Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill

Wood Rach BBQ & Grill
400 S. Baldwin Avenue
Arcadia, CA 91106

I first went to Wood Ranch out in Agoura Hills about ten years ago. I thought it was fantastic, although my knowledge of barbecue at the time was pretty basic (for several years in my teens, Tony Roma's was my favorite restaurant.) Since then I have been to Wood Ranch locations at The Grove, Camarillo, Valencia, and Arcadia. I can't be sure if the quality has gone down or I have just become more educated about barbecue, but I no longer think it's fantastic. It's still good, although the portions have undeniably gotten smaller over the years. They "roast" the meat overnight and then finish it on the grill.

My standard appetizer is always the BBQ chicken potato skins: chicken, cilantro, cheese and barbecue sauce in a potato skin. I usually get the "America's Best Tri-Tip Sandwich." When I first started ordering it, many years ago, the sandwich was always spilling over with meat. The sandwich in the photo is what it typically looks like now - still tasty, but not worth $13 price tag. (The last time I ate at Wood Ranch, however, the sandwich had almost no meat in it and the sauce was incredibly salty. I hope that was just a fluke.)

So, Wood Ranch is not really authentic barbecue, but then again it doesn't claim to be. It's good for what it is, although nowhere near as good as it used to be.