Hollywood Way Barbecue, Bar and Grill

"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food."
--- W.C. Fields


THE HOLLYWOOD WAY BARBECUE, BAR AND GRILL

1333 N. Hollywood Way

Burbank, CA 91505

818-845-4400

11:00 AM to 12:00 AM        Monday through Thursday

11:00 AM to 2:00 AM          Friday

9:00 AM to 2:00 AM            Saturday

11:00 AM to 10:00 AM        Sunday

http://thehollywoodwaybbq.com

Oh the things we endure for our readers.  You have no idea.  If you go to The Hollywood Way Barbecue Bar and Grill you will.

The first impression is that you have walked into a dive bar.  When you walk into a real dive bar you can smell it.  In this case there is no smell, the appearance is deliberate…the décor is restaurant designer dive bar.  It’s dark on the bar side and darkish on the restaurant side.  Beyond doubt, this place is primarily a sports bar.  About one third of it is simply bar and the other two thirds is restaurant with a couple of large card tables instead of the usual sports bar pool tables.  Now this surprised Sharon who was born and raised in Burbank when the only place it was legal to dance in the town was at the American Legion Hall (and maybe at the VFW Hall.)  But, playing cards in public in a bar?  Unthinkable!  Burbank is not quite that conservative now.  The seating in the restaurant is a mix of various height pub tables and booths.  There are ten flat screen TVs in the restaurant side alone tuned to three different sports channels.  There are three more in the bar along with a sound system playing head banging rock loud enough to keep you from thinking.  That was not nearly as annoying as the fact that some parents had parked their kids in front of a TV on the restaurant side while they partied in the bar or played poker at the gaming tables.

There is no hostess and a sign just inside the door invites you to seat yourself.  The servers were very busy but managed to be bright, cheerful and reasonably quick.  As soon as we had selected a table and seated ourselves our server arrived with menus and to take our drink orders.

The menu is a laminated sheet done in a type style meant to look like a page typed on both sides.  Whoever wrote this tried to do it in an entertainment industry style but couldn’t decide if they wanted to go movies or live theater.  For example, the side dishes are referred  to as “Out Takes” but the main courses are called “Center Stage”.  The menu has appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, and barbecue.  Some of the appetizers show the same mix of Mexican and barbecue that is popular at some Southern California barbecue places such as pulled pork nachos or barbecue pulled pork or pulled chicken quesadillas.

We each ordered a Hollywood’s BBQ Combo Platter, Sharon’s with Baby Back Ribs and Tri-tip and mine with Half Chicken and Pulled Pork.  I also ordered an a la carte hot link.  Our “Out Takes” were BBQ Baked Beans, Coleslaw, Mac-N- Cheese, and Potato Salad.  All this came with Texas Toast.

Mac-N- Cheese

The sauce was made with real cheese and quite creamy.  The pasta, simple macaroni, was al dente.  And, it was quite tasteless.  How do they do that?  We don’t know.  Even salt and pepper couldn’t save it.

BBW Baked Beans

This is a concoction of beans that are overcooked and mushy, a sauce, small bits of processed ham, and large chunks of green bell pepper.  I can’t tell you what the sauce tastes like or how well the ham works in it because the whole thing is overwhelmed by the bell peppers.

Potato Salad

Definitely over mixed, this potato salad is also mushy.  It has red bell peppers and onions in it with some of the onion pieces being rather large.  Salt and pepper improved it a bit but not much. 

Coleslaw

This is a great mixture for coleslaw, two different kinds of cabbage, onions, carrots and what tastes like apple.  The creamy, mayonnaise style dressing is not too thick and the slaw is not drowning in it.  The only negative is that it seemed to be at about the end of its service life when served.

Tri-tip

The tri-tip portion on the plate was generous, looked properly sliced, and had a good looking smoke ring.  Reality was another matter as it was a bit dry, tough and overcooked to the point of tastelessness.  This is California and it’s disappointing to find the distinctively regional type of barbecue done poorly.  The sauce ladled on it gave it the only moisture and helped a little to make it somewhat palatable, but not much.

Baby Back Ribs

I have said in the past that baby back ribs should not disappoint.  These, unfortunately, disappoint.  They were not exactly tasteless, but were dry and chewier that baby backs have a right to be.  The sauce caked on them gave them some flavor but didn’t help with the dryness.

Pulled Pork

The description in the menu calls it Carolina style pulled pork.  It doesn’t taste Carolina style.  In fact it doesn’t have much taste at all.  Not only that, but the sauce served with it seemed more St Louis than Carolina.  Sometimes when you have leftovers the flavors develop further after a day or two.  Not with this, a pulled pork sandwich made with the leftover was still flat.

Half Chicken

Someone back there knows how to do something right.  There is nothing wrong with this chicken.  The chicken here is moist, tender, done through, and has a wonderful smoky flavor.  If I come here again I will order the chicken.

Hot Link

Hot it’s not.  It tasted like it was a Hillshire Farms Kielbasa from the Smart and Final across the street.  It’s not what anyone would expect from a hot link.

This place should work.  The idea is cute.  It’s in a media town and near enough to the media district to attract an up market clientele, which were certainly not in evidence the night we visited.  And, the menu has an attractive selection of items.  So, what happened?   My guess is that the food became the right stuff done wrong, the clientele became less upscale, and the place became more bar than barbecue.  Considering the food and the whole experience we debated whether or not to give it a five or a six and after deliberating decided to give it a five.