The prices are really good. The meat was tender. Their Homemade Eli’s BBQ Sauce is delicious and you know the place is good because while we were there it was a steady stream of people.
Eli’s Bar-B-Que in Dunedin
For me, this is one of those places that you always drive by and say to yourself “man I need to try that place, I bet it’s good”. And for years, the family and I have been to Downtown Dunedin and this darn place would always be closed. From the hours below the sign, you can tell the reason why to. Eli’s is only open on Friday and Saturday from 11am to 6pm or until they run out. So after a good day out kayaking off Honeymoon Island up the street on a Saturday, I knew it was the perfect time to try and get over here to see if it was all it cracked up to be.
The Google rating at the time of this writing is a 4.7 stars. So you see that and figure it has to be good right? Right and it damn sure was delicious.
Before I get into the food, this place doesn’t look like a lot from the outside. It’s a small building with outdoor picnic benches and a separate smokehouse. Something about a smokehouse rolling beautiful hickory smoke during the day gets me all up in the feels… (that’s what the kids say today right 🙂
Part of the beauty of this place is the simplicity in it’s menu. Pick a meat, either on a sandwich or meat alone. There’s only two sides, a couple other random items, and drinks, thats it. So without further adue, here’s the breakdown:
The Meat
There were three of us and we all got something different. Beef, Pork, and Chicken. My pulled/chopped beef sandwich dinner is picture above. It was a generous mound of meat with two sides, the only sides they have is coleslaw and beans.
In all cases, the meat was really tender and tasted delicious. Just an FYI, the chicken is not pulled or chopped and comes bone-in. They don’t tell you that up front but it was delicious none the less. All the meat was seasoned well and not over done with a good hit of smoke on it.
The Sides
Easy, theres only two. Coleslaw and Baked Beans. Both were really good but might hit some a little different.
I thought the baked beans were really good but they are definitely on the sweet side. They aren’t super thick but overall were absolutely delicious because thats how I like them.
The coleslaw is a chopped slaw and has a good hit of vinegar in it. Not my personal favorite but I still thought it was very good.
The Sweet Tea Factor
For real, is it BBQ if the sweet tea doesn’t put you in a diabetic shock? Nope! The sweet tea was on-point and exactly what we needed after a day out on the water.
BBQ Bay Rating: 4.2
Google hits this one right on the head. We missed out on the burnt-ends but overall everything we ate was really good. Without a doubt I would eat there again and had a great experience. The lady taking orders was super nice and kept cranking. We love supporting these kinds places and will definitely be back.
There are couple things to keep in mind though if you decide to go…
- They only accept cash. NO CREDIT CARDs
- There is only outdoor seating. Generally not bad but be aware if its a hot day.