THIS PLACE IS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT AND HAS BEEN RENAIMED! We have re-reviewed
See post on Muddle & Twist July 2019
“Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power,
has that ability to comfort.”
---
Norman Kolpas
THE
KANSAS CITY BBQ COMPANY - NORTH
HOLLYWOOD
10863
Magnolia Blvd
North
Hollywood, CA 91601
818-754-0030
11:00 AM to 10:30
PM All Days
I’ll have to admit that Sharon and I approached dinner here
with a bit of apprehension. We had been
here before, with friends, a couple of years ago. It was one of the worst barbecue experiences
we have ever had. I won’t go into
detail, but if we had been writing a blog then the rating would have been
abysmal. We drove by the place the other
day and noticed that the strip mall it was in had been remodeled, they were
still there, and they seemed to have customers.
We decided to give them another chance.
This version of the Kansas City BBQ is in a strip mall on
Magnolia Blvd. near the edge of the part of North Hollywood that has become the
NoHo Arts District. The old downtown
area of North Hollywood is undergoing a gentrification process and the strip
mall where the barbecue is located is no exception. The whole façade of the roughly “L” shaped
floor plan building has been redone with pale green and white tile and black
art deco lettering. The foot of the “L”
is a sports bar with the barbecue dining room and kitchen being the first
storefront in the stem of the “L” with a connecting doorway to the bar. There is also a small patio outside for al
fresco dining which was not being used this cold, rainy and blustery night. The restaurant portion is rather small and we
suspect that the majority of their business is takeout. The interior has not changed with the front. You know they are using California oak for
smoking since the rick of wood is along the wall just inside the door. The order counter is a faux roadside stand
flanked by a soft drink dispenser on one side and the dining room on the
other. The small dining room has wall
paper intended to look like the inside of a log cabin. There are large screen TVs mounted at the
ceiling in three corners of the dining room of course, tuned to sports
channels. This night, since there is no
football left except the Super Bowl next weekend, they were tuned to some sort
of “ultimate fight” contest. So not
appetizing. Tables are covered with red
and white checked oilcloth table cloths and have salt and pepper shakers and
napkin dispensers on them.
The chalkboard menu is somewhat limited but long on barbecue
and short on sides. We ordered combo
plates with a choice of three meats and two sides. Sharon ordered Baby Back Ribs, Chopped
Chicken and Brisket with French Fries and Baked Beans for sides. I ordered Pulled Pork, Beef Ribs, and Hot
Links with Coleslaw and Potato Salad as sides.
We also ordered a Banana Pudding for dessert. The food arrived promptly in paper lined
plastic baskets, accompanied by slices of white bread with the sides, except
the fries, were in single serving go cups.
Since we ordered our choices “dry”, the server also brought a plastic
bottle of their regular barbeque sauce and one of their spicy barbeque sauce.
French Fries
These were nice, thick, steak fries. They came out hot and crisp, not at all
underdone…steak fries done right.
Baked Beans
Here we have baked beans that someone put some thought
into. The sauce is a bit thin, but very meaty. The result is almost more a sweet chili than
baked beans. This is not something that
you would like to make a meal of a bowl of, but it is definitely a superior
side dish for a meal of barbecue.
Coleslaw
More than simply competent coleslaw this is definitive
coleslaw. It is a simple two cabbage
plus carrots shredded slaw with a creamy dressing, totally conventional, but
the cabbage was fresh, crisp and flavorful, the dressing was sweet and there
was just the right amount, not too wet. If
your preference is a creamy style dressing coleslaw this is the one.
Potato Salad
Their potato salad is another simple, competent preparation of
an old standard. The potatoes are in firm
cubes, not mushy. There is what looks
and tastes like pieces of green bell pepper but just a hint, not enough to
overwhelm the total flavor, and the mayonnaise seems to have just a hint of
mustard. This is either like your mother’s
potato salad or the potato salad you wish your mother made.
Baby Back Ribs
Baby back ribs should not disappoint and these certainly do
not. They are meaty, tender to the tooth
and have a good smoky flavor. The only
thing that keeps these from being absolutely top notch ribs is that they were
just a bit dry. A little dab of sauce
corrects this nicely.
Chopped Chicken
This is a presentation of barbecued chicken that we have not
encountered before. It is cubed, well
smoked chicken breast in a light, sweet sauce that complements it well, served
on a slice of white bread. It’s great
tasting barbecued chicken, but the puzzling thing is why they cubed it up as
though they were going to put it in a salad.
Brisket
Tender and well smoked this is a very properly flavorful
brisket. It is served in very thin
slices and once on the table tends to get cold quickly. I suspect it is sliced so thinly because they
also put it in sandwiches. It was as bit
too well cooked for our taste.
Beef Ribs
Like the pork ribs these are well smoked and tender to the
tooth with proper beef rib flavor. Also,
like the pork ribs, they were kept from being absolutely top notch by being
just a bit dry. Still, they are very
worthwhile ribs and adding the regular barbeque sauce was beneficial.
Pulled Pork
My first bite had me puzzled. This was so mild, actually bland, that I had
to look twice to make sure it was not chicken.
In fact the flavor of the chicken was stronger. With no discernible flavor, pork or smoke,
this flavorless pulled pork is a miss.
Hot Links
Links here are served sliced on a slice of white bread. In appearance they looked like an ordinary
bratwurst and the texture looks to be a bit mealy. On first bite it seems no hotter than a hot
dog, but after a couple of seconds you realize that this is a proper hot
link. It was way too hot for Sharon and
if you are not used to hot links you will be glad for the white bread. This one will surprise you. It doesn’t have the texture you would expect
from a great hot link, but it does have the flavor.
Banana Pudding
If you are a real fan of banana pudding, skip this one. They make it ahead of time and put it in a
plastic container with the vanilla wafers.
It comes off as vending machine pudding, the vanilla wafers are
soggy. It’s edible, but that’s about all
you can say for it. They really need to
rethink this one. They also had a basket
of tiny sweet potato pies that appeared commercially made at the cash register
but we lacked the courage to try one.
We were very glad that we decided to give The Kansas City
BBQ Company another try. If we gave
awards for most improved barbeque they would get it. Apparently, the dramatic change in the
quality of their food is a result of a change in kitchen staff. While their meat is just off the top grade,
it is vastly improved over what it was a couple of years ago and certainly
worth eating, pulled pork notwithstanding.
They can show a least one of the major chains in the area how basic side
dishes should be made. We had a very
pleasant barbecue experience. We now
rate The Kansas City BBQ Company an eight.
Thanks
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