We're in the South.  While many regions around the country lay claim to their own unique cuisines, barbecue is our own.  From the roadside stands to tiny hole in the wall eateries, there are a ton of places to get some classic barbecue around the Tampa Bay area.  With a ton though, there's bound to a good amount of variation from the "ehh" to "sweet baby Jesus, this is delicious" quality barbecue in Tampa.

Jimbo's Pit Bar-B-Q in Westshore could easily be deemed a Tampa institution when it comes to barbecue.  You don't last over 30 years without doing something right.  From a lunchtime visit this past Wednesday, it's easy to see why; fast service with Southern charm and a no frills menu of all the barbecue classics.  Simple.  But, sometimes that's all it takes.

A double-combination plate with ribs and chicken came with a thigh and leg's worth of crispy-skinned chicken, hulking ribs, and yours truly's choice of sides, baked beans and fries.  They throw a few hush puppies in the mix to to round your pretty plate of slow cooked goodness.

Ribs at Jimbo's are merely okay.  Nothing fall off the bone or fork tender here, but a good amount of smoky flavor permeates the pink flesh around the bone.  The ribs seemed a bit bone-y though; lots of bone and chewy cartilage but not a whole lot of meat.  Yeah, the idea of hormone-pumped, roided-out pigs are a little disturbing, but man, they make for some big, meaty ribs.  If you've had em, you know.

Chicken fares a bit better; wrapped in a shiny sheath of crispy, seasoned skin, the chicken's most, ample, and a heavenly combo doused in a little bit of Jimbo's peppery sweet barbecue sauce.

A hefty portion of fries come skin on, glistening with grease and dusted with just the right amount of salt and pepper; great for between-meat bites and sopping up the rest of the sauce on the plate.  Baked beans swim in a pasty-like sauce and make for some nice stomach-filler, but much else.

Jimbo's Bar-B-Q has it down, mostly.  The service is super-quick, great for a lunch break and the atmosphere is pretty cool in an old, run down kind of way.  The barbecue's good, don't get me wrong, but in a Southern barbecue hotbed like the Tampa Bay area, there's definitely better out there.