Rodney's Ribs

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food”

--- George Bernard Shaw

RODNEY’S RIBS

(No fixed address, this is a trailer, it moves.)

626.818.RIBS   (626.818.7427)

(Website domain name expired and waiting renewal)

rodneysribs.com

@RODNEYSRIBS     (Twitter account works)

Sharon and I had a good laugh the first time we saw the Rodney’s Ribs trailer.  It was parked on Lake Street in Pasadena...In front of a weight loss clinic!  We though it hilariously funny, cruel, but funny.

The Los Angeles area is the home of the taco trailer and the barbeque food truck.  Rodney’s bucks the trend being a barbeque trailer.  The trailers tend to be at a certain location on given days while the trucks go all over, to the extent that you have to follow them on Twitter to find out where they are on any given day.  The trucks are usually at one location for lunch and another for dinner.  Rodney’s moves around too, and has a Twitter account, but they seem to stay longer at a location than the trucks.  We have consistently found Rodney’s Ribs on weekends at the northwest corner of Lake and Mountain, just to the west on Mountain, in front of the O’Reilly Auto Parts store.  Since Rodney’s is strictly take-out, the O’Reilly store has been cooperative about Rodney’s Ribs customers parking in their lot.

We always say that you should get barbeque from someone that specializes in barbeque.  Rodney’s Ribs is about as specialized as they can get.  The only meats they do are Pork Spare Ribs, Rib Tips and Beef Brisket.  There are five meals on the post card sized menu, Rodney’s Dinner, 4 to 5 ribs (depending on cut), two sides and bread, Rodney’s Special, 2 to 3 ribs, one side and bread, Bobby’s Brisket, a brisket sandwich, Bobby’s Brisket Plate, about a pound of brisket, one side and bread, and Tuttie’s Tips, about a pound of rib tips, one side and bread.  You can also order a full rack of ribs to go.  Pricing seems to be about the going rate for decent barbeque at most places.

There are only three side dishes, Baked Beans, Green Beans, and Potato Salad.  The sides can also be ordered separately.  The choice of beverages is six soft drinks and water.  At Rodney’s they certainly know how to keep it simple.

Sharon and I didn’t have to work too hard to get a good sampling of the que.  We ordered a Rodney’s Special and a Bobby’s Brisket Plate.  The sides were Baked Beans and Potato Salad. Our orders were ready in what seemed to be no time at all.  The food was in typical fast food foam, compartmented containers (only black, not white) and came with a packet of plastic utensils, and napkins.  We found that the servings were traditional Southern style with a big slice of white bread.

Beef Brisket

I’ll bet that when they took this brisket out of the smoker and put it on the cutting board it quivered.  The meat was fork tender, had a good smoky flavor and was about as good a brisket gets.  This serving had just a bit more fat than I would have considered perfect but that didn’t hurt.  My only complaint was that it came with the sauce on it already.  To be fair, I didn’t ask for sauce on the side, and this sauce is also about as good as barbeque sauce gets, not too sweet, and not too hot.  You might say it’s the Goldilocks of barbeque sauces.

Pork Spare Ribs

Since the ribs are their namesake they better be good.  They do not disappoint, they are great!  The ribs are meaty and pork flavor comes through the smoke and stands up to the sauce.  Prepared by Rodney they are fall-off-the-bone tender (Seriously, I was able to shake the meat off one bone!) They may have had a slight bit more fat than I would have liked, but again, this didn’t hurt at all.  They have the right to use these ribs as their namesake.

Baked Beans

They are what I would call main dish baked beans but they are a good sided dish, not too sweet and with a barely detectable bite to the sauce.  There are noticeable slices of green onion in the beans, which was a problem for Sharon since she is allergic to onions.

Potato Salad

While it was overly creamy, to my taste, this potato salad has potential.  It has all the right things, potatoes, pickles, celery, peppers, onions, and apparently, hint of mustard in the mayo, however, it comes out tasting bland.  Although I found it bland and not chunky enough, a couple of shakes of Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning and it was more than acceptable.  In my humble opinion, if it were drier and had a bit more ‘pop’ it would be very good.

OK, so it’s a food trailer.  You have to walk up to the window to order and take your food somewhere else to eat it, so it does not get high marks for ambiance.  We would say the que is a nine plus.  The sides are average and since it is not a restaurant destination, we would give it an overall rating of eight plus.  To review them we made a round trip drive of 34 miles to get the food and take it home.  It was worth it.

Red's Barbecue & Grillery

“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.”

--- Abraham Lincoln

 

 

RED’S BARBECUE & GRILLERY

3090 Cochran Street

Simi Valley, CA  93065

(805) 581-9076

11:00 AM to 9:00 PM                      Sunday through Thursday

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

http://www.redsbarbecue.net/

 

It’s been a long time since our last post.  Well, as they say, “Life happens.”  Unfortunately, barbeque doesn’t always happen.  Between personal and business issues we just haven’t had the time, or the energy to search out good que. 

Our six-year-old grandson was having an afternoon baseball game and, of course we went.  Afterwards, we were trying to decide where we would all have dinner and his father suggested Red’s Barbecue & Grillery.  We agreed immediately since it would give us a chance to have some que and get material for a new post.

Red’s is located in the approximate center of the Simi Valley in a shopping center.  It’s a bit larger than most barbeque places.  The décor is high end coffee shop with nice touches such as real cloth napkins, and barbecue sauce on the tables in large syrup dispensers.  We were there at the beginning of the dinner hour but were seated promptly.  The servers were most attentive and very quick.  A plate of Rolls was put on the table as our drink order was taken. 

The dinner menu occupies both sides of a plastic laminated sheet.  The menu has more than just barbecue, with appetizers, salads, soups, sandwiches, giant baked potatoes, and three pasta dishes.  The meat available is Baby Back Ribs, Beef Ribs, Half Barbecued Chicken, and Boneless Barbecued Chicken Breast.  They also have Tri-tip, Rib-eye Steak, Salmon, and Sword Fish.  Interestingly enough, they have a Barbecued Pork Sandwich in their sandwich menu, but do not offer the pork on the barbecue menu.  Two, three, and four meat combinations are available including soup or a salad and a choice of two sides or a giant baked potato.  Sharon and I decided to get a sampling by ordering two combos, hers with Baby Back Ribs and Boneless Chicken Breast, and mine with Tri-tip and Beef Ribs.  Her sides were Mac and Chees and Baked Beans.  Mine were Coleslaw and Sweet Potato Fries.  She had a Green Salad with blue cheese dressing and I had the Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Rolls

The first plate of these must have come from the bottom of the bag since they were decidedly squashed.  The server promptly brought us another plate without being asked.  These were not squashed, and were brushed with garlic butter and dusted with grated Parmesan cheese and parsley.  Although slightly doughy and chewy were quite pleasant.  I said that the first ones came from the bottom of the bag since we believe these to be commercially made rolls that we have had at other places.

Green Salad

Everything in the salad was fresh and crisp.  It consisted of lettuce, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, shaved carrots, and had croutons and grated Parmesan cheese on it.  The dressing was only suggested.  Sharon asked for some more dressing and it was supplied immediately, however it was a bit watery, not the thick, creamy blue cheese dressing we are used to and seemed a bit bitter.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Now this is an odd thing to order in a barbeque place, and I normally would not have even mentioned it, but tortilla soup is one of the ways I judge Mexican restaurants, and I wanted to see how they did it here.  It was certainly edible, if not up to the standards of a good Mexican restaurant.  It was somewhat thickened and had some small chunks of chicken in it, a few vegetables, tortilla strips and a sizable chunk of avocado.  The puzzling thing was that it seemed to be a mix of two commercial soups with the vegetables, tortilla strips and avocado added and not a made from scratch tortilla soup.  This is workable, but the kind of thing that is typically done by coffee shops.  It didn’t bother me at the time since this isn’t a Mexican restaurant.

Baby Back Ribs

They came with covered with a sauce that did not seem to be the sauce on the table.  Sharon found it to be a bit too peppery, giving her a little mouth burn.  What bothered me was that they had grill marks on them which indicated a certain style of preparation.  They had no visible smoke ring, were not particularly meaty, seemed a bit dry, and were not all that flavorful.

Beef Ribs

These had grill marks on them too.  Again, they were large, but not especially meaty and while not dry, and relatively tender for beef ribs, were not that flavorful and had not a hint of smoke.   

Tri-tip

The tri-tip was tender and not sliced too thinly.  It had no smoke ring but had grill marks which definitely told me how it was prepared.  It, like all the other ‘barbeque’ we were served, had been slow cooked, overnight, in an Alto-Shaam oven and when ordered warmed up again on a mesquite fired grill.  In the case of the tri-tip, it produced a tender and pleasantly flavorful piece of meat, but it was not barbeque.

Boneless Barbecued Chicken Breast

The chicken was the same as the tri-tip.  It was tender and quite pleasant, but not barbecue.  Much to Sharon’s relief the sauce on the chicken was not as peppery as the one on the back ribs.

Coleslaw

This was a conventional two cabbage and carrot coleslaw with a creamy dressing.  Well, it wasn’t that creamy being a bit on the watery side and it was just a bit bitter.  The slaw was not too wet, however my opinion of it was that it was a somewhat substandard coffee shop coleslaw.

Baked Beans

The beans were a very conventional preparation, not too sweet, but better than the usual canned beans.  They were not unpleasant, but not particularly remarkable.

Mac and Cheese

Sharon called this an abomination.  The pasta was not al dente but barely cooked.  There was no suggestion of creaminess to the sauce and in fact it was so dry that the sauce didn’t even stick the pasta together.  At least there was some cheese used in its preparation.  Probably the worst mac and cheese we have experienced since starting this blog.

Sweet Potato Fries

Now here is something exceptional.  The sweet potato fries were probably the best thing on the plate.  They were thoroughly cooked, but still retained their sweetness and were not too oily as is often the case with sweet potato fries.  We really liked these.

Anyone who approaches commercial barbeque from the restaurant management tradition rather than the barbeque tradition would call me a barbeque snob.  I’ve had a restaurant owner tell me that having a smoker for the meat is just a waste of time and effort because when meat is slow cooked in an Alto-Shaam overnight, then finished off on a wood fired grill and covered with barbecue sauce people can’t tell the difference. Want to bet?  Done that way the meat can be very tender and flavorful, like the tri-tip and chicken here, but without the long, slow wood smoking it just isn’t barbeque.  Red’s has been here since 1992, so obviously people like it as is, but I would say that the Grillery part of the name is far more accurate than Barbecue.  As a high end coffee shop with a barbeque oriented menu it scores well, but as a barbeque place we would rate it about a 4.

Todd's Cookhouse Bar-B-Que

THIS PLACE IS GONE!

“The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”
---Jean Anthelme Buillat-Savarin

TODD’S COOKHOUSE BAR-B-QUE

40713 Highway 41

Oakhurst, CA 93644

(559) 642-4900

11:00 AM t0 9:00 PM                         Daily

No Web site yet

I suppose that you have been wondering what we have been up to.  Well, even if you haven’t, I’m going to tell you anyway.  We’ve been revisiting some of the places that we have posted about.  Most of them are satisfyingly consistent. One declined. One improved.  We also tried another location of a chain restaurant we reviewed and had an experience so bad that I couldn’t even bring myself to write about it.  However, this last weekend, we took a trip to Yosemite with a couple of friends and on the way had some interesting barbeque experiences.  This one is a diamond in the rough and seemingly ignored by the local population.  Shame on them!  They don’t know what they are missing.  But then again, it just means us tourists get the pleasure of enjoying the food here.

The only major town immediately south of Yosemite on highway 41 is Oakhurst. (Fish Camp is a wide spot in the road and Coarsegold seems to have had an extra decimal place added to its population count.)  Driving through Oakhurst, we spotted Todd’s Cookhouse Barbeque.  The building it’s in is a bit off the road and slightly down a slope, so it’s fortunate they have some good signage. Walking in, your first impression is that this is going to be fast-food barbeque.  You are facing an ordering counter with a couple of small dining areas to either side at the ends of the building.  The menu is hand scrawled on a piece of cardboard behind the counter and on a chalkboard to the left by the self-serve drink dispenser.  The interior is wooden plank with a few country memorabilia nailed up.  No restaurant designer was used in the construction of this place and you feel you are in a real hole in the wall barbeque place.

The girls behind the counter are friendly and take your orders on paper, no computers here. They do have a 2-meat combo plate listed but we were having dinner at the Ahwahnee that night so we ordered different sandwiches to get a sampling.  Sharon ordered a Tri-tip sandwich with a side of Chili Beans.  I had a Pulled Pork sandwich with Cole Slaw.  Our friends ordered Chopped Brisket sandwiches with Hush Puppies.  We found a table and after a very short wait, our orders arrived.  The generous quantity of the meat in the sandwiches almost spoiled our dinners.

Pulled Pork

I’ve had pulled pork in Memphis and the Carolinas.  The first bite here took me right back there.  This is moist and flavorful pulled pork, as good as it gets.  They use mostly California red oak here, but I think they threw a little apple wood in when they did this one.  My only complaint, and this is nitpicking, was that the slaw was not on the sandwich.  Some people prefer fried onions on a pulled pork sandwich, I like slaw on one.  I would also have liked a mustard based sauce for it, but this is just a personal preference.  This pulled pork can stand on its own.  Great!

Tri-tip

Someone in this kitchen knows how to do tri-tip.  It was moist and tender, not sliced too thin, and had a proper smoke ring with a subtle taste of California red oak. You will be hard pressed to find any better tri-tip anywhere.  You could cut it with the plastic knife that serves as cutlery here.  The buttered bun it came on was very fresh and fluffy with a smear of barbeque sauce that did not overwhelm the tri-tip.  The barbeque sauce was tangy and definitely has some pepper in it as it made Sharon’s mouth burn.

Chopped Brisket

I’ll bet that when they took this brisket out of the smoker and threw it on the cutting board it quivered.  It was probably fall apart tender before it was chopped because it certainly was on the sandwich.  Brisket should have a flavor that says “Beef!” over and above the smoke and any rub and this does.   Again, you will be hard pressed to find a better brisket anywhere.  This also came on the same fresh bun.

Hush Puppies

OK, they’re hush puppies.  They don’t have jalapenos in them, which allowed Sharon to sample them.  While tasty, they were just a little over done, and could have used some honey butter. I prefer a lighter hush puppy just golden and done but still soft on the inside.  These came with a tangy dipping sauce that helped to make them more than ordinary. 

Chili Beans

This is not a side dish bowl of beans.  What you have here is a fabulous; make a meal of it, bean dish with both pork and beef in it.  It is more than amply meaty and the sauce, while sweet, is just right.  This is one of the best bean dishes you will find anywhere.  I would have no problem ordering just a bowl of chili beans with a side of bread for a meal here.

Cole Slaw

While it is not fantastic coleslaw it is definitely better than a simply competent one.  The surprise is a little cilantro in it.  It has a creamy style sauce that is a bit on the sweet side.  I did object to there being a bit too much sauce on my serving.  If you have been following this you know that I have a thing about overly wet coleslaw.  Besides that, it is a very good side dish slaw.

Sharon and I, along with our friends, were absolutely delighted with Todd’s Cookhouse BBQ.  We always have fun on a road trip (Well, there was the time we got to our destination and found the next morning we were surrounded by a wild fire, but that was an adventure.) and it’s even more fun when you can find a little gem like Todd’s.  While we were there we spoke to a gentleman waiting for a go order who said that he had recently moved to Oakhurst and was delighted to have found this place.  He told us that he was surprised to find that many of the locals did not know about it.  They’re missing something.  For the meat, we rate Todd’s a 9.6.  As a total experience we rate it an 8.5.  It’s a bit out of the way unless you are going to Yosemite, but it is definitely destination barbeque.

The Egg Revisited

 “I know my husband really loves me because he takes me to have ribs.  He says I’m the only girl he ever took out who actually ate anything on her plate, as opposed to pushing it around.”

---Julia Barr

Now you would think that during National Barbeque Month we would make an effort to review at least one barbeque place a week.  That was the intention but life happens.  However, since Memorial Day is the unofficial start of the summer barbeque season I had to at least try to barbeque something. 

Smart and Final cooperated by holding a Memorial Day weekend sale on pork ribs for $1.99 a pound, tri-tip for $3.99 a pound , and rib eye, for $4.99 a pound.  As with all such special sales there is a catch.  You have to buy a whole piece of any of these items…a whole side of ribs, a whole tri-tip, or a whole rib eye.  I found a nice looking, meaty side of ribs that was only $24.00.  I did better with the tri-tip finding very good one that was only $10.00.  All the rib eye looked great, and I would have loved to slice one up into steaks, however the smallest one was $103.00, not really a problem, but we had just stocked up on our usual food items and adding the ribs and tri-tip we didn’t have enough freezer space for all those steaks.

Since Thanksgiving I have become much more proficient with, and appreciative of the Big Green Egg.  With some research, and a bit of practice, I am now able to easily get it to hold the low temperatures required for slow smoking.  The temperature control is much easier than the Weber Kettle and requires much, much less fire tending.  It now takes me about seven minutes to fire it up it to the 230 degrees for smoking ribs.  As for the fire tending, I just put the Egg where I can see the thermometer from my den window, set the timer on my iPhone for 15 minutes so I can check the temperature (After turning the alarm sound way down.  The timer alarm on my iPhone sounds as though it was warning of a nuclear attack.), then sit down to watch tapes or DVDs.   (On Memorial Day we almost caught up with season three of Game of Thrones.)  During the six hours that the ribs were in the Egg I only had to make minor adjustments to the vents twice.

I had cut the side of ribs into four small racks, since there is usually just the two of us for dinner, and froze three of them.  I put a dry rub on the fourth on and put it in the refrigerator.  Now, I don’t claim to be anything but an amateur grill master, but I do lay claim to a signature rub.  My rub is truffle salt (Yes, it comes from Italy and really does have bits of truffle.), smoked Hungarian paprika, and black pepper.  I also use truffle salt and pepper on steaks when I grill.  The truffles impart a flavor to the meat that really has to be experienced.   The rub went on four hours before I fired up the Egg.

I use the 3-2-1 method to do the ribs.

 http://www.smoking-meat.com/july-12-2012-221-baby-back-ribs-on-big-green-egg-ceramic-cooker

Yes, I know the web page is entitled 2-2-1 Ribs.  That’s for baby back ribs…read the web page.  It explains how the process of setting up the Egg and preparing the ribs for smoking in detail much better than I could in this short post.  His rub is quite good, I just like mine better. The last hour, with the ribs on the grill, is sometimes shorter than an hour since I check my meat with an instant read thermometer as it gets close to being done.  You want it done, but not dry.

The meal was completed simply with corn on the cob and some dinner rolls.  The ribs were so meaty that we had a couple of leftovers.  I rib for lunch each of the next two days and they were still great as leftovers.

If you select good ribs and use this method you will get ribs as good as any you can find at a barbeque restaurant.  The difference is that you have to put the time and effort into making them, which, when you want to really do something special for yourself and others, is very satisfying.

It’s summer, Happy Barbequing!                           

 

The Pit BBQ

THIS PLACE IS GONE!

“I love food and feel that it is something that should be enjoyed.  I eat whatever I want.  I just don’t over eat.”

--- Tyra Banks

THE PIT BBQ

207 E. Alameda Avenue

Burbank, CA  91502-1595

(818) 751-5808

Closed                                   Monday

11:30 AM to 3:00 PM          Tuesday to Sunday

5:00 PM to 8:00 PM            Tuesday to Sunday or until the meat runs out.

http://www.thepitbrothers.com/

Sharon gets lots of internet coupons.  The other day she got one from Amazon for The Pit BBQ in Burbank.  We were a bit puzzled since we didn’t know of any barbeque place in that part of Burbank.  As it turns out, it was because they have only been there for two months and neither of us had driven on that section of Alameda during that time.  We couldn’t resist trying it and the fact that we had a coupon worth $30 didn’t hurt either.

We decided to go to The Pit BBQ for lunch last Saturday.  We ran our usual Saturday errands, and just like in the movies, found a parking spot right in front of the place at 11:00 AM.  The web site says they open at 11:00 AM but the sign on the door said 11:30 so we walked up San Fernando Road for a bit to get some exercise and work up our appetite.  When we got back they were open.

We walked into a small dining area with and order and pickup counter at one end and a self-service drink dispenser at the other.  Near the drink dispenser is a shelf with a selection of plastic dinnerware and on the wall above a paper towel dispenser labeled “napkins”.   The seating is provided by seven picnic tables, four two seat and three four seat.  The walls are painted white and have a sort of wainscot of redwood planks.  We walked up to counter and presented our coupon.  The two young women behind the counter looked at each other and said, “It’s working!”

The menu is simple.  The meats are Baby Back Ribs, Pulled Pork, Brisket and Chicken Wings.  There is another interesting offering, Empanadas with either beef or pork filling.  The meats are available a la carte, and the brisket and pulled pork can be had in sandwiches.  The combos are sandwich, soda and a side or empanada soda and a side.  The side dishes are Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, Macaroni and Cheese, Potato Salad, Corn on the Cob, and Chimi Mashed Potatoes (chimichuri).  They also have green salads, (not on the menu).  Dessert offerings are Cheese Cake and Apple Pie.

To get a good sample of the meat we ordered a half rack of baby back ribs, a half- pound of brisket, and a half-pound of pulled pork.  To sample the sides we ordered Cole slaw, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and potato salad.  They do have a liquor license and a nice, if slightly quirky selection of beers, but since the sun was not over the yard arm in Burbank we stuck to soft drinks.  The food arrived hot and promptly with the meat served in paper lined plastic baskets and the sides in Styrofoam cups.

Beef Brisket

This is a great place to start since this is great brisket.  The meat is tender and served in thick slices.  Cherry wood is used for smoke here and the brisket has a good cherry smoked flavor. 

Pulled Pork

The pulled pork is a bit of a puzzle.  It looks gorgeous with a proper smoke ring and good color.  The pork is as tender as you could want it, but oddly enough is a bit bland.  Cherry wood smoking is more subtle than most wood, but here it does not come through.  I tried it with the piquant and somewhat vinegary barbeque sauce that is served here and the sauce was somewhat overwhelming.  However, this is not quite the negative it sounds.  The next day I warmed up the leftover pulled pork and made a sandwich using it and the leftover Cole slaw.  I whisked some mustard into the sauce, creating a reasonable facsimile of a Carolina style barbeque sauce, (Well, I found it reasonable anyway.) and it made a very good sandwich.

Baby Back Ribs

The ribs were meaty had a proper smoke ring, and were fall-off-the-bone tender.  They were more flavorful than the pulled pork, but not as flavorful as the best baby back ribs we’ve had.  They are good, worth ordering, but fall short of great.                                                                                         

Baked Beans

The Pit serves some of the best side order baked beans we have had.  The sauce is a bit on the piquant side, almost too hot for Sharon, but very well spiced.  This recipe has more than one kind of bean showing more than average effort in the kitchen.  It’s not a baked bean you would want to make a meal out of but is one of the more exceptional side order baked bean servings we have found.

Macaroni and Cheese

The only thing that keeps us from rating this mac and cheese as top notch is a slightly mealy texture.  The pasta is al dente and the sauce had a nice, sharp cheese flavor.  It makes a good complement to the meats and the somewhat spicy baked beans.

Cole Slaw

This is what I would call a competent, finely shredded, two cabbage and carrot Cole slaw with a creamy dressing.  It does need a bit of salt and pepper to bring out its flavor.    Delightfully, it is not served too wet. I don’t know if they put the slaw on their pulled pork sandwiches, (OK, I didn’t think to ask.) but when I made mine with the leftovers the next day, it worked wonderfully.

Potato Salad

For me, this was a definite disappointment.  I like a potato salad with distinct chunks of potatoes.  This was so over mixed and mushy that it almost seemed done in a blender.  It was also quite bland.  I asked one of the servers about the potato salad and one of them said that she like it that way as did several customers.  Individual differences I guess.

Overall, The Pit BBQ is a quite pleasant barbeque experience.  Obviously, with the differences between the web site, menu, and what is actually happening with the hours and menu, they are still on the up side of their learning curve.  It should be interesting to see how they develop.  As it stands now, we give The Pit BBQ seven and a half.

Zeke's Smokehouse

“Not eating meat is a decision, eating meat is an instinct.”

---Denis Leary

ZEKE’S SMOKEHOUSE

2209 Honolulu Avenue

La Crescenta/Montrose, CA 91020

(818) 957-7045

11:00 AM to 9:00 PM                    Monday through Thursday

11:00 AM to 10:00 PM                  Friday

11:30 AM to 10:00 PM                  Saturday

11:30 AM to 9:00 PM           Sunday

8:00 AM to 11:30 AM           Breakfast Saturday and Sunday

http://www.zekessmokehouse.com/ordereze/1000/Page.aspx

We had some personal business in Glendale that involved our friends from Pasadena and they agreed that it would be a good idea to have a barbeque lunch afterward.  Montrose is adjacent to Glendale and we decided to go to Zeke’s Smokehouse.  We had been there some time before we started blogging and it was a good chance for a review.

Zeke’s restaurant is appears to be a typical small storefront barbeque place seating about 40 customers.   It has an open kitchen with a small dining counter in front.  There are three booths, the rest of the seating being tables and there are some tables out on the sidewalk in front.  The décor is small coffee shop with barbeque memorabilia on the walls.  One of the most interesting things photo on the wall in the front unisex restroom (There is another one at the back of the hall from the rear entrance.) of a chamber of commerce barbeque in Austin circa 1930.  That long hall from the entrance gives you a clue to the real depth of the building.  They have enough space to have a small meat packing plant in the back. By the way, there is a parking lot in the back.  If it’s not full you can use the ample public parking lot to the left down the alley.

The service here is very attentive.  We arrived with seven people and they put three   tables together for us.  On the table were three, apparently house-made sauces. Spicy, Mild and a Carolina Style (Mustard based) for pulled pork.  The menu has appetizers, salads, and sandwiches, some Southern style entrees including fish, burgers, and the main draw, barbeque.  The rib selection is Baby Backs, Spare Ribs and Beef Ribs.  The other meats are Pork Loin, Beef Brisket, Pulled Pork, Pulled Chicken, Smokehouse Chicken, Pork Rib Tips, and Hot Creole Links.  As usual Sharon and I ordered two combos to get our usual sampling of meat.  Hers was the Mixed Rib Plate consisting of three Memphis Baby Back Ribs, two Kansas City Spare Ribs and one Beef Rib.  Her choice of two sides was Mac & Cheese and Smokehouse Baked Beans.  My selection was a Zeke’s Combo which is a Smokehouse Chicken Leg and Thigh, Two Kansas City Spare Ribs, Beef Brisket, and a Hot Creole Link.  I went for the two dollar upcharge for white meat and got a chicken breast and wing instead of the leg and thigh.  My sides were Collard Greens and Creamy Cole Slaw.  The food arrived in a reasonable time and each plate had a slice of garlic cheese toast as well as what we ordered.  The quantities of the meats were more than adequate (Keeping in mind that I am not a kid in his 20’s.) and we took leftovers home.  Sharon and one of our friends shared some Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce (Jim Beam).  Two of our other friends tried the fried chicken dinner, another tried the rib tips with fried green tomatoes and hush puppies.  Everyone enjoyed what they ordered and took leftovers home.

Memphis Baby Back Ribs

The baby backs looked good, with a nice smoke ring visible on the cut sides, and were quite meaty.  They were not fall-off-the-bone tender but were by no means tough.  What disappointed was that they were bland.  They use apple wood here.  Apple wood works well for bacon but I find it a bit too subtle for other meats. The strange thing is that these ribs look perfect but have almost no taste.

Kansas City Spare Ribs

The very same thing that I said about the baby back ribs can be said of the spare ribs.  They look perfect, but have very little flavor.

Beef Rib

This certainly does not disappoint.  It was very meaty, tender, and had a good beefy flavor.  It had sauce on it which was a bit peppery for Sharon but she enjoyed it anyway. Very good beef rib.

Beef Brisket

Brisket should have some fat in it.  When you take a brisket out of the smoker and throw it on the cutting board it should quiver.  This brisket looked just right on the plate and was cut-with-a-fork tender, but it was a bit too fatty and while you could taste the subtle apple wood smoke, but not a real taste of beef.

Smokehouse Chicken

The chicken was done through and the apple wood smoke works well with the chicken.  It was just a little on the dry side but perfectly acceptable barbeque chicken.

Hot Creole Link

One look and you know this is an in-house made link.  It has a natural casing and a course, not mealy, texture.  The spice mixture is not really hot.  In fact it is somewhat disappointingly mild to my taste.  Sharon said it had a slight mouth burn in the after bite but you would have to be as sensitive to hot things as she is to notice it.  They do need to be a bit more careful in the preparation since I found two bone chips in the link.

Smokehouse Baked Beans

At first sight these beans appear to be a bit mushy.  They are but the first taste is a surprise.  They are very savory, almost chili like (Not a real surprise since they have chili on the menu.) with meat and green peppers in the mix. You won’t want to make a meal of the beans, but as a side order they are excellent.

Mac & Cheese

As Sharon likes it, this was a sauce mixed mac and cheese, not baked.  The macaroni was al dente and the cheese sauce was very cheddery tasting and had a very good mouth feel.  (You’d think we were at a wine tasting from that description.)  This is an excellent side order mac and cheese.

Collard Greens

The greens were prepared conventionally and were neither mushy nor tough.  My only complaint might be that they were a little too vinegary.  Not the best, but not bad.

Creamy Cole Slaw

If you have followed my blog you know that I do not like my cole slaw too wet.  This was actually a bit on the dry side.  It is a conventional cabbage and carrot slaw with what appears to be a bit of cilantro In it.  The dressing is just a little sweet.  This is what I term a competent cole slaw.

Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

The bread pudding had apples, raisins and cinnamon in it and the Jim Beam bourbon sauce was buttery and may have some cream in it.  I didn’t have any, but Sharon and one of our friends devoured all of it.  They pronounced it quite tasty. 

It’s a bit hard to give a rating to Zeke’s Smokehouse.  The setting is bright and doesn’t try to look like anything but what it is.  Service is attentive and quick and the plates of food are ample and look great.  Beef ribs, some of the sides, and certainly the bread pudding are as good as you can get anywhere.  The problem is that you go to a barbeque place for the meat and most of the meat disappoints.  Considering how nice the staff was we are really sorry, but we have to rate our visit to Zeke’s six and a half.

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.