Bludso’s Bar & Que

April 30, 2018

Los Angeles, California – Somewhere around ten years ago, this place showed up on my radar. A popular magazine had rated it among the top ten barbecue places in Los Angeles. Quite a claim considering the number and quality of barbecue joints in this city. Ever since then I’ve been trying to visit to test this assertion, but my schedule and their business hours didn’t synch. A new schedule (for me) and a new location (for them) made it possible for me to check them out today.

According to the story on the website, owner Kevin Bludso was born and raised in Compton. His roots go back to Texas where five generations of his family have been mastering the pits. During his summers in Corsicana, Texas, a young Kevin learned the art of ‘cue while working with his grandmother. As he grew older, he avoided the inevitable family history as long as he could. In 2008, Bludso finally heeded the call. The result? You’re reading about it.

The original Bludso’s site is in Compton, but it has been closed for some time now. Word is they will re-open at some point in the future. A second location was opened in Los Angeles just outside Hollywood. The building had enough space to add a bar. So Bludso did. The other spot is in Melbourne. As in Australia. Not Florida. Which means now Bludso’s is truly an international affair.

I could smell the smoke from five blocks down the street. The first whiff got my attention. To the best of my recollection of the area, there are no other barbecue places in the vicinity. The closest one would have been 6 blocks south. Downwind of where I was. So this glorious smell of pit-fired barbecue filling my nose had to be coming from Bludso’s.

Bludso’s is easy to spot from street. The building is painted grey with a red “Bludso’s” sign over the entrance. An awning covers the small patio on the sidewalk. A menu is displayed in a cutout on the wall outside just as you enter.

Be sure to pay attention to the parking signs wherever you park, no matter whether it’s on La Brea or one of the side streets. Parking Enforcement is notorious for diligently (and swiftly) enforcing the posted regulations in this area. Parking tickets are dished out like flyers at a concert. Trust me on this.

Now that we’ve found a place to park, let’s go inside.

The hostess station is located immediately to your right as you enter. A bench sits in the waiting area to your immediate left. Further inside you’ll find a mix of dark, wooden benches and tables. Lighter colored metal-legged wooden chairs attend wooden tables in the center of the dining area. A long, amply-stocked bar with plenty of bar stools takes up the entire south wall of the dining area. Maybe a dozen flat screen television screens encircle the room, all playing sports.

When I arrived, there were two guys at the bar. A couple sat at one of the tables. This was right after dinner hours began so it was pretty quiet at that time. While I was there, blues, old school soul, and R&B was playing on speakers.

The décor certainly does not look like your typical barbecue joint. However, the paper towel rolls and bucket with utensils on each table remind you that, yes, this place really might know a little something about ‘cue.

While looking over the menu, I noticed that the meats are portioned by the quarter, half, or full pound, while the ribs come in either a half or full rack. I wanted to sample as much as possible so I prepared myself for a big bill.

I decided on: Meats – ½ lb. brisket ($14), ½ rack pork ribs ($17), ½ rack beef ribs ($17), two Texas Red Hots (beef link) ($6 each). Sides – ½ pint collard greens ($6), ½ pint baked beans ($6), ½ pint potato salad ($6), two pieces of cornbread ($1.75 each). For dessert I went for a slice of pie. The Chocolate Chess Pie ($7) sounded interesting.

Of course, all of this would be to go. (Dining in? Your meal will be served family style).

I was amazed at how quickly my to-go order came out. And with fast, friendly service. Then again, I arrived only a couple of minutes after they opened for dinner. My rather large meal came in one of those aluminum catering trays with a cover. Everything was carefully packed. It was arranged so well that it resembled a Tetris game. (No photos, but the food actually looks like the pictures on the website)! Everything was still warm when I arrived home nearly two hours later.

Bludso’s uses their own special dry rubs on their meat. After that, the meats spend as much as 14 hours smokin’ low and slow, with fire fed by whole hardwood logs and charcoal. That’s how it’s done here.

After breathing in the bouquet of smoked meats for the past couple of hours without being able to do anything about it, I was more than ready to dig in when I finally arrived home. Here’s the rundown:

The brisket had a mellow, smoky flavor through and through. Each slice had a nice char on the edges. Nice color. Impossibly tender. It fell apart while trying to pick it up with a fork. The rub Bludso’s uses is on the salty side, but still good. Even so, I would prefer Bludso’s use a bit less salt.

There is a noticeable amount of fat on the brisket. The lean version has less fat but costs more. On the other hand, that fat really amplified the flavor of the brisket. Surprisingly, the flavor of the brisket was stronger than the barbecue sauce. I ended up not using sauce on the rest after tasting a few bites with it. It was so good, it didn’t really need any.

The pork ribs were extremely tender! Good color. The smoke flavor comes through nicely. Again, it didn’t need any sauce. Though the barbecue sauce didn’t really go well with any of the meats, it worked best with the pork ribs. At least the mild sauce did. The hotter sauce kind of clashed. I really like how well the rub goes with the pork ribs. The rub is what makes these ribs stand out from the crowd.

As with other meats, the beef ribs were very tender. They had a light flavor of smoke. Not as strong as others, but the presence of smoke is definitely there. I opted not to try them with the sauce.

Careful. There’s some heat in those house-made Texas Red Hot beef links. They really live up to their name. Firm texture. Nice bite. Lingering heat. I put one of them in a wheat bun I had at home and ate it that way.

All of Bludso’s’ meats are seasoned (and smoked) extremely well. They really don’t need any sauce. That’s a sign of great barbecue.

A lot of meat calls for a lot of sides. Bludso’s’ sides are all scratch-made in house. I decided to take a chance with the collard greens. Readers of this blog know how I feel about greens. For those who are new, most of my family and my wife’s family cook greens. Really good greens. For this reason, it is not often that I will order greens from a restaurant. And when I do, I admit I am quite critical.

The smell of the collard greens was much stronger than any other aroma emanating from the bag. They had a strong, hearty flavor to match. There’s some pepper in there somewhere. Smoked pork takes these greens up a couple of notches. Later I saw the flakes of red pepper. The greens tasted even better as leftovers once the seasoning had had a chance to work through. So how do these greens fare? They absolutely pass the test.

I noticed the baked beans on the menu. I figured they would complement the greens. They had a nice, semi-sweet flavor. Included in the beans are bits of brisket you can actually see. When you have an outdoor barbecue, this is what you imagine when it comes to baked beans. They became addictive after a couple of forkfuls.

Since this is a barbecue place, I had to get the potato salad, right? It is topped with paprika. Chunky potatoes and celery really earn this salad its stripes. Delicious! Not sure what else to say about it.

To go with all of this, some type of bread would be nice. Two pieces of cornbread filled the bill. It tastes like regular cornbread, with a tiny hint of extra baking powder. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it comes with honey butter. Whipped honey butter at that. The light taste of the honey and the butter goes very well with cornbread.

Two types of barbecue sauce are available. I got both the hot and mild sauces on the side. Both sauces had a slight sweetness. Aside from the very light sweetness, overall, both sauces were nearly bordering on neutral. I had to taste each sauce three times before I could tell which was hot. The hot does leave a lingering bit of warmth once it finally hits. Unfortunately, I have to admit I was not really feeling either sauce. It put me more in mind of mole rather than barbecue sauce. It didn’t really pair well with any of the four meats I ordered. Seems like it’s missing something. Maybe some smoke flavor to blend better with the meat?

Bludso’s serves pies by Nicole Rucker. You may have heard of her. She is a National Pie Championship Blue Ribbon award winner. I had never heard of Chocolate Chess Pie before. It looks and tastes like a brownie in a pie crust. Very moist, very good. Chocolate is definitely in charge here. It would be even gooder served ala mode – which Bludso’s will do if you want for $2 extra. Maybe I’ll try that next time.

Bludso’s’ fare is a bit pricey but they do serve large portions. Definitely no skimping here. It’s a good bet you’ll be taking some home. If you enjoy their seasoning, Bludso’s sells their brisket and pork rib rubs in store and online. They even have their own app.

About that claim I mentioned at the beginning of this review: Yes, I would wholeheartedly agree that Bludso’s does deserve its spot on that top 10 list.

Bludso’s Bar & Que – 4.5 forks. Highly recommended. Their name says all you need to know. Check hours if planning to visit on a weekday. Catering? Yep, they do that, too.

 

Woody’s Bar-B-Que

October 2, 2007

Woody’s Bar-B-Que consistently tops many, many critics’ lists as being among the best barbecue in Los Angeles. Those of us who live here have known that for decades, before the critics found out about it. It takes a mighty good rib joint to beat Woody’s, and admittedly there are a couple around LA. For me, eating at Woody’s is like eating at a relative’s house; you know the food is good and it spoils you because it’s always available. So you take it for granted.

It had been more than a decade since I last ate at Woody’s Bar-B-Que. I went back this time on a sudden whim; I was driving right in front of it when my barbecue jones hit. To satisfy it, I had to hang a hard left and stop in. For years I’d pass by the place and savor the smoky aroma for the next few blocks as I drove east down Slauson. Mmmmm, real pit barbecue! Today was as good as any to re-acquaint myself with that aroma; and the ‘cue that emitted it.

No other customers were there so I walked right up to the window. I ordered the combo, which was beef (tri-tip), links, and ribs. Mixed hot and mild sauce. Beans and potato salad are the menu sides for the combo. The beans were tasty, slightly sweet, and had tiny bits of beef hidden throughout. It was so good that I had inhaled it almost without putting the fork down. They were gone before I realized it and I found myself craving more. The potato salad tasted like the packaged industrial kind; good, but typical of most decent ‘cue joints.

In order of taste preference I say beef, the links, and then ribs. The ribs were good but not award-winning. They were tender enough, and the sauce complemented them well. Oh yeah, I’d order them again, it’s just that they didn’t get my taste buds rockin’. Now the links, on the other hand, did. I sandwiched the link between the requisite slices of white bread that came with the combo. You know it’s good when you sop the basket with the bread to get every last bit of sauce off the container and onto your food. Same with the tri-tip. The tri-tip had that slight pink edge I like to see on my tri-tip. It was tender, smoky, and it, too, was well complimented by the sauce. I had intended to eat the whole meal for lunch but that wasn’t happening; there was just too much food. I saved half for the next day. I certainly got my money’s worth on this meal.

They have 3 locations now; the original on Slauson just west of Crenshaw, one on Market Street in Inglewood, and a third restaurant on Foothill Blvd. in Rancho Cucamonga. I can’t vouch for Woody’s #2 in Inglewood but last year on a rainy night in Southern California I stopped at the Rancho Cucamonga location. It’s in a mall. The meat tasted like it had been cooked by boiling it first, then bathing in sauce. Nowhere did I detect any real pit-smoked flavor. Maybe because they are located in a mall they can’t use a real pit to cook with. I don’t know. But it surprises me that this could even be called Woody’s. For my money, the Rancho Cucamonga store fakes the funk. Wait until you’re in the LA area and go to their other locations.

Woody’s #1 on Slauson – 4.5 out of 5 forks (and lots of napkins).

Update: The Woody’s in Rancho Cucamonga has closed down.