Alex's Southern Style Bar-B-Q   

Carrollwood locals are lucky to have this killer barbecue joint just a stones throw from home. Busy families come to purchase smoked meats by the pound to tote home for dinner. And the 60-seat dining room is always busy with barbecue fanatics who cant say enough about owner Alex Cooks home-style recipes. Cooks can cook, pun intended, and his mantra is Southern-style 'cue all the way. The shop has been open and bustling for more than a decade, and Cooks knows his stuff. Pork, ribs, chicken and beef are seasoned as they smoke, inside an oak-fired smoker, and most of the savory flavors youll taste were hours upon hours in the making. The mild yet flavorful barbecue sauce here, Cooks secret recipe, is another highpoint slosh liberally on your meat and dig in. Side dishes are of the standard comfort food variety, including fried okra, mac n cheese, onion rings, potato salad and baked beans. Wash it all down with a glass of (what else?) icy sweet tea.