The Bear Pit

“Ordinary folk prefer familiar tastes - they'd sooner eat the same things all the time - but a gourmet would sample a fried park bench just to know how it tastes.”
--- Walter Moers

 

THE BEAR PIT

10825 Sepulveda Boulevard

Mission Hills, CA 91345

818-365-2509

11:30 AM to 9:00 PM   Sunday through Thursday

11:30 AM to 10:00 PM  Friday and Saturday

http://bearpitbbq.com/

 

This is one of those barbecue places that has been around long enough to qualify for historical landmark status.  I’ll leave it to you to read the history at their web site, but it has been at the current location for 58 years.  I remember eating here as a pre-teen with my parents.  Although it has had a succession of owners since then it hasn’t changed much.

It’s so close to the 118 Freeway that you wonder how it survived the freeway’s construction.  It did in close to its original form.  The feeling is 1950’s country woodsy…just what you would expect from a 1950’s barbecue restaurant.  There is sawdust on the floor and the booths have wooden slat benches.  The back room is for larger parties and has tables with sturdy wooden chairs.  A sign on the back wall of the front dining room says that tables are for parties of five or more. Below the sign is a lighted Hamm’s Beer sign.  Oddly, the sign is not one that shows, Sascha, the Hamm’s Beer Bear.  The room was also decorated with Christmas decorations.  We were shown to a booth where the park bench style wooden slats seemed hard at first sitting but were actually quite comfortable after a while.

Our server gave us their somewhat coffee shop like menu that is profusely illustrated with bear cartoons and photos that, unlike some fast food commercials, accurately show the appearance of the food.  She also placed a rather nice, crisp relish plate of sliced dill pickles, carrots and celery.  Being an older, Missouri style barbecue place their menu does not include pulled pork but does include ham.  I ordered a Hot Links Combination   with Baby Back Ribs, Cole Slaw, and Deep Fried Taters.  Sharon ordered a Barbecued Pork, Spare Ribs and Chicken Combination along with a Beef Rib, a salad and Bar-B-Q Beans.  This all comes with Garlic Toast.

Garlic Toast

We have to start with the Garlic Toast.  Everyone who has been here talks about the Garlic Toast.  They all say it is impressive, and it is…physically that is.  They have the bread baked especially for them.  The slice for each serving is about a half square foot in size.  It is brushed with garlic butter and toasted.  The problem is that it’s just coffee shop garlic toast…which is not particularly a bad thing, but I have had much better tasting garlic toast.  What you can say is that when you see it, it is impressive.

Salad

The relish plate was crisp, the salad was not.  It did not seem to be fresh, some of the lettuce was turning brown and the blue cheese dressing tasted more like “blue cheese” dressing.  As a basic house dinner salad it was unacceptable.

Cole Slaw

This was worse, it was really soggy, probably not to the point of violating the health code, but it had definitely been out too long.  I enjoy cole slaw and if I take a bite from one side and one from the other and just leave it you know it’s not worth it.  This time it only took one bite.

Bar-B-Q Beans

As we have experienced at other places barbeque beans can be an exciting treat.  Here?  Well, they were beans…just plain beans with a too sweet sauce that seemed to be made with their barbecue sauce.  They were not hot, a bit tepid when served, and were just bland beans. 

Deep Fried Taters

Now, these are actually interesting.  They are exactly what it says they are, little potatoes, peeled and deep fried.  My only complaint is that there should have been more of them on the plate.

Chicken

The chicken was quite good, if you want fried chicken.  They smoke the chicken and then crisp it in the fryer.  It seemed that that night it was not enough smoke and too much frying.  As I said, for fried chicken, it was rather good, cooked through and not dry.

Baby Back Ribs

Baby back ribs should not disappoint.  In the sense that these were the best meat on the plate, they didn’t.  They were tender, quite meaty and not too fatty.  The smoke flavor was barely detectable.  I would say that this is one of the few times that the basic flavor of the meat was improved by putting the sauce on it.

Spare Ribs

These were not as meaty as the back ribs and a little tough.  They actually seemed to be a bit stringy, something you seldom find in pork.  Again, the smoke flavor was extremely light and the sauce improved them.

Beef Rib

There’s nothing good to say about this one.  It was sparse, tough, stringy, over sauced.  They seemed to have double glazed it, but it was so hard that it was hard to tell how the meat actually tasted.  When hot it was like trying to chew on beef candy and as a leftover it was discardable.

Barbecued Pork

One expects good barbecued pork to be done through but moist and flavorful.  This was a bit too done and again, the sauce saved it.

I really hate to have to write a post like this, so much so that I actually put it off for a week.  The people here are nice enough and they are trying to maintain a tradition.  But, when we chose to blog we decided to simply relate our experiences with the restaurant and the food.  They have a claim to consistency even through four owners, maintaining the same recipes, techniques and quality of service, but something seems to have gone wrong.  It’s almost as though we experienced an institution going senile.  We give it a four.

Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill - Northridge

"Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food."
--- Michael Pollan

"Grandma would recognize good barbecue."

--- Howard

WOOD RANCH BBQ and GRILL© – NORTHRIDGE

Northridge Fashion Center

9301 Tampa Avenue

Northridge, CA 91324

818-886-6464

11:00 AM to 10:00 PM Sunday through Thursday

11:00 AM to 11:00 PM Friday and Saturday

woodranch.com


OK. Let’s try this again. The last time we tried to get in here it was raining and there were still people waiting outside. This time we arrived a few hours earlier at five PM. Again, it was raining, and again, there were people waiting, but this time we could wait inside. Without reservations we only had to wait fifteen minutes for a table probably because several couples gave up waiting for a table for two and were sitting at the bar to order food. Even early in the day reservations are a good idea. Did I mention that this place is popular?

Considering its popularity the waiting area is a bit small on weekends. The designer even though of having a separate entrance for the take out counter to keep the waiting area clear and it is still crowded at most hours we have been there. As for the design it is in the up market shopping mall restaurant style. There is a lot of flagstone and wood with a slate floor giving the general impression of an attempt to reproduce a very sophisticated outdoor room indoors. The bar area is a freestanding "U" shape that stands off to one side shielding the kitchen from the front door. There are no less than three big screen TV’s in the bar area, all tuned to the never ending sports channels. Dining area extends back alongside the kitchen and expands in the area behind it. There is patio dining that was definitely not being used this cold and rainy night. The designers took advantage of the freedom of layout available in a large open retail space. The ambience is upmarket comfortable and has no hint of the cowboy or Southwestern kitsch that many barbecue places effect. The only downside is that somehow, despite the baffling effect of the wood in the ceiling and walls it manages to be noisy.

The hostess seated us at a booth near the very busy bar and gave us our menus and our setups, real metal knife, fork and spoon wrapped in a cloth napkin. The food menu occupies one side of a plastic laminated page with the drink menu on the other side. A smaller plastic laminated card listed the special of the day, a beef spare rib and a prime rib dinner. We didn’t actually see one of these Texas style beef ribs, but if it is anything like the Texas style spare ribs at other places it is a massive meal in itself.

Our server, Elizabeth, arrived seconds after the hostess seated us to take our drink order. The menu is simple enough that in those few seconds we had decided on our orders and were ready with our dinner order. We each ordered a three meat combo plate: Sharon’s with tri-tip, baby back ribs, and beef ribs, mine with chicken breast, pulled pork, and beef brisket. They do not have any links on the menu or I would have ordered one. Our side order selections were coleslaw, sweet potatoes, baked beans, and mac and cheese. The menu does include a selection of appetizers, salads and since they do say they are a bbq and grill steaks, burgers and fish along with the barbeque. She brought us some garlic bread to eat while we waited for our food. We didn’t finish the garlic bread before the hot food arrived. That really doesn’t surprise me, even considering how busy they were, since I could see into the kitchen from where I sat and I could see the choreography of a fast, efficient kitchen.

Garlic Bread

Remember those wonderful restaurant dinner rolls, I have described before, that are made by a bakery in Van Nuys? Well, the "garlic bread" was simply a serving of three of these that had been brushed with garlic butter and herbs. They were tasty, but they were not garlic bread.

Coleslaw

A Carolina style vinaigrette slaw with peanuts should be my idea of coleslaw perfection. Normally it would be but this one just misses. Salt and pepper improves it, but something is missing. That’s not to say that it’s bad just a bit bland. It does go well on a pulled pork sandwich (in this case made with leftovers a couple days later). Interestingly enough the coleslaw is a required side order with a pulled pork dinner. I don’t disagree with that.

Sweet Potatoes

Nice texture, and good sized serving, but again I have to say bland. Somehow, this simply lacks intense sweet potato flavor. The light texture is interesting and seems to have been whipped to get a lot of air into it or maybe some milk added as the texture was quite creamy. I really enjoyed the lightness, but light does not have to mean flavorless. It definitely could have used some cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of brown sugar.

Beans

The beans were mushy and the sauce seems to have been their regular barbecue sauce which is very tomatoey and very brown sugary. Considering that this is supposed to be a premium casual dining establishment these beans were unacceptable. The only good thing about them is that they were hot.

Mac and Cheese

Something went very wrong here. What started with a seemingly interesting cheese blend ended up rather cloying and chewy. Salt and pepper didn’t help the fact that they were served lukewarm nor did it improve the bland flavor. We suspect that our serving came from the bottom of a pan that should have been replaced by a fresh one several minutes before.

Tri-Tip

We did come for the barbecue and this is barbecue. There many barbecue places that could take lessons from Wood Ranch© on tri-tip. Wood Ranch© uses a unique cooking method for all its meats. The meat is first slow roasted then grilled over mesquite wood. This is not the traditional slow smoking one would expect, but it really works. The meat is tender and has a really good mesquite smoked flavor. If you like your meat with a mesquite smoked flavor this is as good as tri-tip gets.

Pulled Pork

This cooking method works for pulled pork also. The particular piece of meat was a little fatty but other than that (and I have had much worse with pulled pork) it was great. Again, the pork was apparently mesquite grilled before it was shredded and mixed with what seems to be a Carolina-style sauce that has a bit of a bite to it. It stands well by itself, but when I made a pulled pork sandwich with the leftovers the slight bite was just offset by the blandness of the coleslaw making a perfectly balanced flavor. I’m going to make sure to stop in at lunch to have a pulled pork sandwich to see if it works as well when they put it together.

Chicken Breast

Well, their cooking method doesn’t quite work with everything. Don’t get me wrong, this chicken is moist, tasty, done through, and tender. The thing is that it is one of the best roast chicken breasts I have had. My wife enjoyed it in a sandwich a couple of days later and agreed that it was great roast chicken. Unfortunately, the mesquite grilling

seems to have done nothing but put grill marks on the chicken. It did not give it barbecue flavor.

Beef Brisket

It works here. The brisket is tender, moist and flavorful. The only caveat is that you have to like mesquite flavor. Other than that you will look hard to find a better tasting brisket.

Baby Back Ribs

The ribs are glazed with the barbecue sauce. You tell the server which sauce you prefer. Apparently, our order got mixed up because Sharon asked for the regular barbecue sauce, but they came with the chipotle-cherry glaze. With her pepper allergy Sharon’s mouth lasted exactly one rib. Aside from them being too spicy for Sharon they were basically acceptable, not the meatiest but they were tender and not the least bit stringy. If these were typical their cooking method does not do that well with baby back ribs. As I said they were acceptable but not great.

Beef Ribs

Very good beef ribs. They were lightly glazed, meaty, not stringy and with excellent mesquite smoke flavor. If you like beef it’s worth ordering a beef rib platter.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

We decided to try one of their seasonal cheesecakes. The pumpkin cheesecake came in what was supposed to be an individual serving. It was a six inch diameter round on a bed of caramel sauce and topped with glazed pecans and a dollop of whipped cream. It was rich enough for four servings. We ate half of it and took the rest home.

They have their own unique way of doing it, but is it barbecue? Judging by the crowds and the fact that they have expanded to fourteen locations since 1992 I would think that great many people say yes. I have to agree that while it doesn’t work for all meats is does for most and it tastes like barbecue. The sides left something to be desired that night, but I have had far worse and we have been there before and the sides were better. Is this a chain restaurant with a formula? Yes, but they have found a formula for a carnivore’s delight. We give it eight and a half

The Barbecue Company

THIS PLACE IS GONE!

“Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”

--- Anthony Bourdon

THE BARBECUE COMPANY

3807 Santa Claus Lane

Carpentaria, CA 93013

805-684-2209

12:00 PM to 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM Wednesday and Thursday

12:00 PM to Close    Friday, Saturday, Sunday

http://thebarbecuecompany.net/

We drove up to the Santa Cruz area with our daughter and a friend for a family Thanksgiving celebration.  That went well and we planned to stop at the Barbecue Company for our evening meal on the drive back.  Driving through Castroville we noticed the Central Texan Barbecue and were very tempted to stop for lunch, but decided to put that on the list for a future stop.  We did make a few stops along the way, a vegetable stand for artichokes in Castroville (the artichoke capitol of the world according to the sign), a pottery shop named The Pot Stop that Sharon was fascinated with in Moss Landing when she spotted a large ceramic dinosaur and two of our favorite wineries in Paso Robles.  This put us in Carpentaria at 7:00 PM.

Now this was somewhat hazardous since The Barbecue Company closes, on weekends, when they run out of que or customers, whichever comes first.  When you get off the South bound 101 at the Santa Claus Lane off ramp after dark you would think that you had exited the off ramp in the middle of nowhere.  (You can check out this link if you don’t know where the name comes from Santa Claus Lane History )  Just jog to the right as you cross the street (From the North bound off ramp you have to go left under the freeway and make another left.) and continue down the unlighted beach road until you come to the shops on the beach.  In the middle of this small group of shops you will find the Barbecue Company with a sign in the middle of the roof that modestly proclaims that it is the world’s best barbecue.

Inside is exposed brick and warm wood with artwork and neon that gives you the impression that you have entered a blues club.  They did have live bands there but it became a bit too rowdy so now they have DVD’s of blues and classic rock playing on their big screen TVs.  This is a pleasant change from the sports channels you see at most places.  Our server was very busy, (It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and everyone else had “called in”, so he had been working since 11:00 AM.) but quite quick and efficient and after seating us, he took our drink order.  To get a good sampling of the que we ordered two Combination Platter No. 2s with three meat selections.  Sharon had one with Tri-Tip, Baby Back Ribs and Barbecued Beef Ribs, and I had one with Pulled Pork, Chicken and Sausage.  Sharon’s sides were Macaroni and Cheese and Baked Beans with Burnt Ends.   Mine were Famous Coleslaw and Rustic Creamy Corn and Cheddar.  Our traveling companion ordered a Brisket platter with Macaroni and Cheese with Famous Coleslaw as sides.  Since we have been here before and knew how generous their portions were our daughter shared off our combination platters.   We also ordered a basket of Hushpuppies as an appetizer and a Banana Bread Pudding with cinnamon ice cream for dessert.  Our server brought the sauce rack with mustard, catsup and the four sauces served here.  One sauce is a conventional, St Louis style sauce, another is a spicy sauce which one might call Texas with a touch of Mexican, also a Kentucky style sauce and a South Carolina style mustard based sauce.  The meats are done with a dry rub and served dry.  You sauce to your taste.

Hushpuppies

My daughter and I enjoyed them.  Sharon and our traveling companion did not because, like most hushpuppies you are served in California, they had peppers in them.  They were a bit dense compared to hushpuppies I have had in the South, but have a good corn flavor.  They are served with a ranch style dressing for dipping rather than the traditional honey.

Brisket

The brisket slices were the length of the platter, which caused our traveling companion to remark on the supposed size of the cow.  The slices glistened with moisture and showed a perfect smoke ring, indicating proper smoking.  Taste does not disappoint with the subtle hickory flavor of the smoke complementing the flavor of a great piece of meat.  (Yes, that sounded a little pretentious, but the brisket deserved it.)

Sausage

I ordered a hot link.  It was.  I was a bit dubious about the presentation since it was sliced up and deposited on the platter between the pulled pork and the chicken, but it was surprisingly good.  Not what Sharon would call a tonsil scorcher, but it has a heat that builds after the bite but does not have an overlong after bite.   I didn’t ask if this was an in-house or commercial sausage, but either way it is a good one if you like hot links.

Tri-Tip

It was smoked but finished on the grill.  I was a bit disappointed with this since I had ordered it here before and I remember it being near perfect.  While it had a good flavor seemed a little dry and was a bit chewy.  I suspect it would have been better earlier in the day.  Still, the leftovers sliced, warmed and served in a burrito were very satisfying.

Barbecued Beef Ribs

A platter of these ribs would have been sufficient for a trip up here from North Hollywood.  They are meaty, perfectly smoked, quite tender, and not the least bit stringy.  They are also great a couple of days later as a leftover.  In short, these are killer ribs.  A ten!

Baby Back Ribs

You’ve seen me write that Baby Back Ribs should not disappoint.  These don’t.  While not quite the direct hit that the beef ribs were, they were still tender, meaty and flavorful.  The hickory flavor and the rub do not overwhelm the pork itself.  The word is succulent.  I have had better, but not by much.

Pulled Pork

I’ve had pulled pork in the South and this is about as good as any you would get there.  It was moist, and complimented by the hickory smoke.  The South Carolina style barbecue sauce goes perfectly with it.  If I happen to be in the area at lunch time I will definitely try to get here for a Pulled Pork Sandwich.  I didn’t get a chance to make a sandwich with the leftovers since I ate it all.

Chicken

OK, it’s chicken done right.  It’s not dry, and has a great smoked flavor.   The serving is a quarter chicken and they ask if you prefer white or dark meat.  I had a breast and a wing.   Since it is served dry I could try the kitty test with the leftovers.  It passed.

Macaroni and Cheese

There are two schools of thought on macaroni and cheese, the baked style and the pasta in sauce style.  Normally, I would prefer the baked style with barbecue.  This is the pasta in sauce style, but what a sauce!  You are served al dente macaroni in the most amazingly smooth blended cheese sauce.  You have to try this to believe it.

Baked Beans with Burnt Ends

Someone has found a really great way to serve burnt ends.  You have not overly burnt ends with firm beans in a very tasty sauce.  Not one of those baked bean preparations that you could make a meal of, but a really great accompaniment to a platter of ribs or brisket.

Rustic Cream Corn and Cheddar

A surprising combination of creamed corn and cheddar cheese, this is another side that makes a perfect accompaniment to barbecued meat.  It’s probably incredibly fattening, but you’re eating barbecue…who cares?!!

Famous Coleslaw

If you like a creamy, mayonnaise dressing coleslaw you will probably think that it should be famous.  It’s sweet, but not overly sweet, and a little wet to my taste.  Although I prefer the vinaigrette dressing coleslaw if drained a little this will probably go well with the pulled pork in a sandwich.

Banana Bread Pudding

Desserts here are much more than you would expect at the typical barbecue place.  This one is bread pudding made with banana bread, a remarkable thing by itself, but it is served with a scoop of cinnamon flavored ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce.  It’s big, and the four of us shared it.  There wasn’t anything left.

Is this the world’s best barbecue?  Well, no, but it is a contender, and not at all what you would expect to find in what is essentially a beachside strip mall.  It stands with much more expensive and much more famous barbecue restaurants and definitely comes under the heading of a destination barbecue restaurant.  We give it between an eight and a half and a nine.

Rib Ranch Bar-B-Que

"Food for thought is no substitute for the real thing."

--Walt Kelly

RIB RANCH BAR-B-QUE

 

4923 Topanga Canyon Boulevard

Woodland Hills, CA 91364

818-884-7776

11:00 AM to 9 PM Monday through Saturday

11:00 AM to 8 PM Sunday

http://www.bbqribranch.com/

 It was a dark and stormy night.  We found that our intended dining spot, a regional chain barbecue restaurant, had people waiting to get in despite the rain.  Although this should be a good sign about the que we did not feel like standing outside in the rain for forty-five minutes so we went on to find other barbecue.  This was a real safari.  We drove on through the damp night, with no computer or smart phone to search the internet for likely spots, peering into every strip mall and block of businesses they passed looking for a telltale sign of barbecue.  It was fun and we both smiled inwardly knowing that, at last, we would have a legitimate reason to write something with that first sentence.

We were headed down Topanga Boulevard when I remembered that a friend told us that she used to go to a neighborhood barbecue place a short distance below “The Boulevard” (Ventura Boulevard for those of you who don’t know the Valley.) when she lived in the area as a teenager.  The decision was made to see if it was still there.  Fortunately, we both have the directional patience born of sports car rallying experience since the short distance turned out to be the second signal below “The Boulevard” where a neighborhood business area blossoms out of a residential area.  There we found the Rib Ranch Bar-B-Que.

It is a low building that appears as though it might have been a house and a garage at some time in the distant past.  Behind the low wall that surrounds the property is a dining patio, unused on this rainy night.  A walk, between the building and the patio, leads to the front entrance.  There you find a takeout window, in front of the kitchen, with a small seating area made up of site built, tongue and groove board booths.  You could, I suppose eat here, but continuing down the walk you come to a white door that leads to an inside dining room.  The room is rather pleasant, larger than it looks and is outfitted with wooden chairs and tables and a fireplace not in use this cold and rainy night. It is done in what could be called ranch house restaurant style from the ‘60s and ‘70s with bits of cowboy memorabilia and harness tack hanging from the walls.

We entered at the front, but when the girl at the takeout window found we wanted to eat there she handed us a couple of menus and directed us to the dining room.  There were several other parties in the room and we selected a table for two (or three with one of the extra chairs available) that was in the corner of the room under the big screen TV that was, as expected, tuned to a sports channel. Sitting under a television in a restaurant gave me the odd feeling that everyone in the room was looking at me, but since we were there for the que I just sucked it up.

To get our usual sampling of the que we chose Rib Ranch Two-Step combo platters.  According to the menu Step 1 is to choose a meat from Eastern Baby Back Pork Ribs, Black Angus Beef Ribs, Chicken, Tri-Tip, or Hot Links.  Step 2 is to choose another different meat to go with your first.  Actually, it’s three steps since you still have to choose your two sides.  The menu is a bit more limited than some other barbecue places since there is no pulled pork, and the sides do not include mac and cheese or greens.  There is also a limited selection of beers and wine.  Sharon chose Eastern Baby Back Ribs and Chicken with Steak Fries and BBQ Baked Beans.  I chose Black Angus Beef Ribs and Tri-Tip with Creamy Coleslaw and Potato Salad.  I also ordered an a la carte Louisiana Hot Link.  We also decided to try some desserts.  Sharon had the Apple Cobbler and I had a slice of Pecan Pie.

Our cheerful server, with a Rib Ranch Crew T-shirt, came to take our drink and food orders.  After the orders were taken she put little basket with a couple of warm corn muffins and a couple of butter patties on the table.  The food arrived on paper plates with plastic flatware.  The quantity was generous but Sharon could not see the chicken since the ribs were piled on top of them.  On my plate, the Ribs were obscured by the Tri-Tip piled on top of them.  Sharon admits to being a bit of a tableware snob and has a tough time dealing with barbecue that is served on paper plates in an indoor dining room.  As far as the flatware is concerned, if you don’t eat it with your fingers meat deserves metal.

Corn Muffins

The corn muffins were warm and the butter patties were ice cold.  Since these were freshly made, from a mix, corn muffins that don’t have the density to stand up to butter, the combination didn’t quite work. The muffins, even though basic and from a mix (They taste like they were made from a mix I have used myself.) they were flavorful and would have made a good appetizer if the butter had been softer.

Steak Fries

How do you mess up fries?  Don’t cook them enough.   The first one Sharon bit into was practically raw.  The whole bunch was underdone.  They were not the hot and crispy fries one hopes for in a barbeque restaurant.  We pointed this out to the server later and she made one of our desserts free.

Creamy Coleslaw

For a simple cabbage and carrot slaw with a creamy dressing it was quite pleasant.  No reach here but tasty and certainly better than the slaw at most family picnics.

BBQ Baked Beans

Another solid miss, the beans were cold and mealy tasting.  This was another reason for a free dessert. They were sweet with a distinct tomato/brown sugar flavor but even if they had been properly hot they would have been a bit bland.

Potato Salad

This was a simple, competent potato salad.  It definitely seems made in house, with decent sized potato chunks, a little onion for tang, possibly some celery for crunch, a creamy dressing, and a dusting of cayenne.  This is not exceptional, but better than most.

Louisiana Hot Link

Commercial hot links can sometimes be a hit or miss proposition.  This one was not a solid miss but off the mark.  It was a Farmer John brand link that was split and cooked on a charring grill.  The link was not mealy, and definitely not a tonsil scorcher…not even an after bite, but has an odd combination of spices that Sharon found acceptable but seemed to me to have an odd soapy aftertaste.  This wasn’t a great one.

Eastern Baby Back Pork Ribs

The pork ribs were reasonably meaty and had a smoky taste but were actually a bit stringy.  This is something you don’t expect from pork ribs.  The smoke flavor was from the Mesquite charcoal that they use here.  Mesquite is not one of my favorite smoke flavors and charcoal leaves, in my opinion, a somewhat over smoked taste.  The ribs, apparently, had sauce on them when they were cooked, but did not have too much sauce on them so avoided the burned on sauce effect you sometimes find when they are cooked that way.  By the way, the sauce here is quite good.

Tri-Tip

The slices had grill marks on the side, but did have a smoky flavor.  It seems that they were smoked and then finished on a char grill.  It was a little chewy but had good flavor even if you don’t like Mesquite.  I could have had a plate of this or a Tri-Tip Sandwich and been quite satisfied.

Chicken

Probably because it was raining and the smoker is outside in the back the chicken seemed to have been baked in the kitchen oven and finished on the char grill.  It was done through but a bit dry. 

Black Angus Beef Ribs

These were done the same way as the pork ribs.  While meaty, they were a bit stringy.  The beef flavor stands up to the Mesquite smoke better than the pork and the beef ribs were more flavorful. 

Apple Cobbler

A single serving cobbler served in the aluminum baking tin it was baked in it was not too sweet.  The handmade crust was not short enough, and was not baked before it was filled, which made it a little tough on the sides and soggy on the bottom.  The crumbles on top were a bit too intensely cinnamon flavored which overwhelmed the delicate apple filling a bit.  With a little more work and this one could be outstanding.

Pecan Pie

Many years ago I had a pecan pie at Christy’s in Austin, Texas that defined pecan pie for me.  This wasn’t close, but few pecan pies are, and as pies go it wasn’t bad.  It was an in-house made filling in a commercial, machine made crust.  There’s nothing wrong with a good machine made crust.  We use them at home all the time.  The filling was not overly sweet or sticky.  It was a competent Pecan Pie.

When we write a post about a barbecue restaurant we have visited it is what it is.  We tell you what our experience was on that particular day, how the food tasted to us, how the ambiance felt, and how we were served.  Admittedly, someone can have a bad day, especially in the restaurant business.  Both of us have worked in food service and know just how than can go.  You are working with materials of variable quality from day to day.  Restaurant kitchens are literally very hot places, both in terms of the speed required, the tensions created, and the personalities involved.  You would expect a barbeque place to be more laid back, but that’s not the nature of the business.  I’ve been in restaurants where the chef quit in the middle of the dinner hour…where we waited for our check because no one in the back room told us that our server had been injured in the kitchen and been taken to the hospital… and worse.  If you think things get hectic in your family kitchen on Thanksgiving Day you’ve never worked in food service.  So if we seem a bit critical in our opinions it’s because we’ve been there. 

Knowing this we don’t want to seem to be overly negative about a place that has been a neighborhood fixture for 40 some odd years.  But, the fact is we left the Rib Ranch Bar-B-Que feeling unsatisfied.  The staff was cheerful and efficient, but the food, on that night was not what it could have been.  Based on that experience we give it a 6.5.  To their credit, our server knew we were unsatisfied and asked us to come back and give them another chance.  We probably will.

Ribs USA

“The way you cut your meat reflects the way you live.”

---Confucius

RIBS USA

2711 West Olive Avenue

Burbank, CA 91505

818-841-8872

818-841-6769 FAX

11:00 AM to 9:00 PM     Monday – Thursday, Sunday

11:00 AM to 10:00 PM   Friday – Saturday

http://www.ribsusabbq.com/

Dining here could give you a new slant on life.  Which way depends on which side of the table you are sitting on.  It looks as though the dine-in area of Ribs USA was originally an open air, covered patio and the concrete floor slants for drainage.  When you walk in you are facing the take out counter at the end of the kitchen.  The dine-in area is through a door to the right.  There is a mixture of tables and site-built, plywood booths.  When we slid into our booth the server cautioned us, I think only half in jest, to watch for splinters.  A few neon beer advertising signs are the only concession to any kind of barbeque joint style.  The dining room has a self-service drink dispenser and a non-self-service bar that serves beer and wine.  They used to have a self-service peanut bin, but that is gone.  In fact, the first thing we noticed when we entered was that there were no peanut shells on the floor.  There are fewer places doing the peanut appetizer thing these days, we suspect because one slip and fall suit could ruin your standing with your insurance company.

Our server, Donna, came promptly and cheerfully took our order.  If you don’t order beer or wine the response to your drink order to present you with a plastic cup.  The menu is both sides of a page laminated in plastic.  One side has the burgers, sandwiches, salads and fries and the other the barbeque.  It exhibits a certain amount of humor.  One of the rib specials, a pound of rib tips with sides, is called “Glad It’s Knight & the Tips”.  They have no dessert items on the menu.  Combos are selected using the “Chinese Restaurant Method”, using Column A and Column B. To get our selection we chose a Column A combo of Baby Back Ribs, and Tri-Tip with BBQ Baked Beans, Macaroni and Cheese and Garlic Bread.  The Column B combo was BBQ Chicken and Pulled Pork with sides of Cole Slaw, Collard Greens and a Corn Muffin.  I also ordered an a la carte Hot Link and Potato Salad.  The Garlic Bread and Corn Muffins arrived first.  The rest of the food arrived in quickly and in surprisingly large quantities.  This is another one of those places where you have to be specific about ordering the sauce on the side if you really want to taste the meat before it is sauced.  Otherwise, the meat arrives covered with a quite pleasant, sweet, tangy sauce that obscures the true flavor of the meat.  Don’t get me wrong, this sauce is good applied sparingly.

Garlic Bread

We’ll start here since this arrived first.  There is nothing spectacular about this version of garlic bread.   A sandwich roll was sliced lengthwise, the two halves were spread with garlic butter and it was put under a broiler or a salamander.  This was then cut crosswise into several pieces and put on a plate.  Let’s just say that presentation is very basic here.  Simple as it was it tasted good, and more importantly to Sharon, not burned.

Corn Muffins

Two warm muffins were presented on a plate with a couple of sealed butter pats.  I think they actually make these here, but I suspect they are from a mix.  They are sweet and reasonably moist, but quite crumbly and don’t stand up to the butter.  When warm, Sharon found them to have a slightly fishy aftertaste.  Cold they were acceptable…just.

Macaroni and Cheese

This was unacceptable.  The pasta was mushy and the cheese sauce was mealy and bland.  I suspect that this may have been a bottom of the batch situation similar to that at the Swingn’ Door last week.  It was definitely over cooked or over baked.   

BBQ Beans

They were the conventional baked beans in a sweet tomato based sauce that reminded Sharon of the Campbell’s baked beans of her childhood and every picnic you’ve ever been to.  Okay, but we’ve definitely had better and more innovative versions.

Collard Greens

I don’t know how they do these greens, but these were just plain nasty.  Preparations like this are what turns people off of greens.  They were undercooked and the seasoning was indifferent.  Perhaps made by someone who has no idea what authentic greens are supposed to taste like.

Cole Slaw

This was a competent, conventional, creamy dressing cabbage and carrot slaw.  It was not too wet and quite acceptable.  It is not exceptional, but probably goes well on a pulled pork sandwich and is worth taking any leftover home.

Potato Salad

Another potato salad that is basic, simple, competently done, but doesn’t attempt any new culinary heights.  It is also worth taking any leftover home.

BBQ Chicken

This portion was half of a quite plump chicken with noticeable grill marks on the skin.   It was done right, moist and tender, with a subtly smoke flavor.  The flavor is so subtle that you can’t really tell what kind of wood or wood chips they used.   I had the feeling that it was done in a restaurant style smoking cabinet with a pan of wood chips in the bottom.  Nothing here tastes like it was done in a real, wood fired, smoker.  This is not a negative for this chicken.  One of their entrée selections is a Half BBQ Chicken with two sides and garlic bread or corn muffin.  I can see coming here just for that entrée with Cole Slaw, Potato Salad and Garlic Bread.

Baby Back Ribs

We have often said that Baby Back Ribs should not disappoint.  Unfortunately, these do.  They are reasonably meaty, and while not falling-off-the-bone tender are tender to the tooth.  The flavor is lacking, with only the barest hint of smoke and way too bland to stand up to the sauce.  They may have been par-boiled before going into the smoker.  This isn’t what you expect from a place that has Ribs in their name.

Tri-Tip

I say that it’s hard to mess up a good piece of tri-tip and this is one of those that proves the point.  It’s a good piece of meat, reasonably juicy and the slices are thick enough but suspiciously have grill marks on the side.  The feeling you get is that it’s grilled tri-tip with barbecue sauce on it.  It’s tasty, certainly edible, but just doesn’t seem to be barbecue.

Pulled Pork

I’ve had Memphis pulled pork, Georgia pulled pork, and Texas pulled pork so I have certain expectations of pulled pork.  If I had been told that I was getting Carnitas and not Pulled Pork I would have thought this was pretty good but lacking even the traditional citrus, herbs and spices expected of authentic carnitas.  Enough said.

Hot Link

This is an average commercial hot link that was sliced lengthwise and grilled, then covered with sauce.  It has a decent blend of spices with a slight after bite, and while not a tonsil scorcher, you will feel it on the tongue.  This particular link was a tad over grilled and was a bit dry.

I’ve been told that when this place first opened it was “Robbie’s Rib Cage”.  Those who have been around in Burbank long enough to remember it say that it was better as Robbie’s then it has been since Ribs USA  took over.  There seems to have been some changes in management under Ribs USA.  We have been here a few times in the last several years and the quality of the que has had its ups and downs.  Last night was one of the downs.  The staff here is cheerful and quick.  We just think that the que should be exceptional with a name like Ribs USA.  It’s edible but just average.  Unless we are with someone who insists on going there we will probably not be back.  We give it a five.

Swingin' Door Texas BBQ

“Fettuccini Alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults.”

--- Mitch Hedberg

 

SWINGIN’ DOOR TEXAS BBQ

11018 Vanowen Street

North Hollywood, CA 91605

818-763-8996

Monday through Thursday 11:00 AM to 8:30 PM….. or until they run out of meat

Friday through Sunday 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM…….. or until they run out of meat

 

http://swingindoortexasbbq.com/

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Be very alert the first time you visit the Swingin’ Door Texas BBQ because in spite of the signage, if you are driving fast on Vanowen, you will pass it.  It is something of a structural afterthought added to the side of another restaurant (Serrano, Mediterranean Cafe) and fronts on the back of a gas station parking lot.  One of the few parking spaces out front is occupied by a smoker trailer, with a genuine Texas license plate.  I don’t think that it has been used for a competition or a party lately since it had a flat tire.

This is a small barbeque place.  When I say small, I mean that inside it has a walk up order counter in front of the kitchen and seating for about twenty-four people.  There are also four tables outside in front.  To the left of the counter there is a soft drink cooler, and a table with what seems to be every hot sauce known to man, and containers from which you pick your real, metal flatware.  On the other side there are a couple of dispensers for other soft drinks.  Cloth table cloths are protected by heavy clear plastic.  There are paper towel holders on the tables, something that seems to have no relationship to the size of the barbeque place but usually indicates that the que is above average.

With a place this small is seems reasonable that most of the orders were to go.  Indeed, there seemed a steady stream of go orders during the dinner hour while we were there.  The two girls in the kitchen were taking phone orders, serving in-house orders and go orders, and bussing tables.  In other words they were working their butts off, but still seemed cheerful.

Getting a good sample of the que was a bit of a problem since the menu above the order counter is not quite comprehensive.  The take out menu is more complete and if you have any questions about what you don’t see on the menu, for example no combos with pulled pork, just ask.  They try to be accommodating.  (There are three Make Your Own Plate selections on the "to go" menu.)  We ordered a Baby Backs and Spare Ribs Combo with Mac & Cheese with BBQ Baked Beans and The Sampler Plate with Sausage, Chicken Breast, Brisket, and Baby Back Ribs with Coleslaw, Potato Salad and a dinner roll.  We also ordered a side order of Corn Bread.  For dessert we ordered a Deep Fried Twinkie and Lemonade Pudding.

Dinner Roll

This was one of those wonderful standard restaurant dinner rolls that we have found at several places in the Valley.  I had seen them so many times that it finally hit me that all these restaurants were buying them, not baking them.  So I asked.  One of the girls told me that they were buying them from a bakery in Van Nuys.  She didn’t have the name, but I will find out where they get them just to see if they sell them to non-commercial customers. 

Corn Bread

Another purchased item I have seen in other places.  These corn muffins are not a home run.  They are a tasty seeded corn bread, but tend to be a little dry and not quite firm enough to stand up to butter unless it is really soft.

Potato Salad

This is made here, not out of a box from a restaurant supply.  They are creamy, but the potato chunks are discrete, and have a slight touch of mustard.  No attempt to reach any new flavor heights here, just a pleasant, competent, potato salad.

Coleslaw

Again, no culinary heights attempted, just a competent coleslaw…cream style and not too wet.  I’ll have to come back and try a Pulled Pork sandwich with this.

Mac & Cheese

This is a long story.  As it was served it was dry, with a somewhat congealed, floury texture to the cheese sauce, and the pasta was a little tough.  This was definitely a sub-standard mac and cheese.  After the meal we went out back to look at the smoker, a double ended affair with a fire box in the middle that resembled an old Fairlie style steam locomotive.  The owner was out back with a food consultant.  We engaged them in a nice conversation and told them who we were. 

The owner asked what negatives we found and one of the things we mentioned was our disappointment in the mac & cheese.  He was very surprised and told us that this was probably from the end of a batch and the girls should have made a fresh batch before this was served.   After a while, he excused himself, and some minutes later one of the girls came out and gave us a go container with some fresh mac & cheese.  We immediately sampled it when we got home and had it with dinner the following night. 

The difference was, as they say, night and day.  Freshly made this mac and cheese is rich and creamy with al dente pasta.  It is a conventional mac and cheese but tasty and thoroughly satisfying.  You can bet that serving from the bottom of the batch is one mistake they won’t make again.

BBQ Baked Beans

These are a conventional presentation of beans done with a sweet tomato based sauce with navy beans and bits of pork.  It is simple, basic and very pleasant.

Baby Back Ribs

It’s amazing the different impressions you can get from a dish depending on how it is served.  The meat was served already sauced, and the sauce was a little too much - literally.  All the meat was swimming in it.  It was sweet with a peppery after bite that I didn’t mind, but was just a tad bit much for Sharon.  Unfortunately, the amount of sauce masked the individual flavors of the meat.  With the sauce wiped off, literally with a piece of paper towel, the Baby Back Ribs were a delight.  They use white oak here, which does not give the distinctive sharpness of red oak smoke, and while the meat is thoroughly smoked, its use here is subtle.  This is a deliberate attempt by the pit boss (the owner) to use smoke as a seasoning in addition to the individual rubs used on each cut of meat.  These ribs were not falling off the bone tender but tender to the tooth and had great taste.

St Louis Cut Pork Spare Ribs

These were falling of the bone tender, and once the sauce was wiped off, had a great flavor of their own.  Well worth ordering.  Just ask for the meat to be “dry” with the sauce on the side.

Smoked Sausage

It’s a smoked sausage and that’s about it.  It’s a decent commercial sausage, not great, but not bad.  Oddly enough, this is one thing that is not affected by being over-sauced.   Let’s be completely fair, it’s not made here, they buy it.  However, in the discussion we had with the owner and the food consultant they did mention that they are experimenting with sausage recipes.  It will be interesting to see the results of their experiments.

Brisket

Without the sauce you can taste that this is brisket made by someone who knows one end of the smoker from the other.  Tender and flavorful, it is worth buying by the pound.

Tri-Tip

This was tender, juicy, not sliced too thinly, and somewhat different done with white oak and not the traditional California red.  Once again, this is enjoyable, after the sauce is wiped off.

Chicken Breast

The chicken is done through, flavorful and moist.  No negatives once the sauce was off.  I know you are tired of hearing about it so just make sure that the sauce is on the side.

Deep Fried Twinkie

They also have Deep Fried Oreos.  We thought it would be fun since it sounded like LA County Fair food.  (Actually, Bacon wrapped, deep fried Oreos, dipped in chocolate would be real LA County Fair food.)  The Twinkie was battered, put in the fryer, drained, put on a plate, and drizzled with chocolate sauce.  How did it taste?  Well, it was sweet fun.

Lemonade Pudding

Unfortunately, they had run out.  The substitution was a free slice of an experimental cheesecake with a chocolate cookie and graham cracker crust made by the owner’s neice.  We were told that she likes to experiment with various desserts and brings in the fruits of her labors.  This tasted rich and creamy enough that I wonder that it would be commercially viable.  With a little polishing, if this recipe doesn’t cost too much it will be a great addition to the menu.

This was an interesting experience.  The excellent efforts in the smoker were almost spoiled by way it was served.  The owner assured us that the girls were supposed to serve the sauce on the side.  I get the feeling that he emphatically reinforced this after our conversation.  I hope that the girls are still talking to me after this post.   The food consultant disclosed that the current owner bought the restaurant only three years ago and is still experimenting with the menu.  However, they obviously already know what they are doing with the smoker.  Considering how many different meats they do this double ended “locomotive” probably runs twenty-four hours a day.  If we had to give the Swingin’ Door Texas BBQ a rating based on the way the que was actually served we would give them a seven.  Based on the way it tasted with the sauce off we would give it an eight.  This is still a work in process and based on our conversation with the owner and his food consultant we expect fine things coming from here as they work it out.   This “newbie” on the barbeque scene is one to definitely keep in mind when you are hunting for something delectable in barbeque to eat.   We’ll be back!