Ponder BBQ Company

Reviews

• Lisa D.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 22 June 2026

  Stopping in here before checking Yelp was my first mistake. Walking in and seeing a large empty restaurant at lunch time on a Saturday and ordering to go anyway was also a poor move on my behalf. That being said, service was quick and the food not too bad so would say try it for yourself and wise choices.  We stopped next door for some amazing Carroll's sausage and the employees there highly recommended this BBQ place for a quick lunch. Being located next door to an impressive meat store is both good and bad for business. Good because meat eaters can get some barbecue meat for now before stocking up on meat for later. Bad because after sampling high quality sausage next door, the meats here pale in comparison. We had the lunch special. Pulled pork sandwich with baked beans and sweet tea. The pork itself lacked any flavor at all though the barbecue sauce did help a bit. The beans tasted right out of the can and the tea was like syrup, just too sweet to drink. Nothing was terrible, it just wasn't that good.

• William S.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 18 June 2026

  Uggggggg.......I knew it without looking on Yelp but I sat down anyway. We stopped to buy some sausage next door at Carroll's and decided to just grab a sandwich real quick instead of hitting Zaxby's on the way back to I-75.
  
  Hint: Not much at this exit anyway. Carroll's is a cool butcher/store to hit on the way home if your driving on Interstate. Locals: You're on your own  
  
  Well, it's clean and the young Girl server was nice. That's about it. The story on the menu seems like they might know what they are doing. However, the menu items are suspect and the product is less than that.
  
  Pork sandwich is over sauced and probably the most edible item available. Ordered fries because I'm off my normal diet today. That was a waste because they were undercooked under seasoned and did I say under cooked?!?!?  They were out if the mystery "Sliced Beef" so my wife ordered the "Sliced Turkey". First of all it's not sliced. It's not really smoked, it's dry as £¥&$! and it was dark meat shredded dry and inedible in a sandwich. Couldn't really eat it on its own either.
  
  The story on the menu is not matching the food. Also, the fact that they don't have any of Carroll's Sausages or products on the menu says everything. Thank you to the waitress again, I have her a $5 bill because I felt to bad for her.
  
  We did not finish anything, I did not send anything back and my wife didn't even take a bite. Oh well, I ran next door and ate a cooked Sausage dog from the butcher shop. On the road home now. Can't wait to get some real BBQ. Gonna have to hit Big Lee's in Ocala to get back on track. It's the most amazing BBQ anywhere.
  
  Good Knight Now!!

• Jody Y.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 16 June 2026

  This place continues to decline. I called ahead and asked if they had smoked chicken left. They did. I specifically asked if it was old. They said it came off the smoker this afternoon.
  So i ordered two halves. Got home to find 2 dried out pieces of chicken that almost couldn't be eaten. Will never go back again unless it's free, then I'm gonna be weary! A definite place to skip!

• Sarah A.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 5 June 2026

  The good... young girl server was very sweet and efficient. Tea, green bean, cole slaw and toast were good.
  
  The bad... smoked chicken was beyond dry even when covered with bbq sauce.  
  
  Would have loved to see some of the sausages from Carols Sausages next door on the menu.  
  
  Will not waste our time if in the area again.

• D S.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 4 June 2026

  A BBQ place so soulless that my phone died and rebooted, so I couldn't take any pictures inside.
  
  Let's start with the positives: the baked potatoes were hot and so was the coffee.
  
  The rest was a hot mess:
  #1- they're next to an awesome meat/country store, yet they don't use any of the meats in the kitchen. Could be a win-win, but just an overall lose.
  
  #2: Don't expect your order to be right. Ex- have conversation with waitress about chipped pork, she confirms she likes it, order chipped pork.  Baked potato makes it to table, chipped pork does not. Ask about chipped pork, waitress says "you wanted chipped pork?"  
  
  #3: My baked potato with BBQ chicken had about 10 shreds of chicken on it. :(  No nice BBQ smoke flavor, just "chicken".
  
  #4: Only BBQ sauce on table is a yellow vinegar based. Tasty, but 1 lonely bottle on the table.
  
  #5: Ladies restroom. Clean, 2-stall, with weird bi-fold doors with no handle on the inside. Only way to open them from inside the stall is with your foot from the bottom.  Do not send your child by themselves, they'll never make it out without help.
  
  I can only surmise this is a restaurant opened by a home cook that's been told for years that his "Q" is the bomb, but has no actual restaurant experience.
  
  Recommendations: Get into a partnership with the market next door; hire 1 awesome wait person, until you're busy enough to hire your next awesome person; fix the ladies room; make your food something to stop for/talk about