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
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.
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