Mojo Hogtown Bar-B-Que

Two people I would like to highlight Kayla And Jay! They are awesome!!! Homemade fresh food with awesome premium drinks! We never stop coming back. The place is simply wonderful! I recommend the odd couple drink, and the fried chicken with gravy. Both are soooo good! Literally the best old fashion my wife and I have ever had!

Great downtown atmosphere. We had the brisket and the smoked turkey, very moist and tasty. Love their variety of Sauces. Mojo sauce was my favorite. The wife like the chipotle sauce. Their onion rings are Huge and very satisfying. All the side dishes we tried were delicious esp the sweet Potato casserole and BBQ pit beans.

I’ll first preface that I’m a Texan and we know BBQ. It’s all about the smoke, the bark, and flavor of the meat. Less emphasis on the sauce (which is a good thing because the sauces here suck balls). We chose «The Whole Hawg» in order to have a range of cuts to sample, and our four sides: greens, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and green beans.
Ugh… Overall, no bark, yes there was a smoke ring on most meats but there was little smoke flavor within the meat. The «house sauces» were disgusting. Watery and bland.
Pork: Dry and flavorless.
Beef: Fatty but flavorful.
Turkey: Dry but flavorful.
Chicken: Juicy and well seasoned.
Ribs: Good lord, dry and flavorless. But fall off the bone = overcooked.
Sausage: Flavorful and juicy.
Now the sides…
The greens were overly salted and inedible. Asked to replace this side with the BBQ beans which were flavorful but mushy, so overcooked. Can’t fuck up mashed potatoes and they were fine. Mac and Cheese was tasty but had this odd, non-​seasoned bread crust crumble. And those green beans… good lord, bland as fuck and over cooked mushy. Disgusting.
We’ll probably be back to try some other cuts of meat and I’m curious about the KC burnt ends… Since we just moved from KC to Gainesville, let’s see if they fuck up this type of BBQ too.

Pork sandwich– amazing
Chicken nachos– amazing
Brunt ends– OMG!
Service– perfection
We had a party of 9. I made reservations using Unilocal.The manager responded to my questions etc and made sure we had a table ready upon arrival. Go here!

Mojo Hogtown has the formula down. The moment you walk in, a «this is a chain» tickle runs down your spine, convincing you Mojo has more than just six locations. Persuading you the serving sizes will be belly-​busting, and they’ll have their own branded coloring book and crayon boxes for the kids. You’ll swear their website will have a search locations by zip code option.
Nope, seven spots dotting Florida. And a menu with heart!
Gigantic Diet Dr. Pepper (on tap! Free refills — you won’t need them) pre-​gamed the lauded BBQ Reuben served by a skilled tender at the bar. She asked my name, got a few nuggets of info, and spit ‘em back throughout sporadic, organic small talk. Service is a focus at Mojo, and it’s much appreciated (oddly, it’s so rare in today’s mostly aloof service industry). And again, something that tears Mojo from its national chain façade.
The sandwich itself is hearty without being overbearing. Thick Texas toast, buttered and garlicky, stacked with tender if blanched brisket, slaw, jack cheese and thousand island. Maybe it would have been more of a presence, had I not subbed out onion rings as the side. These beasts are gloriously salty, and hold together just fine. There’s a magic in breading an onion to achieve the cohesive coating, a cooked bulb, and a non-​burnt crust. Mojo’s are double breaded, and are 92.4% spot on. Well worth the $ 2.50 surcharge.
I truly enjoyed my lunch experience, and would only suggest the meat itself get the smokey, seasoned stand alone respect it deserves. The sauces are solid; I just wish I didn’t want to coat the beef with ‘em. Next round: BBQ a la carte!

Cool atmosphere, good service, menu with great variety and super flavorful food. There wasn’t anything we tried that we didn’t love, especially the Mac and cheese, dirty rice and fried chicken!

And to one star… The food was way better but an app came out with tons of fat. Waitress recommended whiskeys to guests completely backwards on sweetness scale. At one point was brought a tall eagle rare, way to ruin excellence. Seems they are trying. May return one more time.

Atmosphere and drinks are great. Food was highly disappointing. The pork tastes like turkey BBQ. Other food was bland with little taste. Don’t come hungry.

Great food, good local beers. We sat on the patio with our dog and they brought out a water bowl for him.

Mojo Hogtown BBQ ocupies a very prestigious location. The building once hosted the Sovereign Restaurant a beloved dining destination for locals. After it closed it hosted a seafood restaurant, a BBQ joint and an event hall. Mojo is the latest business to call the building home, and it seems to be doing it successfully.
There is ample seating, and the dining room is quite large and able to host large groups easily. There is a full bar with an impressive selection of whiskies. There is a rustic motif encompassing wood, brick and iron. The ambient noise was of cacaphonos chatter, with the music barely audible.
It took about 15 minutes for our table of 8 to be seated, but they accommodated us nicely. We ordered the fried pickles, and I set my eyes on making the Kansas city burnt ends into a meal.
The pickles arrived shortly. They came with a side of ranch dipping sauce, and were piping hot! The pickles were still toothsome despite their recent dip in oil, and the breading tasted homemade, and was crunchy. There was the perfect amount of pucker provided by the pickle as well.
Dinner followed close behind. The burnt ends were quite tasty, packing the concentrated smoke and rub of a whole brisket in one bite. The meat fell apart in my mouth, except for the crunchy crust which needed to be subdued by my mandibles. Little bits of suculent fat helped keep the meat moist. The fries were cooked and seasoned perfectly. Crunchy skin, soft pillowy center. The Cole slaw was chopped fine, but still stayed crunchy. Bits ocarrot and onion could be seen in the creamy mixtue.
The only shortcoming that I found with my meal was the sauces. Chipolte, sweet, vinegar, mojo, and mustard lacked a robust and deep flavor. They all seemed to fall flat on my tongue, and didn’t impress. The flavor just couldn’t stand up to the smoke on the meat.
It has always between my policy to never trust a fancy BBQ joint, but Mojo proves me wrong. The trendy atmosphere and great liquor selection enhanced the nicely cooked meat. Now if they could do something about their sauce options… Mojo Hogtown BBQ did not suck.

Based off atmosphere, drinks, and food this is hands down the best BBQ option in Gainesville! Their huckleberry mojito is one of my favorite drinks, so refreshing.
The pulled pork is very tender and moist, great on a salad. The smitty sandwich was also really good, the hot links taste amazing with the mustard sauce! For sides, you can’t go wrong with the mac and cheese, collards, baked beans or fries. Everything came out hot and tasted fresh.
They have happy hour until 7 also with select cocktails, beers, wines, spirits and food for reasonably priced.
Only complaint is that they were out of ribs! How does a bbq joint not have ribs?! Disappointing but awesome restaurant nonetheless.

This location is a great place for lunch or dinner. Drop in, order anything, and you won’t be disappointed. The whiskey/​bourbon bar is fantastic and the Mojo staff have impeccable taste. Everyone who reads my reviews knows I’m a value bitch. Mojo is worth the few dollars more that you’ll spend. Why only four stars? I’m a tough grader. Go here, its worth it.
I dropped in for lunch the other day for a bbq turkey sandwich, greens, and baked beans. All excellent. My lunch companion had the brisket with mac and cheese and another side of baked beans. All were excellent. Both the turkey and brisket were fork tender, moist, and nicely prepared.
Mojo offers 5 different bbq sauces. All are superb. If you know your sauces then you’ll realize upon tasting each of them that four do an excellent job of representing the areas of the South where they originated from. The Mojo is the house creation and is a standout of its own.
I’m a bourbon guy. I recently discovered scotch. I could write paragraphs about what’s on the wall here. I’ll spare you. Get some Angel’s Envy Mojo. Neat or on the rocks. It’s a unique treat.
I had to wait to write this review. Why? I was treated to a fantastic evening at Mojo who sponsored a Unilocal event. Mojo brought out some of their best and finest. It would have been easy to write a stellar review after being doted upon for an evening. That wouldn’t be fair to the community. I can say with all fairness that Mojo BBQ maintains the same level of quality and consistency across the board. Very respectable.
My waitress was great. Kind, cordial, attentive, there when we needed her and gone when we didn’t. Thank you.
Bathrooms — clean with no boogers on the walls! Holy cow. Do you know how rare that is in Gainesville? Keep up the solid work on that latrine!
The owners and upper management troll the floor with consistency. Twice I have encountered them and engaged in some great conversations about BBQ smoke, bourbon, and being a foodie. I encourage anyone who goes here do the same. These peeps know their craft and might have a fun tip for you. :)
Still with me? Whew — what a long review. Thank you for lending me your eyes and time for a minute. I am thankful. Do me a favor and click one of the three buttons below to let me know what you thought of this review. Thanks again!

Came here pretty late on a weeknight and picked up some food to bring to Tall Paul’s. Even though we were just getting takeout the service was outstanding. The host recommended a few different things on the menu, and was very honest and open with us. The dining room has a really cool vibe, and all of the artwork is also for sale.
I had the two meat combo, consisting of ribs and pulled pork. My sides were Mac N Cheese and smoked corn. The host really talked up the smoked corn but it was just ok. The Mac N Cheese was really fricking good, and so were the ribs. They were really flavorful and the meat just fell off the bone.

Wow, what an amazing experience I had there today! I love the Mono’s in St. Aug,
So I love that there is one with the same awesome menu in Gville now! I had exemplary service, a great Bloody Mary and a very nice conversation with the GM. I got the Q salad to go (my favorite) and when I realized I had only gotten chicken on it (when I had thought it also came with brisket on top) they quickly brought it back to the kitchen and fixed it for me! Huge portions of food made fresh in-​house, great cocktails, top notch service, and an atmosphere for any occasion makes this my new favorite downtown spot!

In love with this hip, cool new BBQ joint. Not what you’d expect — rustic décor with an upscale feel. The beautiful bar runs the length of the restaurant and is a great place
to hang out for drinks. You will find the usual BBQ eats, but what makes Mojo special is the unique things on their menu like Pit-​Smoked Wings, BBQ Reuben, Mojo Club, Smoked Chicken Nachos, BoomBoom Shrimp and my favorite, Smokehouse Chicken.
Everything tastes freshly homemade, and we’re told the six sauces on the table are homemade daily as well. Fresh makes a difference!!!
We always leave with leftovers and Banana Pudding to go!

One of my favorite places to eat, though parking downtown stinks. Nevertheless, the ambience, staff, and food are A+ in my book. Shoutout to Zoie, who took care of me my second time. And must I mention their burnt ends are amazing! I had them here the first time and they were definitely what brought me back for the second.
This most recent time I got their 2 meat combo with burnt ends (a slight up charge for this) and their North Carolina pork with collard greens and mashed potatoes. The whole thing was simply delicious. The burnt ends were just as good as I remembered, the North Carolina pork was incredibly juicy (though a bit too salty for my taste), and the collard greens and gravy on the potatoes is mouth watering.
I also highly recommend mixing the sweet and Mojo sauces! Great combination of flavors for most of the meats or even for your fries (from my previous trip).

My favorite BBQ place that I can drive too. This is like their 5^th location. All very similar. My Burnt Ends appetizer, the reason for our trip to Gainesville today, disappointed me a little today. Not bad, some pieces were again amazing. However, some a little over cooked. So, the uneven cooking is a problem with the oven temp or placement of the meat. Either way always worth the trip.
My pulled pork sandwich was one of the best I’ve ever had. Why, pork smoked perfectly, moist and yummylicious. But the best thing was the bun. OMG!!! Buttered and toasted. Freaking amazing. Best bite I’ve had in a long time.
Ordered fresh handcut fries. Salty crunchy perfectness. Ordered just the side to go w my burnt ends.
Erin, The Bartender, is super cool. Can hang w her any night. Great friendly service and very knowledgeable about her bar.
Heard they are headed to our hometown of Ocala. Please do, it will save me some gas money. Love this place. Go anytime you are near.

Went back here with some friends recently. The service is great and they are amazing at accommodating groups… but…
The brisket and the cornbread was dry and disappointing. These are staples for me at a BBQ location.
The apps are amazing! Get the quesadilla and burnt ends! Their whiskey selection seems phenomenal (although we didn’t order drinks).
In the future this is going to be a apps/​drinks with friends place for me! No more dinner though.

Downtown Gainesville is certainly on a roll! Made our first visit last night, and we were not disappointed. I love this building and I’m always very sad when places can’t make it here; it really is a beautiful space, although I’m unhappy that they chose to get rid of the beautiful wrought iron.
Missing iron aside, so great to have a BBQ place in downtown; and one that isn’t trying to over-​gentrify this particular cuisine. They keep it simple, and I would say the prices are fair for a sit down, table service restaurant with a full bar.
We started with the burnt ends appetizer. Fairly similar to those served at Four Rivers, which is to say, it’s delicious. For those that don’t know, burnt ends from beef brisket are the fatty flavorful ends of the brisket, having a crunchy crust around the outside.
I had the burger, which came with bacon, cheese, pickles, lettuce, onion, and BBQ sauce. They didn’t ask me how I wanted my burger cooked, which I found odd, but it was cooked fine and not burned to a crisp. The pickles were crunchy and delicious, and I really appreciated that they showed restraint with the amount of lettuce. Sometimes the stack of lettuce you see on a burger is just ridiculous and I end up removing 75% of it. Mojo’s got it just right.
The meat was perfectly seasoned with a nice slightly crunchy sear on the outside, and really how can you go wrong with bacon and cheese?
I had the collards as a side, and they were really my only complaint about my meal; found them to be pretty bland and lacking that «zip» one would normally find in your typical southern collards. There was some vinegar BBQ sauce on the table, however, and a couple squeezes of this quickly remedied the situation.
It’s some good BBQ and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It’s not «as good as it gets» when it comes to BBQ (hence the 4 stars instead of 5), which is a rating I currently reserve for The Shed, but if I find myself downtown and feeling particularly carnivorous, I will definitely stop in for more.

In an odd sense, I didn’t want to like this restaurant as much as I did because I’m tremendously loyal to Pearl’s Country Store for BBQ (in Micanopy) and wanted to see nary a challenge appear to their supreme reign over local BBQ. However, Pearl’s offers a very simple, country, stripped-​down experience (it’s in the rear of a gas station, folks) while Mojo offers a much more cosmopolitain experience complete with a full bar. And what a bar it is! They have the best assortment of Bourbons and other American whiskey I’ve seen in Gainesville and certainly the most comprehensive assortment of single-​malt Scotches, including Caol Illa and Scapa, two favorites of mine. This is going to become a destination as a bar as much as a restaurant, mark my words.
The staff is friendly and endlessly attentive – almost to the point of it being annoying but they just opened so it’s far better to see too much attention than too little. The atmosphere is perfect for what this restaurant is all about: they’ve taken what was for years a fine dining restaurant and made its exposed brick and tall ceilings feel appropriate for BBQ served in a casual yet sophisticated setting.
I ordered the Delta fried catfish with collard greens and mac n cheese as my sides; cornbread also comes with this. I just didn’t feel like BBQ today. The catfish and sides were very well prepared, especially the cornbread. I would dare say the mac n cheese and the greens up at Olé Time Country Buffet (another simple, country favorite of mine) in Lake City are better than those at Mojo, but Mojo still did a great job. There is a slight feeling of. .. trying too hard with what is actually very simple cuisine, but still, they’re making it work overall. I tried all their BBQ sauces – yes, on the catfish – and they’re solid, too. Not as good as Pearl’s but good enough certainly. The tartar sauce that came with the catfish was near-​perfect, though.
This will be a hit in Gainesville, to be sure. It’s got a great location, a great bar, and good food. And it’s only been open what, about a week? I think anything slightly lacking will be improved over time.