BAY AREA PEOPLE: Best BBQ?
discos_alma
discos_alma 2,164 Posts
So I went to Kansas City recently and have been seriously addicted to barbecue ever since I hit up LC's BBQ and Oklahoma Joe's.
What are the :goat: spots in the Bay? I'm in Oakland. Everett & Jones ain't doin much for me. Looney's is weak. I want to try the small BBQ place on Shattuck right across from Bushrod park. Anyone been there yet?
Halp!
What are the :goat: spots in the Bay? I'm in Oakland. Everett & Jones ain't doin much for me. Looney's is weak. I want to try the small BBQ place on Shattuck right across from Bushrod park. Anyone been there yet?
Halp!
Comments
http://www.babybluessf.com/#/home
or check out the front porch restaurant right around the corner from there:
http://www.thefrontporchsf.com/main.html
both are really good. Front Porch fried chicken will change your life.
The place you mention on Shattuck by Bushrod, the Brick Pig's House, is okay. I've only bothered to go once because the meat was passable and everything was kind of bland. The couple who ran the place were very nice, though.
I ride for Phat Matt's. I've been 3 or 4 times and it has always been good. The pulled pork is usually your best bet, but I'm told the chicken is really good and the brisket can be (on one trip it came kind of overcooked). All of the sides I have tried are good and although I am not a dessert person at all, I think they're worth a try-- I got comped a peach cobbler once and it was outstanding. The couple who run the place are very friendly, to boot.
I also like Memphis Minnie's on Haight. I avoided it for a long time because it looked like it would be some some gentrified crap, but they try to cook meat properly and usually they succeed. I like the fact that the BBQ is served without sauce.
Serg says there's a really good place on the Peninsula but I haven't had a chance to check it out and I don't recall the name.
Minnie's is good, the people who run the place clearly know how meat should be cooked. Not everything I've gotten there has been amazing, and it's not the cheapest, but it's worth dropping in on when I'm in the Lower Haight.
I will co-sign Minnie's. My one gripe is that their Texas Red sauce is way too sweet.
And speaking of places that look like they'd be some gentrified crap: http://www.armadillowillys.com/
I haven't eaten in there in 10 years, but I do recall it being proper Texas BBQ.
The Baby Blues in Santa Monica/Mar Vista is NOT good BBQ IMO.
What'd you think of Flint's back in the day? I have vague memories of it as an undergrad but I honestly can't remember what their BBQ was actually like.
The sides were also lackluster. I suspect the cornbread had whole grains of some sort--what in the hell. The greens were bitter and the mac and cheese was--and I realize that this is a gray area and that many would disagree here--too cheesy.
I'll say this much: the sauces were tasty, which is a good thing, because we needed plenty of them.
Yeah I ordered from the E&J on San Pablo a few days ago and had a pretty good meal. The ribs were good and the hot links were dynamite. Didn't care for the brisket that much as I found it a bit overcooked, but overall it was a worthwhile experience. I think their hot sauce is pretty good too.
I can't remember either. My uncle use to live across the street so I use to eat there all the time in my pre-teen years, but that was so long ago I have no idea what it tasted like. My girlfriend use to eat there as well and swore by it. He actually had two locations. The one on Shattuck that I went to and another on San Pablo in West Oakland.
both are really good. Front Porch fried chicken will change your life.
As a Texan, I advise you to be leary of any "bbq" spot with a wine menu.
i had a really mediocre catfish po boy there the other night. ive had the bbq and it's pretty lackluster.
Basically Baby Blues has one thing going for it: the stewed tomatoes side dish. it's awesome.
Flint's has been doing that for about a decade-- closing for long, long stretches and then briefly reopening without much fanfare. It's very mysterious.
Back in '92, there was a crazy shooting there where gunmen sprayed into a crowd, killing a couple of people and wounding a lot more. I think it was also the spot outside which the OPD beat on D'Wayne Wiggins from Toni Tony Ton?? back in the late 1990s.
And on that note: my stomach's been wrecked since I ate there last night. Thanks for the recommendation, picoandsepulveda!
I tried to warn you!
But Rootless: a B grade isn't red alarm worthy. I've been to a c grade spot before. Didn't know you could still operate with that on your door
Gorilla BBQ in Pacifica, off the 1. It's an orange cargo container they turned into a bbq shack. Pulled pork is really chopped, sauce is tasty, not as spicy as I'd like but it's straight. brisket was nice but their hot links kind had the game on smash for me. Ribs were good too.
Alemany flea market has that dude Good Foods http://www.goodfoodsonthego.blogspot.com/ I've only had his pulled pork, it was straight, but I like my smoke a heavy on the meat, I think he finishes his shit off in the oven. My friend had the brisket and said it was legit.
I've only been to Phatt Matts in oakland once but they did me alright, some misfires but it was an off hour and they had just opened so there were kinks and smoker issues. I need to make it back there.
Big Nate's is suppose to be getting a make over and changing their pork from a 6 hour smoke to 12. Who knows if they will get better but I guess you can always hope.
There is Sam's out on 3rd in the bayview that I keep meaning to check. Also some Arkansas style spot out in portola that I heard about
in general bbq out here sucks though, over cooked, dry and shitty sauce covering shitty meats. You've got to walk into every spot with the idea that you'll be disappointed. Everyone pretty much sticks to sweet tomato based sauces, you're not gonna see much vinegar style shit out here. I'm pretty sure mustard sauces are non existent in the whole state.
honestly if you want good bbq, you're better off learning how to do it yourself.
Memphis Minnie's has a mustard sauce on the table. I just wish their greens weren't so sweet.
Wow, sounds nuts. I've been a few times and it was decent food and pretty wild atmosphere. Each time I've been, there's was at least one group of art school hipster trash sitting quietly awkward. Not a good place to be if the wrong person has had too much to drink.
After hitting up Phat Matt's, I was definitely pleased with my experience and it will now be my go-to spot. I had the combo with brisket (super thick slices, but not as tender as I'd hoped) and pulled pork (truly killer) with sides of potato salad and baked beans. Potato salad was aight but the beans were garbage and tasted like Hunts straight out the can. Pulled pork was out of control delicious, and I will definitely be trying the other sides next time (mon-thurs free substitutions, fri-sun $1 each sub). The sauce here could definitely be better. I got spicy, and it was hella mild.
Brick Pig is great! Basically the nicest folks to ever own a restaurant. I had hickups all day from a fierce stint of drinking last nite, and dude gave me a bottle of water at no charge to sort me out. That meal totally hit the spot, and as a result, it just edged out Phat Matt's as my go-to BBQ joint.