02/08/08

All around great joint

by burbank_joe

Fresh cold artisian brews and awesome finger lick'n BBQ. Friendly staff too. They do their own smoking and the recommended beef and gorgonzola sandwich was fine. Different location right between Old China Town and Historic Olvera Street. Makes for a great option if you don't want Chinese or Mexican after a visit to either of those locations. Near Union Station if you want to catch the MetroLink or one of the Red/Blue/Green/Gold lines for the trip.

• Pros: yum yum yum

06/21/07

This place is SOOOO Damn Good!

by dtdweller

What a great find in downtown LA! I eat out a lot in downtown and get tired of the same ole thing. This place really caught me offguard. First of all it's the kind of place I WANT to just hang out and relax. The room is wonderful, and takes me back to those old bbq places on the side of the road back home. They've got old metal siding on the walls, lot's of wood and with the blues playing it created a real homey kind of feel. Second, our waitress was fabulous. She greeted us as we walked in the door. And even though she was the only one working tables (she probably had 5 or 6 going at once) we got our beers right away and she kept coming by to make sure we had everything we needed. But the real reason to go to this place is the food. OH MY GOD it's just like back home. I had the sampler and my friend had the pulled pork sandwich...All I can say is we had sauce everywhere and didn't want to stop eating. The meats were smokey, tasty and dripping in a WONDERFUL vinegar carolina style sauce. They also had collard greens (which I haven't seen in years) and really good hand cut fries(not those frozen things). If you want a little taste of back-home BBQ you MUST CHECK THIS PLACE OUT!

• Pros: Cool Downhome Vibe...Great Food
• Cons: Parking is street meters or the pay lot next door

06/05/07

Best BBQ Ever! Great sauce, Great atmosphere, Great customer service!

by mommabear50

Okay, where to start! The pulled pork sandwich melts in your mouth, the sauce is spicy and tangy, the meat perfectly seasoned and smoked! The grilled vegetables are what you would expect to get from a five star gourmet. The cornbread hushpuppies with jalepeno pieces in them were to die for! As for the customer service you could not ask for better, they are friendly, quick and have fun with what they do. I have tried the sweet potato pie and it is scrumptious! If you don't try this place you are missing out!

• Pros: great food!!!!!!
• Cons: Parking can be hard to find but there is a lot acrossed the street that charges $3-$5

05/05/07

WORST BBQ JOINT I'VE EVER BEEN TO!!!

by kuripam

This place has to be about the worst bbq joint in the city!! Not only was the waiter slow and rude, but also the ribs were dry and tasteless. We sat down at a table, and after about 15 minutes of being ignored by the server, I finally got so annoyed that I went up to the bar to inquire whether we were supposed to order at the bar or go into the kitchen to get some service. The waiter replied (without apology) that he would be over to our table in a short while. After sitting for another 15 minutes, he finally sluggishly walked his way over, and then proceded to take a seat at our table and complain about how tired he was. It may be just me, but when I go to a restaurant, I do NOT want to hear about how tired my waiter is! He took our order begrudgingly, asking us if we REALLY wanted fries, because apparently it takes some feat of a miracle to produce french fries.

My friends and I were thoroughly annoyed at this point, and although the restaurant was completely empty, it then took another 20-30 minutes for him to bring us our food. He also forgot our drink orders, and we had to ask repeatedly for him to bring us our drinks. The food itself did not make up for the rude service. The ribs were dry, and the brisket tasted like Oscar Meyer lunchmeat that had been microwaved. The portions were tiny, and the fries that were so begrudgingly prepared turned out to be little more than a few shriveled pieces of barely edible potato. To top it all off, the bill came out to 66 bucks for three orders of meat (two types of ribs, 1 brisket), and three sides.

THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE!!! WAAAAY OVER PRICED, RUDE AND SLOW SERVICE, AND NOT WORTH YOUR TIME OR MONEY!!

• Pros: The signs on the wall and the flat screen TV were entertaining, but did not make up for the horrible service!
• Cons: FOOD SUCKED, SERVICE WAS HORRIBLE!!!!

12/13/06

Real Southern Style BBQ at its best!

by diablito

If you are looking for a upper class trendy spot look somewhere else. If you are looking for delicious, hand rubbed, hard wood bbq in a small causal environment, this is the place to be. I tried the sampler platter my first time there. The platter came with tri-tip, hot sausage, chicken, a st louis rib abd a baby back rib. Everything tasted awesome. The combination of hard wood flavor, the rubs they use and the sauce is just outstanding! The price is right for a weekday lunch or for a casual dinner. Another great perk is that you can buy take out for parties or dinners at home. If you call in advance you can get deep fried turkeys or smoked turkeys for holiday dinners. I highly recommend this to true BBQ lovers.

• Pros: The food.
• Cons: Parking is meter parking only.

Chinatown hole-in-the-wall serves Southern barbeque classics and unique pit-smoked specials.

by Martha Burr

In Short
Fluorescent lights, Formica surfacing, and mirrored walls echo surrounding Chinatown haunts, but country music and bagged sliced bread on tables belie Southern roots. Then there's the wildly seductive aroma of the barbecue itself, and the lunch crowds of locals wolfing down plates of meats smoked over a hickory wood fire. Popular items include a beef sandwich topped with gorgonzola, Cajun chicken, baby back ribs, brisket, pulled pork and Louisiana hot links.