Cave Inn BBQ, Winter Garden - Closed

I had lunch at this new (June) barbeque spot on Old Winter Garden Rd at the southern end of Winter Garden last Friday. I was a bit apprehensive since it is so far from where I live and I didn't want to waste a day searching for bad barbeque. I'm glad I didn't chicken out. It's definetly a destination spot. Maybe my new number one barbeque place in Central Florida. 4 Rivers is still excellent, but, it traditional. This place is boundary pushing. Like an iron Chef judge, I give extra points for that. First off they don't smoke. I've only heard of one other place that doesn't sport wood (doesn't mean there aren't others) and that is Maryland. The owner isn't from there (Massachusetts) so we'll have to chaulk it up to ignorance or prejudice. I'd wager it's a life style choice. A preference for this style. You'll be questioning your own barbequ-ality after you try this. You might just turn bi (smoked and non-smoked). The brisket sandwich I had for $9 was delicious without the smoke taste. Just a cleaner beef taste. It came with a coarse chopped, vinegared, red cabbage slaw on Naan bread. The soft Naan wrapped itself around the slightly firmer meat like a pillowy blanket. It's charred sides competed a little with the meat, but when you dipped it into the bright jus they provided (can also get sauces), it was a perfect sum. The jus and slaw negate the char residue. The bread is also better than a roll because you can rip it into pieces and make small little finger sandwiches/gorditas that dip easier. They give you 8-10 centimeter thick pieces of meat (compared to 4-6 in some places). And it came with a side. I chose a baked potato. They serated it with a knife all over the top half. It looked like a bouquet of potato chips in a potato boat vase. The potato was a little under cooked and I'm not sure if toppings were extra, but, it made the asking price go from slightly expensive to a total bargain. The service was great. It seats about fifty. There were three others there. It looks like a barbeque place/hunting lodge. They have a bar and host live music. The menu has things like pulled pork and turkey drumsticks. It's small, so they have every opportunity to repeat a successful lunch or dinner service. It's the real deal. Inventive, unique dishes served well at reasonable prices. The one problem is that it is hard to find (in a strip mall behind a Walgreens) and it is small. Hopefully, that means they will have to open up additional locations across the county (or country).