We had to stop in to see our friend, Sissy. She has always had us as fans from prior places. If you want some down home tasting food, stop by Barbara's. The food is tasty and decor is always poppin'! Barb changes things up all the time, so that's fun! read more

Intimate little restaurant. The food was good but there were 4 of us and they brought out 2 meals, awhile later another meal and a good amount later finally the last meal, so felt bad for our last diner having to wait so long. Staff was nice but also didn't get my side correct.. read more

Barbara's Family Restaurant - Club - American Near Me - Ruskin, Florida

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Very disappointed. I have eaten at Barbara's many times but the past couple visits have come up short. We dined tonight and ordered spaghetti which is normally great homemade sauce. Unfortunately we received what cannot be called a sauce, just canned diced tomatoes with onion and peppers. No meat and no seasoning at all. One person did not receive their side. It took over 45 to receive our order, they only had 3 tables being served. Our server Emily was good and very pleasant​. Prices have gone up dramatically and the kitchen staff is not able to handle orders. read more

Delicious food and good service! Especially like the breakfast and is usually what I go for

Food was good. Pancakes were really tasty. Wish they had had crayons and some paper for my kids. Would go back.

Good food. Excellent serving size. Reasonable prices. Tried their all you can eat grouper. It was terrific. It's a friendly local dive that we enjoy. read more

Eggs, pancakes, sausage and lots of good coffee. Carol, our server made sure we had everything we needed, found a better deal (a special) that was better than my original order, and kept the coffee hot and full. Real home cooking in warm, peaceful and inviting setting. I guess there is no pleasing some people, but for my wife and me, we will be back. read more

As a newcomer to Sun City Center, I'm so happy to have found Barbara's. The sign out front took a good hit from Hurricane Milton, but the food inside defines home cooked comfort! I am a fan of their meatloaf, burgers, salads (especially the potato salad!) Friendly staff, great cooks. Try the specials! The only reason I gave 4 stars is that the restroom is outside, around the back. Once I learned that, I make sure to plan ahead. read more

Cute restaurant, but that is where it ends. High prices for poor quality food and small portions. Clam dinner consisted of about 15 small clam strips that were cooked to a cinder. When you tried to pick them up with a fork they broke in half. Warm mashed potatoes with gravy were normal boxed instant mix. Cole slaw was the best item on the dish. $14.99. Open faced fatty roast beef think sliced deli roast beef again with warm mashed potatoes and non-flavored mac & cheese that the dogs would not even eat. $13.99. read more

Barbara's Family Restaurant - Open faced roast beef - American Near Me - Ruskin, Florida

I grab meals here often since it's local to me. On Monday they have homemade chicken and dumplings, which are great, and a food that's not always so easy to find. The seafood tastes very good. The prices are low to average which keeps it affordable for the locals. I will keep eating here. They have different daily specials such as meatloaf. Give them a try. Overall nice small town mom-n-pop type restaurant. On weekends they have all you can eat specials! read more

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It's a cool and cozy place. Good old fashioned diner style with fish and chips. Fish was fried in clean oil. Tea was good. One of the more "original" and honest eating places in the area. Visit soon because " Old Florida" is rapidly vanishing. read more

Nothing fancy here but the food was good. Food was hot and cooked to order. Don't shy away from its appearance!

Great meal today. I had a BLT and fries. It was packed with bacon. My husband had The Buccaneer. Nice and thick with corned beef and pastrami. Fries and macaroni salad were perfect. Waitress made sure everything was to our liking .Will definitely eat here again. read more

Barbara's Family Restaurant - BLT - American Near Me - Ruskin, Florida

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This is my third review for Barbara's and for those of you who gave it a 3-star review or less, you must have been confused! This little diner is fabulous for the meal of your choice, delicious home cooked food with reasonable prices. We've had lunch and dinner here and are now Sunday regulars for breakfast. I would give it 10 stars if I could!! read more

Barbara's Family Restaurant - Classic with scrambled eggs, Hash Browns, bacon and toast. - American Near Me - Ruskin, Florida

That was the worst restaurant breakfast I've ever had. It was literally horrid; the worst pancakes I've ever had. My husband and parents tasted them and agreed. They were hard as rock, chewy, pasty and tasted weird. The sausage tasted "off". I couldn't eat my eggs. They were very poorly prepared. The egg white was beyond runny. When I put my fork into the center it just deflated and liquified. There was nothing to "fork up". My food was also cold like it sat for a long time before being served. The toast was underdone and the grits had large undercooked lumps. It was almost comically awful! The place is a dive. Don't waste your time and money! read more

The food is pretty good but everything else is bad. The times we have been here this place is just not clean. The fan blades actually made me gag. We stopped coming here bc they kept just not opening on time. It would be an hour after they are supposed to be open but yet, no one is there. We would talk to other people that were just sitting and waiting for them to open, all saying "ya, usually they are late, but here by now..." I prefer to give my money to people who respect my time like i respect theirs. read more

Typical low end mediocre food. Uncomfortable seating. Only in a pinch do i ever go to Barbara's. Not many other goid choices in this area.

Can't even comment on the food since we left after waiting for who knows how long. Far from busy, and couldn't get a coffee order in. We were told to sit anywhere so it's not like we weren't noticed. Took my business back to ABD, can never go wrong there. read more

We attended a Valentine's Day dinner that was advertised in the local paper. We have gone to this restaurant for breakfast before and found it to be fine for that meal. The valentines dinner advertised a steak for a bit less than $50. it included potato, salad, vegetable and cake. We were very disappointed with the meal. The steak was between 1/2 and 3/4 ths inches thick, so our request for medium rare would have been impossible for the cook. Of course we didn't know in advance the cut would be so thin. Because of the thinness of the cut, it was also dried out when cooked. The rest of the meal was marginal in taste except for the salad which was very good. Based on our past experiences with this place and the cost of the meal given that this is not a high end restaurant, we anticipated something better. We will not write this restaurant off but will limit it to breakfast only. read more

Seems there is no pleasing some people. We have been there for breakfast or lunch several times. The food is very good with very nice portions. The wait staff are helpful, friendly, and attentive. Prices are quite reasonable and you may even get a personal visit from Barbara...she knows how to run a family restaurant where you are made to feel welcome, valued, and important. We shall return. read more

I love this place. I have never had a bad experience here. They have just about all the classic diner food (except creamed chip beef) and the servers are all great. I love that the owner is always there stopping by the tables. Much better atmosphere than any of the "Big" chain restaurants read more

service was horrible the food was burnt and was nothing like what we wanted the decor was all from the dollar tree was not great we got shot with hand sanitizer and we were harassed by the employes. They kept putting their hands on us and we had burnt food they gave us the wrong food and there was food clumps in our sweet tea. We will never go back again, they talked about us while they were cooking, we had to go out side to use the bathroom when it was pouring rain. Barbara had drank my sweet tea before me because there was backwash in it. Horrible restaurant never going back again. read more

I'd liken Barbara's ambiance to a diner . . . Great food and excellent service. We'll definitely be back!

Food was delicious. Just country restaurant with minimal Ambiance but the food makes up for it. Totally worth stopping in for a great meal

The food was great and the service was superb. I would recommend this place to anybody who's looking for a great place to eat

Had a delicious Easter meal here. For $16 we enjoyed a Salad, Ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, a roll and a piece of cake! The food was prepared well and the portions generous. They offer good variety on the regular menu plus daily specials. read more

Don't be in a hurry and try not to act invisible. I sat down and waited for a server (there were two in this 15-20 table restaurant. Maybe you have to be a regular for service... I did hear waitress call a couple of people by name and make conversation. I was there for about 10 minutes without someone taking my order or even acknowledging my presence. Luckily, there was a fast food place (Hardee's) next door. I ended up leaving and going to Hardee's read more

Service is great, food delicious, top notch family restaurant. Our go-to place at least once or twice a week.

Went Sept 9 for breakfast based on positive reviews. Disappointing. Took forever for pancake & eggs to come out. Wasn't even crowded. And the product was lacking. Would have been better to go to Ihop for same pancakes & eggs. Sorry. First and last time. read more

Food was excellent- portion sizes were big. Our breakfast platters were so big we skipped lunch later bc we were still full. Authentic ppl and decor. We will go back when we go back to Ruskin. read more

After sitting at the table for 10 with no service we left. None of the waitresses had their noses covered with their masks. Menus were filthy with syrup and straw wrapper stuck to them. Won't be back. read more

We're from Riverview we decided to try the fried chicken and it was delicious and reasonably priced as always service was great definitely worth the ride read more

Loretta was great! We had a large group and she handled us very well! The portions are huge! Definitely get the waffles!!

Since the shutdown due to Covid I no longer support chain restaurants. Unlike people that support Bob Evans or McDonald's or any other chain I believe that family run business NEED our support. I took a chance on this restaurant and am I ever glad I did !! I ordered a burger and fries to go today. The burger was the best I have ever had. It is definitely NOT typical diner food as is stated in another review. The prices are definitely affordable. Barbara's will be my go to restaurant from now on read more

This place is hit or miss. The food is typical diner food but the chances of being greeted when you walk through the door or even waited on the in the first 10 min of sitting down are pretty slim. It doesn't matter if they are busy or not, there is no urgency to greet you or give you menus. 3 servers and 5 tables of people and we sat for 15 min before leaving. The 3 servers talk amongst themselves and eat while you sit and wait. When the owner is there it's twice as bad. She will never ask how your food or service is but you can damn well bet her needs come before yours as she slows the whole restaurant down. Save yourself the frustration and drive the extra 5 mi to Bob Evans or Denny's. We have been coming here for the last 3 years and each time we come we hope the service will be good but more times then not we leave and go somewhere else. This last time we left again with our party of 6. Bob Evans greeted us immediately with a smile and were happy we were there. Our bill was $140. I bet Bob Evans was glad Barbara's employee's don't care about greeting people and acknowledging their patronage. Don't waste your precious time!!! read more