by PAUL CATALA
Sponsored by Visit Central Florida
Sitting alongside the busy thoroughfare of US Hwy 17-92 in Davenport is a building that has some tales to tell. Built in 1911 by the Whoolery family, the second-oldest home in the area has served as a hotel, boarding house, tea room, and flower shop. These days, however, the mouthwatering aroma of smoked meat wafts through the rooms as it serves up award-winning barbecue as Cooter’s Smokehouse.
Samantha Summerlin-Tomlinson’s family purchased the building in the 1970s and restored it to its original glory. Three generations of the Summerlin family served homemade dishes from the location, including Samantha’s mother, Jackie Summerlin, who turned it into The Hotel Tea Room and Flower Corner in 1996.
Now, Samantha and her husband, Daniel Tomlinson, also known as Cooter, are writing a new chapter for the house.
Prior to opening on a recent weekday, Samantha took some time to discuss the secret to Cooter’s success, which she says is rooted in listening to patrons and focusing on quality.
Samantha credits much of the restaurant’s success to Daniel, a competitive barbecue pitmaster since 2015 who was guided by established pitmasters such as his friend, Sam Songer.
“He told Daniel, ‘You need to start competing,’ and Daniel said, ‘okay.’ Little did Sam realize, Daniel was going to take me with him, and we started Cooters-N-Smoke in 2016 as a competition team,” Samantha says.
Cooters-N-Smoke were crowned Reserve Grand Champions in the Lake City Downtown BBQ Showdown, and their ribs took 14th overall in the 7th KCBS World Invitational Barbecue Championship & BBQ Village in Lebanon, Tenn. — one of their biggest achievements. It’s why Visit Central Florida’s Jack Cormier has referred to the team as “world ambassadors” of barbecue.
The barbecue team also won the “Grand Champion” title in Ribs on the Ridge Professional Division. They’ve become Reserve Grand Champions in other events in the professional category. The team is well known in the Florida Barbecue Association and the Kansas City Barbecue Society.
It’s not just their smoker prowess that earns all the accolades, though. Samantha’s dessert earned a perfect score in the 2021 Big Belly BBQ Competition & Charity Event in Davenport.
The couple offer varied side dishes, including cornbread, homemade rolls, smoked and fried cabbage, french fries, and baked beans.
They pride themselves on making everything — including barbecue sauces, sides, desserts, and even butter — in house from scratch.
“Our barbecue speaks for itself, and we have our homemade sides. As for how we evolve – we just keep improving and we’re very consistent in what we do,” explains Samantha, a Davenport native and 1994 Haines City High School graduate.
Over the years, the Tomlinsons have adjusted and added to the Cooter’s Smokehouse menu, which features award-winning barbecue such as smoked brisket, ribs and pulled pork, and steak. Other options include burgers, homemade sides like stuffed potato salad and baked mac and cheese, desserts such as chocolate strawberry shortcake.
“For sides, we make them seasonal. When we’re coming into the summertime, people want ‘cool’ — cucumber salads, pasta salads, broccoli salads, along with normal coleslaw,” Daniel says. “In the fall, it’s homemade stuffing, fresh fall apples, mustard greens, field peas – those kinds of things.”
The restaurant is a labor of love for the Tomlinsons, whose 21-year-old daughter Brynna works as a server and 18-year-old son Jack helps perfect the meat. Miss Mae McCloud helps with the sides.
In a nod to the popularity of the farm-to-fork movement, many of Cooter’s products are sourced locally and statewide, Daniel says. Much of the meat and vegetables come from local ranches and farms; the barbecue rub comes from Lakeland’s Sweet Smoke Q.
Some of those tastes and volunteer efforts make their way into the community, as well as financial support from Cooter’s. The Tomlinsons are members of North East Polk Chamber of Commerce, the Northeast Polk Rotary Club, and the Davenport Merchants Association.
“We love the community and do everything in our power to help in any way we can,” says Samantha.
That love for the community will keep Cooter’s smoker firing for as long as possible, says Samantha, who describes the business as a well-oiled machine.
“We’re craft, everything’s fresh. You will never have a leftover – everything is made from scratch and made with love.”