Scruby’s BBQ (pronounced Screw-bees, I was told by a bustling, smiling waitress) was a first for me.
I have never before found finger-lickin’ good ‘cue a few doors away from a battery of law offices in the heart of yet another strip mall. Once I got over the shock of the location on the northeast corner of University Drive and Pines Boulevard, the absence of a woodpile and the nonexistent log cabin with smoke wafting its way as advertisement, I tackled the name.
Why Scruby’s? That’s an easy one. Robert Scruby is the co-owner, and he certainly knows his barbecue. For a couple of decades he managed two of Florida’s barbecue chain institutions, Sonny’s and Woody’s. He stored up the smarts to use when, with wife Mary at his side, he realized the dream of having his own place.
When I made my discovery, Robert Scruby was manning the pit, a brick fireplace burning blackjack oak.
As a barbecue lover who has searched out the best spots all across the South, I’m confident I could take any number of friends into Scruby’s for a mess of beans and Brunswick stew, fried okra and ribs, and they would come out grinning.
I wanted to sing when I took my first spoonful of barbecue beans, replete with a smoky flavor and lots of oomph. And then I wanted to break out in song when I lifted my first rib to my mouth, finding the meat perfectly cooked and a delight to bite. No fat, nothing unchewable but a bone that begs to be gnawed.
It was part of Scruby’s Deluxe Combo, an $8.49 dish of sliced pork, beef and spare ribs plus a quarter chicken accompanied by those beautiful beans, which I ordered on the side (79 cents and $1.19 depending on the size of the bowl). Baked potato or french fries come on the combo plate along with a much better-than-average coleslaw and garlic toast.
The garlic toast was another surprise at this atypical barbecue find. It was not something an Italian restaurateur would serve, but it was lightly toasted and lightly touched with the magic herb and was highly appropriate with the pork and ribs.
There’s a quartet of sauces on each table. If you have asbestos lining in your mouth you can request the hot mustard sauce – it’s kept in the vault.
I found my ideal combinations as I studied the menu, planning future pilgrimages to the house that Robert built.
Other combination dinners with or without the chicken or spare ribs or baby backs range from $6.99-$8.29. The most expensive item on the menu is $13.99, the price for a rib feast intended for two hungry trenchermen.
Other dinners, those built around a couple of 5-ounce grilled chicken breasts, 12 ounces of spare ribs or a whole rack of baby backs, are $5.99-$9.49. Slow-cooked turkey breast dinners or those featuring all white-meat chicken or hand-carved pork and beef are $5.49-$6.29.
Luncheon platters also are in the budget-happy category, ranging from $3.99 for a quarter chicken to $5.19 for a half rack of baby back ribs. All platters are served with slaw and garlic toast plus a choice of french fries or baked potato. It comes in foil, but it’s very good.
Scruby’s does an active takeout business, and the sandwiches are especially popular. I can vouch for the thickly stacked smoked turkey, barbecue pork and beef plus a real blast from the past, a Sloppy Joe Scruby’s style, meaning with chopped pork added to the beef, which is simmered in special Scruby’s sauce ($2.49-$3.99)
I’ve yet to try one of the outrageous desserts, but next time for sure. How can I resist the menu advice that “It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This!”
SCRUBY’S BBQ
251 N. University Drive
Pembroke Pines
1-954-987-1933 Three Stars
Cost: inexpensive
Credit cards: MC, V
Lunch, dinner daily
Beer
Wheelchair accessible
Nonsmoking section Good
