Sonny's BBQ

3.5 stars..

Stopped in for dinner and had plenty of seating.. one side is table dining and the other side is bar area with tables too. Staff was very nice with lots of sweeties and darlings with any response. Food came out quick and plate looked the part. Had off-the-bone chicken and pulled pork. The chicken was okay and looked like all breast meat with some BBQ sauce on it and the pulled pork was big pieces with some sauce on it as well. I could have slathered with more of the available sauces but I wanted to taste the flavor of the meat. The cornbread muffin was delicious and the sides were good too. I'm used to a more shredded feel to the pork or the chicken so for me that was "different" and made the meal just okay.

Some of the smokiest, juiciest brisket I had the pleasure of munching on. Our most recent visit involved trying a bunch of meats and things. Pork, chicken, ribs, brisket sampler hit the spot. Sweet potato cooked to perfection, ribs didn’t even need bbq sauce, corn bread sweet and far from dry. Corn nuggets tasted so creamy and egg rolls were hardy with the dip.

Was NOT disappointed! Felt right at home immediately. Staff was friendly, atmosphere was great and service was on point. Food was delicious. Ordered half chicken combo (you can get all white meat or combo white and dark), with side of mac-n-cheese, slaw, and cornbread. Chicken was great with nice smokey taste, not overwhelming, mac-n-cheese, and slaw were really good also. Cornbread had a nice outer crust with a moist center. Numerous menu options available, which will bring me back for more.

Good friendly service, quickly seated. Fried pickles were meh. Everything else was was good or very good except Mac& cheese being mushy . Could use more meat on ribs. Reasonable price.

I have been waiting for Sonny's to open for a while now and tonight my son and I finally got to try it.

First off, the remodeling of the old Bob Evan's looks great and definitely has a BBQ restaurant feel to it. The greeters were super nice and had us seated in about 5 minutes despite telling us there would be a 20 minute wait.

Our server was at our table very fast and was very happy and pleasant. She took our drink orders and when she brought them out they were in very large (almost comically so) glasses. She then took our order and at that point I had thought I would name her in the review to give her some kudos, but then things changed and I decided not to.

My son ordered the Whole Hog sandwich on garlic toast with BBQ beans and I ordered the Sonny's Sampler with mac and cheese, a baked sweet potato and corn bread. She went to put our order in and came back out to ask if I wanted my 1/4 chicken white or dark, to which I responded dark.

After a few minutes another lady brought our food out and it looked AMAZING. Whoever plated this needs a job in food advertising. Then I noticed I had white meat instead of dark, but didn't think much of it and decided to try it anyway.

My son really enjoyed the Whole Hog but I didn't try it so I won't say too much about it, so let's get to the sampler:

Brisket: It was good for Bowling Green, possibly one of the better briskets in the area, but not great by any stretch. It was only flat, no point and was cut a little thick for a slice of flat. It had a great smoke ring but not much bark and wasn't as moist as some.

Baby Back Ribs: These were very good, probably the best option on the sampler. They do leave the membrane on the ribs, which I prefer but I understand most wouldn't want it. They had a bit of a bite and were not fall-off-the-bone but once again, that's how I like them.

Smoked Chicken: It was okay. That's about it.

Pulled Pork: Pulled pork was good but pretty standard compared to other options around town.

Mac and Cheese: It was good, probably the best part of the meal. Not oven baked so it didn't have a crust but was still very good.

Baked Sweet Potato: It was baked just right and they provided butter and brown sugar.

Sauces: They have 4 sauces on the table: Original, Hot, Smokey, and Sweet. They all seemed to have the original as a base with something added (hot sauce, liquid smoke and maybe honey) to make them different. The amount of each additive was so small I couldn't tell much a difference so I don't really have an opinion on which is best. It's a good sauce, no complaints but not mind blowing good.

The food itself gets 4 stars. My son put it best: "It was pretty good for a restaurant." Better than average but not amazing.

Due to Google's character limit for reviews I can't get into much detail but our server, who started out awesome, ignored us for nearly the entirety of the meal in favor of flirting hard for a tip at the table beside us. I hope the money they tipped made up for the money she lost by ignoring us. She cost herself money and cost the restaurant my business for the foreseeable future.

I'm going to give the restaurant 3 stars, mainly being brought down by the service. I'll re-evaluate after a visit at some point down the road.