4 Rivers Smokehouse in Winter Park, FL

This place gets a lot of buzz, and, after having lunch here recently, we can see why. Many of the reviews on yelp mention how busy they can get here around lunchtime, and it was no different on the day we went...a line out the door. It's a tiny space with no seating indoors, but picnic tables on a covered patio in the back. We spoke with a guy while waiting in line who lives in the area, and he said they're in the process of expanding at another location down the road, so soon perhaps we'll see another incarnation of 4 Rivers. Personally, we like sitting at picnic tables with strangers. The line moves very quickly, as these guys have it down. We placed our order, which is put together from a hot line on the service side of the counter, and made our way to the patio. Mim went with the sliders, which give you a choice of three out of four meats...pulled and sliced pork, brisket and burnt ends, which is the pulled pork and brisket trimmings mixed. The pulled pork was excellent...saucy and a little spicy, with a nice rich pork flavor and plenty of smoke. The brisket was great too, although the burnt ends were a little too rich for us both. Still, great flavors. Doug had the St. Louis ribs, and found them to be lacking in absolutely nothing; rich, full pork flavor, nice smoke and sauce that balanced well between sweet and tangy. The sides we had...Brunswick stew, baked beans, cole slaw and collard greens...were all great too.

The size and variety of the menu here is impressive. 4 Rivers smokes brisket, ribs, pork, whole chicken and chicken wings, turkey, even jalapenos. They will do advance orders of smoked whole turkey, ham, leg of lamb, beef short ribs and salmon. They have a creative list of specialty sandwiches and salads, and it's a rare barbecue place that offers the number of desserts we had to pass by before getting to the cash register. They put them right in front of you to make it easy. This is some of the best barbecue it has been our fortune to come across, and 4 Rivers has earned a spot on our top 10 list.