Champions BBQ

Se fue, Se murio. Gone. Adiós. Goodbye. Lots of places have taken the green needle in this area on 4^th Street of late.
What’s going on here?

A sign on the door says the business is sold and thanks to all their loyal customers for their support over the years. The business will go under renovations but nothing going on yet. I want to wish Cassie and Joe, who I believe is her son, good luck and a happy and healthy future.

Very dry chicken breast otherwise tolerable. Much better when they were across the street.

I was there a couple of weeks ago and had their brisket and it was excellent. Joe brought around a sample of the Corned Beef, ummm. Returned Sunday and had the Corned Beef. Very good, friendly service, love the place. Eat in or take out.

Have you been to Champions BBQ? If you haven’t you’re missing out on the best bbq in the St. Petersburg area! I went for the first time back on the 4^th of July and have gone every week since then. Having just moved here from MD, I have to honestly say that they are hands down the best ribs I have had, even better than my own and I’m no slough on a grill or in the kitchen. I’m talking fall off the bone, melt in your mouth ribs and all their sides are on point. Not pork and beans but real baked beans and some damn good potato salad, not some store bought stuff. The staff is great and friendly and «mom» is the greatest and a true sweetheart. It’s not often you can go someplace and they remember you as you’re walking in the door. You’re missing out on a truly great experience and some great food, if you haven’t stopped by. I know I will be heading back that way every time I can and they already know my order… gotta love this place and the great staff and food, I know I do. Dine in or carry out, either way you’re going to get the best ribs and bbq items in the area.

Was visiting for the weekend and did a Google search for the best BBQ in St. Pete. Found an article listing this place as the best so my husband and I decided to check it out.
We actually drove past it the previous day and were uncertain about the restaurant because the exterior looked a little dated.
Totally glad we decided to go here. There is another bbq place across the street, but after comparing menus we decided to try Champions BBQ.
I had the two meat meal with chicken and ribs, Mac and cheese, and greens. My husband got the brisket Philly sandwich with apples and baked beans on the side.
The food was done quick and the portions were good. I got 3 pieces of chicken and 4 ribs. The sides were a good size too. The food was delicious. I was very surprised my husbands sandwich included 2 sides. The baked beans were great they have a nice bit of spice to them and the greens were extremely flavorful and not sour or bitter as greens often are. Mac and cheese was creamy and I’ve never had ribs that were so moist. Chicken was moist too definitely not dry as it usually is at other places.
My first impression was that it reminded me of church cooking, like the meals they serve after church sometimes in between services. Pretty much just means it definitely felt like home cooking.
I can’t say anything negative about the food overall it was the best bbq meal I’ve had. Some places have good meat and ok sides, but here everything had flavor and nothing seemed mass prepared.
I will definitely be back!

The BBQ here is so tender and juicy. The sides are flavorful. I highly recommend their brisket and ribs!!! Omg they catered my friends wedding. Also when eating here the ambiance is very friendly and enjoyable. When is Florida the Tampa area definitely come and eat here.

There’s Luckie B’s across the street that is in direct competition but Champion’s has superior BBQ compared, I could eat vats of their pulled pork and ribs. But, yumminess of sides, cool atmosphere, these are things lacking. Get meat by the pound to go instead.

I came here the first time due to an Unilocal review. I have to say that it is well worth coming, The staff here are so friendly and the food is absolutely delicious. The ribs are fall off the bone tender with the perfect amount of barbecue smoke flavor. I recommend this place 100%

Fifty dollars and an hour and a half later our food finally arrived. Was the skimpiest $ 50 worth of BBQ I have ever seen. Have never been so disappointed getting food. My styrofoam box had 2 strips of brisket. Tasted decent but definitely not worth the price or wait. Hit up publix and save yourselves the time, money, and disappointment. $ 50 later I’m still hungry.

Stopped in for lunch and sure glad we did. What a great little place. Friendly and super nice staff. The pulled pork was super yummy! Great side choices also. I had the mac and cheese and it was super cheesy. My friend had the Cuban (who orders a Cuban at a BBQ place?), he said it was great! It’s their pulled pork with Carolina Gold sauce for the mustard. There are 4 BBQ sauce choices on the table, original, honey, hot and sassy, and the Carolina gold. All had great flavors. You order your food, sit down and food is out really quick.
Extra bonus, was told they will be having specials soon! Something extra to look forward to. Will definitely be stopping in again!

Hands down the best bbq. The smoked corn beef is out of this world delicious – so moist & flavorful that it falls apart and melts in your mouth. Don’t even get me started on the freakin’ Kansas City bbq baked beans! Could drink a bowl of those.
So good. I want seconds already. Did the pick 2 meats w 2 sides and that was about $ 13.50.
Yum, yum, and more yum.

When I’m in the mood for BBQ there isn’t a lot of options on 4^th street. So I decided to try this place for lunch. I ordered a BBQ platter of half smoked chicken, baked beans and slaw. I must say I was impressed. The chicken was perfect, and the BBQ beans are seasoned just right! Love the beans and the BBQ sauce. I’ll be coming back for sure!

Yummy! Good atmosphere, good bbq. Serves beer, friendly owner/​employees, fastpick up or dine in. Delivery takes a while, but arrives when expected.

This is the BEST BBQ around. Not just around St. Petersburg, not just around Florida, not just around the South, but I would put this place up against some of the best bbq in the nation (I’m from Kansas) and it would come out on top. Don’t expect anything fancy — we’re talking a little pink house with plastic utensils and baskets of food, but who needs fancy bbq? It’s amazing. The ribs fall of the bone, the beef brisket regularly sells out it’s so good and the pork roast is just as good. The sides are all great, too. Our faves are the corn and the mac & cheese, but they really are all great. To seal the deal, the owners are awesome — really fun people. We moved here from MN about a month ago, and we’ve gotten food from here at least 5 times already. It’s now a weekly tradition. Love it!

Painted on the outside of the building, it says: «Best BBQ in America!» Very funny.
I think this place is called Champions BBQ because the sauce bottles are Champion’s, and when they answer the phone that is the name that they say. However, they are also known as Fred Fleming’s BBQ. The door is wide open, letting all of the flies inside this little shack of a business. As my Pappy used to say, «It ain’t country without flies!!!»
But, I don’t see a Pappy at this location, but rather the grandson running the business. Who is in his late 20’s or early 30’s, totally destroyed by 1990’s partying — wandering around the dining area and answering the phone, adding his own colorful humor to the business. Slightly annoying, a little too familiar, drunk or not, and almost charming in his own way. Either way, the old folks eat it up.
You order at the counter, the menu is on the wall. Then you choose your seat and they will bring the food out to you. We bussed our own table.
The meat is GOOD; moist brisket, amazing sausage, and better ribs. From what I hear, the chicken wings are to die for, but they were sold out when I was here. The sides are decent, and somewhat interesting. For example, the BBQ beans are oniony, yet have tender pieces of apple. The green beans and collards are downright south GA country, infused with smokey meat flavor.
My main beef is with the lack of presentation for the price paid. For a good sized meal at Champion’s, it will set you back $ 13.99 minimal. For this, you are served your meal stacked in what appears to be some sort of black Styrofoam TV dinner tray, a side of plastic silverware, and a Styrofoam cup with no lid. This is not a food truck, and definitely not food truck prices, so I hope Champion’s considers hiring a dishwasher and getting some dinnerware— even cafeteria quality would do. Eating chunks of Styrofoam with a bendy plastic fork is not appealing.
The BBQ places on 4^th Street in St Petersburg are a clusterf**k of business listings. Duplicate listings with the same address, but different business name. Missing hours. Oh, and even the images are exchanged for both. For example: you will find photos of Champions BBQ sauce bottles on another BBQ listing.
So, these two are the same business and should be merged:

This is hands down my favorite BBQ! I love their pulled pork, brisket and ribs. The star, however, is the smoked turkey breast. Its ah-​maz-​ing!!!

Top-​notch taste and value, consistent for years and years. Only other contender in St Pete area that I’ve noted as especially worth going to is Smokin’ J’s in Gulfport. (There are plenty of good rib places in St Pete, just not so many great ones). Ribs are great, chicken is great, corned beef is outstanding.
Get the Feast… for $ 24, I eat a huge, hot, fresh and very varied (chicken, pulled pork, sausage, turkey, corned beef and ribs!) dinner with two sides, then as long as I add my own sides (the sides with the Feast are tiny) have leftovers for (seriously) like three more dinners.
In case you didn’t see the tip, use the Carolina Mustard Sauce with the smoked sausage and the corned beef… a fabulous little twist on some delicatessen-​classic pairings.
Champion’s has a reuben… may have to do that one of these days, because their corned beef is PHENOMENAL. One of the big reasons I get that Feast platter.
Finally, $ 6.95 for a pitcher of Champion’s Lager. It’s probably a re-​badged Coors Banquet or something… bottom of the barrel foodservice beer, but boy is it good at that price.

What great flavor in a little package. The family goes back a bit and I’ve been to their older restaurant. Maybe they don’t own the logo anymore, but they own the flavors. Great turkey wrap and sides and the hot BBQ sauce was savory and just a little heat.
Friendly service.
Have not been to the other side of the street and I will try it for the comparison, but this place is so good I can’t imagine there being better. Don’t expect ambiance but cleanliness and good food is a lot for very good prices. C’mon, people.
Overlook the tiny building and get some good chow. Take out if you gotta have a great view.

This place is fantastic.
We walked in the door about a minute before 8pm, and they were good enough to let us eat without rush. We were served by the owner himself, who was very friendly, and helpful.
We wanted to try the Champion Lager (amazingly $ 1/​glass or $ 3/​pitcher), but they were out. The owner gave us the same price for whatever bottled beer we chose.
I had the smoked chicken (tender and lovely) and the sausage (good but rich) with mac & cheese (heavenly, esp. with a touch of either hot sauce or pepper vinegar) and the collard greens (a little bitter but still good). My husband had the pulled pork (phenomenal) and the ribs (pretty okay). When the owner came around to tell us about their 5 housemade BBQ sauces (all are awesome), he asked if I liked corned beef, and when I said that I do, he brought me a sample. Oh, that was wonderful. Tender with the right amount of corning. The owner promised that I’ll love the Reuben sandwich, which I plan on ordering next time.
Even though we stayed past closing time, they did not rush us. They offered us another round of beer. And on our way out, the owner gave me coconut cake to go. I’m looking forward to having room in my stomach again so that I can try it out.
I do love when a business is family-​owned, and when the owners clearly love what they do.