“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
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment