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!