Great
food is like great sex. The more you have the more you want.
--- Gael
Greene
MAX
CITY BBQ
4729
Eagle Rock Blvd.
Los
Angeles, CA 90041
323-254-4227
So we were driving down
Eagle Rock Blvd, to Auntie Em’s Kitchen to get some dessert after eating at the
Oinkster when we noticed the Max City BBQ.
The simultaneous double takes as we passed almost gave us whiplash. On the way back, with our baked goodies, we
stopped and noted the address. We were
quite busy for the following month, but when we had an opportunity to have an
early dinner with a friend who lives nearby we suggested that we try Max City.
I checked on the Internet
and found that they get crowded at 6 PM on Saturdays so we got there about 5:30.
There was only one space left in the parking lot which they share with a liquor
store. Walking in, we noticed the
simple, but clever, planter wall that they built out back to conceal the
smoker. The place is a small, corner
storefront with a patio to one side at the back. The patio is about half their seating
capacity. The interior is sort of upmarket,
Western woodsy with a few tables on one wall and a counter. The menu is on the wall and on take out menu
sheets. The tables have metal containers
with real metal flatware and napkins.
Barbecue sauce in two varieties, Spicy and Not Spicy, is on the table in
squeeze bottles.
You place your order at the
counter where they have a state-of-the-art computerized order system. They sell meats by the pound, sandwiches,
salads, with chicken or tri-tip, some selection plates, desserts and
drinks. They also have a lunch plate
selection (Monday thru Friday 11:30 to 3:30), big party assortments and a
Sunday Brunch menu,
Our order was taken by one
of the young, cheerful, and efficient servers.
They gave us a number to put on the table (actually a playing card in
the number holder) so the server could bring the order to us. I ordered a Spence’s Platter of Pork which is
¼ pound of Pulled Pork, ¼ rack of Baby Back Ribs and ¼ rack of St Louis Ribs
with two sides, in my case, Collard Greens and Coleslaw and Cornbread. Sharon ordered Uncle Kenny’s Smoked Platter
which is ¼ rack of St Louis Ribs and ¼ Chicken (breast and wing) with Baked Beans
and Mac & Cheese and Cornbread. Our
friend ordered a Tri-Tip Sandwich and Baked Beans for her side. I had the Watermelon Lemonade and Sharon had
the regular Lemonade. Our friend had a bottled root beer. The food arrived quickly and was hot. The food was served on ¼ baking sheets and
the soft drinks in Ball jars.
Tri-Tip
Someone knows what they are
doing here. The meat had a good smoke
ring, a nice bark, was tender, flavorful, and juicy and not sliced too
thin. It was served on a Homeboy baked
roll and had a side of coleslaw that you could put on the sandwich if you
wished. Our friend, who usually does not finish a meal, ate the whole thing.
Chicken
This chicken was definitely
smoked, but was tender and not dry. You
know that the person handling the smoker was good. The breast was ample and Sharon will be
getting couple of chicken sandwiches from the leftovers.
St Louis Ribs
Like the tri-tip, the ribs
had a good smoke ring and were visually appealing. They were just short of falling-off-the-bone
tender and very flavorful. Sharon,
however, found them a bit too spicy for her.
They were done with a glaze and I don’t know whether it was the glaze or
the rub that had the spices. I thought
they were great, but Sharon said that they left her mouth burning. I nuked one as a leftover and still thought
it was great,
Baby Back Ribs
Again, visually perfect and
the flavor was just about perfect too. These
were falling-off-the-bone-tender, and as good baby back ribs as you can find
anywhere.
Pulled Pork
What can I say? It looked like pulled pork should look and
tasted like pulled pork should taste. I
tried it dry, and with both sauces.
Their spicy sauce (It isn’t really that spicy by my standards.) did not
overwhelm the flavor of the pork. The coleslaw made the perfect complement to
it which I confirmed by making a pulled pork sandwich with the leftovers.
Collard Greens
I have to say that these are
exceptionally good greens, if not the best conventional greens that I have ever
had. They are a bit spicy, red pepper
flakes are visible, and not at all vinegary. There is a surprising amount of
meat in them which is probably why they are so rich. I don’t know if they would make converts of
people who don’t like greens, but if you like greens, definitely order them.
Baked Beans
Not the kind of beans that
you would make a meal of, but these make a better than average serving of side
order baked beans. They are a tad spicy
and rich because of the generous amount of meat in them. I suspect that these get more flavorful as
the servings get closer to the bottom of the pot. Our friend’s serving was cooked to perfection
and the sweet/spicy sauce had a lovely, thick, dark, bottom of the pan, color
to the beans and still had lots of pork in the serving. Sharon’s seemed to be from a new batch and
the beans were somewhat undercooked, more al dente than long simmered, a
thinner, lighter colored sauce but still the same sweet/spicy seasoning and
lots of pork chunks in the sauce.
Mac & Cheese
The only thing that was a
bit disappointing here was the mac & cheese. The serving we had seemed to have the right
ingredients, al dente pasta and a white cheese base, but it was a bit dry and
had a slightly mealy texture. Have to
take some points off for this.
Coleslaw
This is competent, two
cabbage and carrot coleslaw with a creamy dressing. It was not too wet. While I may personally prefer a vinegar and
oil dressing I found it to be very complementary to the pulled pork in a
sandwich.
Lemonade
The lemonade that Sharon had
was very good and definitely came from fresh lemons. The watermelon lemonade is something that
many people would call light and refreshing.
I found that the lemon just overpowered the watermelon and made the
flavor a bit wishy washy. Next time I
will order the regular.
Cornbread
The cornbread muffins are
rich, slightly sweet, with kernels of corn in them. They are very tasty and dense enough to stand
up to butter.
Dessert
The restaurant has a nice
selection of homemade desserts to choose from, from pies to key lime bars to
chocolate chip cookies. If the desserts
aren’t homemade, at least they are not the commercially made, barely edible
selections that most restaurants serve.
We splurged on the blackberry buttermilk pie. The generous slice came with a side of real whipped
cream. The crust was nice and flaky;
the filling was delicious with real blackberries. All in all, a satisfying conclusion to a
tasty and satisfying meal.
You know that their portions
are generous and the patrons like the food because there are two stations with
take home boxes, side order containers and bags conveniently located for the
customers. When we left there were many
people walking to Max City from different directions. I don’t know if they were locals or just
couldn’t find a parking space close by.
(The parking is very limited and shared with a busy liquor store. The restaurant does have a liquor license and
has a nice selection of beers to choose from.)
We also observed that they seemed to be doing a good takeout
business. All this is with good reason…the
que here is great. We give Max City BBQ a
nine plus!
