside and a nice covered patio area outside. The restaurant seems newer than most other barbecue stands, and was very clean. Employees continually wiped down tables and counter tops as I dined, and they seemed well trained. I liked the professionalism shown by everyone.

After eating at nearly every barbecue restaurant, shack, shanty, joint, stand, hut, trailer, place, and hole-in-the-wall in town, I’ve gotten to know quite a bit about the barbecue served in the Orlando area. The barbecue at Blackwater isn’t the best in town, but nowhere near the worst. I’d say it’s somewhere in the middle to front of the pack.

If you’re looking for a newer, nicer, cleaner barbecue stand, Blackwater Bar-B-Q is for you. If you want the best barbecue in town, look elsewhere.

3 Happy Hogs out of 5

Blackwater Bar-B-Q Website