Fred Cotten's Landmark BBQ

After a few more visits, I have to say this place is a staple for the Springfield area! The BBQ is 10/10. No matter what we get, it's always good. However, the sides are a 5/10 - lacking flavor. Really wish the Mac & Cheese and coleslaw tasted better. The service is always welcoming and very helpful and fairly quick. The atmosphere is that of a quaint rustic bar good for kids and all types of gatherings. All in all, it has great BBQ and we will be back.

That was a lot of food! First time dining in and it was delicious! My friend had the Wednesday special fried pork chops and I ordered the two meat combo (pork and brisket) with two sides baked beans and Mac/cheese.Corn nugget as the appetizer and sweet tea which was amazing tea! Overall I can't complain, great food and service.

Service was very good and the lady was sweet. I wanted to like this place so bad, however I do have to be honest. The brisket was probably the driest meat I've ever had in my life. It was more reminiscent of an over cooked flank steak. Everything else wasn't bad and maybe if I went back and got another meat it would be okay.

Little place on Main Street a bit north of downtown Jacksonville. A great place for lunch. In my opinion Cotten's has the bbq pork ribs in Jax! Original mustard based sauce is simply great. They have several other sauces that I have not even tried in the years I have been going here for lunch. Of their sides, I always choose the slaw. Garlic bread is good too. I recommend the 3 rib "sandwich" combo that comes with 3 large ribs, one side, two pieces of bread and a drink. Service is quick and friendly. Try it, you'll like Cotten's if you like bbq.

Great meal and a great atmosphere. Staff is always great and welcoming. Mustard sauce does not have any sugar. It is fantastic?

My friend told me about this nice spot on Main Street. So I went to yesterday for lunch with them to try it myself. Their sweet tea was really good. I ordered the pulled pork lunch special and added house salad and potato salad as my sides. The house salad was shredded lettuce instead of an actual salad. The potatoes were also diced. I've never had diced potatoes before, let alone in potato salad. So the texture was different than what I'm used to, but it still tasted really good. The pulled pork itself was delicious. I added their sweet BBQ sauce to it to make it less dry. Definitely a really good sauce. My friend ordered their pork sausage special with baked beans. There were only two people working when we got there. One at the counter and the other was serving everyone else. There weren't many people at first. But when we finished lunch, there were a few more people who showed up. They have some cute decorations around the restaurant also. I will definitely be back in the future to try other foods they have there.

I love Fred Cottons! Best ribs in town and the sauce is the best. Been going here for over 20 years.

The food is great! The restaurant is very clean.The only reason I say maybe is because of the woman up front she is annoying! I always call my order in and pick it up. An soon as you're about to pay she always you wanna give me a tip hun . She doesn't give you time to get your payment out. I stop going because of her.

So I meet up with some friends here and was excited to try Fred's for the first time. It smells so great inside and the server was delightful, so helpful. I ordered a family deal to take and share at home. As I started in I was happy at the portions I received of each meat and the 3 sides. The green beans were as huge in size as in taste. Coleslaw was tasty and than I started on the potato salad with a few bites..it so good I came back for more and than a third trip to the refer to find my husband finished the rest off and I was not happy to see it gone...Finished..nomore!That was the best potato salad I've had in years! So good I will be checking back here soon to get more.I forsure enjoyed Freds and see many more orders from me in their future!

The one time I went, the food was bland and not tasty. There was no sauce on the ribs. It was a to go order and took too long. Hungry but not worth it