Bo Leg's BBQ: Comfort Food in a Parking Lot

Photo by Caitlin Granfield

Mr. Bo Leg himself.

​The smoke is as thick as a summer storm cloud. Even with windows rolled up, the unmistakable scent of barbecue seeps through the finest cracks of air-tight cars jockeying to get into the Foxy Lady Laundry parking lot along 167th St. in North Miami Beach. Enormous custom-built charcoal grills anxiously await slabs of ribs and chicken while a team of barbecue pit-masters preps the fiery racks.

This family-run barbecue is headed by patriarch Kevin Dority, also known as "Bo Legs", who has a physical trait of having, well, bowed legs. His main focus, however, is his gift to locals: cooking some mean Southern comfort grub.

Roasted corn, mac 'n' cheese, white potatoes with mozzarella and homemade baked beans -- Bo's signature side made with maple, honey, molasses and ground chuck are a few of the Dixie staples that brew in Bo's blood.

Photo by Caitlin Granfield

​Growing up in Edisto Beach (population: 90 when Bo was a youngin'), a small island eight miles from Charleston, South Carolina, Bo was brought up on authentic family-made barbecue and was a vegetable farmer on his family's farm with his brothers.

True love was what made Bo settle in Miami, where he married his sweetheart, Diane, a teacher at Crestview Elementary in Miami Gardens. After a stint at a Broward sports-bar, he ventured out on his own. His two daughters and son help out with the family business -- taking food orders, restocking supplies, handling cash, even throwing out the trash. "They love it," Bo says.

Bo and his family purchase their ribs and chicken from Consumer Meats in Miami Gardens and prepare them at New Way Baptist church, then they return to their rented parking lot to give locals a taste of what Southern barbecue is all about. Bo's 27 year farmer's background that keeps him on his toes in the blazing heat. Ice and water are the only comforts on sweltering days for Bo and his team.

Photo by Caitlin Granfield

​Bo respects his customers' wishes, cooking ribs on one enormous grill and roasting barbecue and jerk chicken on the other jet black grill: "The reason I cook the chicken separately from the ribs is because my Muslim customers don't eat pork, so I make sure not to mix the two meats together."

A large blue bucket is packed full of chainsaw cut Northern Oak and Philadelphia Apple Wood, which adds a true gritty yet fresh flavor to the food. Bo points out that his friend and adviser Joe Nardi really came through for him after a chance encounter. "He fell out of the sky," he says. Nardi met Bo when Bo was struggling with cutting the wood with a defective chainsaw; Nardi saw to it to help him fix the chainsaw and felt a duty to help "a hardworking man trying to make a living."

Photo by Caitlin Granfield

​Bo's goal is to move from the Foxy Lady parking lot into a building on the lot currently used for storage. With as many as 500 customers a day and no real seating, Bo hopes to move by mid-November, so his customers can eat more comfortably.

As the smoke spreads so does the number of customers as word spreads about the authentic home-made genuine barbecue. Bo's message is simple: "No one leaves hungry." With free samples of meat and recipes of secret sauces dating back to 1972, this Carolina native won't let you leave the lot until you're fully satisfied.

Stop by The Foxy Lady Laundry parking lot from Wednesday through Saturday from 2pm. until -- emphasis on the "until."

Bo Leg's BBQ
250 NE 167th St., North Miami Beach

Most platters are under $10 depending on how much meat you add.

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