Rancho Nipomo BBQ

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”

--- George Bernard Shaw

 

RANCHO NIPOMO BBQ

108 Cuyama Lane

Nipomo, CA 93444

805-925-3500

11:00 AM to 7:00 PM          Tuesday through Thursday

11:00 AM to 8:00 PM          Friday and Saturday

10:00 AM to 7:00 PM          Sunday

Closed                                   Monday

http://ranchonipomobbq.com/

 

Two Mondays ago found us driving from Santa Maria to Pismo Beach trying to find barbecue places, some of our favorite old haunts, and new ones we’d researched.  Most of the old ones and some of the new ones were no longer there.  Some of them were victims of creeping commercialization, new shopping malls and other commercial development.  Others, although we may never really know, were probably victims of themselves.  Most of the searching, sightseeing, (and shopping if the truth be known.) was done early in the day before we were hungry.  When we finally became peckish we decided to search out a recommended place that was actually quite close to Santa Maria where we started, the Rancho Nipomo BBQ.

The Rancho Nipomo BBQ is located just north of the Santa Maria River bridge (Still undergoing widening reconstruction, but that’s an issue for another blog.), just barely into San Luis Obispo County on the 101 freeway, at the route 166 off ramp.  It’s on the west side of the freeway in a little industrial area bounded by a cleaning supply, a brewery, a cement plant, some kind of construction company, a pest control company, and an RV service company.  The parking lot holds maybe five cars including the handicapped space.  It is housed in a charming little, pueblo style building with a sizable metal roofed canopy alongside to cover the outside eating area and the small stage that they use for live entertainment.  There is a large, metal horse sculpture in front.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the inside since our informant did not tell us that they were closed on Mondays.  It would not have mattered if we had tried them on the weekend since they were closed on that particular weekend for a family wedding.  That’s how we ended up driving all the way to San Luis Obispo to go to Mo’s.  (See previous post.)

Tuesday we had a light breakfast, lounged about our room until check out time, and took a short drive across the river to try Rancho Nipomo again.  This time success!  We arrived about 11:45am and were fortunate enough to find a parking space in the lot.  Inside the metal is softened by some rustic wood.  The order counter is a couple of steps away from the door making it a bit tight when there are a lot of people waiting to order.  From what we saw while we were there during the lunch hour there are usually a lot of people waiting to order.  I would say more than half the people there were there for takeout orders.  The menu is on the wall to the left of the entrance and there are also daily specials on a dry wipe board above the table that has a guest book.  There are some tables scattered around the miniscule dining room and a salsa bar to add spice to your gustatory choice. 

The menu is extensive with barbeque, burgers, and other sandwiches, along with a selection of Mexican style items. (Try the smoked pastrami if you want some different que.  Well, actually pastrami is by definition smoked, but this is barbequed.)   However, they do not have the usual combo plates we would order so I ordered a BBQ Tri-tip Sandwich, and Sharon ordered a Half-Slab of BBQ Pork Ribs both orders with barbecue sauce on the side.  The ribs come with two sides and the sandwich one so we ordered Rice, Miss Molly’s Macaroni Salad, and West Coast Chili Beans.  On the order counter was a basket of large, wrapped Pink Pig Cookies that were just too darn cute to resist so we bought one for ourselves and one to take to our daughter.  We were given a table number and went to the outside area to take a table and wait for our food.

BBQ Tri-tip Sandwich

The barbeque here is the best of both worlds, the slow smoked barbeque style done with Central Coast meat with California red oak.  I normally complain about tri-tip being sliced too thin, but no complaints here even though the meat is sliced deli-style, super thin, and across the grain.  It is piled high on a toasted, fresh Teleta bread roll (Actually, it seemed like a whole bread.) and it does not lack juiciness or flavor.  This is the way tri-tip should taste.  It was also very generous.  I could only eat half of it.  The other half went into a container in the powered cooler we keep in the car when we travel and became my lunch the next day.  For the revisit I put some coleslaw (It was from another barbeque place, I did not try the coleslaw here.) on it like a pulled pork sandwich and the experiment was successful.

BBQ Pork Ribs

Sharon and I agree that you can’t find ribs much better than these.  They are slow-smoked, full of red oak flavor, and juicy.  I suppose they could have been completely fall off the bone tender, but that’s being picky. The sauce complemented them well but was entirely unnecessary.  Interestingly enough, the barbeque sauce seems pork oriented to us.  It works very well on the ribs but tastes a bit funny on the tri-tip.  That’s O.K. since the tri-tip doesn’t need it anyway.  The leftover ribs were good nuked a couple of days later.

West Coast Chili Beans

Anyplace this would be chili, not just a side order of barbeque beans.  The menu describes is as “pinto beans, quality beef chorizo, tri-tip, white onion, and our secret chili seasonings”.   We describe it as simply great!  We took home leftovers of these too, and they ended up on some really great, homemade, chili cheese dogs.  We got the idea off the Rancho Nipomo menu, so if you are in a hot dog mood when you are there…  And, as good as this is they also have a full on chili on the menu!

Miss Molly’s Macaroni Salad

More than a simply competent macaroni salad, this has a slight bite to it, but is not too wet, and not too spicy.  It is simply very tasty.  The pasta was el dente with chopped celery, sliced black olives, chopped onion (very light on the onions) and some chopped pimento.  The mayonnaise was lightly seasoned and made this a very nice side to contrast with the barbequed ribs and the accompanying chili. 

Rice

This was a very savory cup of Mexican style rice with a bit of tomato and mildly spiced.  The rice was not clumped as is typical with rice cooked in large batches.  Sharon approved and I used the leftovers in a dish a few days later.

Pink Pig Cookie

As our daughter said after she ate hers…Yummy!  An iced sugar cookie definitely worth the price.

This little industrial bottom end of Nipomo is one of the more unlikely places to find a place to eat let alone one with great barbeque, but Rancho Nipomo BBQ has really great barbeque.  We got turned on to Rancho Nipomo by one of the servers at The Pantry in Santa Maria while we were there for breakfast.  One thing we are not afraid to do when traveling to find good que is ask the locals.  The tip led us to a very satisfying final meal out during our brief sojourn/road trip/mini vacation in the central coast. 

Authentic Central Coast style barbeque is done directly over the fire.  Twenty years ago we loved it.  Now, at the risk of being considered barbeque snobs, I will have to admit that we much prefer the slow smoked Southern style.  This is what they have at Rancho Nipomo.  They proudly say ‘Smoked in Oak’ on their menus and their signage, and they certainly can be proud.  This is destination barbeque.  We rate it nine.

Mo's Smokehouse BBQ - San Luis Obispo

MO’S SMOKEHOUSE BBQ

1005 Monterey

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

805-544-6193

11:00 AM to 9:00 PM          Monday through Wednesday

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

Closed                                   Sunday

http://www.smokinmosbbq.com/

 

Finding barbeque on the Central Coast is not what it once was. Who knew it could be so daunting?   Many of the restaurants don’t do it every day.  The social organizations that once set up barbecues every weekend are now limited to special occasions and holidays by the need to conform to some new health and licensing regulations.  Expansion of the towns has also taken its toll.  Some of the barbecue places we dropped in on when we traveled through the area have been displaced by new shopping plazas.  One that we went to in Grover Beach is now a used car lot.   Another in Pismo Beach is now an empty lot being prepared for a commercial development.  A couple of the places in Nipomo are still in business, but one we used to go to is among the missing.  After a frustrating morning and early afternoon running around the Pismo Beach/Arroyo Grande area we decided to drive up to San Luis Obispo and try Mo’s  (Yes, we know that there is a Mo’s location in Pismo Beach, but we weren’t hungry when we were in that area.)

Mo’s is located in the corner of an historic building , across the street from the courthouse, in downtown San Luis Obispo.  When you enter you are in the quintessential restaurant designer road house.  There is lots of corrugated sheet metal, old wood and exposed brick covered with rural commercial signs and old license plates.  Most of the memorabilia on the walls seems authentic.  There are also many photos on the wall that are different from the usual photos put up by restaurant designers.  The photos are of barbecue places and people barbecuing from all over the country.  It lets you know that this place is all about the que.

You walk up to the counter and order.  You are given a little pig shaped, numbered table flag to put on your table so that when the order is ready they know which table it is for.  They give you your drink glasses and the drinks, except for the beer and wine are self-serve. You know you are in a Southern style establishment because they have fresh brewed sweetened and unsweetened tea and fried green tomatoes on the menu.  And, to Sharon’s delight, as we have found all over the Central Coast area, they serve Pepsi not Coke.

To get our sampling of the que Sharon ordered a Three Rib Combo and I ordered a Pulled Pork Sandwich.  The combo had Mo’s Memphis Ribs, Philthy Phil’s Ribs, and Sweet Carolina’s Pork Ribs, and came with a Corn Muffin and Grandpa Tom’s BBQ Beans with a choice of Coleslaw or Potato Salad.  The sandwich comes with a choice of BBQ Beans, Coleslaw or Potato Salad.  When the food arrived, the portions were more than generous.  We ended up taking half the sandwich and an order of coleslaw with us.  As a side point, when we travel we have an electrically powered picnic cooler in the car, and we stay in rooms with refrigerators, so that we have no problem taking leftovers.

Mo’s Memphis Ribs

Pork ribs, properly slow smoked are a delight.  These certainly are.  They are juicy, almost fall off the bone tender, and very flavorful.  They are hickory smoked using a Memphis style dry rub.  Then they are sprinkled with vinegar and covered with Mo’s regular barbecue sauce.  At first bite we knew that these were the best ribs, so far, that we’ve had in the central coast area.

Philthy Phil’s Ribs

Philthy Phil’s Ribs are the same great hickory smoked ribs this time sprinkled with vinegar and covered with a mustard based sauce. Personally, I like this Southern Carolina style sauce best.

Sweet Carolina’s Pork Ribs

Another version of the great hickory smoked ribs with a sweet and tangy sauce.  Although sweet, this sauce had a bit of a bite to it leaving Sharon’s mouth with a slight burn indicating some kind of pepper, most likely cayenne, in the mixture.  Still, they are great ribs.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

Have I had better pulled pork sandwiches?  Well yes, but not by much.  Maybe it was just the way I was feeling that day since pulled pork doesn’t get much better than this.  Juicy and flavorful, topped with coleslaw.  Very traditional on a nice fresh French bread roll.

Corn Muffin

It’s not one of those muffins that reach for new heights as a baked good as some of the more up market places have attempted but is quite good.  This is an in-house made muffin that tastes good, doesn’t completely fall apart when cut into and stands up to the honey butter that comes with it.

Coleslaw

This is a simple, competent slaw with a creamy style dressing that is not too wet.  It goes wonderfully on the pulled pork sandwich.  If you have read my posts you know that I prefer a good vinaigrette based dressing but if I have to have a conventional creamy dressing I want one like this.

Grandpa Tom’s BBQ Beans

They have awards for their ribs posted as part of their décor.  What I wondered is why they don’t have awards for these beans.  These are way up towards the top of the list of great BBQ beans.  Made with two different kinds of beans, pinto and kidney, a sprinkling of finely chopped onions and generous amounts of pork in a tomato based sauce that is savory but not sweet.  You could almost make a meal out of a bowl of these beans.

This is the first place in the Central Coast area that we have found that uses slow smoking instead of the direct grilling style barbecue that is considered Central Coast style.  OK, I guess that we must admit to being barbecue snobs, but we were not only delighted but relieved to taste the que at Mo’s.  My real connection to Central Coast barbecue is tri-tip.  I love tri-tip, but prepared in the slow smoked style that keeps it juicy and tender.  What we were finding in the area for both the pork and beef tends to be a bit on the dry and tough side.  On this trip it was a relief to eat at Mo’s even if we did not try their shredded beef or tri tip sandwiches.  They don’t offer any beef dishes on the combo plates, which is a disappointment.  They also serve smoked chicken, which we did not try during this visit, and some desserts.  To our dismay, they were out of the Southern Cream Puffs served with hot fudge.  Our rating for Mo’s is between an eight and one-half and a nine.  If you are in the area, driving to Mo’s is worth it…definitely destination que.

BBQ Land - Santa Maria

“Humor keeps us alive.  Humor and food.  Don’t forget food.  You can go a week without laughing”

Joss Whedon

 

BBQ LAND

1975-A South Broadway

Santa Maria, CA 93454

805-346-8537

805-346-6166

805-346-8538 (FAX)

11:00 AM to 9:00 PM          Monday through Sunday

http://www.bbqlandsantamaria.com

 

Still in Santa Maria searching for good que.  That’s not to say all we do is look for barbecue.  Sharon is a bit of an antiquer and there are several thrift shops in Santa Maria where we have found good items in the past.  We found a few interesting items this time too.

We’ve had barbecue in Santa Maria before, a long time before, and the town is not the same place it was twenty years ago.  Many of the places we used to go are no longer there, and now we write this blog, so Santa Maria is a fresh experience.

The first thing we do in a different town is ask people we meet where they go for barbeque.  With some recommendations we also examine the phone book.  Yes, we read the phone book.  Not all barbecue places have web site or are reviewed on the Internet.  We also simply look around as we drive around since we have found several great little places by simple observation.  BBQ Land is one of those places we found in the phone book although we later found they had a web site.

It’s hard to miss their sign on the roof, even though BBQ Land is a little hole-in-the-wall place in an older strip mall.  They modestly claim to be “Santa Maria’s First Choice for BBQ”.  We reserve judgment until we have tried a few more places. 

Inside BBQ Land is basic snack shop.  You order at the counter from a menu posted above and get your drinks from a Pepsi dispenser.  There are tables and chairs, some hold four people and some six, and there is a large flat screen at the end of the room that was, mercifully, not tuned to a sports channel.  There is no particular design coordination and you would not call the look restaurant designer anything.  The menu has several panels with sandwiches, drinks, sides, an incredible array of items, and there is a separately posted, hand-written kids menu.  About half of the menu is barbecue. 

There are combo plates on the menu which allowed us to get a good sampling.  Sharon ordered a number 13 combo which is two Pork Spare Ribs and two Baby Back Ribs along with a choice of three sides.  I ordered a number 9 combo which is two Beef Ribs and two slices of Tri-tip with a choice of three sides.  The choices of sides with the combos are Rice, Beans, Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, Coleslaw, French Fries and Garlic Bread.  Sharon ordered Beans, Macaroni Salad, and Garlic Bread.  I had Beans, Potato Salad, and Coleslaw.  The astonishing thing was that these combos were only $10.45 each!

Tri-tip

There were two generous, but thin slices of tri-tip with visible grill marks, on my plate.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the meat was moist, tender and flavorful.  The smokiness of the red oak, combined with the flavor of the rub, was all through the meat. Neither the smoke nor the rub was overwhelming and I found this to be tri-tip as good as it gets.

Beef Ribs

The beef ribs were not as good as the tri-tip.  The flavor was beefy but they either had been too close to the fire or cooked too long because they were a bit chewy and dry. The char on the outside was not as tasty as it could have been almost as though the rub were put on only as a suggestion.  Not to say they were unacceptable just that I have had a lot better.

Pork Spare Ribs

These were large, meaty ribs and would have been wonderful if they had been slow smoked.  As done here they were a bit chewy and dry.  Done directly over the fire they cook faster and don’t pick up either the true flavor of the smoke or the rub.  This combination of somewhat dry meat and mild flavor seems to be common in Central Coast barbecue.  Again, this meat was more than acceptable, but not great.

Baby Back Ribs

These had a bit more flavor than the spare ribs, but much the same comments can be made about them.  I think they were cooked a bit too fast.

Beans

These are better than good beans and made in house.  Any place else they would be serving them as chili!  They had a flavorful tomato based stock, herbs and spices, onions, navy beans and pork all cooked together in a tasty concoction.

Coleslaw

The side is a nice serving of a simple cabbage and carrot slaw with a tangy, creamy dressing that is not put on too wet.  Another thing made here, this is a delightfully competent coleslaw.

Potato Salad

The third winner in the side order department is a competent conventional potato salad with a nice mustard tang.

Macaroni Salad

Another homemade delight, the macaroni salad was delightfully tasty with a mustard and tangy mayonnaise sauce.  And the pasta was al dente, just the way we like it, with green onions, celery, and red bell peppers for crunch.  

Garlic Bread

This is made on a fresh French bread, was not soggy, not too garlicky, and had a very nice crunch to it, toasted perfectly.

Our comparisons of the Santa Maria style barbecue preparation to the slow smoked methods we have come to like made me speculate that Sharon and I were becoming barbecue snobs.  Her reaction was simply, “Yes.”.  Be that as it may, the meat here was not quite up to the standards of the sides.   It is obvious that someone in the kitchen has an idea of what they are doing, but as carnivores we have to give this place points off.  Santa Maria’s First Choice?  They’re trying, but they have a ways.to go.  We rate them a seven and a half.

Shaw's Steakhouse & Tavern

THIS PLACE IS GONE!  (FIRE)

“Seize the moment.  Remember all those women on the ‘Titanic’ who waved off the dessert cart.”

Erma Bombeck

SHAWS STEAKHOUSE & TAVERN

714 South Broadway

Santa Maria, CA 93454

805-925-5862

No Website

Well, we intended to take a road trip this weekend, and the Sunset Magazine showed up with an article on Central Coast Barbecue, so we decided to make Santa Maria our base for the weekend.  Driving up here from the LA area used to be a pleasure trip.  Now it seems that bumper to bumper traffic is normal on 101 from Thousand Oaks to Santa Barbara.  The first seventy-five miles of the trip was a chore.  After Santa Barbara is was as we remembered it.   Still, we didn’t get to Santa Maria and get checked into our hotel until dinner time.

After that trip we were a bit peckish.  After driving around town looking at likely places we settled on Shaw’s Steakhouse and Tavern.  It’s rather unprepossessing from the outside since it was probably some sort of warehouse many years ago.  Inside you quickly realize that it’s just short of what would be considered a fine dining restaurant.  The interior is converted warehouse with lots of wood and has photos of old food establishments, retail and wholesale on the walls.  There are no windows and the interior probably could use a bit of an update. 

The staff is courteous and fast and you can watch the meat being grilled through a glass wall.  Make no mistake, this is Santa Maria style barbecue, seasoned meat grilled over a red oak fire, not the long, slow smoking that is barbecue in other places.  No traditional barbeque sauces basting the meat.  It makes for quite a show.

Of course, since this is a steak house, the menu does not have the combo plates that allow us to get our usual sampling of the que, and since there was just the two of us we couldn’t order several plates and share Chinese food style.  We settled for two dinners.  Sharon ordered the Beef Ribs and I ordered the Tri-tip.  All the dinners come with a relish plate, house made mild salsa, piquinto beans, and choice of soup (French Onion this night), or salad (House Green or Caesar), and baked potato, French fries, or steamed rice.  Our server, Holly, had excellent timing so that the salads and the main course arrived promptly but we had enough time to ourselves to have a relaxed dinner.   After our main courses Holly began to recite the dessert selections, but Sharon stopped her at the Cherry Bread Pudding with Grand Marnier sauce.

Beef Ribs

The meat here is served dry, just the way we like it, so that you can enjoy its real taste.  The ribs done over the open, red oak, flame are not as moist as those done in a smoker.  They were chewy, but not tough, and had a big beefy flavor.  Central Coast barbecue is done simply and the dry rub, apparently just salt, black pepper and a bit of garlic or garlic salt, made a tasty char on the outside.  If you want sauce you can use the house made salsa which is a mild salsa cruda.  These are great ribs.

Tri-tip

Tri-tip is the quintessential Central Coast meat.  Here it is done in true Santa Maria style, simply with a minimal rub over an open red oak fire.  This serving was done properly with the whole piece grilled over the red oak and properly sliced in the thick slices that should retain the juices.  In this instance there wasn’t that much juice.  My problem is that I’ve been spoiled by having experienced it done slowly in a smoker so the meat is tender and juicy.  Done in true Central Coast style I find it to be a bit dry.  Maybe I am just spoiled, but this one was tasty but tough.

Beans

These are the locally grown piquinto beans in a thin sauce.  They are not over cooked and the sauce is subtle but very interesting.   It is not sweet but has a savory combination of what tastes like a light beef and tomato stock, a bit of cayenne, and bit of meat that seemed to be beef, not the usual pork or bacon.   While it looks to be thin and anemic when placed before you it turns out to have a very appealing flavor.

Salads

Sharon said that she hoped that we would get good salads in farm country.  They were fresh and crisp with homemade croutons.  Sharon was not disappointed.

Potato

A good, loaded, baked potato with shredded cheddar cheese and crispy bacon.  This is something that a restaurant of this caliber doesn’t screw up and they did not.  Believe me; I have seen it done at some other places.

Rice

The steamed rice was a bit lumpy as though it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be fluffy rice or sticky rice.  Strange!

Garlic Toast

The garlic toast was done on what seems to be fresh Italian style bread.  It is buttery, but not soggy, not over garlicky, and has a sufficient amount of Parmesan cheese and toasted crispy with a nice crunch when bit into.   This is much better than most garlic toast servings.

Cherry Bread Pudding with Grand Marnier Sauce

At the end of the day what do you do with the left over bread that you have not made into garlic toast?  You make a totally evil dessert.  A bread pudding made with cherry pie filling and drizzled with a sauce made with Grand Marnier definitely qualifies as evil.  Sharon is a connoisseur of bread pudding and she found this to be one of the better ones.

OK, Shaw’s is not a usual barbecue place.  It is an old fashioned steak house, somewhat up market for the area, with a menu that you would expect at a steak house, but with meat done Central Coast barbecue style.  The que was about an eight, good but not outstanding.  As a steak house I would rate the place an eight and a half.