Article and Photos By: Larry H. Oskin
In 1948, Jack Underwood converted a grove equipment barn into a barbeque restaurant. Jack sold the business to family members Thomas (aka Benny) and Barbara Benfield in the early 1950’s and the restaurant, located at 100 S. Hwy 27, Minneola, FL, soon became known to locals as “Jack-Benny’s” B-B-Que
People from all over Central Florida would travel to Minneola, FL to get Jack’s Southern-style, wood-smoked BBQ. In order to accommodate the additional business in growing south Lake, the Benfield’s expanded the restaurant’s seating and pit areas.
Back then, south Lake’s economy revolved around citrus and it was customary for the local grove owners to meet for lunch at Jack’s. Many a big deal was made while sipping sweet tea and eating Jack’s barbeque.
There were few places for the local teens to work back then and many of the high school students worked at Jacks. Early in the morning, the teens would help fire up the smokers and later help prepare and serve the meats and sides. The restaurant became a local legacy for serving the best slow, wood-smoked barbeque in Central Florida.
In August 1998, Charles Costigan purchased Jack’s Bar-B-Q with a simple handshake on a local golf course. Costigan was originally from Columbus in Southern Georgia, where he grew up on the Alabama border enjoying southern-style barbecue. His love of barbeque evolved while working in the trucking industry, where he became an avid “BBQ aficionado”. Taking over ownership of Jack’s became a very easy and seamless transition for him and his wife who for many years worked for Darden Restaurants. Together, Charles and Eileen proudly earned a multitude of local honors and awards for their down-home, old fashioned style southern barbeque and fixins.
The Covid pandemic became much too big of a challenge for the family-owned restaurant business. After temporarily closing for two and a half months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then reopening, the Costigans decided it was time for a change. It was not an easy decision but they decided it was time to close Jack’s Bar-B-Q.
The Costigan’s announced on social media that Jack’s Barbeque was closing at the end of business day Saturday, August 29; but once the word got out, people flocked to the restaurant.. There were, at times, 25 to 50 Bar-B-Q fans waiting for a last taste of Jack’s Bar-B-que. On Friday, August 28, Jack’s ran out of bar-b-que and officially closed.
Austin Walker flew in from Los Angeles, to dine one last time at Jack’s BBQ. He calls himself ‘Jack’s Bar-B-Q’s Biggest Fan’. He had been eating at Jack’s since the 1960’s. Glenna Hancock, another fan, made sure she didn’t miss that last bite of Jack’s Bar-B-Q before its closing.
Another long-time fan Darryl Bishop noted he had been eating at Jack’s for the past 35 years. Josh Smith made sure he didn’t miss out on one last taste of Jack’s barbeque, noting he was a huge fan for more than 25 years and his daughter worked there. Brian, an employee of Jacks noted that he had worked for the Costigans for the past 3 years and felt like part of the family. Many others shared warm heartfelt thank you notes, complements and sadness to see Jack’s Bar-b-que closing.
Charles and Eileen Costigan bid their fans farewell, saying, “It has been our greatest pleasure to serve you all … our family, friends and the community at large over the past 22 years. We know that in its more than 70 years of operation, Jack’s has touched the lives of countless people here in South Lake County and beyond. We will hold all these good memories close for the rest of our days. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the support that you have given us. We wish you all the best and look forward to seeing our community grow and prosper. Be well, stay safe and GO GATORS!”
Charles and Eileen are looking forward to retirement with family and grandchildren.
