Bonnie B's Smokin Barbeque Heaven

“Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.”
― Anthony Bourdain

BONNIE B’S SMOKIN BARBEQUE HEAVEN

1280 N. Lake Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91104

(626) 794-0132

Closed                                               Monday and Tuesday

11:30 AM to 8:00 PM                      Wednesday and Thursday

11:30 AM to 9:00 PM                      Friday and Saturday

11:30 AM to 5:00 PM                      Sunday

http://www.bonniebssmokin.com

We were driving our friends home from our visit to Big Mamma’s when I noticed a sign on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street.  It was shaped like an arrow and pointed to a storefront.  The message on the sign was Barbeque Heaven.  I asked our friends if they had tried this place, but they said that they didn’t know it was there until I saw the sign.  A Google search revealed that it was Bonnie B’s Smokin Barbeque Heaven.  We decided to try it the next weekend.

We made a date for the following Sunday with our friends to try the place out.  Since the Google search told us that they closed at 5:00 PM on Sundays, we decided to make it a late lunch/early dinner and arrived at 3:00 PM.  It’s easy to understand why we had not noticed it before.  Bonnie B’s is in a very small, narrow storefront and you would not see it unless you were looking straight at it.  (There is parking behind the building.)  Typically, for small barbeque places, it seats about 40 customers.  There is an order counter at the back where you order from the menu.   The food is delivered to your table.  It has what I call “Local Barbeque Joint” style, with barbeque contest, restaurant review, and civic awards posted on the walls along with photos of notable patrons.  One wall has a mural depicting the owners.  The placemats on the tables are also reproductions of awards and reviews.  If it is your first visit you may well wonder if all this self-promotion is well deserved. Without getting ahead of myself I can say it is.

There are the usually expected meats on the menu: Pork Ribs, Pulled Pork, Beef Brisket, Rib Tips and Ends, and BBQ Chicken, along with a couple of surprises, Smoked BBQ Bologna and Smoked Atlantic Salmon.  These are available a la carte, in sandwiches, and in Barbeque Dinners and Combination Dinners.  Nine different sides are available and three desserts, Glaze-It-To-Me cake, Strawberry/Banana cake, and Cookies.  The barbeque dinners are available in two sizes Value and Big.  The Value size is a lunch portion.  The Combination Dinners are available in 2-meat and 3-meat.  To get our usual sampling of the meat we each ordered a 3-meat combination dinner.  Sharon had Pork Ribs, Rib Tips, and Chicken with Slim’s Mac and Cheese, and Candied Yams for sides.  My order was Pulled Pork, Hot Link, and I had intended to order the BBQ Bologna but the word “Ribs” came out of my mouth, so I had the Pork Ribs along with Baked Beans and Collard Greens as sides.  The plates arrived promptly. Except for the pulled pork and the rib tips, the meat was served dry with your choice of the three house made barbeque sauces on the side.

Pork Ribs

This is Oklahoma style barbeque which seems to be a bit more subtle on the smoky taste than some of the Western and Deep South styles.  The ribs were very meaty and fall-off-the-bone tender, but just a bit on the dry side.  You will probably need just a little sauce to enjoy these ribs.

Pulled Pork

While not the best pulled pork we’ve had it is certainly above average and definitely worth ordering.  Will probably be back, next time I’m in the neighborhood to try a sandwich.

Beef Brisket

This is definitely not your mother’s beef brisket unless your mother had a real wood smoker in the back yard.  It was quite tender, well smoked and had a properly “beef” flavor.  You may have noted that neither Sharon nor I ordered the brisket.  Fortunately, one of our friends ordered a Brisket Meal and generously offered me some.  She still had leftovers to take home.

BBQ Chicken

The piece of chicken was a thigh and Sharon does not care for dark meat so I ended up with the chicken.   This is one of those places that does barbeque chicken right.   It was done through, and had a good smoky flavor.  I had a good taste while I was there and the leftover was good the next day.  It passed the kitty test too.

Rib Tips

Well, you know that they get really good ribs to serve here because the rib tips are very meaty and tender.  They are served with a sauce that is on the sweet side but you can still taste the great meat.  This is one of those places where it is worth ordering the rib tips.

Hot Link

This is billed on the menu as a Louisiana style hot link.  Well, hot it ain’t, but is quite tasty.  It has a good texture, and is not hot, but a subtle spice with a slight suggestion of heat in an after bite.  Even Sharon could handle this hot link without a mouth burn or rush to the emergency room.

Slim’s Mac and Cheese

Sharon prefers a sauce mixed in type mac and cheese with the macaroni al dente, and this is a baked style, but she liked this one.  As she said, and I agree, it was cheesy and had just the right texture.  The macaroni was still firm and not mushy as many baked mac and cheese dishes can turn out.  This is one of those times when “cheesy” is a good thing.

Candied Yams

Here was something we found disappointing.  Don’t get me wrong, these yams tasted OK, but they are done in a pureed, almost creamed, style that somehow lacked body.  We didn’t find up to the standard of the other food here.

Baked Beans

Conventional side order baked bean in a sweet sauce, they are not too sweet and have a subtle hint of other ingredients besides brown sugar and butter.  For just plain baked beans they are as good as they get.

Collard Greens

These are probably the best conventionally prepared green I have ever had, and are probably greens that you might serve to someone that does not like greens to convert them.

Strawberry/Banana Cake

If you enjoy those very moist, old-fashioned cakes that you don’t find in many restaurants or bakeries these days this is your cake.  If I didn’t know that this is a dry establishment (no alcohol here) I would suspect that it had some banana liquor in it.  You can order a whole cake with 24 hours advance notice.

Now you know that I will have to go back to Bonnie B’s just to try that Smoked BBQ Bologna and a piece of the Glaze-It-To-Me cake.  The salmon sounds interesting also, so let’s see, along with the pulled pork sandwich that’s at least three trips back.  You can tell from that we found it a very pleasant barbeque experience.  Fortunately, with friends in the neighborhood we will have a good excuse.  We give them and eight and a half.

Big Mamma's Rib Shack and Southern Cooking - Pasadena

“I like a cook who smiles out loud when he tastes his own work.
Let God worry about your modesty; I want to see your enthusiasm.”
― Robert Farrar Capon

 

BIG MAMMA’S RIB SHACK AND SOUTHERN COOKING

1453 North Lake Avenue

Pasadena, CA 91104

626-797-1792

 

Monday                     Closed

Tuesday thru Thursday               11:30 AM to 9:00 PM

Friday and Saturday                      11:30 AM to 10:00 PM

Sunday                                             12:00 PM to 8:00 PM

 

http://www.bigmamaspasadena.com/

 

Two friends of ours moved close to Big Mamma’s and alerted us to the fact that it was in the neighborhood.  As it turned out, Big Mamma’s had been there since 2002 and is the latest opening for a family that has owned restaurants for seventy-five years.  We decided to go there with our friends, but the first night we tried; Big Mamma’s was having a special music event and we decided to return on a less hectic evening.  We could have saved ourselves the trouble if we had checked the web site first and noted the special event.    We tried another place that we have visited and reviewed in the past, but they were having a bad night, as any restaurant can occasionally, so the whole evening was a bit disappointing.  We resolved to try to get into Big Mamma’s in a couple of weeks.

We made time to return to Big Mamma’s with our friends the following weekend and arrived before the dinner hours to find it not crowded.  It’s a pleasant space, a bit larger than it appears when you first enter, with both booths and tables.  There is a small bar and an equally small performance area for musicians.  We were seated at one of the tables that are between the performance area and the front window.   It felt a bit as if we were a window display.  The server (a grandson of Big Mamma’s) joked that it would make them look busy.  We retorted that it might scare customers away. 

Big Mamma’s menu is extensive.  They are properly named Rib Shack and Southern Cooking.  The selections give you choices of Southern style, Creole and Cajun dishes.  We’ll leave it to you to examine the menu on the web site.  As much as I enjoy all of the cooking styles at Big Mamma’s we came here for to sample the que, so we looked at their combos.  They come in two sizes, regular and mini.  We ordered mini combos thinking that we wouldn’t have too many leftovers.  The Mini BBQ Combo includes a pork spare rib, a chicken leg, a half hot link, and a slice of beef or pork.  You can get white meat chicken for an upcharge, but other than that there are no substitutions.  The combos also come with a choice of two sides.  Sharon chose macaroni and cheese and yams for her sides.  I selected greens and coleslaw.  One of our friends ordered a plate of ribs with macaroni and cheese and hush puppies while the other ordered a plate of sliced brisket with macaroni and cheese and yams as the sides.  While we waited for our orders our server brought a bowl of corn muffins with honey and some butter.  The orders arrived promptly, but we forgot to order our meat dry, with sauce on the side so it arrived with sauce on all the meat.

Corn Muffins

The bowl of small corn muffins was a real delight.  They did not seem to be made with the usual commercial corn muffin mix that makes most of the corn bread we have encountered but were firm enough to stand up to butter without crumbling away.  The butter provided was, delightfully, not rock hard and melted right into the muffins.  Eaten with the butter and the honey, a bottle of which was thoughtfully provided, they were quite enjoyable.  These muffins are just basic cornbread done right. 

Collard Greens

The greens are done with a totally conventional preparation.  There was no attempt to reach any new culinary heights here.  This is not what I would give to someone who doesn’t like greens to try to change their minds, but if you like greens you will like these.

Cole Slaw

I’m usually not a fan of finely chopped cabbage slaws.  I did like this one; however, since it as good a chopped cabbage and carrot slaw as you will find anywhere.  Again, it’s very basic just, done well, if somewhat on the wet side.

Yams

When they are put on the table you see a rather ordinary bowl of cubed yams in brown sugar sauce.  We all agreed that when you put some in your mouth, Wow!  You don’t find yams this good very often.  The added spices were a puzzle, a hint of vanilla, possibly some ginger and a couple of other things, but whatever they put in them they come out outstanding.

Macaroni and Cheese

The macaroni and cheese is a baked version with a bit of interest in the taste.  Something about this makes it one of the better side dish mac and cheese we’ve tasted.  The macaroni was not too mushy, as with many baked macaroni dishes, made with a cheddar cheese sauce that had a bit too much flour in the sauce to suit Sharon.  She remarked that the mac and cheese seemed a bit bland but a nice counterpoint to the very peppery barbeque sauce on the meat. 

Hush Puppies

The hush puppies had jalapenos in them.  Sharon did not even bother to try them.  However, they do not have too many peppers in them.  Put a little honey on them and enjoy.  They are definitely done in the tradition al manner – fried balls of dough designed to keep the dogs or the diners quiet and content.

Pork Spare Ribs

These are ribs that do not disappoint.   They are tender and meaty with a subtle but noticeable smoke flavor.  They aren’t the greatest ribs I’ve ever had, but they are done well and I would certainly go back to have them again.

Sliced Beef

Both brisket and tri-tip are on the menu.  I suspect that if you don’t specify which cut you want on a combo you get whatever they have the most of in the kitchen.  The taste and texture of this beef told us it was tri-tip.  It was sliced a bit thinner than I would like for tri-tip, but was not tough, not over cooked and quite tasty.  I did have to wipe the sauce off to get a good taste of the smoky flavor but it was very good.  Again, not the best I’ve had, but definitely worth ordering.

Chicken

This was chicken barbecued right.  Make no mistake, it is barbecued.  The smoky flavor gives the clue.  It was tender, juicy and done through.  I had a thigh.  Sharon went the upcharge for white meat and got a breast.  The breast made it home as a leftover and made a good chicken sandwich for her lunch, some chicken chopped for homemade rice and vegetable bowl, and enough for a kitty test which it passed.  You can’t want better chicken.

Hot Links

The hot link was tasty, but more like a mildly spicy hot dog.  The flavor was pleasant with subtle spices and a suggestion of an after bite.  It was too much for Sharon only because it had the sauce on it.  I thought that the sauce was hotter than the link.  This is the only thing here that I thought was just average.

We’re certainly glad that our friends told us about Big Mama’s.  We will probably make it a regular stop when we are in Pasadena, at least until I’ve had the chance to try everything on the menu.  If the rest is as good as the barbeque we will have an enjoyable time.  The barbeque here is Louisiana style, a bit milder, and more subtle than most other regional styles.  The thing about Big Mamma’s is that while they don’t seem to be extending the genre, everything we sampled (Well, maybe not the hot links.) was done traditionally, but done right.  It’s not cutting edge barbeque, but so well done that unless you have to have one of the spicier regional types you will enjoy it.  We give Big Mamma’s an eight and a half.