tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79642335102287187932024-03-06T00:08:32.109-08:00Barbecue & BaseballA blog about my two favorite things in the world.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-78272937921501899582011-06-05T14:37:00.000-07:002018-08-21T19:33:01.474-07:00Bonnie B's Smokin' Barbeque Heaven<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Has it really been 13 months since I wrote about my maiden trip to Bonnie B's? I know time goes faster and faster as the years go by, but this is getting ridiculous. It seems like maybe it was two months ago that my mom and I had lunch here one afternoon. But it wasn't - it was May of last year. <br />
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On Saturday, Elizabeth and I both felt like barbecue. We had been feeling that way since the previous weekend, when we stood around at Zeke's for several minutes and weren't acknowledged (and we went elsewhere for lunch). We considered going down to Long Beach, but we had several errands to run in town and we wanted to stay close. That certainly narrows the options; Perdue's and Barner Burner are closed, Gus's isn't real barbecue, Zeke's apparently doesn't want our business. Robin's is pretty good most of the time but we wanted something quicker. I suggested Bonnie B's.<br />
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It was pretty busy when we walked in. Several women were waiting for to-go orders and only one table was vacant. We looked at the menu briefly then Elizabeth sat down while I placed our order at the counter. <br />
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There are three bottles of sauce on the table at Bonnie B's: mild, medium and hot. As usually happens at places like this that serve three tomato-based sauces, all three taste mostly the same. The mild is too sweet and the medium and hot taste almost identical. None of the sauces were bad, but none stood out. I much prefer a place that offers a mustard and/or vinegar sauce in addition to the ketchup-tasting sauce. </div>
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Elizabeth had the brisket sandwich with a side of potato salad. She was really enjoying it and offered me a bite. I stabbed at a piece and ate it - it was way too fatty.<br />
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"I don't think this is fatty at all," she said. So I took another piece and it was very good. So I took a third, also very good. I guess that first bite was an aberration. <br />
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I had the hot link on a bun. It was great: dense, meaty and smokey. I easily could have eaten two of these. I added some spicy sauce to my last few bites and it was an okay complement, but really the link needed nothing else.<br />
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The potato salad was awesome. It wasn't overloaded with dressing; the taste of potatoes was dominant. I sprinkled several shakes of pepper over my portion just to add some spice, and I ate every bite of mine and finished off Elizabeth's.<br />
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I wish they offered some pulled pork at Bonnie B's, as well as slaw and a different kind of barbecue sauce, but those are small complaints. Overall I like the place. They are very friendly and the 'cue is good.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-68000279862234077802011-02-24T15:46:00.000-08:002011-02-24T16:19:31.182-08:00Tootie's Texas Barbeque<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcy2BM4Bh5bvfnH9rylZJ55eIIT4h3kIqmZKubnjpkl_vG27t5p6N1XzPIJGrIw5fI8AWwhdjeCOz2_nfdhOKA_zZiO_X0gPdTl9jnyc970mtY7IF1QGwB4eLDg6h9Udgt-bbBWqhPhE/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcy2BM4Bh5bvfnH9rylZJ55eIIT4h3kIqmZKubnjpkl_vG27t5p6N1XzPIJGrIw5fI8AWwhdjeCOz2_nfdhOKA_zZiO_X0gPdTl9jnyc970mtY7IF1QGwB4eLDg6h9Udgt-bbBWqhPhE/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2z1J4QlVjIYuKCKlSCRXXS4reahh5phzOKP_mDSx-ACyCQ9QWYVJ8GvZGmvWJUx9yP14XTOgNeo7kf3NPDqZnbJlb5G0fT_OI3fbvP9Kpu2TLHDqizPEI3z2vJaATnNbkO4GOn41HkE/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2z1J4QlVjIYuKCKlSCRXXS4reahh5phzOKP_mDSx-ACyCQ9QWYVJ8GvZGmvWJUx9yP14XTOgNeo7kf3NPDqZnbJlb5G0fT_OI3fbvP9Kpu2TLHDqizPEI3z2vJaATnNbkO4GOn41HkE/s400/5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKVGU9AvCPyzU2cr0DrzLfmRYU3MogvYJCeyg_19OLouYX3aHzUOZlRz76BHtC2D4-vvGTQwe_WaM2k84Tg9shKBYc_d10bgdEUcOkrI75Vrh-ljRd0qq-BEXg2rQHIEcxIpnPH4Mdl_o/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKVGU9AvCPyzU2cr0DrzLfmRYU3MogvYJCeyg_19OLouYX3aHzUOZlRz76BHtC2D4-vvGTQwe_WaM2k84Tg9shKBYc_d10bgdEUcOkrI75Vrh-ljRd0qq-BEXg2rQHIEcxIpnPH4Mdl_o/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5fmyJDPDzXxPH13sfQUCOuUIfVC0LfPBE4jigM9HxhY2Dt4xcZDahmFg7VKgB6Lw_2q536CbuqzdeibHQeG1Vfnvh7iDu1KrzBWfJjiQLhGX4Ki3wob5taeAApedfNhdpziWynAA6lE/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5fmyJDPDzXxPH13sfQUCOuUIfVC0LfPBE4jigM9HxhY2Dt4xcZDahmFg7VKgB6Lw_2q536CbuqzdeibHQeG1Vfnvh7iDu1KrzBWfJjiQLhGX4Ki3wob5taeAApedfNhdpziWynAA6lE/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmZQr0rC2qVjR-T_ENOrQ1DSG0PrqVqtEGUqm3WcvWD7banEy_LG1q1THcQlYBmJHgKq6h7WMnvyGs-f7Jnp9RxXiBpDWfSuXw7ejUSVl6mWHiVomoGV7Q_sit4uRi7EE8PtTXKHxFPQ/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmZQr0rC2qVjR-T_ENOrQ1DSG0PrqVqtEGUqm3WcvWD7banEy_LG1q1THcQlYBmJHgKq6h7WMnvyGs-f7Jnp9RxXiBpDWfSuXw7ejUSVl6mWHiVomoGV7Q_sit4uRi7EE8PtTXKHxFPQ/s400/2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivny0eHCOVY6zrjuEauSKqS8lIPSSXvRq7BywiytlsELG4pEkyFuqYpiOkfkhyphenhyphenekEc2LXANKNoMY8dohrBYcnvD5Ktieuzj3V7j5ilKwM1F6hIAFOyk5KLoZEPxpFP4P1gKwVIpXcIToI/s1600/0224111207a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivny0eHCOVY6zrjuEauSKqS8lIPSSXvRq7BywiytlsELG4pEkyFuqYpiOkfkhyphenhyphenekEc2LXANKNoMY8dohrBYcnvD5Ktieuzj3V7j5ilKwM1F6hIAFOyk5KLoZEPxpFP4P1gKwVIpXcIToI/s400/0224111207a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Tootie's Texas Barbeque<br />
<span class="street-address">68703 Perez Rd</span><br />
<span class="locality">Cathedral City</span>, <span class="region">CA</span> <span class="postal-code">92234</span><br />
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<span class="postal-code">Wow it's been a while since I've updated this blog. In the fall and winter, barbecue just doesn't come to mind very often when I'm thinking about what to eat. Every once in a while I want some, but overall I associate barbecue with the spring and summer. If I can't watch a baseball game while eating some 'cue, something is lost. I suppose that makes me a contextualist, one of those annoying people who claim you can't eat barbecue unless you're sitting in a roadside shack in the South. The same people who have always bothered me. So I'm a hypocrite. Whatever. It's a free blog.</span><br />
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<span class="postal-code">My friend Tim was in Palm Springs for three days this week for a work event, one that involved attending banquets at night and playing golf during the day. But Tim decided he would rather explore the area's bars and restaurants during the day than play golf. This is one of many reasons why I like him. I emailed him a link to Tootie's website, explaining that I'd heard it was very good but that I'd never been. </span><br />
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<span class="postal-code">Thursday, Tim sent me all of the above pictures from his phone, explaining that he was about to test the place out. I was particularly hungry and he kept sending pictures. What an asshole.</span><br />
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<span class="postal-code">Three hours later he sent a text asking if I was at home. I responded yes. "I'll be there soon with BBQ" he replied. Like I said, what a great guy.</span><br />
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<span class="postal-code">I am not going to offer my opinion on the following items, just state what they are. How could I accurately describe food that sat in a styrofoam container for three hours before it was eaten? I will say, however, that the barbecue sauce was <i>spicy</i>. I love spicy, but if I ever visit the restaurant I will not be using this sauce on my food, it is distracting. </span> <br />
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Maybe some day I'll make it out to Cathedral City and do a real review of the place. I mean, I'll have to find out where Cathedral City is first (I literally have no idea without looking at a map), but maybe one day I will.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-10759061731438731392010-08-25T12:02:00.000-07:002010-08-29T09:22:43.160-07:00Wood Ranch: The Pulled Pork Sandwich<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5BpAPZdt_Y-5kulElQLhrAKaMgJN3wJlM3hpjw8nNROZAoAlsh1Pt9lWF-VC8JzTndTKbPSsI9u9vR-jPuYKxtkcX12bI9IYH6maxxlhX1pYqNNBl2wMJVIywfnh55RaQrKlqapELC8/s1600/DSC05219.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5BpAPZdt_Y-5kulElQLhrAKaMgJN3wJlM3hpjw8nNROZAoAlsh1Pt9lWF-VC8JzTndTKbPSsI9u9vR-jPuYKxtkcX12bI9IYH6maxxlhX1pYqNNBl2wMJVIywfnh55RaQrKlqapELC8/s400/DSC05219.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509424101314591602" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SdyHrkWzeP5lTckQs_uxKKDhaZOcYDzcbHknDyqEtUTXgOqNGsqNkOMOirC9A_Ry3f-S_M-kcEeEc7F-BtE50sdnkurUfi409jn48RXu6FFoJbEyVjj2f5Ti7Yt2V4AvVtCe7zIe6Mk/s1600/DSC05205.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9qOU3kM4o4pFxi5zvT26h5ttS1lv_tOMQyUa7QuBxXf4d8G-IYVrmv336Odp3Sf4c_SKYlt1sk2_yxBIfhay9TosPUwiUBOKVEFHmhmuBp_s5qeWkjCc25egVDNT2Sxh4oamEU8n7nw/s400/DSC05209.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509423477955900210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7d6pC1EiEg4FfQ5TcjDZmJz5zKwlVLn0j-KVWmMV3pE1zR04gEsfgvZSEUacoUuNdwDHIyTb2eDOmA99d4waxpzI_2KEqlTioylLI38RDVKFGCdXaCH0VwcH01ZPgWLpiMCyVYl_AMQM/s1600/DSC05210.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7d6pC1EiEg4FfQ5TcjDZmJz5zKwlVLn0j-KVWmMV3pE1zR04gEsfgvZSEUacoUuNdwDHIyTb2eDOmA99d4waxpzI_2KEqlTioylLI38RDVKFGCdXaCH0VwcH01ZPgWLpiMCyVYl_AMQM/s400/DSC05210.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509423464756361746" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigbKdfgt993GX7-cMhluUTgWzE-3H8hySWDgJPfh-H7oYXBueCW4mwcmb_WINrYFV5n7iRFW0PRZPu7FBXGNmu2KulpJiXkCCgwUyDzExtUeQxMAfvEIfqjuTltsueEquoNgX7eDmoSxg/s1600/DSC05211.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigbKdfgt993GX7-cMhluUTgWzE-3H8hySWDgJPfh-H7oYXBueCW4mwcmb_WINrYFV5n7iRFW0PRZPu7FBXGNmu2KulpJiXkCCgwUyDzExtUeQxMAfvEIfqjuTltsueEquoNgX7eDmoSxg/s400/DSC05211.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509421485116048290" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaB5RuwbBhoD0ubB2MgQGQO2rJBm6eeqRXmNjixh2z0Fwt9ZT0MjG0K_m_XsOByU5s8k3_hzhitKgugPFT1CsAL-evZxeG2hyphenhyphenESRS0WyjYgRP-83VCJnbQExPWAzfUN20hvS9u5t5_TIQ/s1600/DSC05215.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaB5RuwbBhoD0ubB2MgQGQO2rJBm6eeqRXmNjixh2z0Fwt9ZT0MjG0K_m_XsOByU5s8k3_hzhitKgugPFT1CsAL-evZxeG2hyphenhyphenESRS0WyjYgRP-83VCJnbQExPWAzfUN20hvS9u5t5_TIQ/s400/DSC05215.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509421471467918802" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tviq-pv2im6otCeI7mRczqdFmdUTXjOCDyDva-6-1PbJIvVOwcP4sjefw5BABWEmQSO1hCK5naq57bS8v01_5DN7-dstBBYKKS13d8SY3LjI2cM9VgYA1EbV7LXSmY7K2vvPAEWEMmU/s1600/DSC05218.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tviq-pv2im6otCeI7mRczqdFmdUTXjOCDyDva-6-1PbJIvVOwcP4sjefw5BABWEmQSO1hCK5naq57bS8v01_5DN7-dstBBYKKS13d8SY3LjI2cM9VgYA1EbV7LXSmY7K2vvPAEWEMmU/s400/DSC05218.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509421463453452578" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWlHZ6Cqh-I5r0V3Iqq1Tg80hiSiMfC08ZqzPKdei2F_1ftVgGDUd1YGo7uXq6bbh7MCfY24q3XBuivE5weIdpyXAsVcTZvFuGPlNlshcGLWv7-nbvJRtHLd-7VgFVZsHvmvZNXv8hf8/s1600/DSC05212.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWlHZ6Cqh-I5r0V3Iqq1Tg80hiSiMfC08ZqzPKdei2F_1ftVgGDUd1YGo7uXq6bbh7MCfY24q3XBuivE5weIdpyXAsVcTZvFuGPlNlshcGLWv7-nbvJRtHLd-7VgFVZsHvmvZNXv8hf8/s400/DSC05212.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509421452657195762" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0wR2k2Hq644jvDg3ICeIiaeRXi545BvtX63ig1StxYXoBmyCJSiJMH4wEIhDHHU7WmOJROeK7aq1rnQAPinukhIdBCTMRjPX-SNEy8iO0vkf47D8OFGRxHx_iIIXg-zBBsZ2f3VABTk/s1600/DSC05214.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0wR2k2Hq644jvDg3ICeIiaeRXi545BvtX63ig1StxYXoBmyCJSiJMH4wEIhDHHU7WmOJROeK7aq1rnQAPinukhIdBCTMRjPX-SNEy8iO0vkf47D8OFGRxHx_iIIXg-zBBsZ2f3VABTk/s400/DSC05214.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509421433458381570" border="0" /></a>There are very few restaurants of any kind - let alone barbecue restaurants - with which my relationship has changed more over the years. When I first started eating at the Wood Ranch in Agoura Hills, in 1999, there was perhaps no restaurant on Earth at which I would rather be. Not the Crab Cooker, not Hutch's, not the Far Western Tavern. The "America's Best BBQ Beef Sandwich" was arguably that (or at least I thought so at the time): a crusty roll stuffed with tender tri tip and drenched in sauce.<br /><br />Then it changed and I changed and the love affair ended. We were both at fault. In 2000, I took the first trip of my adult life through the South and ate lots of barbecue along the way. I learned I much prefer pork to beef, and, more importantly, I prefer spicy vinegar and mustard-based sauces to the ketchup-based, sweet sauces of the Midwest and West. Wood Ranch's sauce is about as sweet as you can get.<br /><br />I began to understand Charles Kuralt's advice in his magnificent memoir "Charles Kuralt's America":<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">“I have spent a good part of my life looking for the perfect barbecue. There is no point in looking in places like Texas, where they put some kind of ketchup on beef and call it barbecue."</span><br /><br />For its part, Wood Ranch didn't make the effort it used to, either. I lived near the Grove for a while and visited the Wood Ranch there a few times. The portions were not close to the size of what I received out in Agoura Hills. After a couple visits to the Wood Ranch in Arcadia I decided I was probably done with the place. The portions were still small, and the tri tip sandwich was more often than not full of fat. This always perplexed me; tri tip is one of the leanest cuts. Did they actually <span style="font-style: italic;">add</span> fat to the sandwich so they could use less meat?<br /><br />Prices kept going up, quantity and quality kept going down, my barbecue tastes had changed. It was time to move on. Don't think twice, it's all right.<br /><br />Then my friend Phil repeated a rumor he had heard somewhere that Wood Ranch was going to be coming out with a pulled pork sandwich. That grabbed my attention. For as good as the tri tip used to be at Wood Ranch, they didn't offer much else in terms of actual barbecue, other than ribs that tasted suspicously oven-baked. There was no pork, no brisket, no pulled chicken or hot links. The idea that they would start pulling pork was intriguing.<br /><br />Once every few weeks I would go on to their website and check out the various locations' menus. There was never any mention of pulled pork. Finally I started seeing mentions of it showing up on Yelp, eventually enough that I figured the pulled pork was available.<br /><br />Yesterday my brother and I decided to go out to lunch together. I came up with some suggestions, like Zelo ("I don't want pizza"), Din Tai Fung ("Last time I went there it was terrible") and Wood Ranch. Barbecue sounded good to him so we headed down to the Arcadia mall.<br /><br />It was 11:28 when we walked in. The sign says they open at 11:30. Several people were sitting on the bench waiting. "It will be another five minutes." the hostess said. So apparently they don't open until 11:33. This would not be a big deal to me if it wasn't for the fact that several servers were standing around the bar joking with each other, and two others were play-boxing in another part of the restaurant. Apparently that's what they do until three minutes after their posted opening time. Of course, having been to this location about a dozen times, I was not surprised.<br /><br />My brother and I did one lap around the food court and returned to the restaurant. We were shown to a booth. The table was covered with debris - several pieces of dirt, bread crumbs, and even a dead bug. You can re-read the previous paragraph and insert your own joke. I took the napkin on the table - rolled up around the silverware - and swept the debris off the table. The napkin was covered with crud.<br /><br />"This napkin is filthy," I said to the server.<br /><br />"Sorry," she said sweetly, "that's embarrassing."<br /><br />She seemed like a very nice girl and was genuinely embarrassed, so I did not tell her <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span> the napkin was filthy. She asked if I wanted a Coors Light, which surprised me. I do not know if I have ever been to a sit-down restaurant where the server flat-out asked me "Would you like a Coors Light?" Maybe I just look like a Coors Light kind of guy.<br /><br />It was 11:35 in the morning, though, and it was already over 100 degrees out, so alcohol was the last thing on my mind. Okay, that's not true, it was probably the fourth thing on my mind, as usual. But all I wanted was water - I didn't even want the iced tea that I usually drink with barbecue - so I ordered one and turned my attention to the menu.<br /><br />Not only is it pulled pork, but it is prepared Carolina-style, my absolute favorite style of barbecue. The menu promised the pork is smoked over hickory and apple wood (the latter is my favorite wood for smoking pork) and served with slaw and a vinegar sauce. I was equal parts very excited and apprehensive. That's the ideal description of how I want barbecue cooked and served, and yet, there was a nagging feeling that they wouldn't do it right.<br /><br />We snacked on some of their garlic rolls while waiting for the food. My sandwich arrived and I studied it for a couple minutes. It certainly <span style="font-style: italic;">looked</span> great. I decided to try a couple bites first without adding any sauce.<br /><br />Wow. It was outstanding. I mean, this could have been a <a href="http://bbqandbaseball.blogspot.com/2010/03/bigmistas-barbecue.html">Big Mista sandwich</a>. The pork was devoid of any fat and was slightly juicy with a touch of smoke taste. The slaw was very good. The sauce was okay. It was certainly better than the cloying house barbecue sauce, but there were some strange flavors in it, including a fair amount of, I believe, cinnamon. I would have preferred that vinegar be the main flavor of the sauce instead of the spices, but that is a very minor complaint, especially when the sandwich was this good.<br /><br />The pulled pork sandwich is cheaper than the tri tip sandwich and more filling. I can't say that I now am once again in love with Wood Ranch, since this was my first time trying the pulled pork, but I certainly can say that I loved <span style="font-style: italic;">this particular sandwich</span>, and I would gladly return to try another one.<br /><br />My brother had the tri tip plate for lunch. He wanted to take pictures of it.<br /><br />"Aw, man, these are going to be the best pictures that have ever appeared on your blog." My brother is nothing if not modest.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-87780962166526378782010-08-19T15:36:00.000-07:002010-08-19T16:25:15.500-07:00Robin's: The Bodacious "Que" Stacker<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrG0xZ-xjGM3vFH10aaY7sFne1VGJ1OW_LBiST5-4IyEwxnlGLoTQz3zqi7Nfh3Vcwj4g6OEiF_6lDSQ7VnDzs51Kvxt4cr525inDtUxtin7sBVPhmnwGADO7j-WjENg29aZ2zKJ83lU/s1600/DSC05113.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrG0xZ-xjGM3vFH10aaY7sFne1VGJ1OW_LBiST5-4IyEwxnlGLoTQz3zqi7Nfh3Vcwj4g6OEiF_6lDSQ7VnDzs51Kvxt4cr525inDtUxtin7sBVPhmnwGADO7j-WjENg29aZ2zKJ83lU/s400/DSC05113.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507255759400740962" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5viOS78COTyABSkkw0TFkFfh7tzQnY6pP1U3NIYR00dLelebvdZfor-ujUpruAq_cwylRjMs6ZU_N9aqpmgkAV8HoR8pwSW2noUiTy4i9TnBV8sYxIIUeXszqwQ_-4-mo8MjqwCe5qoc/s1600/DSC05101.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5viOS78COTyABSkkw0TFkFfh7tzQnY6pP1U3NIYR00dLelebvdZfor-ujUpruAq_cwylRjMs6ZU_N9aqpmgkAV8HoR8pwSW2noUiTy4i9TnBV8sYxIIUeXszqwQ_-4-mo8MjqwCe5qoc/s400/DSC05101.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507255735923390434" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY9nG3fXmAFNcLs627K0BKHl1nfJ1w8fwXMfo-9uYVomcXtg6ssDhphHT_QHT65Da-9ctmuzNk8m8yZtsPnGYYwLrWaUWjivDisJf6fsUIFzxNIlujKQ7zkosYqUdL-phvrIOqO_L3R1k/s1600/DSC05103.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY9nG3fXmAFNcLs627K0BKHl1nfJ1w8fwXMfo-9uYVomcXtg6ssDhphHT_QHT65Da-9ctmuzNk8m8yZtsPnGYYwLrWaUWjivDisJf6fsUIFzxNIlujKQ7zkosYqUdL-phvrIOqO_L3R1k/s400/DSC05103.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507255726234544194" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwNFA2krkD6NeDn-3-sJwJzdkgyU0AtjoAzCH7E0-qfdYF4sQVg22np986ovzfuSdUMyX_z36GM-nTUKnBvHc6Qrz5JPZFGQRQ-aXbA1EsLO9-GMDUGeOrFmJurYE3qx6A0RFlSpX2x1w/s1600/DSC05099.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwNFA2krkD6NeDn-3-sJwJzdkgyU0AtjoAzCH7E0-qfdYF4sQVg22np986ovzfuSdUMyX_z36GM-nTUKnBvHc6Qrz5JPZFGQRQ-aXbA1EsLO9-GMDUGeOrFmJurYE3qx6A0RFlSpX2x1w/s400/DSC05099.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507263374770611986" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAT1ieDeOV4XrxWTA6vu3-DcS75SIfGnY0S_I-i8qPe_b3kV9D8XwNjq6S5JoBam97mi83Xhv7m9pn-mT6h18bQWFbR-K5dFopRUUt4qXqTB2lAZK4NUe_TgLk6ARvFRjMt_U5nbMGf8/s1600/DSC05105.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAT1ieDeOV4XrxWTA6vu3-DcS75SIfGnY0S_I-i8qPe_b3kV9D8XwNjq6S5JoBam97mi83Xhv7m9pn-mT6h18bQWFbR-K5dFopRUUt4qXqTB2lAZK4NUe_TgLk6ARvFRjMt_U5nbMGf8/s400/DSC05105.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507254709965402610" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZD0__f6voyiAUJd1qGhHwn6ryKQ9cbsOzT8NFhpnls0HJLh5AJHcBuwgMKgzuQVypQ9rweDfZznJuq_qYOvLEf6yOQ4gfR0YDtR-KBz4VW-06a1DZeEvNvKKdVoqXJqi2EWXwHRk6g34/s1600/DSC05111.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZD0__f6voyiAUJd1qGhHwn6ryKQ9cbsOzT8NFhpnls0HJLh5AJHcBuwgMKgzuQVypQ9rweDfZznJuq_qYOvLEf6yOQ4gfR0YDtR-KBz4VW-06a1DZeEvNvKKdVoqXJqi2EWXwHRk6g34/s400/DSC05111.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507254689814608706" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqoFw5Tku37nXVIyxstjsDAg9OLpGmu1TV43OUQV8_lZqg0V3kNFcuKvvZ9VCIF8ZnvrWl0ZcAE6fRTJ0n6_zyTJudVpIqeuqyn3R6ey32D0YpHnQqGsq5SbK_cdtLr1h2jfiTBOGYdbY/s1600/DSC05109.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqoFw5Tku37nXVIyxstjsDAg9OLpGmu1TV43OUQV8_lZqg0V3kNFcuKvvZ9VCIF8ZnvrWl0ZcAE6fRTJ0n6_zyTJudVpIqeuqyn3R6ey32D0YpHnQqGsq5SbK_cdtLr1h2jfiTBOGYdbY/s400/DSC05109.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507254673797864914" border="0" /></a>Once more I am back at Robin's, a combination of circumstances both bad (a blown tire on my car that ruined my plans for the day) and good (my mom offering to take me to lunch) and a desire to eat some barbecue. It's been a while since I've been to Robin's; I don't think I've eaten there in almost a year. I have no good reason why. In my most recent post on the place, in August of last year, I wrote that their consistency has improved dramatically in the last few years. I just haven't been in a while.<br /><br />There is a new (to me) sandwich on the menu: the "Bodacious 'Que' Stacker" - tri tip, pulled pork, a hot link, pepperjack cheese and "hell-fire" pickle chips, all doused with Robin's Mad Dog barbecue sauce.<br /><br />I immediately sensed several things that could go wrong with this sandwich. Robin's tri tip has always been my least favorite of their meats. I am always suspicious of barbecue sandwiches served with cheese. The Mad Dog sauce is my least favorite of the four sauces that Robin's offers. And, as is always the danger in a sandwich with multiple meats, if one of them isn't good it can ruin the whole thing.<br /><br />But then I figured: <span style="font-style: italic;">Why not?</span><br /><br />It was well after the lunch rush and there were only a couple other tables occupied in the joint, so our food came out remarkably fast. It might have been less than five minutes. My sandwich certainly looked and smelled good when it arrived, a dense tower of barbecue and cheese. I took a bite.<br /><br />It was really,<span style="font-style: italic;"> really</span> good. The tri tip was unquestionably the best I have ever had from Robin's. It was thin and juicy and lined with smoke ring. The pork was very good, as it has been on every occasion in the last couple years. The hot link was dense, smoky and flavorful. These resemble the hot links that the Robin's BBQ stand sells at the South Pasadena farmers market in the same way that this year's Angels team resembles last year's. Not much.<br /><br />There was no need for cheese on the sandwich; it added nothing and I took some of it off, but it wasn't bad. I had assumed the hell-fire pickles would be spicy but they were not, not even the slightest bit. I was thankful that the sauce had been used sparingly, and I requested a side of their Carolina mustard sauce to eat on some of the more porcine bites of the sandwich.<br /><br />I ate the whole thing and, although I was full, I would be lying if I said I didn't wish there were a couple more bites.<br /><br />I will try not to let another year go by before I return to Robin's.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">If anyone wants to see something a little healthier, my mom got a tri tip salad with the dressing on the side. She said it was her favorite thing she has ever had from Robin's.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1N6perCFszQPXqeRdyex8c5YhN2BJZrz0kTKi2Q7hrMfirGWOMt434EB2c7Kc30vh7GJOpAb6Gi7rqcdQRhwQ2DzX18q2e4owWkEZQbPaPuaTnqYv4Q3dS6fEupZvCwAymcSZmq6EFk/s1600/DSC05104.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1N6perCFszQPXqeRdyex8c5YhN2BJZrz0kTKi2Q7hrMfirGWOMt434EB2c7Kc30vh7GJOpAb6Gi7rqcdQRhwQ2DzX18q2e4owWkEZQbPaPuaTnqYv4Q3dS6fEupZvCwAymcSZmq6EFk/s400/DSC05104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507254681967935618" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-12811375339732421862010-06-28T08:29:00.000-07:002010-06-28T10:00:32.050-07:00Dodgers vs. Yankees: Elizabeth's First Dodgers Game<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbS4mV3EODsovkVNl4i578UMhkC-I_FNJXS0RLAJ5ERRudLb2oNzmu-1hXMkuYNa9oJdeulqxSYYvcQ0xM0mKdwvfQzsTC4O1wTx2zoEN3jWrQk4TfIBhruMiVSmfUbYUKioiomKuHvus/s1600/DSC02024_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbS4mV3EODsovkVNl4i578UMhkC-I_FNJXS0RLAJ5ERRudLb2oNzmu-1hXMkuYNa9oJdeulqxSYYvcQ0xM0mKdwvfQzsTC4O1wTx2zoEN3jWrQk4TfIBhruMiVSmfUbYUKioiomKuHvus/s400/DSC02024_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487853921481741106" border="0" /></a>Despite the way I feel about the Dodgers these days - basically nothing - there is nothing better than a summer game in Dodger Stadium. And 5PM is the perfect start time. Elizabeth has lived here for more than two years and, although we have been to several Angels and Quakes games, we have never been to Dodger Stadium together.<br /><br />She loves the Yankees. Yes, this is perhaps her biggest flaw, but I can't say I blame her. (I mean, I love the Lakers; I can understand people calling that my biggest flaw.) She grew up in New York, going to Yankees games with her dad. She was born during a Yankees game and it took a while to find her dad because he was off watching the Yankees. She went to school in New York City (Fordham University - just like Vin Scully) and the Yankees won the World Series 3 of the 4 years she was in college. She can't help it.<br /><br />So, with the Yankees coming to Dodger Stadium for the first time in years, I knew we had to go. In a typical Dodgers move, they did not sell tickets to this series unless you bought a season ticket plan of some kind, so tickets weren't the easiest to get. But my friend Tim came through and was able to get us two tickets on the field level.<br /><br />I have a Dodgers hat and I like to wear it when I really want to cheer for the Dodgers - basically, when they play the Giants, Red Sox or Yankees. But I wasn't sure where the hat was. I looked for it for quite a while, then decided maybe it was at my parents' house, so we went over there. Sure enough, it was there - buried in a duffel bag back on a shelf in a closet. I put it on.<br /><br />"I thought you didn't like the Dodgers," my mom commented.<br /><br />This is a common misconception amongst my friends. It's not that I don't like them - although I did hate them when I was a kid - it's just that I used to have a lot of fun going to Dodgers games when I was a teenager, and I actually did like them. But too much has changed with the team in the last decade and I hardly ever go to games anymore. I liked cheering for Piazza and Karros and Chan Ho and Nomo. There hasn't been anybody on the Dodgers whom I have wanted to cheer for in the last few years.<br /><br />My dad told us that he had stopped by Philippe's to get sandwiches on Friday night and the place was packed with people going to the game. One guy was trying to sell an extra ticket that he didn't need.<br /><br />"He was only asking face value for a ticket in the Loge level," my dad exclaimed. "And it was fifty dollars! I had no idea you had to pay that much for a ticket these days."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHsAxQlV8uk0y2jjpfG7V2v0w97orEXy8W1aJElC6gtLlrrtKkiYdV3Xj_4YlNzApryNwaoTvxtHbRi7zfjZ9EQQ9RlNA66KLFoZNdMWZBx1uGIJZtKV3yfWSos6toI_m8cm-eJ9WT3k/s1600/DSC01996.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHsAxQlV8uk0y2jjpfG7V2v0w97orEXy8W1aJElC6gtLlrrtKkiYdV3Xj_4YlNzApryNwaoTvxtHbRi7zfjZ9EQQ9RlNA66KLFoZNdMWZBx1uGIJZtKV3yfWSos6toI_m8cm-eJ9WT3k/s400/DSC01996.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487853873040274674" border="0" /></a>Instead of dealing with the parking, we took the Gold Line down to Union Station and the free (as long as you have a ticket) shuttle bus to Dodger Stadium. This was spectacular; I don't know why anyone would do it differently. Ten minutes after boarding the bus at Union Station we were dropped off in center field about 300 feet from our gate.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIw0AtMIS5ZwcvOV2IzDjTf6WxjTl538WzAvjOW1sCA7-9QXcICiWf78jlA4trqtwpXLeCNyihs1Ou0-QkXUSlk68g-DUpm5Drh2GE34XWL0OabrB4VJY8JqmhUkUvch9GH4cgQ1iUByo/s1600/DSC01998.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIw0AtMIS5ZwcvOV2IzDjTf6WxjTl538WzAvjOW1sCA7-9QXcICiWf78jlA4trqtwpXLeCNyihs1Ou0-QkXUSlk68g-DUpm5Drh2GE34XWL0OabrB4VJY8JqmhUkUvch9GH4cgQ1iUByo/s400/DSC01998.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487853865708383970" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPaf68T76wmBqIO9M1BYOGT82CfpiqbSYnMS9lFncBI3yg6IGgmoWgR7m4x2klI2e4VGucicFb7wUZtC3_Tgez13822mongVDDQK5aGfRXT7K8HjDgSOqIDkRviiI9LHfOtwvKV35Ghpo/s1600/DSC01999.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPaf68T76wmBqIO9M1BYOGT82CfpiqbSYnMS9lFncBI3yg6IGgmoWgR7m4x2klI2e4VGucicFb7wUZtC3_Tgez13822mongVDDQK5aGfRXT7K8HjDgSOqIDkRviiI9LHfOtwvKV35Ghpo/s400/DSC01999.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487853856769402418" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgILyAniul8DSET3gtO7g2u8s4ZZZTy22Nl8gtrS4ubdTqVKYx1pzgbR11exqaBAm0B9tHOnK7af3RCKlsDJRvpOiXNI2ZkoergOPM4kJ-5OZJhR1j7kT9DjvYPOQnRvj6APle7du1ejU/s1600/DSC02004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgILyAniul8DSET3gtO7g2u8s4ZZZTy22Nl8gtrS4ubdTqVKYx1pzgbR11exqaBAm0B9tHOnK7af3RCKlsDJRvpOiXNI2ZkoergOPM4kJ-5OZJhR1j7kT9DjvYPOQnRvj6APle7du1ejU/s400/DSC02004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487853841137428290" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PVhJ2BBR4pl4-mCfis-Up_UTJxODVwQ65Wp7dLdZ9m0KxwghNWJGhaGhk5ULmmPZDn0kQA9ksjfupXwFYqu7AvcaoIYBqnPfYXya75g6zDLUt1FpdQDLDLnbEhrdwmzDEGnB1I582ls/s1600/DSC02002.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PVhJ2BBR4pl4-mCfis-Up_UTJxODVwQ65Wp7dLdZ9m0KxwghNWJGhaGhk5ULmmPZDn0kQA9ksjfupXwFYqu7AvcaoIYBqnPfYXya75g6zDLUt1FpdQDLDLnbEhrdwmzDEGnB1I582ls/s400/DSC02002.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487852673639340530" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLrXo0rY_ig8ImDiI02hneyKmP4sHKZlpq7MPMhFDIepar6j8xpw4wOh87D0EBU3gvQ4QRdZmW5cRDEyS3LtP-HpRZU2jP7RUVE52xfFy01bNixdgAIUF5EVTfrtPjr2Qxd8oRh4EbfY/s1600/DSC02003.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLrXo0rY_ig8ImDiI02hneyKmP4sHKZlpq7MPMhFDIepar6j8xpw4wOh87D0EBU3gvQ4QRdZmW5cRDEyS3LtP-HpRZU2jP7RUVE52xfFy01bNixdgAIUF5EVTfrtPjr2Qxd8oRh4EbfY/s400/DSC02003.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487852684204821922" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPcjHrkdx8UAc8UI7LpV-wiMIRA0VZuwTDMwUlNPk51OOBCRQ5poTXLe3MAdWQQEwRMfmHTsn7ytAJDd4B9bJCoIUsOhw97_9awjZ_eZzxvtrM8AFeqR5DCZzp8StoKUfZLjUe4KsFWY/s1600/DSC02005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPcjHrkdx8UAc8UI7LpV-wiMIRA0VZuwTDMwUlNPk51OOBCRQ5poTXLe3MAdWQQEwRMfmHTsn7ytAJDd4B9bJCoIUsOhw97_9awjZ_eZzxvtrM8AFeqR5DCZzp8StoKUfZLjUe4KsFWY/s400/DSC02005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487852654901063890" border="0" /></a>We sat in our seats for a few minutes and I ate some garlic fries. They were full of garlic but not very warm. This could have been a great stadium food, but it was not. We had 45 minutes until the game started, so we walked around a bit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2ct2bCtauPBx37z93DGvjhSHUjppB43buhVMf04WF14csOj5sViwPY4B9ZgOJE3IPDQ19FyqIGkl98EuODlkWuXuBjqlDnLDQkGACVap-eDJNzsSx0nkFVjyIHfRZIskmD1SHo2cAZo/s1600/DSC02016.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE2ct2bCtauPBx37z93DGvjhSHUjppB43buhVMf04WF14csOj5sViwPY4B9ZgOJE3IPDQ19FyqIGkl98EuODlkWuXuBjqlDnLDQkGACVap-eDJNzsSx0nkFVjyIHfRZIskmD1SHo2cAZo/s400/DSC02016.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487852640942608082" border="0" /></a>I wish I could have seen Koufax pitch: 4 no-hitters and 3 Cy Young Awards, when he won the pitching triple crown each year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XZu8cxm9UCEFWQgQgdjpmOE3uBBxTpJGfcqgLQ4OVyCvWZw6aXa7u5tlxBQxg0hozOH9GxTOQchXXNNcBInrYUOHEuxBF3F95eye7LmwAESm6IZYnUbqP9NgLgO-xTpx58gWr1u-EU0/s1600/DSC02020.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XZu8cxm9UCEFWQgQgdjpmOE3uBBxTpJGfcqgLQ4OVyCvWZw6aXa7u5tlxBQxg0hozOH9GxTOQchXXNNcBInrYUOHEuxBF3F95eye7LmwAESm6IZYnUbqP9NgLgO-xTpx58gWr1u-EU0/s400/DSC02020.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487852632991457378" border="0" /></a>At least we knew where we <span style="font-style: italic;">weren't</span> going to eat...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQA9TCcwSxdQEaehB0tdO4rgRqZUw6fEmabQwCcJ4GGYRaFUk69pDTBcf_69hZcOn2uZmIYRACdYoFMkak9whCZWH_lgrDULn8m74Fvu2i9QmFtqm9ViV3dRWFwY5kxgyNwxeSR-dWXfk/s1600/DSC02028.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQA9TCcwSxdQEaehB0tdO4rgRqZUw6fEmabQwCcJ4GGYRaFUk69pDTBcf_69hZcOn2uZmIYRACdYoFMkak9whCZWH_lgrDULn8m74Fvu2i9QmFtqm9ViV3dRWFwY5kxgyNwxeSR-dWXfk/s400/DSC02028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487850366296020274" border="0" /></a>Andy Pettitte: Elizabeth's favorite Yankee of the last 15 years. She was lucky enough to see him pitch and, since it was at the Dodgers, see him bat. He actually put down a pretty good bunt.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuFthGilYf8PNdlRWKhuZh7HSYrgJMOxirxiLPJONGFntfb1kb3PXp6ehsSoPLw3859HTfCFehYBlOL5Q2vtTI95eX3BA_GBDJDdRDNCJhE0Rw8djUTyd2tjWWUKgphz7IBVEYlCbZOUc/s1600/DSC02039_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 378px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuFthGilYf8PNdlRWKhuZh7HSYrgJMOxirxiLPJONGFntfb1kb3PXp6ehsSoPLw3859HTfCFehYBlOL5Q2vtTI95eX3BA_GBDJDdRDNCJhE0Rw8djUTyd2tjWWUKgphz7IBVEYlCbZOUc/s400/DSC02039_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487850359156670930" border="0" /></a>Elizabeth wearing the shirt of her favorite Yankee of all time: Don Mattingly. More than any other team I can think of, when you see Yankees fans they are often wearing jerseys and shirts of their former players. (Well, almost every girl between the ages of 12 and 35 is wearing a Jeter jersey, but the others often have older players.)<br /><br />"It's funny," Elizabeth said, "how many people are wearing jerseys of past Yankee greats."<br /><br />"Yeah," I said, "and Don Mattingly."<br /><br />This is somewhat unfair, although I often like to make fun of her love for Donnie Baseball. He was a great player, but one fact remains: the Yankees played in the World Series in 1981. Mattingly came up with the Yankees in 1982. They did not play in the World Series for his entire 14 year career. They did not even make the playoffs for 13 years. Then he retired after the 1995 season. The next year, 1996, the Yankees won the World Series, the first of four championships in 5 years.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLeXOQzIoJq4EJEBdsx1ds0dN3rcwzU_neFY-WxpoxHur1ZbylJK-9XCVDEjIjmR4KwhzIyjwGJQNPYjK7S3v4qvlISvsM99QjzIltBdKwPGXf-wFuHycQtZH75Ps26kXCBjc3HT0qt8/s1600/DSC02040.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLeXOQzIoJq4EJEBdsx1ds0dN3rcwzU_neFY-WxpoxHur1ZbylJK-9XCVDEjIjmR4KwhzIyjwGJQNPYjK7S3v4qvlISvsM99QjzIltBdKwPGXf-wFuHycQtZH75Ps26kXCBjc3HT0qt8/s400/DSC02040.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487850351173611874" border="0" /></a>My Dodger Dog: mustard, relish, onions.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdnD8v0QBqP0lG4d1MdOuQ0VabR0prbVbUqZTcTsiG2Ubfh6M8bGZhuKJ5njdSMk1SiMiHOIWMwxhoVcqctLQYUREFF6DZC0aPxBrd8NZGTSp-Oq2zij0GgpfXnWMOa3xvfUx65TdMJ4/s1600/DSC02041.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdnD8v0QBqP0lG4d1MdOuQ0VabR0prbVbUqZTcTsiG2Ubfh6M8bGZhuKJ5njdSMk1SiMiHOIWMwxhoVcqctLQYUREFF6DZC0aPxBrd8NZGTSp-Oq2zij0GgpfXnWMOa3xvfUx65TdMJ4/s400/DSC02041.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487850342174593634" border="0" /></a>Elizabeth's first Dodger Dog: only a little mustard. Simplicity.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cXZq_hXluSs7Ri_N574fG1hTOY6MGuMADhrwAQCsBsz3Tz3pBJEunscdKaqhTEqQGGGORfnq0HQVjwSoTNl9H7vMLjlgrP6EXf9qtAL2pPcF71qFudbXos9MxeY1zTPZNSF9b9n5lac/s1600/DSC02042.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cXZq_hXluSs7Ri_N574fG1hTOY6MGuMADhrwAQCsBsz3Tz3pBJEunscdKaqhTEqQGGGORfnq0HQVjwSoTNl9H7vMLjlgrP6EXf9qtAL2pPcF71qFudbXos9MxeY1zTPZNSF9b9n5lac/s400/DSC02042.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487850333666982370" border="0" /></a>Elizabeth's $10 Budweiser. At Yankee Stadium I once paid $11 for a Miller Light, so I guess this was a "deal."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqVXsQLd6fqgcRDrJTKu2hpj9JrmrXyhlS5TP3BoTyB8gEJH0MnlTzeWvGbO5LNmuonWEKTdcVsvmsS1uRQt2_wIRx-0H4RmAVONAI1Y-F9PNHclurWQNxe6rtjI5rxj2yN6QbNyt9Jdk/s1600/DSC02051.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqVXsQLd6fqgcRDrJTKu2hpj9JrmrXyhlS5TP3BoTyB8gEJH0MnlTzeWvGbO5LNmuonWEKTdcVsvmsS1uRQt2_wIRx-0H4RmAVONAI1Y-F9PNHclurWQNxe6rtjI5rxj2yN6QbNyt9Jdk/s400/DSC02051.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487848661199840946" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQVe7OUwxxwPLJ-u7I5uoaKkd2hGqdMJU4uS_ZrB1xWRKEhQ9ilKgB-extNoP_0xyJWiajU7yb9cVyeVizKypS6tga5eax2A2bBofgL3UB4GHtVYVddr71Yco0C71UmFknWKOS1OIzx8/s1600/DSC02061.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQQVe7OUwxxwPLJ-u7I5uoaKkd2hGqdMJU4uS_ZrB1xWRKEhQ9ilKgB-extNoP_0xyJWiajU7yb9cVyeVizKypS6tga5eax2A2bBofgL3UB4GHtVYVddr71Yco0C71UmFknWKOS1OIzx8/s400/DSC02061.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487848649335393474" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhokjjfneXHLd63lIi2f-mBodWB5lirQ3Z4gef27iBBLQDAsRvN0F9YsD7Mk6CKHceyqyfKB7VaW5lOYiRPX9In9hNultnMq_r5q5-nt0E7jYTpYZ_dxqZIKF7NBGsa9OIAaVWyuHhyphenhyphenoAw/s1600/DSC02065.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhokjjfneXHLd63lIi2f-mBodWB5lirQ3Z4gef27iBBLQDAsRvN0F9YsD7Mk6CKHceyqyfKB7VaW5lOYiRPX9In9hNultnMq_r5q5-nt0E7jYTpYZ_dxqZIKF7NBGsa9OIAaVWyuHhyphenhyphenoAw/s400/DSC02065.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487848642079137906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTcHbt67ZcVWHsO6mx2ncKdvIygk8OmNJw6ypapJA1l8VSpwvud2BSvWw6EwTAP-rRBQytEKgvGDlNQxzD7yL7LA0qMxn7WH1vdoUAvhuRNVn3kmp1NzLuS7arWo8lQevtwNFGOlYXCM/s1600/DSC02074.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTcHbt67ZcVWHsO6mx2ncKdvIygk8OmNJw6ypapJA1l8VSpwvud2BSvWw6EwTAP-rRBQytEKgvGDlNQxzD7yL7LA0qMxn7WH1vdoUAvhuRNVn3kmp1NzLuS7arWo8lQevtwNFGOlYXCM/s400/DSC02074.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487848634151767426" border="0" /></a>The reason I think 5PM is the perfect start time in the summer: it's an afternoon game, then everything in Chavez Ravine turns golden and it's an evening game, and then it becomes a night game. Well, it would have been for us, except....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqb-DP5Z-72zy6agWeI61h8wKn4mkrfL6sG_FSDZS1HDNoMBUpIk7gcNy-pb07hyMtwHaWsQK232fIsO57ETXzGW265XxI2mwWUZrT8Ab9LLb9EXxnQC5Uq2HNaAMP7v-Kis26PCFgDTc/s1600/DSC02077.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqb-DP5Z-72zy6agWeI61h8wKn4mkrfL6sG_FSDZS1HDNoMBUpIk7gcNy-pb07hyMtwHaWsQK232fIsO57ETXzGW265XxI2mwWUZrT8Ab9LLb9EXxnQC5Uq2HNaAMP7v-Kis26PCFgDTc/s400/DSC02077.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487848623216016146" border="0" /></a>We left after the 8th inning with the Dodgers up 6-2. Elizabeth was sick of the way the Yankees were playing. "They can't come back," she said. I was just plain sick - I had a headache from the out-of-control fans of both teams screaming insults back and forth at one another in our section. A girl a couple rows back was actually going hoarse from screaming "Yankees suck!" I guess that's fun for a lot of people. I hate to be the grumpy old man, but I would rather relax and watch a ballgame, cheering when my team does something good and reserving boos for only the most deserving of instances. Like whenever ARod bats.<br /><br />So we took the Dodger Express bus back to Union Station and the Gold Line home, and got back just in time to see the last out of the 9th inning - it was now a tie game. The Yankees scored twice more in the 10th and won the game. Oh well. For the most part it was a great time at the ballpark, and Elizabeth loved her first trip to Dodger Stadium.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-73616910526302096112010-06-05T10:28:00.000-07:002010-06-05T11:29:27.093-07:00Lucille's Smokehouse Bar B Que<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyuyLBUJ3Y5RPr0aKng3Hl7U3mrSkUo6nHq4JH3JS56FoUAEpWFSEsoOCuo1DV3VpoQSIIOhpowgJcgvHlIB9WszvfnXV65GVO-dL2EXBYBzfMobo5J0R4kkRmFoQNlcEWdgET-54G2w/s1600/June4+024.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyuyLBUJ3Y5RPr0aKng3Hl7U3mrSkUo6nHq4JH3JS56FoUAEpWFSEsoOCuo1DV3VpoQSIIOhpowgJcgvHlIB9WszvfnXV65GVO-dL2EXBYBzfMobo5J0R4kkRmFoQNlcEWdgET-54G2w/s400/June4+024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479344713873054722" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2qhAjLwymye-QWUK3a-n54MEBEeOvcg0CyC3TNxZwNryCRWFNhy0ll0t-NcBPiI49_S-zfcR2iZOtxZtB1YPI-TbPBZYtQYgD36sg82N9zD3nSSLhIYwll5ZM_uMyXYZKeV7pXoZzWM/s1600/June4+021.jpg"><img style="display: block; 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margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUV1s5-3F4hjpeE9GKHTc_OfAqzapfDsc_g6ECNJlky0xS2cbba81Dr3z3VE8MbyGXT4cktCcNWsHXM_Dk3lO9rhDUuK8o3k7Z7YtbgNwGa6uRewdKnZ8W6eaS5AiRC6cnT6LexFi1dY/s400/June4+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479340942724935026" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUsP7drZkcuOZ8UpQWSMfraAgZdIUAROm1rJ5mbNYraRqa56Z2zraMg5buHVYYc411BXvij63-IgO8ft_LCRlknnFKJjI4jd0zkj5x8PfMuGTr6SzULa7YMduPPCmDatYLfxh-z28ots/s1600/June4+017.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUsP7drZkcuOZ8UpQWSMfraAgZdIUAROm1rJ5mbNYraRqa56Z2zraMg5buHVYYc411BXvij63-IgO8ft_LCRlknnFKJjI4jd0zkj5x8PfMuGTr6SzULa7YMduPPCmDatYLfxh-z28ots/s400/June4+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479340933801285266" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN99gORMzp2o__MMnGo-F3TKLOPK0H74C7dav1eKgByh74ZzPoZfNMWUWiwbAAZh-JVGlSz8m4fpVliy6iAjRUyTzoyDhyApNQQ674dhXiPYcO9QdC5RMR_CeTL5-9BZUqIgjm4D4ugU/s1600/June4+020.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN99gORMzp2o__MMnGo-F3TKLOPK0H74C7dav1eKgByh74ZzPoZfNMWUWiwbAAZh-JVGlSz8m4fpVliy6iAjRUyTzoyDhyApNQQ674dhXiPYcO9QdC5RMR_CeTL5-9BZUqIgjm4D4ugU/s400/June4+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479340928426229330" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFM5X28R5RJCVSbOXsx42KuDvHokiRu9nQkvJeyCbP56VVmSgqVisW_3hNCeVJgczSX-GujgNXCTl1xA_26iP4IX-HE8jQh5DwtVLhUvdeIhk1pMeJcjzZzQhaIM-iDSGwbqRhfLQ6uDk/s1600/June4+013.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFM5X28R5RJCVSbOXsx42KuDvHokiRu9nQkvJeyCbP56VVmSgqVisW_3hNCeVJgczSX-GujgNXCTl1xA_26iP4IX-HE8jQh5DwtVLhUvdeIhk1pMeJcjzZzQhaIM-iDSGwbqRhfLQ6uDk/s400/June4+013.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479340916347796034" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78PWaOuEjCnK_IwYMbuBy_MwSMyH-b1eyybBT6EfIh41RBRh346craz4irdcxTHtLh071k81PWKGJWBhpIwqW4cZy1rz830HaHoOOIYrq6Yf2GqlBdmL11fZEhYQj_i46YqrUcbcNUbM/s1600/June4+018.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg78PWaOuEjCnK_IwYMbuBy_MwSMyH-b1eyybBT6EfIh41RBRh346craz4irdcxTHtLh071k81PWKGJWBhpIwqW4cZy1rz830HaHoOOIYrq6Yf2GqlBdmL11fZEhYQj_i46YqrUcbcNUbM/s400/June4+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479340908174940818" border="0" /></a>Lucille's Smokehouse Bar B Que<br /><span class="street-address">7411 Carson Blvd</span><br /><span class="locality">Long Beach</span>, <span class="region">CA</span> <span class="postal-code">90808</span><br /><br />Almost exactly five years ago, I had just returned from a vacation to Memphis in May with my friends Hatcher and Min. Although Memphis in May encompasses several weekends of festivals, the one we went to probably will not come as much of a surprise to you: The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. I ate barbecue for every meal save two: 1) a deep fried hamburger at Dyer's, the legendary Beale Street joint where all beef patties are fried in a vat of oil, an oil they have not changed in 98 years, and 2) a chicken gyro sandwich one afternoon when Min declared we needed to "eat something healthy." I have no idea what gave her that idea.<br /><br />That chicken sandwich, from a chain called Zoë's Kitchen, was actually fantastic, although not entirely in keeping with the spirit of the trip. Nor in keeping with the spirit of Memphis, I suppose: the restaurant has gone out of business. This does not surprise me, as most things on the menu were pretty healthy. I am not one for souvenir t-shirts but I have one from that trip that I love. It has the Memphis in May logo on the front and on the back it reads: "Memphis, the 4th Fattest City in America. We Won't Rest Until We're #1"<br /><br />When I got back from that trip I abstained from barbecue for a long time. Okay, it was only 48 hours. But it <span style="font-style: italic;">seemed </span>like a long time for me. A couple weekends later my buddy Troy invited me down to see his new place in Long Beach and take me out for barbecue. We went to Lucille's in the Belmont Shore section of town.<br /><br />"This may not compare to what you just ate in Memphis," he said, "but I really like this place. I'm anxious to know your thoughts."<br /><br />This was a gorgeous afternoon and the restaurant was packed, as indeed all of Long Beach seemed to be. We took a table in the bar - the only table in the house for which there was not a wait - and drank a couple cold beers while watching the Angels beat up the Red Sox 13-6. (I actually just looked up the box score from that game to double check my memory; not only am I correct, but it turns out that was five years ago <span style="font-style: italic;">to the day</span>. Funny.)<br /><br />I ordered a pulled pork sandwich that day, realizing even at the time that was probably going to be a disappointment. I mean, in the last three weeks I had eaten pulled pork at some of the most hallowed names in barbecue: Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous, Corky's, Central BBQ. (I even had a pulled pork sandwich on President Clinton Ave in Little Rock on the way to Memphis, just after visiting the Clinton Library, that was almost the equal of those Memphis sandwiches.)<br /><br />What surprised me was that the pulled pork sandwich I had that day at Lucille's was awesome. Speckled with smoke ring and served on a soft bun, it was unquestionably the best barbecue sandwich I had ever had from a chain in California.<br /><br />I never went back to that Lucille's, but I have been to the one in Rancho Cucamonga (in Victoria Gardens) several times since then, and have never had a sandwich that came close to the Belmont Shore sandwich. So a couple years ago I kind of gave up on Lucille's. It was always good, but not worth fighting the always-present crowds, higher than average prices, and inconsistent quality.<br /><br />Yesterday I had the day off and volunteered to go with my mom down to Newport Beach - she was picking up something she needed for work and this way we could go in the carpool lane. A few miles north of Long Beach we both were hungry. I suggested going to Lucille's, and she agreed. This is not the same one I went to 5 years ago in the Belmont Shore section of Long Beach, this is right off the 605 Freeway.<br /><br />We got a booth right away and both ordered iced teas. Served in a Mason jar, this was one of the better restaurant iced teas I have had in a while. The menu at Lucille's is big, not to mention several lunch specials, but I decided to get my usual pulled pork sandwich. My mom ordered a half a ham sandwich and cup of chowder, and we ordered some Dixie egg rolls to start.<br /><br />Dixie egg rolls have always been my favorite appetizer here: diced chicken, andouille sausage, grilled corn, greens and cheese, all stuffed into an egg roll wrapper and fried. They are very good, although the fruit sauce they are served with is a little too sweet so I only use it sparingly, instead opting for the Memphis barbecue sauce.<br /><br />There are three bottles of barbecue sauce on the table: Original, Hot and Spicy, and Memphis. The Original is disgustingly sweet: it tastes of molasses and honey and not much else. The Hot and Spicy is decent but not really hot or spicy. It's more of a regular barbecue sauce with a tiny amount of spice thrown in. The Memphis sauce is my favorite of the bunch. It's not anything fancy - ketchup, mustard, brown sugar and vinegar - and to be honest I don't recall ever having a sauce in Memphis that tasted like this, but it's tasty.<br /><br />My pulled pork sandwich looked very good when it arrived, served on a fresh potato bun. Plenty of the pieces of pork were tipped with smoke ring and, once I removed a pretty large piece of fat, it was a good sandwich, except for one thing: it had mayonnaise on it. I don't like when restaurants put mayo on barbecue - it's just an attempt to hide the flavor - but at least they usually alert you to the fact. Lucille's menu claimed the pork came with a "Creole mustard sauce" which sounded good to me. But this was just mayo. It added nothing and made it impossible for me to call the sandwich anything other than slightly-better-than-average.<br /><br />I tried some of the corn chowder. It was a Southern-style, with pieces of ham in it and overall much thinner than any version I have ever had. For a warm late-spring day it was quite nice, although I think I prefer the thicker style that you usually find. I did not try any of the ham sandwich but my mom liked it a lot, the ham being marinated in Coca Cola and molasses before being smoked.<br /><br />I am glad I returned to Lucille's after a few years, and I like the place, but it is nothing too special. All of the locations are beautifully decorated, but the large menu makes it impossible to specialize in any one thing. It's much better than most chain restaurants, but it pales in comparison to my favorite small barbecue joints like Bludso's or Perdue's.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-23856436664418355812010-05-21T09:30:00.000-07:002010-05-21T09:59:51.269-07:00Zeke's Smokehouse<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6exf71Su9lkLUV0xEZEMx2aE-8WT3P7C9_MeCpJVj-zZcpxVWIX2TIcKZG22QSc3nDk-jNp5rIngC2aQQMz1IGhOTtuUkFHkWfLL_s6gkfJrQSEltOgoBKD0ZOexu5B7R_i2mXokANFg/s1600/DSC00641.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6exf71Su9lkLUV0xEZEMx2aE-8WT3P7C9_MeCpJVj-zZcpxVWIX2TIcKZG22QSc3nDk-jNp5rIngC2aQQMz1IGhOTtuUkFHkWfLL_s6gkfJrQSEltOgoBKD0ZOexu5B7R_i2mXokANFg/s400/DSC00641.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473763410053217090" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeWPV4TCKdt79i74igC2W-aH5b8r26JUFic332yjFXMmOWbhWktMHMBQqaeDkDSGCSab3h5NCworPUprJNa3Cm9Eo0-zezHG6pUCbeY3MHi6smf1ysCPjwpxEUvJ-evbNGO7OsRqT0_k/s1600/DSC00643.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhS3RSdjN-7Mur7gIF8OsmxiaP_LbeZT_LidpVrp6xIaRTsW0bmZuQweFDTJuv99JEkwDlJwrUBitlWhXgdGZT_coksJfWHaGI8xt6HsmN3pPYKjgs2yC5YuBgDkB96UZJ04kiQWGUq84/s400/DSC00637.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473762532749551218" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiag-ykWpRHk2eBoVV-m61jhXpL6b-STprJgAJpvWpO4I0O6TM9dV-UdYqRMkpWalGx7pJ_pka6AXLUrFIybYdluzKRbrtXCxVEc8dxGk-K6JhRzTuXC_LOF2JMPu8XTc9ob8DMDQs9564/s1600/DSC00639.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiag-ykWpRHk2eBoVV-m61jhXpL6b-STprJgAJpvWpO4I0O6TM9dV-UdYqRMkpWalGx7pJ_pka6AXLUrFIybYdluzKRbrtXCxVEc8dxGk-K6JhRzTuXC_LOF2JMPu8XTc9ob8DMDQs9564/s400/DSC00639.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473762518149085202" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicx96yLX9DoX94cVR7p84Jv0J1HT_c5gyqqoREfWgSdYgp6_Zq8i_XYIdDkkTPWW1Lh15dAdng7p_UvtvK4yO5c9kg_aIkOR7c1EzkjKxcZUSu0avPhN7ejZukKv-QixzyoIQ-ZQ09fi4/s1600/DSC00640.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicx96yLX9DoX94cVR7p84Jv0J1HT_c5gyqqoREfWgSdYgp6_Zq8i_XYIdDkkTPWW1Lh15dAdng7p_UvtvK4yO5c9kg_aIkOR7c1EzkjKxcZUSu0avPhN7ejZukKv-QixzyoIQ-ZQ09fi4/s400/DSC00640.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473762514306016482" border="0" /></a>I've written about Zeke's a couple times before - I have been going there for many years and, on their best days, it is outstanding barbecue - so I will keep this relatively short. The other day I was running an errand with my brother and we were trying to decide where to go for lunch. We drove through <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Montrose</span>, thinking about trying 3 Drunken Goats, but at the last moment we decided just to get some barbecue. (This is never a tough decision for us.)<br /><br />I had not been to Zeke's in more than half a year. There are some new additions - or perhaps I hadn't noticed them before and they're only new to me. Either way, the feeling's the same. There is a small menu on each table called the "Dog Gone Hard Times Menu," featuring items like sliders and catfish bites. I love catfish but my brother is not much of a seafood fan, so we didn't get an order. (I will, however, be returning at some point with someone who is willing to split them with me.)<br /><br />There is also a specialty beverage menu with drinks like Mexican Coke, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Abita</span> Root Beer (from my beloved <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Abita</span> Brewing Co. in Louisiana, makers of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Turbodog</span>), and Original Dublin Dr Pepper. For those not familiar with that last item, it comes from Dublin, Texas and is the oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant in the world. It uses the original Dr Pepper formula - pure cane sugar - and is only supposed to be available in the Dublin area, although it is well known that people purchase it in the area and "bootleg" it out of state.<br /><br />An item I had never seen before on the menu was called the "mixed rib sandwich." I inquired about it and was told it is meat taken off of pork and beef ribs, mixed with sauce and served on a bun. I immediately ordered it, with some kettle chips and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">cole</span> slaw. My brother ordered a two item combo of dark meat chicken and a ham steak, with double fries.<br /><br />The food was ready in only a few minutes. I have never liked the buns they use at Zeke's; I cannot understand why they serve barbecue that is often great on dense, stale buns. I have written before that if they used soft buns, or even plain white bread, their barbecue could be legendary. But the bun on my sandwich was, thankfully, very fresh. It made a big difference, and the meat was delicious. I was concerned the sauce would overpower the meat, but Zeke's sauce isn't too sweet. It would be better without the sauce, I'm sure, but it was still very good.<br /><br />I did not try any of my brother's 'cue, but he cleaned his plate, so I'm sure he liked it.<br /><br />As I wrote, I had not been to Zeke's in more than half a year. When I have been in the mood for barbecue recently, I have experimented with new places rather than going with the tried and true option of Zeke's. But I am going to go back at least once or twice soon to try some of these new items.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-11494034478479690072010-05-19T06:06:00.000-07:002010-05-19T07:44:16.825-07:00Joey's Smokin' BBQ<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTuhyphenhyphen0o8NwLT9jxH0TAQV-kO7wNaihqyZqs7urWRwQ8XZ2ByZZQqLqlDc1QVuSqNnCaBDBy2VKXEYnWr0-Fk-vMkSzinV6HXzk7ljsSf6DKnx9o6cGXz7-G9Bryxx8DpqHlMn3YmOm_M/s1600/DSC01015+%282%29.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 265px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472798065596893842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTuhyphenhyphen0o8NwLT9jxH0TAQV-kO7wNaihqyZqs7urWRwQ8XZ2ByZZQqLqlDc1QVuSqNnCaBDBy2VKXEYnWr0-Fk-vMkSzinV6HXzk7ljsSf6DKnx9o6cGXz7-G9Bryxx8DpqHlMn3YmOm_M/s400/DSC01015+%282%29.JPG" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiffIS53c7BhLvZp3V-o9XnawRV2B3VwwVh3WFs_jN-03hPMJNThyphenhyphenjMWDFnIXM1m13_wCti-3zxxg3BfSF3lf6yAxUOwCvKrFoyX5xIrao4HeJHC_6UCmHu5FhFK8_qicXW0iMYdQf6OOA/s1600/DSC01022.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; 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MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472797454057973554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnCiVPcsz24WQuvJDOM2wsrWx8yPoaO5DOAWo3NHWyjWagERdkPhgyWlRR4k9wjDOjsJ6EBnQ0FP90u9ebEjAlvxLUbPgPWTBzBbsolyUxPsIrW6fbr4nR7QGyv3K8dsF7DcOmXUAvY8/s400/DSC01014.JPG" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXdtVnDPUsPm51zKHaADrz-DbEDPJqAk5howPv23Glg1GL9hSL3GJBSFlI3Vr7AWfN3j0sXmAeLZumgdu-ly-PtTV7sR0bBuRAVZTay1knvBay7iA7SM8HvDpgmNbZuqjJjfCj0cZTFE/s1600/DSC01011.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472812849287188370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXdtVnDPUsPm51zKHaADrz-DbEDPJqAk5howPv23Glg1GL9hSL3GJBSFlI3Vr7AWfN3j0sXmAeLZumgdu-ly-PtTV7sR0bBuRAVZTay1knvBay7iA7SM8HvDpgmNbZuqjJjfCj0cZTFE/s400/DSC01011.JPG" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTTsSxHfF174aw1ugVlLKuTsFpQKO62feA27_OPgDElAR4kqbjywQj6JCzVmHUfzoRg4TeldKizuw6fbmRZJEH_V4wC4llKMCto73iE-zTAXFXGkTbwMEEnX2A1HoMgzxNsZjjAdLsJig/s1600/DSC01013.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472797464477593666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTTsSxHfF174aw1ugVlLKuTsFpQKO62feA27_OPgDElAR4kqbjywQj6JCzVmHUfzoRg4TeldKizuw6fbmRZJEH_V4wC4llKMCto73iE-zTAXFXGkTbwMEEnX2A1HoMgzxNsZjjAdLsJig/s400/DSC01013.JPG" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi766ZVisYrp24GU24Wwhj1dwBy-OnLTZoHduKP4MdEjcjpf7IrxsLeDBT-ADITyDa7aVKnhV8grpIgAd3_yrxEh5gOMp7BkBkmwfQhJO9YPYfULgFcHmHgHN67iCyjGE3YEK1USrxyO3o/s1600/DSC01010.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472797483184395122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi766ZVisYrp24GU24Wwhj1dwBy-OnLTZoHduKP4MdEjcjpf7IrxsLeDBT-ADITyDa7aVKnhV8grpIgAd3_yrxEh5gOMp7BkBkmwfQhJO9YPYfULgFcHmHgHN67iCyjGE3YEK1USrxyO3o/s400/DSC01010.JPG" /></a><br />Joey's Smokin' BBQ<br />3564 N. Sepulveda Blvd.<br />Manhattan Beach, CA 90266<br /><br />I have never been a fan of Luke Walton. I'm talking about Luke Walton the basketball player, of course, not Luke Walton the man. Personally, Luke could be a great guy. I have never met him and I imagine I never will.<br /><br />But Luke the basketball player has always been a frustrating act to follow. I watched him for years when he played college ball for the University of Arizona. With the possible exception of Adam Morrison, I have never seen a player who was allowed to commit offensive fouls with as much frequency as Luke. His entire offensive game was basically catching the ball, extending his left arm out in front of him and driving to the basket, pushing off against whatever player was guarding him.<br /><br />I was relatively sure that would not translate to the pros, and it has not. My friend Troy refers to Luke as "1 and 2," because for every one good thing Luke does, he makes two equally boneheaded plays immediately after. Watch him some time, you will be amazed; it's like clockwork. This short clip explains my frustration with Walton's apathetic, weak play - it would have taken only a minimal amount of effort to dunk the ball and avoid it being blocked, but that was asking too much:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jtrlkiwr3yw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jtrlkiwr3yw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /><br />Consequently, when I heard years ago that Luke Walton was part owner of a barbecue restaurant in Manhattan Beach called Joey's Smokin' BBQ, I did not think I would ever make it there. That's not a part of town I venture to with much frequency, but more importantly, I read several reviews of the place on the web, and pretty much every blog whose opinions I respect absolutely <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">trashed</span> Joey's.<br /><br />But recently I was called upon at the last minute to pick someone up from LAX. I had some free time, so I decided to head down to Joey's - it's just a couple miles south of the airport - and have lunch. It was packed when I walked in.<br /><br />I decided to order the "Southern Sliders": three mini sandwiches, one each of pulled pork, brisket, and hot links. My first indication that things were not going to be great was the menu description that each of the sliders is served with "sweet barbecue sauce." If you have ever read this blog before you can probably guess what I'm going to say: any barbecue chef who serves you barbecue with the sauce already on it - and <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">especially</span> a sweet sauce - does not want you to pay much attention to the 'cue. (And why someone would think the same sauce will be equally good on three different kinds of meat is beyond me.) I opted to get some cole slaw and fries along with the sliders.<br /><br />It only took about ten minutes to get the food. While I was waiting I poured myself two small containers of barbecue sauce - their sweet sauce, the kind of sugary junk you would find at Tony Roma's (back when there were actually Tony Roma's in the San Gabriel Valley), and their spicier sauce, which was actually quite good. It was peppery and reminded me of Rudy's, probably my favorite tomato-based sauce in the country.<br /><br />Let's start with the best part: the brisket was slightly smoky, with a deep beef flavor. The sweet sauce added nothing to it, and all I could think was how much better it would have been if they had used the spicier sauce. But I liked the beef.<br /><br />The "Memphis pulled pork" was horrible. I could not see smoke ring anywhere in the sandwich and the meat was a damp mess, full of fat and no flavor. I scooped some slaw onto it and added mustard, hoping it would make it a little bit better. It did not. I'm not a lawyer but I don't see how Joey's can co-opt the word "Memphis" without suffering some kind of retribution. In five trips to that city I have never seen a sandwich resembling this.<br /><br />The hot link was the worst of the bunch. There was no flavor to it and the casing on the link tasted like a rubber band. I eventually had to peel off what I could and try to eat the remaining link. Unfortunately, pretty much all that was left was fat.<br /><br />The cole slaw was acceptable, the same sweet stuff you get at KFC. Not terrible but nothing you hope you will ever eat again. The fries were terrible. They were limp and room temperature. Obviously they had been sitting out for a while.<br /><br />I want to say Joey's was disappointing, but that would imply I had some kind of high expectations for it. I did not. It was exactly the kind of place I thought it would be: food drenched in a sweet sauce and called barbecue, served by people who don't really care about what they're doing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-36256899041056352592010-05-17T08:57:00.000-07:002010-05-18T08:13:03.698-07:00Bonnie B's<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471264505523256386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNBcs8L7jSWO3gPbwNJFBqFTGbBWlvAAJ1YwGzACRog4mR8rBOxRqkeIBL2XR1nVjL-_FDfli7_H4TgSBVEY-IT7oGNuIpeNWPKrEOWyxsu9V-dVRkObjhxaogPKso4i1IM4FK5nvKmI/s400/DSC00725.JPG" /> <div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471265156738717266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Lw80qzUOgthqyeGi1JADA438RvQQjgadfCLjlPbd-z5VdLGaw2B6SejOMawRCZENOBjHIo2FoCgTGSaaPhUlXL_p8WoXiLvu6gfA6sWtUqAny8AG416G6-7TJ8m7qjRKz5ZDWJgvZBs/s400/DSC00718.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471265144168967074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguM1eBQz3EA4eQCsg-al2FfyYDdtL7sWXRVaxWHWmsEllz5TiXn_UE0O8urM4p66SEP3gDXU-THaRT5ciEDelYKP0euUEFoXxb7zk-9q_WSIAH5nNfHmocDFSJ-heRriwYCd0JBC8DHEc/s400/DSC00717.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471264535528423650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-mxUcoSWdRp93fTCsEzqiIXB8zSpsCrwYMay4PqmzCAxkQPJ3NDmwvlxVWfGSDyBzHpW1Zwjzra8coRu0PaQB0EIPx_UxTH-k29-JCu7Gx8Hzzn5mluYa0lq3IUKRZ7Kx1wREzf1z80/s400/DSC00721.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471264528655017090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9JfbcDRdHAumxS0CDA-LhNX-iRjeFNUMWGWFczMW7h6w4ezksB5WEADgxmTkhY_NfT8LNyIR-hDbzYgE5qSnw5SE95cQc-_1WMf3qiBSnEYd3IgQc5yLCId2-dQtHE-fuCfjggW4FIc/s400/DSC00722.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471264517938208034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj0C4cF9VofgvdwpZT4kUjkXEUQpTKrRpuS-YZFCMj6AAMupComddLrPtKMlVQ1gKw42d4ZO0YNDe8OCve8NXk9HjDVBjeQ2Et2hsNVid6QLbXwijFJm2VI9DAoqtLYP29_QPzNm37Gdk/s400/DSC00723.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471264510916773218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYl8MIVtkyAb6CVvQsv6BnobVa_5CFKFwDNUPYP-JxD60enFpS6szBYCqo_PsNkl6BUevtlekne1Xt4HH3U6lIamST7wlAe-6bFE56UyRDh__PKOtrdxLz1yF31yhtAUTQAgGOp_qtCOU/s400/DSC00724.JPG" />Bonnie B's Smokin</div>1280 North Lake Ave.<br /><div>Pasadena, CA 91104</div><br /><div></div>Bonnie B's opened a few months back, but until a few days ago I had not been, for many reasons. First, and perhaps most importantly, almost all desires for barbecue in Pasadena have been filled in the last year by Perdue's, which is only a few blocks away from Bonnie's. Second, the menu on their website features stock photos. This is somewhat of a red flag for me: if a place has pride in the barbecue, why are they using someone else's photos of <em>someone else's food</em>?<br /><div></div><br /><div>So I never made it in. Just the other day, however, I was having lunch with my mom and I suggested we give Bonnie B's a try. The inside of the restaurant, while a much different look than the down-home style of Perdue's, nonetheless reminded me of the legendary Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City: photos of world leaders on on the walls and an assortment of out-of-place signs ("Friend of Bill W"). Of course, at Arthur Bryant's the photos are of famous people who have actually visited the restaurant; I'm guessing the people pictured on the wall at Bonnie's have not been there. Perhaps someday.</div><br /><div></div>My mom ordered a brisket sandwich. I ordered a half pound of chopped pork. The woman told me they did not have any. I asked if that meant they did not have any that day, or if they no longer offer it. She said have stopped offering it, they just have not changed the menu yet. Disappointed, I changed my order to a hot link on a bun. Hot links aren't the best measure of a 'cue joint's ability, but I do love them. And, at any rate, I was relatively sure my mom would let me try the brisket.<br /><div></div><br /><div>We sat down. Also reminiscent of Arthur Bryant's, there were three squeeze bottles of barbecue sauce on the table: mild, medium, and hot. I figured they would probably just be the same sauce with varying levels of heat added to them. I was incorrect. More on that in a second. </div><br /><div></div>The food was ready in a little over five minutes - something else that distinguishes it from Perdue's, in a good way. I first took a bite of my mom's brisket. I was not very impressed. It was good, but tasted as if it had been cooked in an oven instead of smoked. A few minutes later I took another small bite of a piece, however, that had a bit of smoke ring to it and tasted much more of barbecue. My guess? That the brisket was smoked, but perhaps at least a day earlier, and then reheated. I would be glad to try this again as long as it was fresh out of the smoker, but not if it was a leftover.<br /><div></div><br /><div>My hot link, on the other hand, was fantastic. It is the best one I have ever had in Pasadena. This town isn't exactly a barbecue paradise, I understand, however I have had at least a half dozen hot links from other places in town, and this beat them all. It was slightly smokey, a little bit spicy, and very dense. I will absolutely be having one of these again. </div><br /><div>Now, about the sauce. I first tried a splash of the "hot" sauce on my hot link. I had to double check to make sure I had grabbed the right one, because it was not spicy at all. Just a basic, too-sweet sauce. I tried the mild next. It was almost the same, although not quite as spicy. Reluctantly, I tried the medium last, thinking it would certainly be the same as the other two.<br /><br />It was not. It was a much-thinner sauce, and it was delicious. I have written many times that I prefer vinegar or mustard-based sauces, but if it's going to be a tomato-based sauce, this is very much how I want it to taste: thin, a little spicy, with the taste of black pepper.<br /><br />I liked Bonnie B's more than I thought I would. The potato salad we both got was not anything special, but was passable. I wish they had more pork options, and there was no slaw on the menu, but the hot link was so good that it guarantees I will return. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-85649285865154046282010-04-19T08:32:00.000-07:002018-05-14T17:00:40.464-07:00Clear Channel Stadium: Quakes @ Jethawks<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-j4ey97Mdb_TKg4bQdfdJ2xDYM6ZrGMcUuEOvihhpMoUszdKEqUThcW5EE5O9bZwwT7NV5keTHuLdbg26ShZ95TeMxTfkpjxZVvOpmwqI4eLDDKwuHR8UmP1hT8luKhym0BRzjyUfFx8/s1600/DSC09840.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461878632939343938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-j4ey97Mdb_TKg4bQdfdJ2xDYM6ZrGMcUuEOvihhpMoUszdKEqUThcW5EE5O9bZwwT7NV5keTHuLdbg26ShZ95TeMxTfkpjxZVvOpmwqI4eLDDKwuHR8UmP1hT8luKhym0BRzjyUfFx8/s400/DSC09840.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461878624680464418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5VwTl8ptae1WQWwOuSjhIjELgmYUf8n1DEW31FgDtVjbbIk1tch6IfRAtwcKQBcWjnM_dMsuF73pyCKa-CuBIA86QSQWE7CuZHrQJvoe90a1nTyjuHG-1r6qDu-GV-S6T0RlfvV0Muk/s400/DSC09837.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461878613674313810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19JmOfBgBgTQ2nK3TP0M8UtGMw-ocjqRWHmxxM4crfQIeDIoGi0eiUOA5CX6xCrRNLsd5u54KNmddFgqVJugxPPSjVDTxmeSX9evs6YFMuEb2N1XixHFVq0fFLZP3bUryMQospvoEefA/s400/DSC09842.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461878601344920338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OlQ4piPU8aF3iw_N9QYaqnbY1Ej52y28mJEtqtpnDWcWpf9nO_yh4sJxmZnhY8Cb9I4RJS-_B9nhahgLFBRjwkew1ChRfMDny0-i5qKi6QdGBk4Yvgvr_SRglvrADP70WxjCIZ0iTjQ/s400/DSC09843.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461878589633795394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG1HPu_baE_HuQ7qJ4vUt8JwmiEQwCk-CCYlnAjTSpkHiHBpr2E6Gyk9lYgooamamWnG20f7_9qdV7zXZePuDq7fa8b3QVFHcBdSH7w-eTTqHdEY82aSd8k26kQ-8viOhwhnguzaG96ao/s400/DSC09848.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461876544853281314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrRl69jbTw6dTiP_938PsR5b-wCkBpdpPiezA_GfTIA6LfgOt5a9pZHLz4S7Hl09RJ6-Lyjp3YZSjjY1OL9BYOXQYq5p1azdrpCarK1wfTVcjK8ljLLddLM3IGE6gqQHEU76v-9sWz4k/s400/DSC09850.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461876531363487410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzCOSbDh0qOWYE-oU2UyiSclrw3MxaKnY2Hq4s6csLM7pr-gc4w5xz3I3iGT4BwEli6XX68lt6ANXABcvLj8nivdNFd-k-siAJTw1c18e8rB7RoA-V50oSWYz5iRiHxv2gaBZAc699Fc/s400/DSC09851.JPG" style="cursor: hand; 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cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461874993753764466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdrbK0zmewmxt3yamTq4tio4NnkTiwRVynzWG33OPIixCGum_8UM9_T3tL2nbZOgXkEUul0M8GO2AXmJd0ZlgH6lZqChoxDFFfA46Ug3DHTRmpv-24eR8U4QxhARHDkyDIDZ98acBtvdc/s400/DSC09898.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461874979994432098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCzcMa33RxD-_8bvrKuErxlNw3Vpp47FNZWBaWONUajdZw2IngWGJKyOaIQZm05j2CtCMGyGAQ8T6axjiEjIETzhjDrjJ-OWFj2GGw06eV63CBD_jrK7WZJZujZZiCyYZAAzKfDLRMcA/s400/DSC09908.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461874974676189538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieAUcdyX36acNubPK1SLtOohdiOrOWBrQkt6LNfnncQht_KwPPK2q8easO04BBAuYSFXtOLNjxIdz0jbPyMvACrlJbd_naMcCKQRRaQbVE6Mf4Ik-WphD45TSs7VraXCYzVKfwnTT0z74/s400/DSC09913.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461874956939790018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKiDjzfs7VEV1ER1lgN-cEuFbn0BzDQciQbQ1pOfGf2NcqA1ce5Mb9RqvGsvH1Mp0zIWUi-EkZODDJvfJBDLEC2g9H3rG_Gqse3Vqtr3UOQojHPfUURKpSheyQS7yWcl_3yEUX1tSefk/s400/DSC09915.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 309px;" />For three summers I have wanted to catch Quakes away games at the various California League stadiums throughout the state, but I never have. Something has always gotten in the way. By "something" I guess I mean laziness. Three years ago I was on my way up to Adelanto to see the Quakes at the High Desert Mavericks when a major windstorm in the Devore Pass slowed traffic to 15 mph. I didn't feel like dealing with it so I went home. Two years ago I was going to see the Quakes at Lake Elsinore. I decided to go wine tasting instead.<br />
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Last year I purchased tickets weeks in advance to see the Quakes at Inland Empire. Then Manny Ramirez was suspended for 50 games, came back to to do some "rehab" with the 66ers the weekend my tickets were for, and I sold my two $12 tickets for $45 each. The biggest part of the beauty of minor league baseball is that the fans are true fans of the game of baseball; they aren't front-runners or starf**kers who go to games to see particular players. I knew there were going to be many of those types at the game, so if I could skip that - and make $75 in the process - I was just fine with that.</div>
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But this year I have awaited the arrival of baseball season more than any I can remember. There hasn't been much else to keep me entertained in the last few months. UCLA football had another of its par-for-the-course-these-days .500 seasons. UCLA basketball was atrocious, as they have finally stopped practicing offense all together. The Lakers had the best record in the West, but they are still my least favorite Lakers team ever. </div>
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Baseball is the transfusion I needed to get those other teams out of my blood. I decided this should be the season I follow the Quakes to other venues. Saturday night Elizabeth and I went up to Lancaster to see the Quakes at the Jethawks.</div>
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I drove through Lancaster pretty much every year when I was a kid - on the way to Mammoth with my family. There was never much to see. Over the years the population tripled. The last time we went to Mammoth as a family, the summer after I graduated high school, there was a new minor league baseball park. A minor league team, the Pilots, had moved from Riverside and were now the Lancaster Jethawks. </div>
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We headed up to Lancaster in the afternoon to have lunch, play miniature golf, and visit the California Poppy Reserve. In the afternoon, about an hour and half before game time, I suggested we go to the stadium and hang out for a while. I figured there wouldn't be too many people at that hour and we could play catch in the parking lot or something. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">But when we got to the scene of the crime</span>, there were hundreds of people in line already. I was not expecting this: Lancaster was 1-8, the worst team in the California League. (And, until Rancho Cuc swept the first three games of the series, the Quakes had the second-worst record.) Apparently they were giving away a fleece blanket to the first 1500 fans and, according to the Jethawks' website, it was "one of the most anticipated giveaway nights of the season." Well, then.</div>
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We took our place at the back of one of the lines, a couple hundred people deep, under the NASA F/A-18. We waited in line for about 20 minutes but it was a nice warm desert day so we didn't mind. Once inside we walked around for a while, taking pictures of the stadium. We bought a churro. A few weeks ago there was some discussion on the other blog about churros after a post on Olvera Street. That was one of the best churros I have ever had in my life. This one was perhaps the worst. It was hard enough for one of the players to use as a bat. </div>
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Since this stadium is north of the San Gabriel Mountains, there isn't much of a view; you're just looking out onto the high desert. That's fine with me, I don't mind concentrating on the game. But it's a far cry from sitting right beneath the mountains in Rancho Cucamonga. </div>
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My main complaint with the game, once it started, was the annoying trend of the sound system playing songs and making noises <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">after every pitch</span>. Now, I love the silliness of minor league ball as much as anyone. Whether it's the baby races at the Staten Island Yankees or the "free car wash for the dirtiest car in the parking lot" at the Great Falls Dodgers (my friend Tom and I had driven 500 miles through Montana that day and my car was crusted with dead bugs; I still fail to see how we lost, other than perhaps because I had California plates on my car) I <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">love</span> the informal atmosphere of minor league games. And I am in favor of anything silly between the innings. But once the game is being played, I find the huge ruckus distracting. But then again most people at the ballpark seemed to be enjoying it, so maybe I'm wrong. </div>
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The Jethawks got out to a several run lead but the Quakes pitcher settled down and finished the last 4 and 1/3 innings perfectly, and the Quakes were able to come back and win. When we got home we unwrapped the fleece blanket. I gotta admit, it's pretty nice, much more comfortable than I was expecting. With all the giveaways I have picked up at baseball games over the years, there is only one that I truly used for a long time: the beach towel I got at a Padres game I went to with my dad when I was 15, a double-header that turned out to include Tony Gwynn's 2000th hit. But I have a feeling this blanket is going to last a long time as well.</div>
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As I have written before, minor league games are the way to go if you love baseball. They are much cheaper (these tickets, which as you can see were very good) were $8 each, the game only lasted a little more than a couple hours, and the fans were really into the game. I don't like Clear Channel as much as the Epicenter, but it is still a great place to catch a game. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-17144082305233540092010-04-04T21:12:00.000-07:002010-04-04T21:12:31.102-07:00Perdue's Pulled Pork (With My Own Sauce)<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55DX8oAlKL4D3TLJaLPpgDjXcXOy2oidL4XQpSIPRKaRQay5U9GN1SNw9etoqc0RiCoyBk99GW7TTQdS8zb70Xrcjxo5ehETnfdJm2Ni-SNJlttPhjjVbCSSHPXeYNUGuRd1g3564nwA/s400/DSC09397.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456443458633331762" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgGHl1ByPZuYWufy1h4h7AIxe4E5d4kf0nYIdtoT379OObx59-obdwKZOUVAsHalVLPvlMtzTf7Ts__BkElSNZdP70G7HDpWYtM_w04HZg6vJdyufAeZFIbAqHLg8loHVovRlxsPOWvQ/s400/DSC09405.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456443452358346994" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBn7Z6O073izHMHJj63IUwkPaKTGO9nbEaWpYCocbXA0uFBZOjxJzHkHxCiIReqqCqEmijMTfsWr63QYv5hyphenhypheni5ODDJkOezi1bvtLj-NbFFN3K9zLK31Yq9or5SsomYgW2RDVgs5nzz8w/s1600/DSC09409.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVBn7Z6O073izHMHJj63IUwkPaKTGO9nbEaWpYCocbXA0uFBZOjxJzHkHxCiIReqqCqEmijMTfsWr63QYv5hyphenhypheni5ODDJkOezi1bvtLj-NbFFN3K9zLK31Yq9or5SsomYgW2RDVgs5nzz8w/s400/DSC09409.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456443648233855266" /></a><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNN9osJk8Qkngm-pOs8vZ4x7y3v6XujvJbl1earFMKWiXc9UFr1TXdMU2n7LAHrDpHu2CUzMB6_sZYfRTiJlIrEtygnHSC_UsAx8anOgB2x76P811pKKd50zqXqzdZUJ12zRUSn6Hcxg/s400/DSC09411.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456443444367533202" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUebr9AJLi1QTobdwN43EwbUabvGSIA5VSGEoU_w_pbWHcXoC5BGrVdrhg-2PC5pYcLcGIYNVjFQByyoG_T2LPrVRrChrBP8wckbBfsv565cJtLjRTORyHIqASOmF60L5jR9Kg3gndwI/s400/DSC09417.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456443427923928322" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZWZGDBqVcfffVdi5rFTDZBZ8s7fwubWlOkLYBGEXUB9Da7EJ0dnjyhF6UWcMe3vtNZ96ZMQ_ryteo7EfBqqlRh1MWwrS_RTBuZPdEX0dOwLhFn0OmL91kntPA-1dmoC2dO8lhFp3N5lQ/s400/DSC09415.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456443417952702050" />The other day I was asked a question by someone on one of my favorite blogs: if I knew any place around these parts for Carolina-style barbecue. There are many different things that are covered by the title "Carolina" barbecue, but the one thing they all have in common is that pork is the star of the show. The short answer to that question is no, I don't know of any place that I would call classic Carolina-style barbecue. The longer answer is that some places come pretty close to hitting certain aspects of Carolina barbecue... some of the time.<div><br /></div><div>Every once in a while at Robin's you will get a sandwich of chopped pork that is close to perfect, and indeed they call it the "Carolina Chopped Pork Sandwich." Unfortunately, those sandwiches are few and far between. (Their consistency has improved a lot in the last three years, however it's still not enough to guarantee great barbecue.) Zeke's Smokehouse serves chopped pork where greatness is the rule rather than the exception, but then, in a move that frustrates and confounds me every time, they serve the pork on a dense, distracting bun that always tastes a day or two past being fresh. </div><div><br /></div><div>The best pork I have consistently had in L.A. County in the last year is from Perdue's. (Bludso's and Big Mista's were every bit Perdue's equal - the latter even surpassing it - but I have only had them each one time.) However, their sauce, while not bad, is nothing special, and they use too much of it. Carolina-style barbecue sauce usually means one of three things: </div><div><br /></div><div>1) South Carolina mustard sauce, which is usually some variation of mustard and vinegar. Zeke's has a very good version of this, although I prefer the Big Bob Gibson's mustard sauce for sale at Barbeques Galore. </div><div><br /></div><div>2) Eastern North Carolina sauce, which is basically just vinegar and a few spices. Sometimes, like at Baby Blues, it is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">only</span> cider vinegar and chili flakes. This is my favorite kind of sauce for good pork.</div><div><br /></div><div>3) Western North Carolina sauce, which, while still not being particularly thick, usually has ketchup and a few more ingredients in it, like brown sugar or Worcestershire sauce. </div><div><br /></div><div>So I got an idea: order a pulled pork sandwich at Perdue's and request it with no sauce, so I could add my own. Saturday I mixed up a small container of three things: cider vinegar, chili flakes, and a couple slugs of hot sauce. </div><div><br /></div><div>"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked me. </div><div><br /></div><div>"I'm making my own barbecue sauce to take to Perdue's with me," I replied, naively thinking this would make perfect sense to anyone.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Oh my God, you are a dork."</div><div><br /></div><div>It was noon on Saturday and I was worried there might be a lot of people at Perdue's and the always-constant wait would be even longer than usual. There was no one there. We would be there about 45 minutes and not a single other person would enter the restaurant. Of course, it still took twenty minutes to get our two sandwiches. But they sat mine down in front of me, with slaw on the sandwich and no sauce, and I had no complaints.</div><div><br /></div><div>I took a photo of it without sauce, then lifted the bun, doused it with a healthy amount of sauce, and took a bite. It was spectacular. A tender and juicy piece of smoked pork is already sweet enough; it doesn't need a sugary sauce to complement it. A slightly tart, slightly spicy vinegar sauce is perfect, especially when there is a cooling slaw on the sandwich. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not saying I'm going to do this every time I go to Perdue's, but I'm glad I tried it once. I think my next project should be a trip to Zeke's with a couple slices of white bread (and perhaps this sauce) to alter one of their sandwiches. That could be an even better sandwich than this.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-85036123429097271192010-03-15T06:47:00.000-07:002010-03-15T07:33:51.644-07:00Bigmista's Barbecue<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCganIOy3ibaWy3iGeGBw6Xui4uL6s-GRTjJ_Ay_n3PsetqlM6WecH0SRDb70p39pfzzZi-SWPCZfNdDDdb5GR100IMbW6lKqXiRQuPTFCoK3mi9gZxBA34_2oTRwaGl4f8wEVq0Hs24/s400/DSC08791_2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448673652072193810" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbGY3iPdgm7NgRh3Vl_eP3ffr1cwmB4x5llFp1hW-gqZ3W2bFT-K8MUWTsD6VscLswOZ3mj8PX4si7i7EhR-sWylHE-KFwkkF3oOjBvLAzLoUlqgfJizGyqtsnvQTQ6tOB6oczDHALI0/s400/DSC08785.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448673643722445442" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZItQ2QCYW-ONVmNTyY9qiBa8a2tCvAO_qqtJxlIP4ZdmWktCT7tF0TugRMBxzsZv_3G0UtVXfzFuqz40AadDYf7BydoDie3IwG6jmr3l6Mn1vCZYonx2ejk4j8Kj2_qh0Bwe6icE1tdY/s400/DSC08787.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448673629410978946" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyiPvi5zV_oOJ_M-lTSbWO2Tin6sosMolui86KkK8hTBM5eURT9c-tMpWngh2Zycd4Ehf_Z16bIYTGui-PwsoAfp6pSA2Z7kDcU19wtNMHlcgt-jBrbitqGZi34ANkkoCCK4uHN6uS1nI/s1600-h/DSC08790.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyiPvi5zV_oOJ_M-lTSbWO2Tin6sosMolui86KkK8hTBM5eURT9c-tMpWngh2Zycd4Ehf_Z16bIYTGui-PwsoAfp6pSA2Z7kDcU19wtNMHlcgt-jBrbitqGZi34ANkkoCCK4uHN6uS1nI/s400/DSC08790.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448673667890929394" /></a><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfBS-CBSu1SfdW1NB8bma2p7Cen0FN8ieTQsDu_NfSAJCPjrbCVh74FiCgoNlqYmss1uIkdHYSO1B7Ixc1Dssp-45eYCOcjm6nkzizRSo7SBqLgS8yhvFi_TCM8nQ31pp7hOVmwYE9RM/s400/DSC08789.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448673617259569938" />Bigmista's Barbecue is a place I have heard about for a while now, a catering company whose barbecue stand, set up a few times a week at different farmers markets throughout the Southland, has been described to me with adjectives ranging from "awesome" to "the truth." But I never made it over to the Atwater Village farmers market on Sundays to try it out. A few times I intended to, but something always came up. "Am I the last person to visit Bigmista's Barbecue at the Atwater farmers market?" Jonathan Gold wrote in his review of the stand a couple months ago. No, Mr. Gold, you're not. <div><br /></div><div>Yesterday I woke up and looked out the window, unsurprised to find it was a beautiful day. Is it just me or is the day of the spring time change always close to perfect? It's like nature's way of saying: "Sorry you lost an hour of sleep, but check out <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">this</span> day." So, while we had plenty of housecleaning to do, I suggested going for a drive for a while, which was met with enthusiasm.</div><div><br /></div><div>After driving around for half an hour with no particular destination in mind, I suggested checking out the Atwater farmers market. It was, not surprisingly, crowded, but we were able to park relatively close by. After walking through the market and admiring the strawberries (that was Elizabeth), selection of pies (also Elizabeth), and the two girls wearing the smallest shorts I have ever seen (that was mostly me), we came to Bigmista's stand. There were only three people in line so I figured they had to be out of everything. (They were not; it was just one of those fluke things. After we had been in line for a couple minutes at least a dozen people were lined up behind me.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I wasn't famished - I had just eaten breakfast an hour earlier - so I only ordered a pulled pork sandwich. It was ready in about thirty seconds, I paid and walked a few feet away to eat it. The thing was gorgeous when I unwrapped it: served on a soft bun with several pieces of pork having fallen out. I took a bite of the sandwich at the same time Elizabeth ate one of the stray pieces. We both looked at each other. It was awesome.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had requested the "hot" sauce, and it was exactly what hot barbecue sauce should be: spicy enough to complement the pork but not so ridiculously hot that it takes away from the enjoyment of the sandwich. </div><div><br /></div><div>"Have more," I said to Elizabeth.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I'm good," she said, but then took a few more pieces. I did not blame her one bit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Was this as good as Bludso's? No, probably not. But it was damn close, and it was, without question, the best barbecue sandwich I have ever eaten from a stand, which includes somewhere between forty and fifty sandwiches. I will absolutely be going back and sampling some of everything they make. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-11794858361651861692010-02-11T12:58:00.000-08:002010-02-11T14:30:29.921-08:00Bludso's B-B-Q<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-XCGc5f-Kuhlx-gUwtJGmkQ1P0g5Wg2mz5qsfl15xapho9OkOHyn9sNeOS41yMJ5T6LlbqPNVRC5GKF5aenqhwYtlxzmAXShqjU6DSuB3J3YhuOHTaGtFCdlwpEmr93_15VKDYhHEcXM/s1600-h/DSC07871_2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-XCGc5f-Kuhlx-gUwtJGmkQ1P0g5Wg2mz5qsfl15xapho9OkOHyn9sNeOS41yMJ5T6LlbqPNVRC5GKF5aenqhwYtlxzmAXShqjU6DSuB3J3YhuOHTaGtFCdlwpEmr93_15VKDYhHEcXM/s400/DSC07871_2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437096357203548306" /></a><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9KJXmWRhD4GwfPW6dJjO6yQFONuel5eLInFj2Wh9-4qGzyRVlw1AZnOw4RoYWc9LhEIUUwMt38NuM-AeBu5fBX1fi2lY_XBFnIt-ZiCoOhjk1mEHXRbAEnHM61SV4DGOJeypNlaZIBI/s400/DSC07852.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437096333619980802" /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwAbA4BTyEE8OMsjeLFUyZd6CMKdMrcc2mBn_ck4tlbrb-oKu1tWolvzfF3Q9S1YoX0Uw3WSkmOqe3RZivn5GQW3zZvx-T840mGdA8XPV8JIYknOTlwEqNwzLYiTPXJBbeDfr1f0P604/s400/DSC07851.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437096347987438770" /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6nCJYPmCQthwM7N8jjDtr6vu51H98KpOcZ26Thu6SPtE78CLcn_SzjDnZ43X3hjNUd-TAKHjogMgRCTT0zBpjhV8wsfdTx5YScZoiIL4QJFDORwaVpKYuUww8ohvFYnT-9JYMQ-nNl4I/s400/DSC07850.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437096339260541714" /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlmfIS4DnsbpcN8TDIeMXeUsF5CCBQRoNm0-AnlvgnNMEXeZr-93AqhqmQP71Km6ztHSWTu4sppGv4EQhSDQft0ah3V_80Bu4ZsHfPKa9VnWdqlilNmtBZLZViiY9rlyl8RSUkeFu2BKs/s400/DSC07853.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437096323091600562" /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQ7fJmPJa7tjbnCLJ0u7OflUm1II3QofL3R-8D4vY86Dz-sL1sjRvea1vM9ABMB5IrTcUR2bykTke_rDAWnV7NeNityvb8W6SiAaZrobdrBELZKCx2_C7edDExIuG6uu5-MJWpQzMWSE/s400/DSC07854.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437095201549545234" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuIb3fUTL3YwveZevkejEJlONp6AiQ_mi6_FLBl6B-hUKF_izTFgJ9OwU06Zabdg1UUFw_kNg4Eyku5HjOuOWFR1iPwxno4CQoNUbx_yNlnfTDn-RD9jQcafKWAJRXK-TvJ8ZxWkip_x8/s400/DSC07858.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437095183732859346" /><img style="display:block; 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margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS34Gd4LpH-voLhuB4nTkfP6TwWgM_xU7eGIlSssBMbJgDFkFH0D-ntfJqrzeD3UGcXlsgfYTv-VJivkAz7dLJExYdmmACH-rNndk3wk0HHV_1m-EJWs7VvJC8yt0yBn6M1N32KOx-_SY/s400/DSC07866.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437094518542614162" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4C42JZo5Q8QPe73y-B_7p-deFROQGA90id9kisRFoMBRqhu1qTgjzD9h7X98RYlzqQ6Zx5JZSkEJ20S61lHfIKlUOW0fAKMmVnsTaoZF8jBckwJjHq6AN4aC5iWKz4yltkUCIYzgBTg/s400/DSC07868.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437094509740024610" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMFQDWk9-Zx6R3nE4-IXPDMvEYQNRdX6yI2x93ROWmtETuJjx5yOoZg4cEPVSEI4Vn8Re1G1-b2htjV_qwMfB8AcxmmskhLJUVGllC3gHZ_MAcC9-p_I4VfwCyXillDTVFPx_3qKJvvY/s400/DSC07857.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437094497988626322" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaQXSW_Eiwsy2Ng4b6gJkTE_H0eIGkcsYPSeE-YWMnnl0UDkxaL-CsLSpDF9M-2zxOual3XsYNxx7VxwGmgXPpEHgav9wAWv4zbhYwVl2kohdYp-saVV9Lr6Frg0BGaa2SWD6FxsfUZz0/s400/DSC07867.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437094488595796850" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8UTC1YU-X2t52qNXnFEM18O1XBRCTcJ5ppaH71KR-5uxPfEYbrVpAfqMZfS2Al-hgqQK5Hm64SReIcqEWQdpyQM70bx5NRC8i9ie1tu59wCn1xfAeBqifgt2SmFAOB5OkdgkKV_RafLA/s400/DSC07861.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437094475632549378" /><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Bludso's BBQ</span></div><div>811 South Long Beach Blvd. </div><div>Compton, CA 90221</div><div><br /></div><div>For months I have read reviews about Bludso's, always with a mix of skepticism and excitement. Reviews were, quite simply, the best of any new barbecue place I have seen in Southern California. Part of me was reluctant to head down there, afraid that the restaurant could not possibly live up to the hype. (Another part of me felt no <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">need</span> to go down there, perfectly content with eating every barbecue meal from now on at Perdue's - the most authentically Southern BBQ joint I have found in the San Gabriel Valley.)<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And, as evidenced by the fact I have not posted in three months, I don't usually eat barbecue in the winter. It's not that I enjoy it any less, it's just not what comes to mind when I'm considering what to eat. But there was a bit of a break in the rain, pitchers and catchers report in less than a week, and my thoughts started turning to spring, to baseball and barbecue and Bludso's.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last week was the final straw: Jonathan Gold reviewed Bludso's, calling it (in an article entitled <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Monet's Briskets</span>): "what all of us imagine a Los Angeles barbecue joint should be." I emailed the review to my friend Zach, who I knew was going to be up this way for a few days, and he immediately suggested we go there. </div><div><br /></div><div>We headed out on the early side, getting down to Compton about a quarter after 11. (We were the only ones there while we waited for our food; by the time we left a half hour later there was a line spilling out of the building and down the street.) The look of the place was simple and familiar, an unintentional copy of many of my favorite unpretentious barbecue joints around the country: a narrow hallway, a window for ordering and another for picking up, and a simple menu board above the windows. </div><div><br /></div><div>We considered getting the Texas Sampler - all of their meats with a couple of sides, but Zach remarked that he'd read it was way too much food. So I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with a side of cole slaw, and Zach went for the chopped beef sandwich. We both requested hot sauce rather than mild. The food was ready in fifteen minutes. There is a tiny counter inside but it was a nice day so we opted to take the food and sit in the bed of Zach's truck.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I'm sticking in some forks and lots of napkins," the friendly woman behind the window said. "You guys will need them."</div><div><br /></div><div>I pulled my foil-wrapped sandwich out and sat it on the bedliner. It was roughly the size of the plush football I keep next to the couch to toss around while watching sports (or hurl at the wall while watching Lamar Odom brick layups.) I unwrapped it carefully and studied it, trying to decide how to approach it. The sandwich was massive and sauce and stray pieces of pork poked out of the sides. I picked it up delicately although it made no difference: I dripped the innards of the sandwich everywhere, a perfect porcine piñata. </div><div><br /></div><div>The pork was beautiful - tender and juicy with almost no fat. I'd read several reviews complimenting the beef and brisket and disparaging the pork, calling it dry. But this was certainly not the case with this sandwich. The sauce was great. Although it is thicker than I usually like (I am a big fan of vinegar and chili flakes with nothing else added) it was the perfect amount of heat: plenty spicy, but not so much that it stings your lips for the next half hour (my one complaint about Perdue's.) </div><div><br /></div><div>The cole slaw was unremarkable. There was almost no dressing on it, which I suppose is preferable to being drenched in dressing, but it mostly tasted like cabbage and nothing else. I added some to my last few bites of the sandwich. </div><div><br /></div><div>I tried some of Zach's chopped beef. It was even better than the pork. Smoky and tender and almost melting on the tongue. While I am from the Carolina school of barbecue - only pork, very little sauce - Zach prefers the Texas style: beef. He was very pleased with this.</div><div><br /></div><div>If the line hadn't been so long I absolutely would have ventured back and tried a couple hot links. Oh well, there is always next time. There most definitely <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">will</span> be a next time.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-26414708986162010692009-10-21T15:22:00.001-07:002009-10-22T08:45:29.488-07:00Back to Perdue's<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhMgiLlnwgZj-7CWhKbEWybIXFDugKg-88bMs-G93IO9x9ZJw-CfKyhm5QyxIueKB43MXEFIYqbcu62UKKvQ-vvuySQKBR2uDfwdXvxQQfeUWjajue0EzIJi0aUXsQZgfPTmlUR74aiaE/s400/DSC05662.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395186000875252306" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBU2h4Az9YZII0zH-Dn3TOHNc6eg2XrC50EgYWqyo27IqJsAFPK2H9FN0XO6KUQR4lzqQXpdZWMzhMX41SmGukWp0wnobyCOZMBrfWKkO8HzohpAccE939zk8R_kIWWDYEIPdX4egX10s/s400/DSC05664.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395186008828910050" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYV0EaF4delw6MQgFbU6i4vLJFEJNHO8Z5wG6rHxeaQnijZ50KnFC2dJybaEN4J_2ojph1hkRABLJ9W2_zWu9u849uyp9rNZnCg3ljxjq8-YExM9FTCsnt9YDTyNfA0uuP2pJAk2GeLyo/s400/DSC05665.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395187040176046722" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaF7xczeGLJMfrXtXrkKthaqF2gfPMDGpeEZ9rCsoYrOvtHFFCFF2xe7VsTxsxc134uGuRj8uugU7HiYyLD-1ArwesPHe5fDzDdSqX4reJRd0DVo4ZwHPVW13cV2bwBo68w0pekJByL8/s400/DSC05666.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395187051605725922" /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FrcZH38ErwaFIFdYvEKkyqwUW1hzrhoJl_vZ3zF9sgBB88U0rMkLZii5fuzlwqDvg6bOgFGx7un2ciJKtaPPs2m30Kjw0PUNjcB9TpkiER4YTK5WPbz_XYLxCvJ6KK_dFoos0qtO0zc/s400/DSC05667.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395188603940999858" /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMkOmX97rMeWDAB-gcHd1pXJl58PfW6VjsWFWV9Nty1Burajj5-e3IlF0xJzBVTcAYDC-PjP6Ee5ZrZ2D9rRsatIcR68tejz-beiNvuMa0Jog5aaHcsCFE6S9kp4jIW4dz53rD4B08I1E/s400/DSC05669.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395188590937357090" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs0x1VZ4lnErsXSoERKBI4FiETrHtq7hYL3kjZh1z1CZQqT-B9qgcWLNdkkDxVk0eyIBZI7FOpxEWzxjLayVK5GIx6nbdb5c_0wDLrT8YCD8uL3webUEy3iGBvh6FEnUcyYZr_MEPufX4/s400/DSC05668.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395188599085407586" /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After my last trip to Perdue's, in July, I wanted to make it back soon and try their chopped beef sandwich. I'd loved both the pork sandwich I'd eaten and the brisket that my mom ordered, so I was anxious to try the chopped beef. Of course, things happen, new restaurants open, and once summer ends I don't crave barbecue quite as much. So it took me three months to make it back. <br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I walked in at about 12:30 in the afternoon and I was the only person there. I stayed for about 35 minutes and the whole time I remained the only customer. I hope they are doing OK, because once again I had a fantastic meal and I would hate for this place to disappear while Barn Burner marches on, serving up mediocre food at high prices in a marketing consultant's vision of what a barbecue joint should look like.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The chopped beef sandwich was on the menu for $2.99. That is not a misprint. I ordered that with some fries, cole slaw and a Diet Coke. The total was nine dollars. I cannot remember the last time I got a barbecue sandwich for three bucks. Maybe at the River Market on President Clinton Ave. in Little Rock. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The sandwich was great. There was hardly any fat on the meat and it melted in my mouth. The bun was just a plain white hamburger bun. In other words, exactly what you want with good barbecue. I again ordered the "hot" barbecue sauce and it was again really hot. I put some of my cole slaw in the sandwich to cool it down.</div><div><br /></div>The fries were great, too - freshly cut and battered potatoes. These blow the Popeye's "cajun battered fries" out of the water. <br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm going to go back soon and try their pastrami sandwich and write about it on the other blog. I am pretty sure it will not take me three months to make it back.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-31980284743688594962009-08-24T16:58:00.000-07:002009-08-24T18:18:11.817-07:00Lunch at Robin's BBQ<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373686740430081762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ujRtrxd8zZt-ZNJz7Up1v5Uwi5xZ9RXnLS70JXk779AhMqBkN6OJKjUnjOw_kc_kj_PmKYkjEKoaRtrArx7OJ4T63gwErqWQUWaKi6JE5p3Dakmzxs3KH-rq-ivXIEG3QtQ2jdpvhXI/s400/August24+027.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373691875531041746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkGTfRSw8KAu5ZZhPOP4rI_kbXOtZy7Pq7eZALEcR6E887v7XBMw4q0Th5W1tmu0u_ziPiDNs07pXo9_5E9gImooEWP1shacfiqxUdeCvYenpoy3h_KetuWS7WsT7SReNvrZP8BvJ2NA/s400/August24+007.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373691863129700962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFvqirbDj-BJeAzJ-ubaikPMoV2mzB9v1jnU9SjwWyTLTpH-n20D4cTfrBbygFt7RhI6lUiAR9Dl3kBaF2if37aOM5GZmBf10uVP0GLokumYhLGTsJJkDsOD0dzAMzLUQtk3RfYgXN2lw/s400/August24+013.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373689182672790562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvzgPyLqNgpz_P3Aq1GhX1N5nXBnC5ln4qAERaGtj6N3xbjX_zeIQq4C4NciMKzhFyBhuRwHaOQ_YQajYYe77KgU54dkLK27vnz_7LlJtl75EodJvzlKklpvseohHamXelv87AXn28KI/s400/August24+015.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373691852713026882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqlfIGJRejLYshQhxFNIVy_wgt0HqFSU7sC2QRoHewUJR5eSk11BkZ0LbwqEwo1nc6TgOSc1FNSgN0JRljc9PRMdS_pJjScxjdLnya05R_-ppsSr1T0aCQHFtxgZySyCiQgZ2_tRK3PA/s400/August24+011.jpg" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b9kxr3x47OaNGhpyGeUTPgQOqMjxY00R9WaSUtrcqzu8ZMOEBesNKjNlNNdAoekWgEZaoyesJe94FHrh6vy6uEIjuPQDxyFWiihBVKVTMDRreSqhbQ5iW_QI5dA8R00ANG2reVYwJDM/s1600-h/August24+008.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373691883647707090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b9kxr3x47OaNGhpyGeUTPgQOqMjxY00R9WaSUtrcqzu8ZMOEBesNKjNlNNdAoekWgEZaoyesJe94FHrh6vy6uEIjuPQDxyFWiihBVKVTMDRreSqhbQ5iW_QI5dA8R00ANG2reVYwJDM/s400/August24+008.jpg" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373689174960178898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHwhY0wFB_m072aGwXGn1srf05JRy1-oZ2CPrIzTmkhLUAObwOiDeNVF10l03qapGoLeYei_oce-XtRzbuVRWi47RJchBRBISTmAxddxvazDxjVCHzp4DwUMzVI_oBH1soIZrhUpBdQv4/s400/August24+017.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373691854788715602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxH-skkr7tPqAMf7vtyfXkEe3CbnaUS7f-cB5QElrMcKtZcGJcMaZVAKO7Y90Wf8yXJSLa9dyY_DB37-3v-BByehQA0yeTu8q-GCNBkUXzHiQO332yQ2RTDpACLoHLGZpiGeHskmISU4/s400/August24+012.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373689168586144178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckVR5LM3kN5Shk1r-qgUsXemY6D-JBu5wZnpCkFo0fW0FsxpzL3-x3Mh1AMY0P86b9IrUM4RAhcynVHwkhbQitsfKvXcTFxm8sH6WnNadSxfp5mm5XMXXuZNGZNQaZU-gSXs1QIN6wuU/s400/August24+018.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373689158374572066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd95xWrAE5ZUloRHeTH1iguAxsR7OYGSfgKQSGZidcTwu3EXGIcG6-FOUVr7dVVVI9Q2evkRyD5bCvsRsy_CaQOKuUwquUsYG-gIicJIxJt-m-49mICqjH5qEk61YqT7Af5YrFTr-oqhA/s400/August24+019.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373689143911752258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStSW0R7F2AHEYJvihRQLPdjkqyRn7BWQ8PIv3DFr_aXfNSrasuLobjMwzTaBgVRo3dfwOs5tKCUY91HlrfIW98x4Cd6L_pXWQimY0JaMRPKqR52oB6qCmH-Tmy7N1HaRWyigCQH-j-FI/s400/August24+020.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373686777045613154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRSTzgSD9MmXQVOt5o_1X7JW8jQNZdYWBFW9RIJc0TYTf485f4ILsraQsJ0cB80C5oF6bzZhyEB9bT5Ap6i-1Wt_yNiEH6oIsElsLt7GfPKpgrpNITv0hH8htLmjMCIZSVEf4g1n-Aag0/s400/August24+021.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373686768877692626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilphlqXXJq-xLQvEq4hzLxgXO8JVMnN8I8GKPXgCAwxUVShTX7UnZZpYoO6QwMRHRnknmxhSU84K8GmdLuJsP0jtt4QwWX_SDgjm2ufeFf6dY9oSjeVK154FgECiLIO1KmJCqbl80a9bc/s400/August24+022.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373686762905782770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Cm6j5m9IYYYl97WhDmUf9DB6xlzgEpgtmzSjdkQTmvro7Uo09mFg-Ourn2MQfiU2MES8z8W_YokbReCGX2qf-DBiEfmhvb4kffd7iTmuPGI9RFOJhV8XZfkHsKDOEf0xVhpBbqTNWMU/s400/August24+023.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373686747673892578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3u91RbVxrES2qFaz2rgBtifC0WydSx0QbMb1igOh_Cv0vmCmfD0u6SOw0ehH3M28r6RTss4MYDFgOFSK_2OF31J7kUloVzkaPs5Ox1s2pDxSfcNGuGwXK0htkzgnZ_kD78105DvDQ0c/s400/August24+025.jpg" border="0" />I've written about Robin's before several times, but I went there for lunch over the weekend and had something that was surprisingly good - more on that later - so I thought I would do another post. Plus, I sat in a section with better lighting than I have before, so I was able to take some better pictures of the food.<br /><br />Elizabeth and I had taken her car to the Toyota dealer on Saturday to get it serviced, so we figured instead of going all the way back to our place we would just head up the hill about a mile to my parents' house and watch baseball for a couple hours. First we stopped by the Victory Park farmers market, though, and that made us pretty hungry. So we decided to go to lunch with my parents, and I suggested Robin's, since Elizabeth had never been there.<br /><br />She immediatly liked the place, and asked me to take a picture of the Schlitz Beers sign for some inside joke. She was disappointed that they didn't have any brisket or pulled chicken on the menu. I almost always order the chopped pork, so I had never considered that. My dad asked, as an aside, why they don't have brisket. The waiter surprised me by saying they are actually going to try doing brisket soon, when "Robin finds a recips that he likes."<br /><br />Elizabeth and my dad both ordered the chopped pork sandwich with fries. My mom ordered the "Cheeseburger in Paradise" - your basic burger. I ordered something I have never ordered in all times I have eaten at Robin's over the last fifteen years: the beer brat sandwich. Over the last few years I have eaten at the Robin's barbecue stand at several events - the Sierra Madre Art Fair, Old Pasadena Summerfest, South Pasadena farmers market, and others. The bratwurst has never been good; it has always been a dried-out sausage in a burnt casing that appears to have been sitting on the grill for an hour. But I know there is a difference between a barbecue restaurant and the catering arm of their operation, so I figured I would give it a shot.<br /><br />Elizabeth, my mom and I all had iced teas and my dad had a Dad's root beer. We got a sample of all four sauces: the "tangy original," "mad dog spicy," "Carolina sweet mustard," and "Memphis red vinegar." I love the idea of having different regional kinds of sauce to complement the different meats. Unfortunately, they go too heavy with the sugar in all of the sauces, even the spicy. The Carolina and Memphis are my two favorite, although I fully admit that they bear zero resemblance to any kind of sauce I have had in either Carolina or Memphis. (Add a healthy dose of red chili flakes to the Memphis sauce, however, and you're in the ballpark of what a classic vinegar sauce should be.)<br /><br />I liked the look of my brat when it arrived; it looked much bigger and juicier than any Robin's sausage I have had from their stands. It was covered with onions and I added some sauerkraut from the dish that accompanied my food, a long with a slather of Grey Poupon. It was outstanding. I gave Elizabeth a bite - actually, I asked her "which end of my weiner do you want?" which made my mom almost spit her drink out - and she thought it was great, too.<br /><br />I took a couple bites of Elizabeth's chopped pork. It wasn't the best I've had there but it was certainly good. If it had been my sandwich I would have added some vinegar sauce to it, but she liked it fine as is. My dad liked his, too. My mom said her burger was good but I didn't try any.<br /><br />A few years ago, I stopped going to Robin's. I thought the quality had gone way downhill and when I wanted barbecue without having to drive too far I would just head up to Zeke's. But over the last two or three years, I have to say, Robin's has reached a level of consistency that was not there before. I do not remember the last time I had a bad - or even average - meal there, and that was something that used to happen all too frequently. If indeed they do start making brisket, I will certainly head back to try it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-28139056148088166832009-08-07T09:26:00.001-07:002009-08-07T09:46:56.583-07:00Nick at Fenway<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1Nf-E3mg4pG1cPUPUFuVByHCPLHDCtIv6YXI-a6zPeCWZBqL0HlQHpRCfenyEP6e-VFwMEfz6fXFax86OE7aQAlsPlOPE6sW4V_ZIU5Ebi0814xa912nWeBhmzimJ2FC32-uxOilMvk/s1600-h/Fenway.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367259155221923250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1Nf-E3mg4pG1cPUPUFuVByHCPLHDCtIv6YXI-a6zPeCWZBqL0HlQHpRCfenyEP6e-VFwMEfz6fXFax86OE7aQAlsPlOPE6sW4V_ZIU5Ebi0814xa912nWeBhmzimJ2FC32-uxOilMvk/s400/Fenway.jpg" border="0" /></a> My buddy Nick, who moved to Boston last year, sent me a picture from his phone last month that I had to post, from a Sunday afternoon game at Fenway Park. My thoughts on the Red Sox have been documented and do not need to be repeated here. I love this photo.<br /><br />Take away the lights and it could be 1919. Take away all the players who aren't white on the Red Sox and it could have been 1959. (The Red Sox were the last team in baseball to integrate, almost 50 years to the day before this photo was taken.)<br /><br />I love day games. If someone a century from now does a sequel to Ken Burns' <em>Baseball</em>, this photo would not be out of place.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-82227824459729960452009-07-23T04:53:00.000-07:002009-07-23T10:28:10.829-07:00Perdue's Barbeque<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361460430030877570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzzsIpOiuCfGZfaT84rnEy3RIjSyTQIHVdyk3X70FrIMEtp2R9ftapndBrB7aInGcEVNJWOqnVymTLkhR4RN52IdQzJTzOE0XLMr3CYXgXe4YnlKBZHeGcd1iypm4S71q9wNS5Wg1Roo/s400/July21+047.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361461316215018562" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraOZVWJ2sx4OWIKNOqZclFPrKJCBD4QLRdGftTTPoXrafO39kHZkDqQFtNML6BsVDs8TqP1yDOLksVuQEr9URFV7kbFTk2lGn32gZo0gwmnjQpnfcoENVT2kU4XAnZDGkjNza9X5_Mmg/s400/July21+037.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361461324638010082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qy6AsEPdFis3bql1oILVQmBcVxo46qyNNKFrrHn3Wm67aPu_O3lLcawIXWmI4gwlZI8TP08A08Z3cJXIee0mDB-jSaqV5LJhEJ49FeIguFiKEoWiph70Qqha6cbjZPMUrNxNw0bqlx8/s400/July21+038.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361493340799265378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9-fkg3b9O-23OTkMQaex6KnfYNZP_3wkOyBfNkabiRzRRy9mFM9ZPvoOswMYW6RPXxsMtl3YI0J7fojcIcRWH-7nMTuYiBMqj6oc_a-A-VaxRcajkO82FVKJ5B50fDz6MB_5abOyIM0/s400/July21.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361461311718295826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQtea0R-QferE9jIU_SRJl_6xJeb9N9178rmqQnqhqTUb6x5L7rhJPEagSxB-KGHsv2hMewFVGU89RixiG6xicrR3y0ge5Kp-V1h4YGPL11dD0MdqkCg2pUGlWdCjPXwHDRvSqzQwER98/s400/July21+039.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361460454336254482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpxZcZfAW5Tkp1246vjQtOp874e0_gT_TWYoCXpnLYDc-VCvowc7KmMWzmSKu1ISCvE0nBwroXZDuwd-Qmmx8rvJc9rOr4vLGJ1fsVnxZ7MKxkdOBupW128gBdDICBuORDO11QOTr5hgI/s400/July21+043.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361460437786059234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklBxll4JKSD55ZeA0E1Us3pMWOrclUSG86uF-YIJiQ_dsgVY-Uc9LzPGOTORtcQq-BYCkHLPayvIWGm_YgJfmiv4IievNuVh4hgY8ax7oCQNCPqL6cOmrrBAJjFkqUle9tscMOKN4JpM/s400/July21+046.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361460447193154482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMw580yGzs2VCB6zNcaLm1t995q0tVz_IxMouw5c_5Q_L0v8RYlOpP-7oP1-PlwYmWw1PVBgsYPvQFnvjpJVrBsWxMEi4ra71Hkgl14-8zd6yPFYFAcJUJNCIs0Id2MQi3z0fHMZS8rk/s400/July21+045.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361461310710700098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtZVQ3cyZm96UdpifSbU8iwI7LalvWOtqvNMdQLIF_y6Ws7doUVj4sajG_TsNREjjthwVnOduf7lKvWIBcmiOZu8Zo7TbBcat5gSqouJ0sFrHAHSZgdH1SUDmGGh_vbWWeq1gG3W0OQc/s400/July21+040.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361460457989214162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvplLiZPy2SKvw0eygvFu6Kk8h9Q_70M1hYo0_GVD4QqLjwfMoPhIHt-RvObqOCf0D_s6e_WA4s231SLZQawvG8O2T7bXofcbMZVBDoQCrxhVrrymsUtIOn80lLV7otlOOU-0NALViDE/s400/July21+042.jpg" border="0" />Perdue's Barbeque<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>456 E Orange Grove Ave</div><div>Pasadena, CA 91104</div><br /><div>Once more unto the breach, dear friends. I have spent years eating meal after meal at barbecue restaurants in Pasadena, hoping that I could call one of them great, to no avail. I have had many great meals at Robin's, but I have had some truly awful meals there. The one time I tried barbecue at Hutch's I was disappointed; they make my favorite burger in the universe but I will never try their 'cue again. Barn Burner, owned by the same folks who own El Cholo next door, is to barbecue what El Cholo is to Mexican food - acceptable if you've never had it prepared for you by someone with passion for what they are cooking; bland and disappointing if you have. </div><div>-</div><div>I first read about Perdue's Barbeque a few months ago but I did not rush to try it. It seemed like more of a catering company that set up a storefront to work out of, or, perhaps, sell leftover food. (Do not think me too cynical, I have seen this done in many places.) After the recent disappointments of Dickey's and Baby Blues, I have been returning to old favorites lately when I have been craving barbecue, so I haven't considered Perdue's. </div><div>-</div><div>Yesterday I made plans to have lunch with my mom, who is volunteering at a non-profit organization on Lake Ave. As it turns out, she is just a few blocks from Perdue's, and I was in a bit of a hurry, so I suggested we give it a try. She doesn't love barbecue as much as I do - most people don't - but she does love it, so she agreed. </div><div>-</div><div>From the moment I walked in I liked the place. This was not a restaurant trying to evoke an image of the South; this was a restaurant that could <em>be</em> in the South. There are mismatched tables and chairs in no particular pattern, wooden shelves on the wall, and pictures everywhere. Inside the front entrance are pictures of Satchel Paige, a photograph collage of the Negro League teams, and an old-fashioned baseball glove nailed to the wall. If you don't understand how cool this is, perhaps this isn't the blog for you.</div><div>-<br />There is abundant Southern hospitality inside Perdue's. If you have been to the South you know what I mean. I was greeted by no fewer than three people - as near as I could tell, the only three people working there. They were all friendly but moved and talked in that particularly Southern way, that "You're going to get a great meal but we're in no hurry and you shouldn't be either" manner of service. (Once, at a Denny's in Memphis, it took my friend Ryanne and I about ten minutes to complete our order <em>after </em>the waitress actually arrived at our table, and about another 45 minutes to get our breakfast.)</div><div>-</div><div>You order at an awkwardly-placed stand in the middle of the restaurant. I asked for the pulled pork sandwich and my mom ordered the brisket sandwich. We were asked what kind of sauce we would like, hot or mild. I asked for hot, my mom mild. We grabbed our drinks out of a large cooler full of ice and sat at the coolest table we could find, which wasn't easy. (Another thing that seemed Southern about this place: it was <em>very</em> hot and humid.)</div><div>-</div><div>The food came out in about ten minutes. On my plate was one of the most impressive sandwiches I have seen in quite a while, a massive pile of pork on a soft bun. (There was zero doubt in my mind that this place would not be serving barbecue on any ridiculous ciabatta bun.) This probably weighed close to a pound. Holding it in my hands, it felt about the size of one of those mini basketballs you win in arcades. I almost wanted to admire it for a few minutes. But I was hungry. </div><div>-</div><div>I immediately noticed two things on my first bite. First, this was the best pulled pork I have had in months. There were no chunks of fat and the pork was not drowned in sauce in an attempt to cover up its dryness. And second, damn this sauce was hot. Of course, I had asked for the hot sauce, so I couldn't complain. But I have had enough "hot" barbecue sauces at barbecue restaurants in Southern California to know what to expect: an overly-sweet, slightly spicier version of their regular sauce. This was genuinely spicy. (One of the best pieces of advice my dad has ever given me: never make assumptions, they're always wrong.) Not too spicy to detract from the pork, though.</div><div>-</div><div>My mom's brisket sandwich came on Texas toast. I took a bite of that and, not surprisingly at this point, it was the best brisket I have had in a long time, probably years. Her sandwich was large, too, although not the monstrosity mine was. I passed the point of being full while eating, but it was too damn good not to finish it, so I did. And then I helped my mom finish hers. My cole slaw, which, when asked, I requested on the side instead of on the sandwich, was also fantastic. It wasn't drowning in a creamy sauce, it had just the right touch of it. </div><div>-</div><div>I will be returning to Perdue's soon to try their chopped beef sandwich and hot links. It's possible that I just got very lucky on my first trip and my subsequent meals here will not be as good. But I would say it's much more likely that I have found not only my favorite barbecue joint in Pasadena, but in the San Gabriel Valley. </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-9293799825533601012009-07-06T01:26:00.000-07:002018-03-29T18:10:13.688-07:00Johnny Rebs' Southern Roadhouse<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355107121476609250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDUyiJCwNH5ujH8Tj6LWmQH5PjZpbOu1BX9Yn2SZMw4dwV-262pllvNE1YNb20y3xgchNVfbB5Bro4xoZTUb2M9Swk55bP7wh3VaBmSE94riXKkJjtsMscbWilanfgnYbJbuG46fv1Fo/s400/July5+013.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355107130265105506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVxQRXPOUvirxEt9fgrPO-ZG71DjECcjRBvpR2OyFK91uv1pXJ3ojXBMYUrflAcU-URqrxOoE1yZAXiR_Au2tksuL4rQlheKBvoBSjXC491f5GFEhYRNqa1r87c5L_yWiLKmjOakJx1zI/s400/July5+014.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355108028317834226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGsyMJx4T1qGU2jMW_WYh7xxKJ8ma1RryJiKOp84KGVLwTm9xvw-gkQp1ZqSooU3meWTyt9RYtsLOMudvBSrlVPfyZSGwmnYGQN2lePQD_Iu3lPhpi9g6KGxFjk3pl1BfvU4N-s8p8Ec/s400/July5+001.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355108032448549170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1U5ay78z_GHbf_IthDczkoQ75XCGZ_qDpfFd-QyYWTZiBYFmI9tOANPrJPQxlKpg4VO4I0x1ybW813azv2EathwmT6ORFwLQMDDVcULAu9qkDgfhY9S24N4-TORq_texnpcnPGLLfWM/s400/drink.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 270px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355108041201343170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGmg-LZ6jwXWn4o5BEA__FLcj_ernCYmZZai8Pt-PrUpjoNVdMccFsKaDfyCVIA7lH70YR3L3XXWw5dIJKHyKP4_aUgynb_Cw_2xsE9tINZ9H6hlCqGBonLkgZFwmIFlec4unEps9H68/s400/July5+004.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355108045888402594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha-YK17rp1tDGUfW-I2t_oTLDxlEGpEBlOO1WLY01W6VjGk4rRnLeJ3vq0F6Fk-bTjo6CgTNixvTcJyZ-uP5MuJLgxJfyf9eI117dWSiq3t3W_PfKvOTdAVu83a7DQqMNhketZ8NbBUf8/s400/July5+005.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXcvpRWZO6BcMXdp43ov7DfWBbxnIRdD_0PtXZtvqCJshYHuAnBuX7gVeD4AbviLXjjBOmJpsP08KKWYwkO4C0Pbwybfbz0e7b2sa7RySLBTp2jRz578nBT9qfCWPnyxyieorvQwBXim8/s1600-h/July5+006.jpg"></a><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355110264639082770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ86iwpsVjzUdZcwEc4VK_jKwlejjj41Un7AzzWZq5WGvGhfSo9TuRw06WC7-98Hnv2TOK77XNtm7Dzmv-kPJoKSVc9K60QReq1tQfcoQL0f6cw9M9sI7wSPSwNVQs1MzpM2PVSXPNOCU/s400/July5+008.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355107137948479410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYjpnVoYX5ZWO9Oiu5vhFGV-xFJCj6MrnAXQtOxVaC4epLlHinznE8nf3XtxDdMv9cMM2xAgJMIGS5RQSnROJ6FM44OLH4M5OUHpZ0umaSAajwi9_FMerHYvtYGnt52QV1ePOIDe0NsA/s400/July5+011.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355108053686603506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS-df_3icUdX1_RwD-tJa3J3f-vQHpKGXeK6jOFwsnoiDR5LWmSmJSJ64js-i8INw3J8QUeWJYsDOgFugGBXcKSNy4jQhODwCHSOm0SNoPg5HP-hrK5iVBmJnShPCf_MfZW5qf-gnsrpY/s400/July5+007.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355107139711881378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9N46hT3P9etYgaM9pOKaD7bmTA3kA0IOqwIt88NJqi0uLtkbSPQPsJNXpGRGohUJJ9PuVtRqoBJ_GNp1R5kNOj_YtYToolNIP2b-TpldhVPAahN5Tr0F38Ar-cc40-DLUBauTDF9YRQ/s400/July5+009.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355107133847001282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizscOkWNe6RKSSasHUZiDrV-mfyjKlyWGa5i5ftG8U49mEcz8-RpxVi31mbxkQGiek9W6FAzlV6PcZrHs8hL0iEz1-ygY1fKjG150546qf8wdZfD-IzbsBNIgWOupUMpIPrbEwGG_QxqA/s400/July5+012.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><br />
Johnny Rebs'<br />
4663 Long Beach Blvd<br />
Long Beach, CA 90805<br />
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Years ago, a friend and I drove down to Johnny Rebs' in Long Beach for lunch. It was a good meal, not great, and I figured I probably would never be back. I had forgotten to take my camera that day, so I never was able to post any pictures of that meal. A few months later I drove that same friend down to Orange County to pick up a new car he had purchased, and we decided to try the Johnny Rebs' in Orange. I loved that meal and <a href="http://bbqandbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/08/johnny-rebs-southern-roadhouse.html">wrote a blog post</a> about it.<br />
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Sunday, as Elizabeth and I were relaxing and cleaning after our 4th of July barbecue, we were watching Food Network. On <em>Guy's Big Bite</em>, Guy and another chef made a fantastic looking pulled pork sandwich with a Carolina vinegar sauce. I am pretty much always in the mood for barbecue, but on this particular day it was more than a desire, it was an almost need to eat some barbecue with a Carolina-style sauce. I thought about giving Territory BBQ another try, but I will probably wait at least another month or so to try them again. Suddenly I remembered Johnny Rebs' amazing North Carolina barbecue sauce, perhaps the best I have had in California, and I wanted it very badly.<br />
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So Elizabeth and I drove down to Long Beach for lunch. The place was packed when we arrived, and after waiting about 20 minutes we were given a table. (The hostess still called my name twice more, however. She looked a little confused.) We waited about another 15 minutes without any server coming by our table. The manager noticed that we had been sitting for some time without anyone paying attention to us, and she came over, apologized, and took our drink orders. Elizabeth got a peach lemonade and I got an iced tea, both served in Mason jars, which always makes me happy. A few minutes later the manager told us she had put in an appetizer order for us, on the house, as an apology for making us wait so long without service.<br />
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That wasn't necessary - her apology alone was enough - but I wasn't about to complain, especially when the appetizer arrived: a giant plate of onion rings. The batter was too dense and over-fried for my taste, but the onions were awesome, and I ate several of them. I took one onion out of the batter and ate it, discarding the batter onto a plate. The fact that this is the exact opposite of the way I ate onion rings when I was a kid was not lost on me.<br />
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I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with fries and cole slaw, and Elizabeth ordered the chopped brisket sandwich with the same sides. My sandwich certainly looked good when it arrived: a generous helping of pork with plenty of smoke ring on a soft bun. I took a couple bites of the sandwich plain. The pork was good, but too dry. I added some cole slaw and a generous amount of their North Carolina barbecue sauce and it was much better.<br />
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"Do you like it?" Elizabeth asked me.<br />
"Yes," I said.<br />
"But you don't love it?"<br />
"No."<br />
"You almost never love the barbecue you get."<br />
"That's certainly true in Southern California."<br />
<br />
I took a bite of her brisket sandwich. The meat was very good, better than my pork, but it was already covered in sauce, which I thought was too sweet. If a brisket needs sauce (and this one certainly didn't), I prefer something with a little more kick to it, something along the lines of Gates or Rudy's. But it wasn't a bad sauce, and Elizabeth certainly loved her sandwich.<br />
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I was full by the time I had eaten my sandwich and about a quarter of my fries, but I still pushed on and finished my plate, because their North Carolina sauce is absolutely fantastic. The fries were a good vehicle for eating more of the sauce, although I'm sure I could just drink it. This is probably my favorite barbecue sauce in Southern California. It may be another few years before I make it back to Johnny Rebs', but I know that sauce will get me back eventually.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-41057119531007823622009-07-01T15:14:00.000-07:002009-07-01T15:59:49.658-07:00A Day Game in Chavez Ravine<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjToXnKMp1DvXfG9spGOwEE1kOaJco-KSuLDBkVkxPPlJA6bqyQAF_mkjn8YmZ7VJlR2eW1AxU9F-FW9ZEejs5LOMdFsGn5gdptaSTejPfWZVZgEj3r7hA7rwk9XUD3cHlA2IDSRgq7Xxg/s1600-h/June24+025.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353620921824600098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjToXnKMp1DvXfG9spGOwEE1kOaJco-KSuLDBkVkxPPlJA6bqyQAF_mkjn8YmZ7VJlR2eW1AxU9F-FW9ZEejs5LOMdFsGn5gdptaSTejPfWZVZgEj3r7hA7rwk9XUD3cHlA2IDSRgq7Xxg/s400/June24+025.jpg" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353619865001704978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsIuRSUvavSBXZ9W2OE0bhZGRBHN7kkqhqSah4F6Wg8mSe2zu5mCanJZBQbH9vJWwcDcuf1XjdoxN56bB3ZZsPOaD38FktBo5fpbwJ0VhomwW8sN0GHNPgUitT-Em1KpTueloPjrh0fE/s400/June24+028.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353619864476403298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDqeMt7gmhxhN8MW96K5JMzJWHeM4IUJKxwO2DHCQiiatwcAC0EDx5f8ledP_TFOH91r5WSpgQatDXijPlIXavFrQgCzmLD7jCWak2VM3vGHAdqiTw8kWUnnz0IhkQDqUMBAjVvytE-4/s400/June24+029.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353619854794864706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6zQ0Y_H7H2MgatkK3KGxqG97AbEY7qLBPckyZf102z7hUG8aUU5pbOXEtJ31wexru6NNkQQgz89lIQCnAz8jBbSUNAiprqK8ZPU_RozCEa8IyEutTEbjiC7klBqa9r73nswfgJK6GuA/s400/June24+031.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353619848816800194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFdwidIZdGzrYAFfs5uIWQ4nX9NC2Y4YgfDKPdkc_4BdTGhjxefAhvJL8XMD-ghcWL5K-ExaN-LrlU5MfbnJj_wULHz9Vslw6tnSTpt5YThlZYLw0sTFddzkxtd5Uz_rOAJ7sHjxWMQaY/s400/June24+033.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353619842339989474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFQUZ1KOCV7UzBjakG3oeblCkk5DXHOiW12O-7hKN6Q1mZBAWM6ngbVBoIoYU7poi2KQhdGR63sjZACaM9z-vuJBq7n8uqWG3dGh07MxZrACMtj9QSlHlafIZAqvz5lY30-thJ4CaPKGY/s400/June24+035.jpg" border="0" />I have been to several weekday games at Dodger Stadium over the years. Some have been great, some have been lousy. My senior year of high school I went to opening day with my dad, his friend and my brother. It was one of the best times I have ever had at the stadium. I had just returned from Italy about 16 hours earlier, a bit jet-lagged perhaps but still 17 years old and able to ignore it. Hideo Nomo beat the Braves 1-0. I wore the free t shirt I got that day for several years until it disintegrated.<br /><br />6 years later I returned on opening day with my friend Taylor. It was a nightmare. We left UCLA well over an hour before game time and still arrived in the 4th inning. I had to park in a lot up a dirt road in the hills, probably closer to Pasadena than home plate. The Giants crushed the Dodgers, Kevin Brown was horrible, and traffic getting home was even worse.<br /><br />In the years between I went to a few weekday games, usually with my high school buddies, and it was usually a good time. Other than opening day, the crowds are never too bad, and there is something cool about seeing all the kids from day camp at the games in their matching colored t shirts. When my friend Murph called me this morning and said his boss had given him tickets to today's game, I first said I had too much to do. But I thought about it for a couple minutes and called him back and said "why not?"<br /><br />I took the train downtown to meet him at his office. He had a parking pass and $2.50 in train fare sounded a lot better to me than paying $15 for parking to meet him there. As I waited downstairs on Figueroa I noticed the giant "Mannywood" sign across the street. Not so much lately, I said to myself. Despite leaving downtown 20 minutes before game time we were in our seats before the first batter was done.<br /><br />Neither team did much hitting. The Dodgers didn't get their first hit until the 5th inning. Both teams left a few runners in scoring position. The Dodgers got a run in the 8th inning and won the game 1-0.<br /><br />It was warm but nowhere near as hot as the last few days. There is definitely something special about a day game in Dodger Stadium. Years ago my friend Hatcher and I talked for a few hours one evening about how much we both love baseball and he made a comment about the pace of baseball matching the pace of summer. I thought about that comment this afternoon. Although I'm an Angels fan, I've always cheered for the Dodgers against other teams. But as the years go by and I hear more and more comments from Dodgers fans about how the "Angels suck" when I'm wearing my Angels hat in public, I wonder if I care at all about the Dodgers anymore. But when I sit in the sun at the stadium, hear the organ music, and see Vin Scully on the diamond vision, I still find myself cheering for the Dodgers. I don't know if that will ever change.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-22639018772711565422009-06-24T08:59:00.000-07:002009-06-24T09:30:46.796-07:00Wood Ranch BBQ<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350925079996871762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0JL95YoN1Nb4xSy8LFwv20X554peQ5HmDyHwQwdotmipPmSdv3MsGosllIbI1jiSfI5kanxFJAtXEBBOTqhwieWVmlZxkscavRk_TBasMgNjJG3w8Ykf8WKujWHQSRy4xyHrFSig84RE/s400/June21+003.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350925085929655538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcfQI4pJxw1zw9ISDnnz8kx4hqYVwUC8T7f1PJ9vSEpq9YJrj_ZdRZXuLSRQhun_9BpCQ3GHx_9YbOrIrZg32_2CAW4OFWTWm-DyjdTuURRinKCEzEisk9eUCcrEQTMk6AhdWvo6CqmM/s400/June21+004.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350925091766587266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHfOwOqHlcCF_LbNVSss9x7LJggcf9w7j56htOjXDoTMWrDVlJ77sxXS8bV6nC_OBfc7Q6vmusTL0a6FVBFjFdR637-vouNpTzvfM5dPNShHWfoJEo_UrSqveXQ1UZrzQaqV-xyDecYUg/s400/June21+006.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350925088830877794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoTL5XclsftvA5iYAIzcwiyIJu65Y40leiEKsSGwaMx8CpyEaYKTDyltqtvROfL5CuO4qD6WTVFk70-HXYoQVJkrtG1R4HETvT4c66jBx7KxJCipoC8tG5i5Sv5wI9Gdnm_DnzhbQ6MI/s400/June21+005.jpg" border="0" />I wrote my thoughts on <a href="http://bbqandbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/08/wood-rach-bbq-grill-400-s.html">Wood Ranch</a> last August, but the pictures I had for that post were of poor quality. The other day I went to lunch with my mom at Wood Ranch and I was able to take better quality photos, so I thought I would post them. My main reason for wanting to visit Wood Ranch was that I had received a coupon in the mail for a free appetizer. Their appetizers - barbecue chicken potato skins, onion strings, grilled balsamic shrimp, etc. - are my favorite items on the menu so this was a great deal... except I lost the coupon.<br />-<br /><div>I ate one of their garlic rolls while I was waiting for my food. In the past I have never been a big fan; it always seems like you could squeeze a shot glass worth of butter from each roll if you are so inclined. But these were far less greasy than any I have ever had here.<br />-<br /><div>My mom and I both ordered the exact same thing: "America's Best BBQ Tri Tip Sandwich" with fries. Now, once upon a time, I would have at least entertained the argument that this is one of the best barbecue tri tip sandwiches in America. But, as I wrote last August, the quality of the sandwich has gone down considerably as the years have gone by and the restaurant chain has expanded. </div><div>-</div><div>The first time I ever had this sandwich, just over a decade ago, it was one of the best things I have ever eaten. And the meat was so abundant that I never ate more than half the sandwich, always taking the other half home with me for the next day. The last few times I have ordered the sandwich I have finished the whole thing with no problem. (And trust me, I ate <em>way</em> more when I was 20 than I do now.)<br />-<br />The other thing that I have noticed about this sandwich over the last two or three years is that at least half the times I order it, the meat is riddled with fat. This sandwich was the best (or, perhaps I should say, worst) example of this trend. At least every other bite yielded a giant piece of fat, some as large as a quarter. This is unacceptable. A properly cut piece of tri tip should have very little fat on it. I have cooked well over 100 tri tips in my life, both grilled and barbecued, and never once have I had a tri tip with as much fat on it as this sandwich. It was also completely drenched in sauce. I suppose that was their attempt to hide the fact that the meat was so nasty. </div><div>-</div><div>This may well have been the last trip to Wood Ranch for me. It's not cheap and the quality is just no longer worth it. </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-91471603554158130072009-06-19T11:42:00.000-07:002009-06-19T19:04:01.646-07:00Texas Lil's<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147123459588594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBijP8Gf5-wqSiId6igKImwiMDgaFlI7VQSXgFjcTS7mIf9zz7d56yIkm3arln_lZn1bzd9iNHhSFHItLvp0uEWUAXlmkdwFNvHBj_r_4q0GnHSJL9iZcr-okwP7gNAOw2tXHEU-rki8k/s400/IMG_7748.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147126004433778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvDXFtoSYNQ6XouCpaiTRUMnDyJy7T-zkuZ3zWZWkKvzDm4Tl7VtqSHkVQBWQfME3cr7kJfgkhx2jhyzIUmBuGsXQro6z6BREjGSVHAzngfclsXqnFzRYejQhvStp0rlBRdVtEJ9CJJc/s400/IMG_7732.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147136772997506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmdLZvhxwFZjQ4XPTkWuNk90r5-1rL0stQDndzjW4AJiYmMT2W8Lar6XNTVNA5s20gkW_wA_JXOxCPrrL3gt32UNZHvl8Ya0-lAeQ5OKNXxMevruQkw59v7pnSO7oM5GRQihGD969P9o/s400/IMG_7733.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147139597318082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sC1IHncJFC9CIMuWzvdtaAbWQ0fwrZ279F_MzU_Af63GixJ6xm5YBE6NzeVLsWqvgjWXOP3ZDa2MQZA6En9NotOGsb3w3plXjOuhQUncUWocXJfDGqJbd7rPytVYy4Jr8CX5Q79sSzY/s400/IMG_7735.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147142504548274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdI8wT7nnL5vqlaLoeGY296JYhXIJeMFEUVS0QMxoAgO0AmayAw7s1S_tecrw4rn707_74M_xBrkcF_UdROrMhD59DFbxIvn14Ei00jsm1EDyc2A-iaG9YjOxY6blrM50WNcoO45qKNw0/s400/IMG_7736.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147614579206962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdRs3a_H2TAn5hBBDROn_KPaI8dOHqQ2MmPAoCzDCTBzccVXC63FDnHW8STme3rA9TdXfs5m5GdnIz9oA14ObQXKgco3ZH6EDlkmPFq8NBGrJvFbyXBzHuHfreDKiHotuahSztBa02qs/s400/IMG_7739.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147621422479714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYDyerIEKkieWP2S2a5lWceqGoOLPZtLMxNH-wDO-K2euXSgA30e8R3QTfS48iJPO_UGW_6dE5hmMuxyh6Dbj00FJBq8smA6MzkqrOlI_FN96QeQ_Tl_ab48gxAkmFHpxiziCNZwyoreY/s400/IMG_7742.JPG" border="0" />Texas Lil's<br />28495 Old Town Front St<br />Temecula, CA 92590<br /><br /><p>The other day, before going wine tasting in Temecula with my friends Zach and Elizabeth, I suggested we start out with an early lunch. Almost exactly one year earlier we had gone tasting together, along with Zach's brother Tyler, and we didn't eat first. It wasn't pretty. (We had stopped at one last winery on our way out of town only to discover that the tasting consisted of <em>nine </em>wines. We immediately headed to In-n-Out after that and destroyed some double-doubles.)</p><p>Since we had just eaten barbecue for dinner about 14 hours earlier, I suggested... well, more barbecue. I'm not sure I could ever get sick of eating barbecue. On a Memphis trip a few years back I ate it for every meal except two: a deep-fried burger at Dyer's, and some kind of chicken pita sandwich at a cafe by the river. (My friend Dave and I were going to go back for another deep fried burger, but our friend Min convinced us we should eat at least one healthy meal during the weekend.)</p><p>Last fall we had gone to Sweet Lumpy's in Temecula, but it appears to be closed now, so we went to Texas Lil's. It's basically a bar that serves food. (This is in no way a complaint.) We grabbed a booth inside by a window and contemplated our orders.</p><p>Elizabeth got the steak sandwich: skirt steak on garlic cheese toast, served with a giant onion ring on top. The steak was decent but nothing special. Skirt steak, like the nearby flank steak, contains very little fat and is best when marinated for quite a while. If not, it needs to be cut up into small pieces, like beef fajitas. This steak was good when cut up, but pretty tough as it was served. Elizabeth was nice enough to give me a bite of her onion ring. It was awesome, a giant sweet onion (perhaps from Texas), and I wished I'd gotten an order of onion rings.</p><p>Zach had the brisket sandwich. He liked it, and I took small piece and agreed with him. I had the pulled pork sandwich. It was good. Not as good as the brisket, but still a quality sandwich. It was covered in sauce, like the sandwich I had the night before at Famous Dave's, but at least it was a tasty sauce. I rarely make a big deal about the side dishes at a BBQ joint, but these fries were the best I have had in a few weeks: crispy, seasoned, fresh-cut potatoes.</p><p>Elizabeth had some of her steak left when she was done eating, as well as a piece of garlic bread, so we again made a butty, with steak, fries and cole slaw. It was damn good, much better than the one we'd made the night before.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147628122837650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qn65B-kZsVMOmqgBnmLlY7ZlpxsojUOTuxh5pZPGwDYp8K2dEjGKjYAVV9G8khiVJeYs0xQu6tJZ8tOOTsrMbb2vdkw2PCXR9FajntC7L1GUAvsqfddc_LBzN8DfYI3P6ezz45xPrZg/s400/IMG_7743.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147633437508162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFM4iso2q3Cpr9XLZ5ljwYzl9L6T_SNvBn8mZJOv88wcwm_BERjG-HrqmAzk59PpwN9ZBxy92nH_oiXiJzkFFVyawuJ3PEBEp2FiUPmQR3aNUbuPdODr1CBmUZaMYwpH12F2fRTBbFxI/s400/IMG_7744.JPG" border="0" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-61888201700162113762009-06-16T12:10:00.000-07:002009-06-16T12:13:40.675-07:00Famous Dave's<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666279461263090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZorbqvBtJRt4yB-jTDiSUucLw4ArZqgcenBR0zNR_PXCfSr5UYH-y3QgsKS1UxnjJxGzjcayGQl0A-uZ8D_nrXBWdA-mMl-5Eo1u7ny-y_mbn0noiW206sLWdMLgZ9TpUTvCSI6tVhDE/s400/DSC03252.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666291942925298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvYBczMVfqHBs7itw3VMX1LT1iqO8qKPwb0h0BSwyFNWSMXPbSHOiyDVtanhDpn7NMyPL99DFll674JTxW2pQL58k0VsRghhM87-xxjx1A_tq4mjwrNw2B2SjQSJK_vGFdzn9DqK3ElA/s400/DSC03245.JPG" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsQaG0cz3Yoi1FeYPaMzR66yyRALjo1_nMdGZHWgaxH9Ni6d5Kh9MwaOvkz-WZagqaAXarxuaITQl3H03RvsgtqWwmx41AT9og_7MkyIyx89u6myUODtuQqdvBBoVAGTLDc1fZNdNqx0/s1600-h/DSC03234.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347667451750645458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsQaG0cz3Yoi1FeYPaMzR66yyRALjo1_nMdGZHWgaxH9Ni6d5Kh9MwaOvkz-WZagqaAXarxuaITQl3H03RvsgtqWwmx41AT9og_7MkyIyx89u6myUODtuQqdvBBoVAGTLDc1fZNdNqx0/s400/DSC03234.JPG" /></a><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347667446598403650" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoAchT9Gn_EsA3T5MYpfjOX28MhxB5UWlrM4SsynxJBvFAjJUhyphenhyphenwtRsh6htoNNqlzimP89dKr-yIsr4O-7qHjafELqKRImCGG-4yxdXfq7OFHUct_W9OqBCi-6O7rC3jQflBlH2N-0jU/s400/DSC03235.JPG" />The first time I ever saw a Famous Dave's was in the Mall of America outside Minneapolis. My friend Min and I walked every level of the place - about a two mile walk - to work up an appetite for lunch. We ended up going to Bubba Gump, but we passed by Famous Dave's. I made a note to myself to look it up. When I did, and learned it was a chain with a massive menu, I doubted it would be any good.<br /><p>My suspicions were somewhat confirmed when I went to a Famous Dave's for the first time a few years later in Palmdale. My food was pretty lousy, however the restaurant had just opened a few days earlier. Knowing that most restaurants, and especially barbecue restaurants, cannot be accurately judged when they first open, I went back several months later. It was fantastic the second time. I knew eventually I would try it a third time.</p>Over the weekend Elizabeth and I went down to hang out with our friend Zach in Oceanside. We decided to go to Famous Dave's for dinner on Friday night. It was packed but we grabbed seats at the bar and had a drink while we waited. The server gave us a small bowl of fries so we could try the five sauces they had on the table: Devil's Spit, Georgia Mustard, Texas Spit, Sweet & Zesty, and Rich & Sassy. They were all decent, although none of them were amazing. (Both Zach and I thought the Rich & Sassy was spicier than the Devil's Spit; maybe they switched the sauces?)<br /><br />Elizabeth ordered the brisket sandwich. It was fantastic. I did not see any smoke ring, but the brisket was amazingly tender and the slaw was very good. I love a well-smoked piece of brisket, but I never imagined I would find it at a chain barbecue restaurant.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347667441784330594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNriXkTgv96oenyhQbC4wXmG2S4dMBZkTzU78CBT8qhG8CPekvf2O4w_8ekN5EVEe9xQl1V8JLAavcAuIzcsGzSixLXLFCVVRRusG7YAu3NuJiyo2gCvnhDR2x1JiWqmqAjRhfPPELDjg/s400/DSC03236.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666850678850962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZzh7C85VCYMMcxDdjRvBkLYueSSjH7wvYwis4ao1FA-wQQ9be2ZfKxU2duer-d4JSXg9c8MflrWO5jNRO3VeWWaWvJ1ZljY_P-ZZUSx5HyWNmxrbCnL4SFVwxELcd0jkR3I2jorvGBE/s400/DSC03243.JPG" /><br />Zach ordered the two meat combo with pulled pork and brisket. He liked the brisket more than the pork. As his two sides, he ordered fries <em>and</em> mashed potatoes, which I thought was just awesome.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347667436850850370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBItIMJjJZTmKnaDmWXYWgBVpmHXglgaJxm0DLzcNMfRueJJbIed5w5TdL81B15uY7ZYKLdaeabSsWCU_0zvv_hefn0sxR746A8hdOvsYL4XERlHBmiZGEoLk-b4qgGpuU-I5Y3gdZo0A/s400/DSC03237.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666297399064866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULzZsI2mL_cPovv-ubckWsrW9gfpKUozPIfXZCsoc4_qVGse_zcavdl2jQaAzR1U0U9NkoS3D-jh_KpzwbT2Ozd1gcZ7WIDCSb4QSmqWQwyg8oIWkXRpks6OQIk9h8Zl0WThvAkCUz1w/s400/DSC03244.JPG" />I ordered the BBQ Buddies - four mini sandwiches, one each of pulled pork, brisket, pulled chicken, and hot links. I was incredibly disappointed when they arrived: they were all drowned in the Sweet & Zesty barbecue sauce, which was by far my least favorite of the 5. This is unforgivable. It does not say on the menu anything about the sandwiches being served with sauce and, as I mentioned, there were FIVE bottles of sauce on the table. What the hell is the point of having a variety of sauces if they're going to serve your food with sauce already on it? It's one thing to be insecure about the quality of the meat you serve and feel the need to drown it in sauce before serving it. That's annoying, but many places do that. But it's quite another thing to think that the same sauce is going to complement pork, brisket and hot links equally well.<br /><br />Three of my four sandwiches were good. The chicken was dry but the pork was very good and the brisket was the same excellent beef that Elizabeth had on her sandwich. The hot link was great, too: juicy and full of flavor. Of course, the quality of the sandwiches was a double-edged sword: I was happy that they were good, but I couldn't stop thinking how they good could have been if I had been allowed to sauce them myself. I would have loved to try the mustard sauce on the pork and the Texas Pit sauce on the brisket. The hot link was so flavorful it would have been better without any sauce.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347667432701467298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwvoptPG_zpd3CxAUb_DuualzDhjkbrXR2uprGyy2ydw3ykamqRXIuAwwU7XzECzq3jwfwJjb0bzvDuQlPXDub4tC8LtEuiTTVdY-Vs9QiYo8QbDA1LF-BU6Nx8oZPp0TKbDuQy2BOTJE/s400/DSC03238.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666869694060434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMidtApce8VSOFPuYzxAtjSsiLIlSnacSC8aZJMuxZ7PVE4KEnhEKKg2Er3pl1YwjOGXzq0bgWTMKvPXuQ0tqUZA0nyhxQnct52TiE48OBeAxTJUY4chkCLgQF1O5DhR7lIBJG1dxeR_I/s400/DSC03239.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666858971117986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbK6jYneP1RRhpfDpbawGs9FahtOJMJdhk4CfIExdsw5EZdggW3iFmojXUDoY9pq6q2j21oxcoh7f6qp07lGcxs56uL9NlBCdgtd8ItiqQfIyY7fr3Zh2lOV7Am6H4_G18XgG9tTZh1A/s400/DSC03241.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666866189943346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6aDr9XFCrR5V-U7LeVpT4VM28lTzeHfi1HVJ5trj_JyD-_RQWJrdzUNaUqUKLegFQFb4sSOKuldDcLVF0YC2xisR9iwR3bgimgu1T_HEIdPXJFyQgpxwjRGYoH1PjSwWF5DydWr5g3w/s400/DSC03240.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666851455850834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-akjNfr8ZIkhmQDs5oDpUZ-ux1K1RblpuQQjbCtWk3dNEVMYNBzeKvs59mwOE8WGKfmG0Q4SVn14E3ZfqVWiiumcWSR4ZGHHNLsRJ26ffLbqEsZKAGO18vDM28E3cfGDSjRbYhFoWyY/s400/DSC03242.JPG" />Still, despite my frustration, I enjoyed the meal. It could have been better but it could have been much, much worse. We were near a sign the read "EAT LIKE A PIG." So we did. Zach had a couple slices of bread left and some mashed potatoes, and Elizabeth had some fries on her plate, so I piled it all onto the bread and made, as my friend Geordie taught me, a butty. I even added some barbecue sauce. We all took turns trying it and we all decided it was a bit much. But it needed to be done.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666282609595986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7ILWxZ16V1stbhm-pmi1UZT-Cxaaym-1nwKQoFHnqh1kioKrnr1-iVI5mrqP4e57N9cwuvjppjIWuLQ9y6BhaYjM5gEfawIqjanHEArdRkvXA1Zx8laRrPGF_lkcmcsI-rwhR4I0RBk/s400/DSC03251.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347666287784815266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKEcKuKyJauwc-AB4gAgBKcoFYfbYCGfhLptzozWQofedAy-2JsztSkIvzYEnEKjWhv4tl8NXf3U5LXT4F54UsEYWu-E38QQ0UNzLLwj3pSpjzwuTZ5zEuTiYdVaNYRwZKIvw19s6LLs/s400/DSC03246.JPG" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-52906850373688042322009-06-10T17:02:00.000-07:002009-06-11T14:37:41.708-07:00Baby Blues BBQ<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345855994859391250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5ZUCskAjoc7so90oCu-oZOCNL_k4xR5Xhls5Z505cIet-Lqg3tE5KN3EPfTkIPJeyp8-CWPnBjxgx8UtmGvwx-T8RAr9AiA0elpjYkPzwCDHf1cxCH-sQwfiUroA3tX-gs97PtGRugg/s400/June7+023.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345856001531817890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_VHW3YSm8UkEG44HjLhNLy_EJn59OKF7bhjIsDPqa8i4GEOtiSYeZL72m8SWOuz3FDACzcA4JaxQMEUgdd4gl4gAd_RMd517VPIcDOUzpm0Yredoab5VMQqfX6aZYtoHUH48luAc5xY/s400/June7+015.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345856005043214002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtK_8tg6hQPRmEMdLgz9KOWGczCldOkYABQNKZWuS390rMaYDJoEeWWsOAP64fBSXHkqk43g_K76A2ElDSLa3HJl5Leq1f2bhmrKId2QZCMhLXNvB5xtHW6EFEI-iocyOOPcJjU-Wpi60/s400/June7+016.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345856014376465906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWPBNm67w2Xh1X18gFRp1HuhLPrSFhV-XvQC9MelwwXPgNDgpnnghqAklzuvevpUsU0Ym4ZRBgC740BmTku8xs-e1eY8rDLCm1iNHWBoHlQMIAUvpax4Mr7LWhFY93DT13UIsnsRKXQI/s400/June7+019.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345857035931464850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhQsXLFhwvBIkHPr8DZPLMlGkV5Byx6eAsZ2ty7mxTETZqnnsq4C4vpy-mZ-u6c4JQrOsUIaAExeATxK1YBxzWvACn7lhl-BCNL2t_dYurTYFbdQFtn34htBZDTgJx3mLzHLNJYGfakw/s400/June7+017.jpg" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLRKs99zmGrNVWOAH886lTPay6WCehDbqYlRo-6ba62_wYmTxcxC3mm7CkLJgr1kxoM-ZlZhvUr-UmHqwZzDBBkT3DJ1Tv0yjCYUUOT_Pt3qPkdWWDwLYOWhU_LAPDENEH9Rcb1YQM4k/s1600-h/June7+022.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345857053726831250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLRKs99zmGrNVWOAH886lTPay6WCehDbqYlRo-6ba62_wYmTxcxC3mm7CkLJgr1kxoM-ZlZhvUr-UmHqwZzDBBkT3DJ1Tv0yjCYUUOT_Pt3qPkdWWDwLYOWhU_LAPDENEH9Rcb1YQM4k/s400/June7+022.jpg" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345856009188768242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqo3IDYerUieZwS7fx_zaxIDe_2ND8LYJAVkIbWlSYrNXAxH88mThlDAyBYTq97pKZghyEdEKcTh57PlaIxQTya4y7LZ2k5iEnRqU2BCmF5X0oT5u-VZW0ZkbLVXPncPXM6jW_EEZtsY/s400/June7+018.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345857049406133282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9uArQg62CRVd5rNhHr7SWo57aW08yiTmHWC2RSPRquH_6sGBL2a0ZsL_g21tAxD4cb-o9_ViEKeLSwcxhmJh7NMlIocCP6iHXMwmYcMNOGq6d3Bm7TPqVFJhVXDabA_gL47to162Ozc/s400/June7+021.jpg" border="0" />Baby Blues BBQ<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>7953 Santa Monica Boulevard</div><div>Los Angeles, CA 90046</div><div>-</div><div>I first heard about Baby Blues BBQ in Venice several years ago but I never made it out there. I have never been a big fan of Venice. I don't hate it and I certainly understand its appeal, but I have never liked dealing with the crowds, and I especially don't like circling around looking for parking. There is nothing in the world I hate more than looking for or waiting for a parking space. I would rather park a mile away and walk. My brother lived in Venice for more than a year and I think I visited his house once. Not that he blamed me; he paid a fortune for an athletic club membership - that he never used - so that he could park in their lot.</div><div>-</div><div>A couple years after I first became aware of it, I saw it featured on Food Network. Guy Fieri - he of the bleached hair and backwards sunglasses and the tattoo reading Kulinary Gangsta, despite the fact that he is 41 and grew up in Humboldt County - did a feature on it, and the food actually looked really good. The place looked simple, like it didn't make much fuss over its appearance, just the food. When I heard a few months ago that they were opening a West Hollywood location, I figured I should try that out.</div><div>-</div><div>The other day, one of the few sunny days we have had in the midst of this ridiculous June Gloom, Elizabeth and I headed over to Baby Blues for lunch. It didn't look like much from outside, but as soon as I walked in I immediately liked the place. There is an open kitchen, wooden chairs hanging from the ceilings, and tables that aren't crowded together, or even placed in any kind of order. </div><div>-</div><div>To the left of the entrance was a fantastic-looking bar, the kind I have spent countless hours in on my travels through the South. It would not have been out of place just off of Bourbon Street. A couple guys were drinking cans of PBR and a flat screen television was playing the Angels game. I had high hopes.</div><div>-</div><div>When I sat down at the table there were three squeeze bottles of sauce, the middle of which was labelled "porno sauce." I asked the server what that meant and she said it was their hottest sauce, a mix of habaneros and barbecue sauce. That sounded good, despite the silly name, although I doubted it would be good on barbecue. They also had a large container of cider vinegar with chilis on the table - a perfect complement to well smoked pork.</div><div>-</div><div>The menu had a nice selection of drinks, including sweet tea, which I did not hesitate to order. They also had Kool Aid on the menu. I do not remember the last time I saw that. Elizabeth ordered a glass. We started with an order of fries, a mix of shoestring and sweet potato. They were quite good, although expensive, at $7 for a basket. Still, I reminded myself, we were not at a roadside barbecue stand in North Carolina; we were on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. Going to any kind of sit-down restaurant and expecting low prices would be unreasonable. I tried some of the porno sauce with the fries. It was indeed spicy. Perhaps I would like it with some chicken nuggets, but I wasn't in the mood for much of it with my lunch.</div><div>-</div><div>I got the pulled pork sandwich and Elizabeth got the brisket sandwich. As soon as they arrived my heart sank: they were both served on charred, rock-hard ciabatta buns. I have written this before and I'm sure I will again: if you have any kind of pride in your barbecue, you want people to eat it plain. You don't serve it already drenched in sauce and you certainly don't serve it on a distracting, hard roll. Serving your barbecue on ciabatta buns, or pretzel buns, or garlic bread is basically announcing "I don't want you to pay too much attention to the meat."</div><div>-</div><div>Not surprisingly, neither meat was good. The pork was very dry and lacking any flavor. There was a small trace of smoke ring to some of the pieces and a generous amount of pork on the sandwich, but I could not get past the dryness. I put a healthy amount of cider vinegar on it, but it barely helped. The cole slaw on the sandwich was good, not much more than cabbage and vinegar, but that was little consolation.</div><div>-</div><div>I took two bites of Elizabeth's brisket, several minutes apart. The first bite was very fatty. The second one was better but also had no flavor. She liked her sandwich, though. "You're a barbecue snob," she said. I wasn't really in a position to argue. I have had some of the best barbecue all over the country, and I don't hesitate to point out when something is mediocre. (I also do not hesitate to point out when something is spectacular.)</div><div>-</div><div>We also got a side of mac n' cheese. It was very good, full of several kinds of cheese. Some of their other sides looked good, too. I wished they'd put the effort into our meats like they did into everything else.</div><div>-</div><div>There is a lot about Baby Blues that I like, but, unfortunately, that doesn't include the food I had. The service was fantastic and you get a decent amount. The interior is beautifully designed, like a marketing consultant took the best parts of places like Lucille's Smokehouse and Famous Dave's and incorporated them here. But my food was no better than any of those chains, and that's a shame.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-84617522773870800612009-06-05T07:00:00.000-07:002009-06-05T07:08:36.065-07:00Applebee's<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343569894305357634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1K7ptyOn4N770VC3lStyMSFqPsrMJ6L_hdwG0se0bVlWNIEH1E_lYaBvkORO8hE61eLVDeJldlhdUBOfnvDLkATXhCkaUi4nw2Ucf8m3oFN2c9kFIB-fZjESs7oOUmdoa0mq4SuLwKRU/s400/IMG_7692.JPG" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkW5x-Ic6pdyx2ncym4D2oQRWT2f2Tpm61HWxtVVD1Xw3UmLp6Cpw1TecI2RdHCA5rr0n3Mi8Jb_MRK1lme3hpJhk1lXRrMXs0_55KkUs4WIeELRpVRsG67wWMjNEDRBWXCVdsLQ6ac0/s1600-h/IMG_7695.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343569902842387666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkW5x-Ic6pdyx2ncym4D2oQRWT2f2Tpm61HWxtVVD1Xw3UmLp6Cpw1TecI2RdHCA5rr0n3Mi8Jb_MRK1lme3hpJhk1lXRrMXs0_55KkUs4WIeELRpVRsG67wWMjNEDRBWXCVdsLQ6ac0/s400/IMG_7695.JPG" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343569900128058354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZ4dbPyl6Oifbs6SLJdN6QxpWx4ZEMBMSh7DNNMI3VLkkctQt7zIwRDP3UFTWbuz3MRxUGdvg7RoHRj3C7BjJsFZszlX-Nvz4s1h_IdKoWvjWkEl8MpAzr_AKYaq9q57HWSzkKJoxJkE/s400/IMG_7693.JPG" border="0" />You might think Applebee's has absolutely no place in a blog about barbecue. That's because it doesn't. Nothing on their menu is remotely close to barbecue, and anything they call "bbq" is most likely covered in a much-too-sweet sauce. But I do have a story about Applebee's.<br /><br />Years ago, my friend Tom and I drove around the country together for 5 weeks. Before the trip started we came up with several ground rules: when given the choice we would always visit a less well-known city (e.g. instead of going to Chicago, we took a car ferry across Lake Michigan to Green Bay and ate lunch at a sports bar across from Lambeau Field), we would drink local beers whenever we could, try to go to more minor league baseball games than major league, and would not eat at chain restaurants (except Subway for lunches on the road.)<br /><br />We'd spent a long day in Memphis, visiting Mud Island, seeing the Civil Rights Museum in the former hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, and visiting Graceland. After showering back at the hotel we decided we wanted to go to Corky's BBQ for dinner. We thought we knew where it was. We did not. We drove around for a long time and eventually we were starving. Finally we saw an Applebees and said "screw it, let's just eat there."<br /><br />It was horrible. I had some kind of Asian chicken salad that made me sick to my stomach. We would have been better off just going to AMPM and eating mystery meat hot dogs.<em><br /><br /></em>Recently, when I saw Applebee's came out with some pulled pork sliders, I remembered this night and our aborted attempt at barbecue. I realized I had not been to an Applebee's since then. I have never much cared for it. I'm not crazy about chains to begin with, and Applebee's has always seemed to me like Chili's with worse food. But I figured I would give the pulled pork sliders a try.<br /><br />They were actually very good. They were not barbecue at all. The pork was most likely cooked in an oven. But it was still very tasty. There was no fat in the pork, the sauce wasn't sweet, and the buns were the nice, soft buns I love with sliders. I don't anticipate ever eating at Applebee's again, but I'm glad I got a little of the taste of that Memphis Applebee's out of my mind.<br /><br />By the way, three years after that trip to Memphis, I was back again for the Memphis in May barbecue festival and my friend Hatcher and I went to Corky's. It was disappointing. It was 100 times better than Applebee's, but nowhere near as good as Rendezvous or Jim Neely's Interstate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964233510228718793.post-7368923008633308722009-05-31T08:03:00.000-07:002009-05-31T09:20:54.071-07:00Dickey's Barbecue Pit<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342015643387121666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZOOVxYrqAPx2jkLHlTrDJjkoW00R19Fn2ZfzaX0yZIXpazU9n92vPHXMyu03iMbXEHNv0zuqr_J88kF6yrNLrL9ZGBKqhF842H0dCOuLa8tGAgMVACsGITi0iCcGHmYIAK3IsMPXMkU/s400/May31+010.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342016249670302802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFlWGD0e2y5BF6h3oU7AzjJlihG_L7g-Jf857QLNd_eyngdwVQdERGeyHCqWfl15FBLaYU_1LIIN0U05aIuoSy0kfYiZtRL9_Nl2LKL9RmA-f596AJCoSETVOAOYxwRDXKvXTosoVxuw/s400/May31+004.jpg" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipPV6SK2E07raQ-Q6U7kj-nk520I2EbVFomcZnnzAV_wm2dDn4qk0ZVKjNOSYl1wGjOEeUy9r_QF0trbLNwZ9nVBwMJ3WJ5FvlDn8nrVbRGDgQGe459iAPJ8WEQYx7NJtcSsflEVGxwp8/s1600-h/May31+005.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342016260775964914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipPV6SK2E07raQ-Q6U7kj-nk520I2EbVFomcZnnzAV_wm2dDn4qk0ZVKjNOSYl1wGjOEeUy9r_QF0trbLNwZ9nVBwMJ3WJ5FvlDn8nrVbRGDgQGe459iAPJ8WEQYx7NJtcSsflEVGxwp8/s400/May31+005.jpg" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342015661553171330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGyML0T0pbnh2PM8N6f42J1zZLHA6nq4j9T-YR1qmHwa4X0PfGnZDu5oe5Q6p14MeJQyQXGFeACIJvx2Bfxko4WdbAKmqeul3D3yFgNaUQC019dXrqiaOgCyT7bBt_SWtTaKhgeF8COY/s400/May31+006.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342015655777465698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsiUYIrI5ib886d0h-hhHhDwhDF6hgyRjS9S9u_s1OfiQ06U7rDrXkqquyNJhw579Hvr1weGKVF7iV1ETXrvXFlrkqLiTfo0wrVMIVzQ9luiVB5Zz6xkmpTdcXgTLcTPScaRZKfvfcwq8/s400/May31+007.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342016256480237122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1akQx87RzT4nV2_nR5nqPopB6aAwcWziz8eJBAhuyO4SNaGfPuylios1QqlN_yE7Imw43jn6Ggq-R5v4IWe0hWSOPJEDY8Ue9v6EZKbLieeZlkurmbgylvA4RtleQcnk5taBHs6IgHU/s400/May31+003.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342015648194445010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORs0R1fmj5z4FSk_z1QI6gzmzod6hImVkBJ6rkR96OOYNK77u8Yc4pF4usI3J5i8dii_dwotlaNOthYpr8sIZ1A69dk9XpjkiQYn__cJrYHK1fz0wAgcuM6CaOK8dVRu-Ko6rIuxOiXA/s400/May31+009.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342015652900837938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoBSSdeR6ewK91IAHK5ciEt5TXPtr7Db9nIoy_L3r-Q9XizI78CU_yICPJ6_MaHnGMcv0xqw3fy44cvIRNStLqbpCtGScaVwZTvHKbanFO0jvSYFyTlC_CkYime2fiTyRRPbMwGFCUOA/s400/May31+008.jpg" border="0" /><br />Dickey's Barbecue Pit<br />27059 McBean Parkway<br />Valencia, CA 91355<br />-<br />Chain restaurants almost always have standard menus. That's pretty much the main benefit; if you go into a Chili's in Rapid City, South Dakota because you're famished and there's a massive thunderstorm making driving impossible, you know what you're going to get. If you have a hangover in Rome and the idea of a streetcart panini isn't appealing, you know the Big Mac at the massive, two-story McDonald's is going to taste the same as the one you ate a few days earlier in Pasadena.<br />-<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>But real barbecue is made over long periods, with different woods, with different methods. Many of my good friends make barbecue, and none make it the same way. A piece of barbecue is as disparate as a snowflake. </div>-<br /><div>So the idea of a chain of barbecue restaurants seems ridiculous on its face. I think back on places I have loved and remember the people: the man working the smoker in the parking lot of Mr. Tibbs Ribs who tossed me a friendly wave as I got out of my car. Or the chef at Spring Street Smokehouse who took me in the back and showed me his system for placing meat in the smoker; the owner's manual for my digital camera contains less detail. How do you replicate that passion into every restaurant in a chain?</div>-<br /><div>The answer, of course, is that you can't. I have had some good meals at place like Famous Dave's or Tony Roma's, but overall they are places where I find myself enjoying their sauces or their fried appetizers more than any barbecue item on their menus. </div>-<br /><div>Last summer I read about Dickey's plans for expansion and was intrigued. Unlike some chains, their prices are lower, almost like a fast food version of barbecue. I hoped they must be good to be undertaking such a large expansion. Either that or they are lousy, catering to people who think drowning any piece of meat in sauce makes it barbecue. Yesterday I had to go up to Santa Clarita for something, so I figured I would stop by the Dickey's location in Valencia and give it a try. </div>-<br /><div>It was not good. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with fries and cole slaw. Elizabeth had a smoked turkey sandwich with the same sides. The cole slaw was quite good, a tangy, large portion. The fries were lousy, basically the same waffle fries as Carl's Jr., only undercooked, soggy, sorry excuses for fries. It never ceases to amaze me when restaurants can't properly cook fries. </div><div>-</div><div>But the meat is the most important thing. And my pulled pork was terrible. There was no smoke ring at all. It tasted like it came out of the oven. It was a semi-moist, flavorless mess. I put some of the slaw on the sandwich and a healthy amount of their sauce, which was actually a good, thin sauce. Elizabeth's turkey was better than the pork, but it was still not very good and she only ate half of it.</div><div>-</div><div>They have a free soft-serve ice cream machine and we helped ourselves to a large bowl. That is a nice touch, I guess, but not nice enough to erase the taste (or lack thereof) of our lousy food. This was the most disappointing barbecue meal I have had in a long time. From what I can tell, Dickey's is absolutely the kind of place that hopes the customers are so busy drowning their food in sauce and helping themselves to free ice cream that they don't notice the terrible quality of their food.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2