We’ve eaten a lot of BBQ so far on our road trip and that didn’t stop on my birthday the other week.
Shae and I were staying in London, Kentucky at the Country Inn & Suites which was only 10-15 minutes from Corbin. We’d originally planned on eating at The Wrigley Taproom & Eatery, but they’re closed on Mondays. BBQ sounded good for my birthday dinner instead and Sonny’s BBQ in Corbin had good reviews online, so we made our way there.
I’d assumed it was a local eatery but it turns out that it’s a chain of more than 100 restaurants, most of which are in Florida. Still, so long as it served good food at a good price, I didn’t care if it wasn’t a mom and pop place.
I wasn’t disappointed.
We’d gone for a hike that afternoon at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, so we were both pretty hungry by the time we arrived at 7:45pm. Seeing as we were eating relatively late on a Monday night, the restaurant wasn’t too busy.
One of the worst things about eating at BBQ restaurants is deciding what to have, as there are usually so many delectable-sounding options. The menu at Sonny’s BBQ was no exception.
Our server Charles came over and took our drink orders while we decided on what to eat. I don’t know if it’s because the restaurant was quiet, if service at Sonny’s BBQ is always great or if we simply lucked out with having a great server, but Charles was excellent. Within about 30 seconds of ordering our drinks, they were placed on the table in front of us.
When it came to placing our food orders, Shae and I went for the same thing, yet different. That’s because we both went for the Sonny’s Sampler, but Shae subbed some of the meats and sides.
The sampler usually comes with pulled pork, sliced brisket, 1/4 BBQ chicken and sweet & smokey ribs, as well as sides of BBQ beans, coleslaw and garlic bread. That all sounded great to me, so I got it as it comes.
Once again, service was extremely quick as it felt like it was only a matter of minutes after ordering before our food arrived.
Oh man, it was so good. The portion sizes of the beans and coleslaw were generous, the garlic bread was fantastic and there was enough meat left over to take some to go. There were four different types of BBQ sauce, with the spicy one being my favorite.
As I mentioned above, Shae subbed out a couple of her meats, so she got two servings of pulled chicken, sliced brisket and sweet & smokey ribs. Rather than getting coleslaw, she asked for mac & cheese instead.
Shae loved her meal too. It seems like she got even better slices of brisket than I received as hers was even more juicy. Due to all the meat on the plate, she couldn’t finish hers either and so took the rest of it to go.
If you’re wanting something a little less meaty and a little more colorful, Sonny’s BBQ has a salad bar:
Despite being full by the end of our meal, we decided to order some banana pudding to share. The portion size was larger than expected, so we were both glad we’d gotten it to share rather than our own individual portions.
Shae had sneaked off at some point after we arrived to let our server know it was my birthday. I was grateful that they didn’t sing to me when bringing the dessert over and even more grateful when he said the dessert would be comped 🙂
Final Thoughts
Eating at Sonny’s BBQ in Corbin, Kentucky for my birthday ended up being a great choice. The food was excellent, with very generous portions of everything. Not only were the portions sizable, but they were great value too.
For example, the Sonny’s Sampler was only $15.99. Several BBQ places we’ve eaten at have charged $20-$25 for a similar type of meal while providing less meat and smaller sides than Sonny’s BBQ did. Similarly, paying $2.99 for the decent-sized portion of banana pudding (well, would’ve paid if it wasn’t comped) was superb value.
Another shout out to our server Charles who was excellent. Our food and drink always arrived quickly, he was friendly and our drinks never went unfilled.
We enjoyed the meal so much, I’ve added Sonny’s BBQ to our list of places to eat at in Florida seeing as they have ~75 restaurants throughout the state there.
Our Rating
Food = 4.7 / 5
Price = 4.8 / 5
Atmosphere = 4.1 / 5
Decor = 4.4 / 5
Service = 4.8 / 5
Total = 4.56 / 5
Address
Sonny’s BBQ, 200 KY-770, Corbin, KY 40701
I’m glad you all enjoyed your visit and hope to see you again!
Thanks, us too!
I too have ate at Sonny’s so many times as I went to visit my Aunt in Ocala Fl. I live in Alabama so the first stop was Tallahassee Florida cause that was the first Sonny’s I came to! We had one close to where I worked finally and I was a every Tuesday night person with the baby back ribs baked beans and salad! They got to where they knew who I was and what I wanted! Loved them!!!! Then they closed and I went though withdraws …. No Sonny’s! A friend and I was talking about them yesterday. BEST BBQ IN THW WORLD!!!!! And the people are the BEST TOO!!!!!!!
We’ll hopefully end up going back through Kentucky in the future so that we can eat there again 🙂
During virus pandemic shutdown, I was eating sonny’s every other day.
My favorite was baby back rib meal & beef brisket always beans.
That sounds really good – I wish I was close enough to eat it that frequently!
When I lived in Florida Sonnys was a regular. I go eat there every time I get close. I order the barbecue sauce and have it delivered to my house in Mississippi/Memphis area. Wish they would bring one here we would all eat there several times a week. My favorite barbecue place ever