THIS PLACE HAS BEEN RELOCATED! SEE OUR JULY 2019 POST
"Eating is always a decision, nobody forces your hand to pick up food and put it into your mouth."
---Albert Ellis, Michael Abrams, Lidia Dengelegi
ROSIE’S
BBQ AND GRILLERY
9012
Tampa Avenue
Northridge,
CA 91324
(818)
349-3055
11:00
AM to 9:30 PM Sunday through
Thursday
11:00
AM to 10:30 PM Friday and Saturday
Rosie’s is another of those places that seems to have
been a fixture in the Valley forever. It
is located in a glorified strip mall in Northridge that is large enough to have
some groups of stores and restaurants standing in the middle of the parking lot
as well in a row behind it. Rosie’s is
in one of the standalone buildings. The
outside hasn’t changed much. The inside
seems to have had two makeovers since we started going there and the last one,
done in an ersatz cowboy theme, seems to be worn to the point of needing
another.
We came in a bit after six on a Saturday night. It was busy, but not overly crowded, and we
were seated immediately. Our server was
bright, brisk, efficient, and cheerful even though she seemed to be covering
more stations than she should. We took a
few minutes to examine the menu and then placed our order.
Although the name of the place begins with BBQ the
barbecue is actually a small section of the menu. There are appetizers, salads, sandwiches and
sea foods as well as barbecue. They had
combinations on the menu so Sharon ordered a two meat combo of Baby Back Ribs
and Tri-tip with Mac and Cheese for a side.
I ordered a three meat combo of Beef Ribs, Shredded Pork and a Half
Chicken with Peanut Coleslaw as the side.
The combos only come with one side, but you can add a salad, trip to the
salad bar, a cup of soup or a bowl of Tri-Tip chili. The Tri-tip Chili sounded intriguing so I
ordered that. They don’t have anything
like bread to keep you occupied while you wait for your order, at least we
weren’t offered anything, but the food arrived quickly.
Tri-Tip Chili
The chili came as a generous appetizer serving with side
servings of sour cream, chopped onions, shredded cheddar cheese, and an
undistinguished but acceptable commercial corn muffin. If you are expecting a lift your head off,
spicy Southwestern chili, this isn’t it, but if you want a rich, flavorful
chili, with nice chunks of tri-tip in it, you have come to the right place. It was not loaded with green pepper and
onions so even Sharon could enjoy it.
The chili was probably the best thing we had that night and this, alone,
is worth coming here to have. I would
have been quite happy to make a meal of the chili.
Macaroni and Cheese
Most places that have an upcharge for a side order give a
generous portion in return. It was in a
small ceramic cup with some cheddar cheese melted over the top. The pasta was al dente, but the cheese sauce
was so bland that it was barely cheese sauce.
It’s definitely not worth ordering.
Peanut Coleslaw
When you look at it you expect great things. There is a good mix of cabbages, celery, red
bell pepper and onions, even if the peanuts are a little scarce. It comes with what appears to be a good
vinegar type dressing; this is until you taste it. The dressing is way too timid and way, way
too oily. The oil was so annoying that I
did not take the leftover portion home to test it on a pulled pork sandwich.
Tri-Tip
Of the things that came on the combo plates the tri-tip
was far and away the best. This was not
because of the preparation, but because they started with a damn good piece of
tri-tip. Supposedly, they use mesquite
wood to smoke their meats. Mesquite can
be a subtle flavor, compared to other woods used in barbecue, but here it is so
subtle it is almost absent. There is no
visible smoke ring in the meat, and it tastes not like barbecue but a well
roasted tri-tip. Although Sharon ordered
it medium, it came quite rare and tepid.
It was served with a small container of a very salty au jus.
Baby Back Ribs
These ribs are tender, meaty and bland. We ordered it unsauced, but whatever the dry
rub is it has little spice and is definitely forgettable. It is one of those things that are better as
a leftover since flavor seems to develop a bit in the fridge overnight. They also were tepid and definitely not right
out of the oven or where ever they were kept, it was not up to health
department standards with regards to temperature.
Beef Ribs
Beef ribs that we were served were generously sized,
meaty, tender, a bit fatty, and just as bland as the baby back ribs. They weren’t totally flavorless, since you
could tell, simply by taste that you were eating beef, but these ribs did not
say “BEEF!” to your tongue.
Shredded Pork
No matter what you choose to call it, it’s pulled
pork. It’s in a rather oily barbecue
sauce (Someone in this kitchen likes oil.) That masks the flavor so much that
at first bite it’s hard to tell if you are eating pork or chicken. At this writing I can’t confirm it improves
after a couple of days in the fridge since I haven’t made that pulled pork
sandwich.
Chicken
The chicken seems to have some sort of smoked rub on it,
but it really does not taste smoked. The
white meat was tender and done through, but the dark meat was barely done,
something you have to be careful about with chicken. It was edible, made a decent chicken sandwich
the next day, and even passed the kitty test, but it does not qualify as great,
or even good, barbecue chicken.
We remember
Rosie’s being a sort of date night place.
Now the clientele seems to be mostly older people (Yes, I know how old I
am, don’t remind me.) and families with children. I don’t know about the remainder of the menu,
we just tried the barbecue, but there seems to be no attempt to establish a
distinctive barbecue style here.
Instead, it comes off as just above coffee shop barbecue, a sort of
lowest common denominator of taste for the masses not true barbeque aficionados. It’s been here for quite a while, but like
some other barbecue places with a long history it does not seem to have
improved with age. We give it a five.
No comments:
Post a Comment