Sept 8, 2018
Venice, California – This place pops up on Best Barbecue in Los Angeles lists occasionally. That’s how it landed on my radar more than a decade ago. Having some business to attend to in neighboring Santa Monica presented the perfect opportunity to finally check them out. But it was going to have to be a to-go order.
Baby Blues BBQ first opened its doors in LA in 2004. After a little growth and a couple of changes of venue, the current LA-area line-up includes locations in Echo Park, and the one here in Venice. Because so many people clamored for their fare, Baby Blues has further expanded to the San Francisco and Philly markets.
The entrance is on the corner; signs on the window will point you to the proper doors to use. But once you enter, be prepared to find yourself in a very, very tight ‘reception’ area while you wait to be seated. There is a counter area to your immediate right. The main dining area appears to be straight ahead once you get inside. I didn’t pay too much attention to the rest of the interior since I was getting my meal to go, not dining in.
When I began planning the day and realized I could squeeze in a visit, I went to their website to see what they were working with. There are quite a few options to choose from. I decided to try the Big Blue Platter ($32.95). The Big Blue Platter comes with your choice of three meats. Today those three meats would be brisket, tri-tip, and Memphis-style pork ribs. Platters come with two ‘Fixins’, made fresh in house every day, along with house-made cornbread. My choice for the fixins were Collard greens and potato salad. I also decided to get a Texas beef rib (Market Price $31.95 today (!)) a la carte, plus a smoked beef link ($4.95).
I placed my order, then took a seat in one of the chairs outside. While waiting, I sipped on the lemonade ($3) I ordered. It was not made from fresh lemons. It tasted like it was made with one of those lemonade mixes like Country Time or something similar. That should’ve been my first clue as to what lay ahead.
Right after I finished it, one of the hostesses brought my meal out to me, nicely packaged. It was served in two take-out boxes made from recycled products. I appreciate that. Thank you, Baby Blues. I’m starting to see more and more restaurants use this type of container.
After I arrived home, I immediately warmed up everything and dug in. First up was the sliced brisket. (Baby Blues also serves chopped brisket). The description says it is dry-rubbed Black Angus, coated with a sweet sauce, then slow smoked for 14 hours. It had what looked like a smoke ring around the outside, while a pinkish tint appears in the center. In addition, it had a rainbow sheen on it, which, at first glance, reminded me of deli meat slices. The pepper crust contains lots of pepper (and coriander seeds, I think). I took a bite, expecting to get the flavor of beef followed instantly by smoke. Instead, what met my taste buds tasted like pastrami. A LOT like pastrami. I kid you not. Not even close to barbecue. Ironically, in the center of the brisket, well away from bark, it did taste somewhat close to barbecued brisket. There was a tiny hint of smoke flavor in there somewhere.
Four types of sauce are available to choose from: BBQ, sweet, hot, and XXX. I went with BBQ and sweet. The description for the BBQ says it is mild, vinegar-based. They got the mild part right. Kind of weak but it did have some decent flavor. I preferred the sweet (the description says it has a tangy, bbq-molasses flavor) because it had more flavor. I could taste the sweetness. Did I detect a bit of hickory smoke in both sauces?
I alternated between adding the BBQ and sweet sauces on the brisket but there was no saving it. It just tasted too much like pastrami.
Next, I tried the tri-tip. According to the menu, this is prime cut sirloin, marinated and smoked until medium rare, then sliced and grilled. It is definitely grilled; you could see the grill marks. But where’s the smokiness? I didn’t detect any. It looked more like carne asada, with a taste on the bland side. On top of that, it was a tad overcooked.
Moving on to the Memphis pork ribs. The menu says it is rubbed top to bottom with their blend of dry spices, slow smoked, then grilled and lightly basted with their house BBQ sauce. It certainly was easy to pull off the bone. This was the closest to barbecue taste of any of the meats so far. I could taste a little bit of the spices used in the rub. Alternating between the sauces here was enjoyable to an extent. It moved the flavor up a notch.
The Texas beef rib is “smoked on the bone” but no mention of any spices used. It was basted probably with their own barbecue sauce. Thick, thick meat but it only covered about half of the bone. The bones were flat like bars of a xylophone. I’m guessing they probably used short ribs. True to its claim about being tender, the bone pulled right out.
Two beef ribs were in the order. Satisfactory flavor on the outer portion where the sauce was. But it lost spice and flavor the closer I got to the bone. The spice and sauce then gave way to a real beefy flavor. When I reached the bone, there was no barbecue flavor or spice to be found, just the taste of cooked beef. I tried putting the extra sauce on. Alternating between the sauces changed things up a bit. No real preference for how each sauce combined with the ribs but it did improve the taste a little.
Not sure what kind of link the smoked beef link was. I was expecting a link like a Louisiana hot link or something similar. Though a beef link, it tasted like a hot link with all the personality (and heat) taken out of it. One positive was that it was a good size, filling the bun I put it in. Also, the casing had a good consistency and held the contents together through every bite.
The cornbread caught me by surprise. It had a brown color, much darker than I’m used to. It almost looked like sweet potato bread, if there is such a thing. Kind of dry, too. Inside the slice, I encountered a couple of kernels of whole corn. It had a strange flavor to me that was saved only by the honey flavor I think I detected.
How about those fixins? The collard greens had large leaves. They could (and probably should) be cut smaller. I was not used to the taste. They had an overbearing pork flavor. A little heat came through in between bites. Readers of this blog know my stance on ordering greens at a restaurant. For those of you who are new to Kanale Eats, the short version is almost everyone on both sides of my family and my wife’s family cooks greens very well. So I am admittedly biased when it comes to greens and as a result it is hard to impress me. The greens here are an example of why I don’t order greens at most barbecue places. They did taste better the next day, however, but only marginally.
The potato salad featured chunky red, skin-on potatoes, and generous cuts of celery. The mixture was somewhat peppery. It could use a bit more mayonnaise, but otherwise it was pretty good. A hearty and filling side dish.
A lot of people like Baby Blues as attested to by how long they’ve been in business. It is pretty popular as attested to by the number of times I’ve seen Baby Blues mentioned in lists of top barbecue spots in LA. Though born and raised a So Cal city boy, my parents are from down south. My in-laws are from down south, too. So it is with a Southern predisposition that I approach barbecue.
With that in mind, I must sadly admit I came away disappointed with what I got here. Very little to no smoke flavor on any of the meats. High prices for the meats didn’t help. I kind of expected things to be a bit expensive here given the area but the market price for the Texas rib caused my jaw to drop.
In my opinion – and this is just my opinion – although they are pricey, stick with the ribs.
Baby Blues BBQ – 2.5 forks. Passible. They do cater.
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