Big John's Alabama BBQ
Big John's Alabama BBQ has been on 40th Street North in East Tampa since 1968, when the late Rev. John A. Stephens, known as Big John, opened it after moving to Tampa from Eufaula, Alabama with his family. Its own biography page says he came to the area with goals of being an entrepreneur but most importantly a man of God, and that the Tampa Tribune and other outlets recognised his contributions to the community. The restaurant still cooks on an open pit, a technique it says it has kept for over 40 years, and it took Steve Harvey's Hoodie Award for Best Barbeque Restaurant in 2007. His son Fred Stephens keeps the business going, and his widow Sallie Stephens and their children marked a grand re-opening.