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.