The Kansas City BBQ Company

THIS PLACE IS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT AND HAS BEEN RENAIMED!  We have re-reviewed

See post on Muddle & Twist July 2019 

“Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power,
has that ability to comfort.”

--- Norman Kolpas

THE KANSAS CITY BBQ COMPANY   -   NORTH HOLLYWOOD

10863 Magnolia Blvd

North Hollywood, CA 91601

818-754-0030

11:00 AM to 10:30 PM   All Days

http://thekansascitybbqcompany.net/

I’ll have to admit that Sharon and I approached dinner here with a bit of apprehension.  We had been here before, with friends, a couple of years ago.  It was one of the worst barbecue experiences we have ever had.  I won’t go into detail, but if we had been writing a blog then the rating would have been abysmal.  We drove by the place the other day and noticed that the strip mall it was in had been remodeled, they were still there, and they seemed to have customers.  We decided to give them another chance.

This version of the Kansas City BBQ is in a strip mall on Magnolia Blvd. near the edge of the part of North Hollywood that has become the NoHo Arts District.  The old downtown area of North Hollywood is undergoing a gentrification process and the strip mall where the barbecue is located is no exception.  The whole façade of the roughly “L” shaped floor plan building has been redone with pale green and white tile and black art deco lettering.  The foot of the “L” is a sports bar with the barbecue dining room and kitchen being the first storefront in the stem of the “L” with a connecting doorway to the bar.  There is also a small patio outside for al fresco dining which was not being used this cold, rainy and blustery night.  The restaurant portion is rather small and we suspect that the majority of their business is takeout.  The interior has not changed with the front.  You know they are using California oak for smoking since the rick of wood is along the wall just inside the door.  The order counter is a faux roadside stand flanked by a soft drink dispenser on one side and the dining room on the other.  The small dining room has wall paper intended to look like the inside of a log cabin.  There are large screen TVs mounted at the ceiling in three corners of the dining room of course, tuned to sports channels.  This night, since there is no football left except the Super Bowl next weekend, they were tuned to some sort of “ultimate fight” contest.  So not appetizing.  Tables are covered with red and white checked oilcloth table cloths and have salt and pepper shakers and napkin dispensers on them. 

The chalkboard menu is somewhat limited but long on barbecue and short on sides.  We ordered combo plates with a choice of three meats and two sides.  Sharon ordered Baby Back Ribs, Chopped Chicken and Brisket with French Fries and Baked Beans for sides.  I ordered Pulled Pork, Beef Ribs, and Hot Links with Coleslaw and Potato Salad as sides.  We also ordered a Banana Pudding for dessert.  The food arrived promptly in paper lined plastic baskets, accompanied by slices of white bread with the sides, except the fries, were in single serving go cups.  Since we ordered our choices “dry”, the server also brought a plastic bottle of their regular barbeque sauce and one of their spicy barbeque sauce.

French Fries

These were nice, thick, steak fries.  They came out hot and crisp, not at all underdone…steak fries done right.

Baked Beans

Here we have baked beans that someone put some thought into.  The sauce is a bit thin, but very meaty.  The result is almost more a sweet chili than baked beans.  This is not something that you would like to make a meal of a bowl of, but it is definitely a superior side dish for a meal of barbecue.

Coleslaw

More than simply competent coleslaw this is definitive coleslaw.  It is a simple two cabbage plus carrots shredded slaw with a creamy dressing, totally conventional, but the cabbage was fresh, crisp and flavorful, the dressing was sweet and there was just the right amount, not too wet.  If your preference is a creamy style dressing coleslaw this is the one.

Potato Salad

Their potato salad is another simple, competent preparation of an old standard.  The potatoes are in firm cubes, not mushy.  There is what looks and tastes like pieces of green bell pepper but just a hint, not enough to overwhelm the total flavor, and the mayonnaise seems to have just a hint of mustard.  This is either like your mother’s potato salad or the potato salad you wish your mother made.

Baby Back Ribs

Baby back ribs should not disappoint and these certainly do not.  They are meaty, tender to the tooth and have a good smoky flavor.  The only thing that keeps these from being absolutely top notch ribs is that they were just a bit dry.  A little dab of sauce corrects this nicely. 

Chopped Chicken

This is a presentation of barbecued chicken that we have not encountered before.  It is cubed, well smoked chicken breast in a light, sweet sauce that complements it well, served on a slice of white bread.  It’s great tasting barbecued chicken, but the puzzling thing is why they cubed it up as though they were going to put it in a salad.

Brisket

Tender and well smoked this is a very properly flavorful brisket.  It is served in very thin slices and once on the table tends to get cold quickly.  I suspect it is sliced so thinly because they also put it in sandwiches.  It was as bit too well cooked for our taste.

Beef Ribs

Like the pork ribs these are well smoked and tender to the tooth with proper beef rib flavor.  Also, like the pork ribs, they were kept from being absolutely top notch by being just a bit dry.  Still, they are very worthwhile ribs and adding the regular barbeque sauce was beneficial.

Pulled Pork

My first bite had me puzzled.  This was so mild, actually bland, that I had to look twice to make sure it was not chicken.  In fact the flavor of the chicken was stronger.  With no discernible flavor, pork or smoke, this flavorless pulled pork is a miss.

Hot Links

Links here are served sliced on a slice of white bread.  In appearance they looked like an ordinary bratwurst and the texture looks to be a bit mealy.  On first bite it seems no hotter than a hot dog, but after a couple of seconds you realize that this is a proper hot link.  It was way too hot for Sharon and if you are not used to hot links you will be glad for the white bread.  This one will surprise you.  It doesn’t have the texture you would expect from a great hot link, but it does have the flavor.

Banana Pudding

If you are a real fan of banana pudding, skip this one.  They make it ahead of time and put it in a plastic container with the vanilla wafers.  It comes off as vending machine pudding, the vanilla wafers are soggy.  It’s edible, but that’s about all you can say for it.  They really need to rethink this one.  They also had a basket of tiny sweet potato pies that appeared commercially made at the cash register but we lacked the courage to try one.

We were very glad that we decided to give The Kansas City BBQ Company another try.  If we gave awards for most improved barbeque they would get it.  Apparently, the dramatic change in the quality of their food is a result of a change in kitchen staff.  While their meat is just off the top grade, it is vastly improved over what it was a couple of years ago and certainly worth eating, pulled pork notwithstanding.  They can show a least one of the major chains in the area how basic side dishes should be made.  We had a very pleasant barbecue experience.  We now rate The Kansas City BBQ Company an eight.

Big Pops BBQ and Grill

“Thanks cows. I appreciate your tastiness.”
---Craig Ferguson

BIG POPS BBQ & GRILL

10755 Glenoaks Blvd.

Pacoima, CA 91331

818-896-5599

11:00 AM to 8:00 PM   Monday through Saturday

11:00 AM to 4:00 PM   Sunday

No Web Site at the Moment - Try Facebook

A friend of mine told me that I just had to try Big Pops.  Sharon and I tried to make it late one Sunday afternoon but we hadn’t done our research properly and did not realize that they close at 4:00 PM on Sunday.  We got there just as they closed.  Now this wasn’t exactly a bad thing since now we knew exactly where Big Pops was and our alternative was a revisit of the Swinging Door which was very worthwhile (and a subject for another post.)  This time we made it.

Big Pops is in a strip mall on the corner of Glenoaks and Osborne which is a somewhat off camber, oddly angled, signalized intersection that clings to a hillside.  The strip mall is uphill from the intersection itself which can make entering the parking lot an exercise in situational awareness.  Be cautious if you drive there.

This is a storefront in a strip mall and is mostly kitchen.  While there is a shelf against one wall with four bar stools where you could sit to eat, if you had to, consider it strictly takeout.  The wall behind the shelf is covered with framed shoulder patches from every fire and police agency in the area, many of them from aviation related units, (There is an airport on the other side of the hill with police and fire stations close by.) so you know where a lot of their business comes from.  Big Pop was out of town with the family so “Big Uncle” was running the show with a girl taking orders and a couple of cooks.  There is a glass wall right next to the grill so you can watch them work.  For those who have never worked at a full sized restaurant grill it’s an education.

The menu includes sandwiches, fried fish and shrimp, burgers, wings, and salads as well as barbecue.   The barbecue is served as single item plates with Seasoned French Fries, Cornbread, and a side.  The only thing that could be called a combo on the menu costs $54.99 and feeds six to eight people. To get a sample of the que we ordered three of the single item plates, a Jr’s Quarter Slab of St. Louis Pork Spareribs, Pulled Pork, and Jr’s quarter slab of Beef Ribs.  All this was ordered dry with the sauce on the side.  The sides were Coleslaw, Collard Greens, and Mac & Cheese.   Of course we couldn’t resist ordering a side of Fried Pickles when we saw it on the menu.  Our plates came as generous portions in large foam takeout boxes accompanied with a sufficient amount of napkins and plastic wrapped setups including plastic knife, fork and spoon along with some wet wipe packets.   Thus armed we took our food home to feast before it got cold which was made easier by the position of the freeways.  Our trip was about five minutes, each way, in Sunday traffic.

Cornbread

This is a very moist, sheet pan cornbread that while firm is not quite able to stand up to an unwarmed butter patty.  The texture is spongy and the taste is almost dessert sweet which is not a bad thing.  It is somewhat different from a usual sheet pan corn bread, good but not great.

Mac & Cheese

It was interesting.  The sauce was creamy, the pasta al dente, and yet is was strangely flavorless with the cheese sauce not even cheddary…a less than pedestrian version of the classic side.

Coleslaw

With a good mix of cabbage and other ingredients in a not too wet mayonnaise type dressing I would call this a competent slaw.

Collard Greens

This was a somewhat underwhelming and a bit bitter standard preparation of greens.  Do not give this one to someone who does not like greens.   It will only reinforce their preconceptions.

Seasoned French Fries

Actually, these are battered wedge fries.  They are good although while the seasoning is different, and the battering fries up crisper, but I would not say they are noticeably better than the wedge fries at KFC.  They certainly don’t have the same taste pop as the original MoJo Potatoes at Shakey’s.  (In truth, I haven’t been to a Shakey’s for a long time so I can’t say that the MoJo potatoes are still as good as I remember.)

Fried Pickles

The breading is a conventional Southern style corn breading not the Panko breading used at some places.  It works well but they definitely needed to start with crisper pickles.   I suspect that the most successful fried pickles, such as the ones at Lucille’s, may actually start with a half-dill pickle which keeps them crisp after the breading and frying. 

St Louis Pork Spareribs

Meaty but not fall off the bone tender these ribs were actually quite good.  The flavor is a bit subtle since even the regular barbecue sauce (The other choice is spicy.) could overwhelm the flavor.  Definitely try dry before you sauce.

Beef Ribs

These ribs were adequate in size and not tremendously meaty, but had very good beef flavor. They were tender without any sign of stringiness, and definitely seemed worth ordering.

Pulled Pork

When I opened the box I found the serving to be a generous amount wrapped in foil.  After tasting it I decided that no one in the South would be ashamed to serve this pulled pork.  While not the best pulled pork I have had I really would have to stretch to find fault with it.

Bib Pops serves competent takeout barbecue.  There menu is obviously adjusted to the lunch trade in the heavily industrial area they serve.  They also can make larger quantities and do a significant catering business.  Having tried it, we do have to disagree with my friend who recommended it, however, in that it is not destination que.  If I were in the area at lunch time and didn’t want sit down service I wouldn’t hesitate to drop in for a takeout pulled pork sandwich.   On our 1 to 10 scale it rates a 7.

Pappa's Place

THIS PLACE IS GONE!

“I'm pretty sure that eating chocolate keeps wrinkles away because I have never seen a 10 year old with a Hershey bar and crow’s feet.”
--- Amy Neftzger

PAPA'S PLACE  “A Mecca for Barbeque”

1525 W. Avenue K

Lancaster, CA  93534

(661) 726-0066

(No web site found)

On a trip to the antelope Valley this week to attend a meeting, a colleague and I spotted Papa’s Place at the Avenue K off ramp of the 14 freeway.  We decided to challenge the statement that it was a “mecca for barbeque” and try it on our way back to our office after our meeting.  The restaurant is located in a former Coco’s that has been several other things since the Coco’s closed.  We were greeted promptly and seated at one of the many empty tables.  The restaurant was divided into two sections; the dining section and the “sports bar” section which naturally had the big screen television tuned to a sports channel.  There is also a bar you can sit at and chat with the bartender while you drink your lunch.  The restaurant is obviously just getting started and hasn’t found their identity yet.  The tables were covered with black tablecloths but lacked the customary sampling of sauces and did not even have salt and pepper shakers on the tables.  There were a couple of paper towel dispensers on the walls but the whole place just lacked atmosphere.  On the whole it was cold and uninviting.

Our waitress appeared promptly and took our drink orders while we perused the menu.  I noted that they had both collard greens and gumbo, two of Howard’s favorites.  I texted him the information and we agreed to make this a road trip at a later date.  I ordered a sampler of beef ribs, tri tip, a half chicken, pork rib tips and two sides: mac ‘n cheese and pit beans.  My lunch companion ordered the pork spare ribs with French fries.  I ordered a basket of fried pickles to see how they made them.  The menu included several traditional Southern items like fried green tomatoes and the previously mentioned gumbo.  Our server returned and apologized that they were out of beef ribs, so I had the pork spare ribs as well.

Fried Pickles

I would like to report that these were just as yummy as the ones at Memphis Championship or Lucille’s but I can’t.  They were tasty but were breaded with a cornmeal breading that made the thinly sliced rounds very dry to the palate.  They were sprinkled with a white cheese, maybe Monterey jack and served with a peppery dip.  The menu said they would come with Ranch dressing but if it started out as Ranch, it was heavily laced with a hot pepper sauce that made it a reddish color.  It was a little too peppery for my taste, but my lunch companion seemed to like it.  Our meal arrived promptly and I was aghast to note that everything on the plate was drowning in the same bar-be-que sauce.  Note to other barbeque fans: ask for the sauce to be on the side unless you like everything to taste the same.  

Mac ‘n Cheese

The mac ‘n cheese was obviously baked and had a nice custardy texture and flavor to offset the overcooked macaroni.  It did have a nice blend of flavorful cheeses but the baking process made the pasta soft and on the mushy side. 

Pit Beans

Again, the beans were overpowered by both red and green bell peppers.  It had an indistinct sauce of no identifiable regional origin and some bits that I think were pork.  All in all, they were not that great.   

Tri Tip

There was a generous serving of sliced tri tip with a distinctive smoke ring.  It had a nice smoky flavor, but not distinctive enough to tell the diner what type of wood was used.  It was not overcooked but the generous portion of barbeque sauce on it made it difficult to fully appreciate the subtly of the smoking process. 

Chicken

This was a generous portion but definitely not smoked and somewhat dry.  Most likely roasted and thoroughly cooked (a good thing with chicken) but the only flavor came from the bar-be-que sauce slathered on it.  

Spare ribs

The two spare ribs were meaty with a good smoked flavor.  They were not fall-off-the-bone tender but neither were they stringy, over cooked or hard to chew.  I would have preferred to try them initially without the ever present bar-be-que sauce to appreciate their flavor before putting something on them, if anything. 

Rib Tips

These were surprisingly meaty for rib tips with good smoky flavor.  Rib tips are always a little on the chewy side, but these were not particularly chewy, nor were they stringy.  All in all, they were quite excellent.   

In sum, Papa’s Place is not yet a “mecca for barbeque”.  They definitely need to find their identity and make this former Coco’s into their own special place where they can showcase their personal take on barbeque and establish their place in the barbeque hierarchy.

Hollywood Way Barbecue, Bar and Grill

"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food."
--- W.C. Fields


THE HOLLYWOOD WAY BARBECUE, BAR AND GRILL

1333 N. Hollywood Way

Burbank, CA 91505

818-845-4400

11:00 AM to 12:00 AM        Monday through Thursday

11:00 AM to 2:00 AM          Friday

9:00 AM to 2:00 AM            Saturday

11:00 AM to 10:00 AM        Sunday

http://thehollywoodwaybbq.com

Oh the things we endure for our readers.  You have no idea.  If you go to The Hollywood Way Barbecue Bar and Grill you will.

The first impression is that you have walked into a dive bar.  When you walk into a real dive bar you can smell it.  In this case there is no smell, the appearance is deliberate…the décor is restaurant designer dive bar.  It’s dark on the bar side and darkish on the restaurant side.  Beyond doubt, this place is primarily a sports bar.  About one third of it is simply bar and the other two thirds is restaurant with a couple of large card tables instead of the usual sports bar pool tables.  Now this surprised Sharon who was born and raised in Burbank when the only place it was legal to dance in the town was at the American Legion Hall (and maybe at the VFW Hall.)  But, playing cards in public in a bar?  Unthinkable!  Burbank is not quite that conservative now.  The seating in the restaurant is a mix of various height pub tables and booths.  There are ten flat screen TVs in the restaurant side alone tuned to three different sports channels.  There are three more in the bar along with a sound system playing head banging rock loud enough to keep you from thinking.  That was not nearly as annoying as the fact that some parents had parked their kids in front of a TV on the restaurant side while they partied in the bar or played poker at the gaming tables.

There is no hostess and a sign just inside the door invites you to seat yourself.  The servers were very busy but managed to be bright, cheerful and reasonably quick.  As soon as we had selected a table and seated ourselves our server arrived with menus and to take our drink orders.

The menu is a laminated sheet done in a type style meant to look like a page typed on both sides.  Whoever wrote this tried to do it in an entertainment industry style but couldn’t decide if they wanted to go movies or live theater.  For example, the side dishes are referred  to as “Out Takes” but the main courses are called “Center Stage”.  The menu has appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, and barbecue.  Some of the appetizers show the same mix of Mexican and barbecue that is popular at some Southern California barbecue places such as pulled pork nachos or barbecue pulled pork or pulled chicken quesadillas.

We each ordered a Hollywood’s BBQ Combo Platter, Sharon’s with Baby Back Ribs and Tri-tip and mine with Half Chicken and Pulled Pork.  I also ordered an a la carte hot link.  Our “Out Takes” were BBQ Baked Beans, Coleslaw, Mac-N- Cheese, and Potato Salad.  All this came with Texas Toast.

Mac-N- Cheese

The sauce was made with real cheese and quite creamy.  The pasta, simple macaroni, was al dente.  And, it was quite tasteless.  How do they do that?  We don’t know.  Even salt and pepper couldn’t save it.

BBW Baked Beans

This is a concoction of beans that are overcooked and mushy, a sauce, small bits of processed ham, and large chunks of green bell pepper.  I can’t tell you what the sauce tastes like or how well the ham works in it because the whole thing is overwhelmed by the bell peppers.

Potato Salad

Definitely over mixed, this potato salad is also mushy.  It has red bell peppers and onions in it with some of the onion pieces being rather large.  Salt and pepper improved it a bit but not much. 

Coleslaw

This is a great mixture for coleslaw, two different kinds of cabbage, onions, carrots and what tastes like apple.  The creamy, mayonnaise style dressing is not too thick and the slaw is not drowning in it.  The only negative is that it seemed to be at about the end of its service life when served.

Tri-tip

The tri-tip portion on the plate was generous, looked properly sliced, and had a good looking smoke ring.  Reality was another matter as it was a bit dry, tough and overcooked to the point of tastelessness.  This is California and it’s disappointing to find the distinctively regional type of barbecue done poorly.  The sauce ladled on it gave it the only moisture and helped a little to make it somewhat palatable, but not much.

Baby Back Ribs

I have said in the past that baby back ribs should not disappoint.  These, unfortunately, disappoint.  They were not exactly tasteless, but were dry and chewier that baby backs have a right to be.  The sauce caked on them gave them some flavor but didn’t help with the dryness.

Pulled Pork

The description in the menu calls it Carolina style pulled pork.  It doesn’t taste Carolina style.  In fact it doesn’t have much taste at all.  Not only that, but the sauce served with it seemed more St Louis than Carolina.  Sometimes when you have leftovers the flavors develop further after a day or two.  Not with this, a pulled pork sandwich made with the leftover was still flat.

Half Chicken

Someone back there knows how to do something right.  There is nothing wrong with this chicken.  The chicken here is moist, tender, done through, and has a wonderful smoky flavor.  If I come here again I will order the chicken.

Hot Link

Hot it’s not.  It tasted like it was a Hillshire Farms Kielbasa from the Smart and Final across the street.  It’s not what anyone would expect from a hot link.

This place should work.  The idea is cute.  It’s in a media town and near enough to the media district to attract an up market clientele, which were certainly not in evidence the night we visited.  And, the menu has an attractive selection of items.  So, what happened?   My guess is that the food became the right stuff done wrong, the clientele became less upscale, and the place became more bar than barbecue.  Considering the food and the whole experience we debated whether or not to give it a five or a six and after deliberating decided to give it a five.

Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que

“Dinner is not what you do in the evening before something else. Dinner is the evening.”
---Art Buchwald

 

LUCILLE’S SMOKEHOUSE BAR-B-QUE - (VALENCIA, CA)

Westfield Valencia Town Center

24201 West Valencia Boulevard

Valencia, CA 91355

661-255-1227

11:00 AM to 12:00 AM

http://www.lucillesbbq.com/locations/valencia

 

The first physical impression of the Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que in Valencia is that it is a restaurant in search of an identity.  It absolutely defies being labeled with any decorating style.  This sizable, shopping mall location seems to give a nod to the Arts and Crafts style on the outside, but the waiting area appears to be restaurant designer roadhouse, except that the hostess’s desk seems on cusp between Deco and Moderne.  Walk past that and it’s anyone’s guess.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, just a little odd the first time you walk in.  The bar is sort of Mid-Century modern steakhouse style with faux alligator hide panels on the face of bar cabinet.  Above the bar floats a phalanx of flat screen TVs which were all tuned to the same dramatic show when we entered a bit before 5:00 PM, but on the hour, the manager walked around the bar with a remote and tuned each to a different sports channel starting the usual visual deluge of silent talking heads interspersed with game clips.

The area where we were seated was a double row of booths projecting into the middle of the room from behind the hostess’s station towards the kitchen.  The seats in these booths were upholstered with purple faux snakeskin while the tables were 50s coffee shop style red Formica with aluminum banding around the edges.  The rest of the seating in the room seemed covered with various colors of Naugahyde giving it all a decidedly 50s casual dining feeling.  The wall decoration of the area past the bar looked like a trendy blues club.  This was with good reason since they have live performances there on weekends.  The wall decoration on the other side of the room looked like an upscale country chicken restaurant.  In the center of the room, along the back wall beside the kitchen entrance, was the smoker proudly enshrined in a floor to ceiling glass box.  A sign by the door of the box announces how many hours the different types of meat stay in the smoker.  The semi-open kitchen area was easily differentiated from the rest of the room by being faced with white tile.  To top this all off, the ceiling structure and all the HVAC ducts and wiring is concealed by sun sails and pergolas as though you were sitting outside on a vast patio.   As I said, it’s fun, and all this visual interest does not detract from the barbecue experience.

The hostess seated us, gave us our menus, our setups (wrapped in real cloth napkins), and our menus.  Since our habit of ordering our sampling of the que has become a habit we were able to make our decisions and give our server, Audrey, our complete order even though her arrival was quite prompt.  We ordered appetizers, a half order of Fried Dill Pickles and a half order of Fried Green Tomatoes.  Sharon ordered a Back Porch: a Rib, half a Chicken and Tri-tip platter with Baby Back Ribs.  Macaroni & Cheese and Baked Beans were her two sides.  My order was a BBQ Two Meat Combo Platter with BBQ Beef Ribs and Pulled Pork.  My two sides were Southern Braised Greens and Honey Roasted Peanut Slaw.  I also ordered an a la carte hot link, actually two, to get a more complete sampling.  While we were waiting for our order, Audrey brought our drinks, served in large, wide mouth Mason jars, and a basket with two “homemade biscuits” and a more than adequate serving of honey butter.

Homemade Biscuits

If “homemade” means made from scratch, in-house, then these seem to qualify.  They were firm textured, not flakey, a bit dry but tasty and oddly, but not unpleasantly, had a dusting of granulated sugar. They were definitely not purchased from a commercial bakery.  They came with honey butter to compete the chain restaurant take on Southern style biscuits.  

Fried Dill Pickles

If you have never tried this and you like pickles you are missing something.  At other barbecue places that serve this the pickles are usually sliced and panko breaded.  In this presentation they started with very crisp pickles, sliced into spears, and breaded with a more traditional, Southern, corn based breading.  You want them hot, but be careful with them right after they come from the kitchen since the breading seals in a lot of the juice.  They were presented with two dipping sauces – one a ranch dressing and the other a mustard based dip on a plate decorated with shredded carrots, red, white and green cabbage.  Very festive and a genuinely fun appetizer!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Sharon had never experienced this Southern tradition before.  Green tomatoes are firmer than ripe tomatoes and not quite as sweet.  After breading with the same breading used on the pickles and frying they have just the right acidic sweetness to perk up your taste buds for the que.  These are served in a plate coated with a peppery sauce that was a bit too much for Sharon so she could only eat the slice in the middle that had not touched the sauce.

Macaroni & Cheese

A conventional, but very good presentation of mac and cheese, al dente pasta with a creamy white cheddar sauce with some shredded yellow cheddar melted on top.  If you have any leftover it’s worth taking home and nuking for a snack.

Southern Braised Greens

This is another presentation of greens that anyone who says that they do not like greens should try.  I put them in the conventional greens category in spite of being done in a broth.  They have chunks of apple wood smoked bacon (smoked here in the smoker) and have a rich, tangy flavor.  This is another one that qualifies as “great greens.”

BBQ Beans

This is another dish that uses chunks of the in-house smoked bacon.  (They slice it thin for the burgers and into chunks to cook other dishes.)  The beans are firm and the sauce is sweet, and peppery, unfortunately just a little too peppery for Sharon, but most people will find them better beans.  While not BBQ bean dish that you might want to make a meal of, they are a superior side dish.  Damn good beans!

Honey Roasted Peanut Slaw

Everything was here, different types of cabbage, carrots, green onions, spices, vinegar based dressing, and not too wet.  It should have been perfect…what happened? From the taste of the other dishes the kitchen is not afraid of spices, but here the dressing was, well…a bit timid.  Salt and pepper brought it up to really good, but not great.  I guess that this is one of those things that really needs to age a bit for the flavor to develop because I had it the next day on a pulled pork sandwich, for lunch, and it was just right.  I also had it for dinner with the leftover link and it was not overwhelmed by the link.  As served I’d call this a very near miss.

Hot Link

While I doubt that they make the links here they are probably custom made for Lucille’s.  The link was very meaty, moist, had a good “pop” when sliced and had absolutely no mealy taste at all.  The spicing was full, though not overly hot, and with no noticeable after bite.  Of course, it was too hot for Sharon, but I found it exceptional.  The a la carte serving is two links and I took the other one home where it definitely passed the leftover test the following evening.

Tri-tip

All the meat here, except for the bacon, is smoked using hickory.  This gives the tri-tip a somewhat more subtle flavor than the usual California red oak, but it is still intense.  It looked perfect, with a proper smoke ring, and the flavor was top notch.  It may seem that I’m reaching for something to knock, but this otherwise near perfect tri-tip was just a bit too dry for me.

BBQ Chicken

Now this chicken was actually smoked.  This was simply barbecued chicken done right.  Juicy and flavorful.  There is really not much more to say, just enjoy it.

BBQ Beef Ribs

They were large and meaty, and had a very good looking glaze on them.  Unfortunately, the glaze was a bit hard, which made the ribs more than a bit chewy.  They were not stringy and the flavor screamed “BEEF!” but they were tough enough that by the time I finished chewing the meat of one particularly large rib my jaw muscles ached.

Baby Back Ribs

These were meaty, well, though subtly smoked and had a bit of a glaze on them.  While not fall-off-the-bone tender they were not at all tough.  Baby back ribs should not disappoint and these certainly did not.

Pulled Pork

Pulled pork should be moist, tender and flavorful, and this was.  As with most pulled pork it can be overwhelmed by the intense flavor of beef ribs and I normally would not have ordered them together.  I took the leftover home to make a pulled pork sandwich for lunch the next day and if mine is any indicator I would not hesitate to order one at Lucille’s.  My only problem with this is that it was the only thing on the plate that came out from the kitchen a bit cold.

After dinner, when our server brought us real hot, wet towels, not packaged wet naps, to clean up with, we could not resist ordering a dessert.  We ordered a small Banana Pudding.  This came in a small oval dish like the one that served the Macaroni & Cheese.  At one end was a dollop of whipped cream with two ‘nilla wafers and a mint sprig stuck in it.  The pudding did not have pudding like texture but was more like a banana flavored whipped topping, and while there was a layer of crunchy ‘nilla wafers on the bottom, there were, disappointingly enough, no slices of banana in the pudding.  I’ve had some interesting variations on the idea of banana pudding, but this isn’t one of them.

Taken as a whole, the experience was good and we left feeling as though we had enjoyed a good meal.  The few negatives were far outweighed by the positives.  We have been to another Lucille’s location with the same overall impression.  You really have to appreciate how much effort chains like this make to keep the experience and the que at a consistently good level.  Hiring and retaining bright, perky and accommodating workers like the server we had that night goes a long way toward that.  We’ve been in food service and we know what it takes.  We give them a qualified nine, and Lucille’s, in Valencia, will probably get more of our business than Famous Dave’s, in Palmdale, simply because it is thirty miles closer.

 

The Bear Pit

“Ordinary folk prefer familiar tastes - they'd sooner eat the same things all the time - but a gourmet would sample a fried park bench just to know how it tastes.”
--- Walter Moers

 

THE BEAR PIT

10825 Sepulveda Boulevard

Mission Hills, CA 91345

818-365-2509

11:30 AM to 9:00 PM   Sunday through Thursday

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

http://bearpitbbq.com/

 

This is one of those barbecue places that has been around long enough to qualify for historical landmark status.  I’ll leave it to you to read the history at their web site, but it has been at the current location for 58 years.  I remember eating here as a pre-teen with my parents.  Although it has had a succession of owners since then it hasn’t changed much.

It’s so close to the 118 Freeway that you wonder how it survived the freeway’s construction.  It did in close to its original form.  The feeling is 1950’s country woodsy…just what you would expect from a 1950’s barbecue restaurant.  There is sawdust on the floor and the booths have wooden slat benches.  The back room is for larger parties and has tables with sturdy wooden chairs.  A sign on the back wall of the front dining room says that tables are for parties of five or more. Below the sign is a lighted Hamm’s Beer sign.  Oddly, the sign is not one that shows, Sascha, the Hamm’s Beer Bear.  The room was also decorated with Christmas decorations.  We were shown to a booth where the park bench style wooden slats seemed hard at first sitting but were actually quite comfortable after a while.

Our server gave us their somewhat coffee shop like menu that is profusely illustrated with bear cartoons and photos that, unlike some fast food commercials, accurately show the appearance of the food.  She also placed a rather nice, crisp relish plate of sliced dill pickles, carrots and celery.  Being an older, Missouri style barbecue place their menu does not include pulled pork but does include ham.  I ordered a Hot Links Combination   with Baby Back Ribs, Cole Slaw, and Deep Fried Taters.  Sharon ordered a Barbecued Pork, Spare Ribs and Chicken Combination along with a Beef Rib, a salad and Bar-B-Q Beans.  This all comes with Garlic Toast.

Garlic Toast

We have to start with the Garlic Toast.  Everyone who has been here talks about the Garlic Toast.  They all say it is impressive, and it is…physically that is.  They have the bread baked especially for them.  The slice for each serving is about a half square foot in size.  It is brushed with garlic butter and toasted.  The problem is that it’s just coffee shop garlic toast…which is not particularly a bad thing, but I have had much better tasting garlic toast.  What you can say is that when you see it, it is impressive.

Salad

The relish plate was crisp, the salad was not.  It did not seem to be fresh, some of the lettuce was turning brown and the blue cheese dressing tasted more like “blue cheese” dressing.  As a basic house dinner salad it was unacceptable.

Cole Slaw

This was worse, it was really soggy, probably not to the point of violating the health code, but it had definitely been out too long.  I enjoy cole slaw and if I take a bite from one side and one from the other and just leave it you know it’s not worth it.  This time it only took one bite.

Bar-B-Q Beans

As we have experienced at other places barbeque beans can be an exciting treat.  Here?  Well, they were beans…just plain beans with a too sweet sauce that seemed to be made with their barbecue sauce.  They were not hot, a bit tepid when served, and were just bland beans. 

Deep Fried Taters

Now, these are actually interesting.  They are exactly what it says they are, little potatoes, peeled and deep fried.  My only complaint is that there should have been more of them on the plate.

Chicken

The chicken was quite good, if you want fried chicken.  They smoke the chicken and then crisp it in the fryer.  It seemed that that night it was not enough smoke and too much frying.  As I said, for fried chicken, it was rather good, cooked through and not dry.

Baby Back Ribs

Baby back ribs should not disappoint.  In the sense that these were the best meat on the plate, they didn’t.  They were tender, quite meaty and not too fatty.  The smoke flavor was barely detectable.  I would say that this is one of the few times that the basic flavor of the meat was improved by putting the sauce on it.

Spare Ribs

These were not as meaty as the back ribs and a little tough.  They actually seemed to be a bit stringy, something you seldom find in pork.  Again, the smoke flavor was extremely light and the sauce improved them.

Beef Rib

There’s nothing good to say about this one.  It was sparse, tough, stringy, over sauced.  They seemed to have double glazed it, but it was so hard that it was hard to tell how the meat actually tasted.  When hot it was like trying to chew on beef candy and as a leftover it was discardable.

Barbecued Pork

One expects good barbecued pork to be done through but moist and flavorful.  This was a bit too done and again, the sauce saved it.

I really hate to have to write a post like this, so much so that I actually put it off for a week.  The people here are nice enough and they are trying to maintain a tradition.  But, when we chose to blog we decided to simply relate our experiences with the restaurant and the food.  They have a claim to consistency even through four owners, maintaining the same recipes, techniques and quality of service, but something seems to have gone wrong.  It’s almost as though we experienced an institution going senile.  We give it a four.

Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill - Northridge

"Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food."
--- Michael Pollan

"Grandma would recognize good barbecue."

--- Howard

WOOD RANCH BBQ and GRILL© – NORTHRIDGE

Northridge Fashion Center

9301 Tampa Avenue

Northridge, CA 91324

818-886-6464

11:00 AM to 10:00 PM Sunday through Thursday

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

woodranch.com


OK. Let’s try this again. The last time we tried to get in here it was raining and there were still people waiting outside. This time we arrived a few hours earlier at five PM. Again, it was raining, and again, there were people waiting, but this time we could wait inside. Without reservations we only had to wait fifteen minutes for a table probably because several couples gave up waiting for a table for two and were sitting at the bar to order food. Even early in the day reservations are a good idea. Did I mention that this place is popular?

Considering its popularity the waiting area is a bit small on weekends. The designer even though of having a separate entrance for the take out counter to keep the waiting area clear and it is still crowded at most hours we have been there. As for the design it is in the up market shopping mall restaurant style. There is a lot of flagstone and wood with a slate floor giving the general impression of an attempt to reproduce a very sophisticated outdoor room indoors. The bar area is a freestanding "U" shape that stands off to one side shielding the kitchen from the front door. There are no less than three big screen TV’s in the bar area, all tuned to the never ending sports channels. Dining area extends back alongside the kitchen and expands in the area behind it. There is patio dining that was definitely not being used this cold and rainy night. The designers took advantage of the freedom of layout available in a large open retail space. The ambience is upmarket comfortable and has no hint of the cowboy or Southwestern kitsch that many barbecue places effect. The only downside is that somehow, despite the baffling effect of the wood in the ceiling and walls it manages to be noisy.

The hostess seated us at a booth near the very busy bar and gave us our menus and our setups, real metal knife, fork and spoon wrapped in a cloth napkin. The food menu occupies one side of a plastic laminated page with the drink menu on the other side. A smaller plastic laminated card listed the special of the day, a beef spare rib and a prime rib dinner. We didn’t actually see one of these Texas style beef ribs, but if it is anything like the Texas style spare ribs at other places it is a massive meal in itself.

Our server, Elizabeth, arrived seconds after the hostess seated us to take our drink order. The menu is simple enough that in those few seconds we had decided on our orders and were ready with our dinner order. We each ordered a three meat combo plate: Sharon’s with tri-tip, baby back ribs, and beef ribs, mine with chicken breast, pulled pork, and beef brisket. They do not have any links on the menu or I would have ordered one. Our side order selections were coleslaw, sweet potatoes, baked beans, and mac and cheese. The menu does include a selection of appetizers, salads and since they do say they are a bbq and grill steaks, burgers and fish along with the barbeque. She brought us some garlic bread to eat while we waited for our food. We didn’t finish the garlic bread before the hot food arrived. That really doesn’t surprise me, even considering how busy they were, since I could see into the kitchen from where I sat and I could see the choreography of a fast, efficient kitchen.

Garlic Bread

Remember those wonderful restaurant dinner rolls, I have described before, that are made by a bakery in Van Nuys? Well, the "garlic bread" was simply a serving of three of these that had been brushed with garlic butter and herbs. They were tasty, but they were not garlic bread.

Coleslaw

A Carolina style vinaigrette slaw with peanuts should be my idea of coleslaw perfection. Normally it would be but this one just misses. Salt and pepper improves it, but something is missing. That’s not to say that it’s bad just a bit bland. It does go well on a pulled pork sandwich (in this case made with leftovers a couple days later). Interestingly enough the coleslaw is a required side order with a pulled pork dinner. I don’t disagree with that.

Sweet Potatoes

Nice texture, and good sized serving, but again I have to say bland. Somehow, this simply lacks intense sweet potato flavor. The light texture is interesting and seems to have been whipped to get a lot of air into it or maybe some milk added as the texture was quite creamy. I really enjoyed the lightness, but light does not have to mean flavorless. It definitely could have used some cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of brown sugar.

Beans

The beans were mushy and the sauce seems to have been their regular barbecue sauce which is very tomatoey and very brown sugary. Considering that this is supposed to be a premium casual dining establishment these beans were unacceptable. The only good thing about them is that they were hot.

Mac and Cheese

Something went very wrong here. What started with a seemingly interesting cheese blend ended up rather cloying and chewy. Salt and pepper didn’t help the fact that they were served lukewarm nor did it improve the bland flavor. We suspect that our serving came from the bottom of a pan that should have been replaced by a fresh one several minutes before.

Tri-Tip

We did come for the barbecue and this is barbecue. There many barbecue places that could take lessons from Wood Ranch© on tri-tip. Wood Ranch© uses a unique cooking method for all its meats. The meat is first slow roasted then grilled over mesquite wood. This is not the traditional slow smoking one would expect, but it really works. The meat is tender and has a really good mesquite smoked flavor. If you like your meat with a mesquite smoked flavor this is as good as tri-tip gets.

Pulled Pork

This cooking method works for pulled pork also. The particular piece of meat was a little fatty but other than that (and I have had much worse with pulled pork) it was great. Again, the pork was apparently mesquite grilled before it was shredded and mixed with what seems to be a Carolina-style sauce that has a bit of a bite to it. It stands well by itself, but when I made a pulled pork sandwich with the leftovers the slight bite was just offset by the blandness of the coleslaw making a perfectly balanced flavor. I’m going to make sure to stop in at lunch to have a pulled pork sandwich to see if it works as well when they put it together.

Chicken Breast

Well, their cooking method doesn’t quite work with everything. Don’t get me wrong, this chicken is moist, tasty, done through, and tender. The thing is that it is one of the best roast chicken breasts I have had. My wife enjoyed it in a sandwich a couple of days later and agreed that it was great roast chicken. Unfortunately, the mesquite grilling

seems to have done nothing but put grill marks on the chicken. It did not give it barbecue flavor.

Beef Brisket

It works here. The brisket is tender, moist and flavorful. The only caveat is that you have to like mesquite flavor. Other than that you will look hard to find a better tasting brisket.

Baby Back Ribs

The ribs are glazed with the barbecue sauce. You tell the server which sauce you prefer. Apparently, our order got mixed up because Sharon asked for the regular barbecue sauce, but they came with the chipotle-cherry glaze. With her pepper allergy Sharon’s mouth lasted exactly one rib. Aside from them being too spicy for Sharon they were basically acceptable, not the meatiest but they were tender and not the least bit stringy. If these were typical their cooking method does not do that well with baby back ribs. As I said they were acceptable but not great.

Beef Ribs

Very good beef ribs. They were lightly glazed, meaty, not stringy and with excellent mesquite smoke flavor. If you like beef it’s worth ordering a beef rib platter.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

We decided to try one of their seasonal cheesecakes. The pumpkin cheesecake came in what was supposed to be an individual serving. It was a six inch diameter round on a bed of caramel sauce and topped with glazed pecans and a dollop of whipped cream. It was rich enough for four servings. We ate half of it and took the rest home.

They have their own unique way of doing it, but is it barbecue? Judging by the crowds and the fact that they have expanded to fourteen locations since 1992 I would think that great many people say yes. I have to agree that while it doesn’t work for all meats is does for most and it tastes like barbecue. The sides left something to be desired that night, but I have had far worse and we have been there before and the sides were better. Is this a chain restaurant with a formula? Yes, but they have found a formula for a carnivore’s delight. We give it eight and a half