The Wrangler BBQ Pit

1644 E Valley Pkwy

Escondido, CA 92027

Wait a minute, now didn't we review this already? I'm sure our attentive and loyal reader might say. Yes, we did in fact review The Wrangler down in El Cajon, however, this one is in Escondido. You see, back in the 1960's a man had a vision - this one was not LSD inspired - it was inspired by smoke. No, not that kind of smoke, but oak and citrus. There was even a Wrangler in PB that has now recently closed. To add to the confusion, there's a number of restaurants that are called "The BBQ Pit" all of which have very similar recipes while having only the some variations on the menu items.

Opening door and walking in will cause the cow bell to jingle, which is a quaint and nice touch because in the words of Bruce Dickenson, "I gotta have more cowbell!" A look to your left and you will see a little decoration that says, "Pig Knuckles" and "Welcome Friends" I'm feeling the warm and fuzzies. That might be just because I've had experience going to other places like this and have survived. Most people seem to require having a color pendant lights hanging from the ceiling and French or Italian posters set against richly painted walls, with the latest cool music playing and their CD's conveniently available for purchase at the counter. Not here, the Andy Griffith show was playing on the TV.

The florescent light wagon wheel chandeliers are standard Wrangler issue. The white cinder-block walls have been infused with the smell of smoke, and the men's restroom has a broken roll and buns Toastmaster. If in Italy, tourists would refer to this as homely and charming. Here we call it, ghetto. It is very ghetto, being located in a forgotten strip-mall that should have had a bowling alley. Most of clientel seem like they remember the hey days of the Wrangler when it was much newer, going here by loyalty or habit over several decades.

I walked past the counter towards the back in search of the restroom. A cook looked over as I passed by and said "down past the smoker and to the left." The smoker! There's no doubt about it here, they know that a smoker is not a person violating code in California. There it was, set there over 40 years ago and still doing it's job. a gas line fed the bottom and the door was open while the guy was getting ready to load it up with more wood. "How long is the meat smoked for?" I asked. "about 16 hours," he answered. I thought wow that's serious. The rack to the right of the smoker had a few briskets waiting to be served. I wonder how long they sit there? They're probably drying out.

Well, in fact that is just what they are doing. Sadly, without a constant flow of people the meat might be dry. Somewhat strange is that neither the pulled pork or beef had much flavor to it. The light sauce was sweet and tangy. The baked beans however did - I must say that the beans is the bright spot here. Rich, dark and and bold, there was more smoke in the beans than the meat. They did take the time to toast the buns and that was nice of them. I guess when it comes down to it, that's what stands out. It's a place with some nice people and some barbecue.

C

Good Bro. #2
Deja vu. We're here at the Wrangler again, only it's in Escondido, not El Cajon. It's a good thing we didn't stick around here for too long. I felt myself aging rapidly as we sat eating our meals. It must have been the combination of the red checkerboard table cloths, country crafts decorations, the old run down nature of the place, and old reruns of The Andy Griffith show on the TV. I'm not ready to retire yet! Time to go. Let's get rollin' to the next BBQ review.