Dining
TAMPA — The recipe, says Johnny Ray Smith, came in a dream.
Retired from the NFL, where he was a cornerback for the Bucs in the early ’80s, Smith suffered a serious accident in his new profession — driving a truck.
One night, he says, he got some nocturnal inspiration for a new career as a purveyor of pork.
“The sauce came to me in a dream,” he says. “I dreamed the ingredients, got up and made the sauce in the middle of the night. But I tasted it first in the dream.”
That visceral vision beget Jazzy’s BBQ, Smith’s no-nonsense, down-home rib house.
For nearly 11 years, Smith has let the smoke do the talking. Using mostly oak with some hickory thrown in, his ribs, chicken, sausage and pulled pork and beef slowly cook on an open pit, gathering taste from the wood and the juice of the smoking meat.
His sauce — tangy and tomato-based — comes in two styles, mild and hot. Both are superb, but they are served on the side to complement the meat, not overwhelm it. The hot version does not singe the tongue but has a nice peppery kick.
Each order comes with a 6-ounce container of the sauce of your choice, which is plenty, really, unless you like your barbecue swimming. In that case, you can order more (for a price).
The menu, like the decor, is simple — as it should be.
The ribs, chicken, sausage and pulled pork and beef come as dinners (with two sides), sandwiches, family meals and party packs. Jazzy’s also caters.
A recent visit found a pretty good line that moved steadily as the man with two cleavers stood by the pit, chopping furiously at ribs, chicken and sausage. Wanting the greatest variety possible, I ordered something called “The King of Kings” — a heaping sampling of all five meats. For sides, I chose beans and potato salad.
My wingman, Chris Echegaray, ordered the rib dinner with coleslaw and corn on the cob. For our local barbecue snob back in the office, Tom Krause — who was stuck actually working — it was a pulled pork sandwich.
It didn’t take long for our waitress to deliver the massive meal.
By far, the king of The King of Kings is the ribs. Succulent without being fatty and greasy, the meat fell off the bone, with plenty of smoky goodness. The sausage — “Uncle John’s smoked sausage from Publix,” says the waitress — is also perfectly done.
The chicken and pulled meats? Not quite royalty. The thigh was juicy enough, but the drumstick was a bit dry. And the pulled meats were dry and indistinguishable. As for barbecue snob Krause? He liked the pulled pork sandwich, calling it “authentic.”
The sides were mostly in the royal court. The slaw was crispy and tangy. The Southern-style potato salad will please traditionalists and the corn on the cob was cooked just right. The beans were good but a bit too sweet for my taste.
Sadly, we missed the cornbread and collard greens. Those, says Smith, are only available on Fridays, when his wife, Pam is in the kitchen.
All things considered, head to Jazzy’s if you have a hankering for barbecue.
Tell Johnny you couldn’t stop dreaming about it.
Tribune reviewers eat anonymously.
Sidebar — Dining Review — Jazzy’s BBQ
Bottom Line: Reasonably priced Texas-style barbecue
Where: 5703 W. Waters Ave., Tampa
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday – Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday
