Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon

24231 Avenida de la Carlotta
Laguna Hills CA, 92653
949-951-8687

Okay so Good Bro 2 has been talking about this place... Lone Star. There are places in Texas that go by the name and he says he spotted one off the I-5 North. He also gets a gift of this one napkin of none other than Lone Star. Oooo like the stars are lining up or something. Well he's too busy this past weekend to do anything but I decide to do what I was born to do - eat barbeque. Since I'm going to go solo, I figure it's only appropriate that I go to Lone Star.


Well, lemmetellyuawat - I may have been heading north, but it was all SOUTH from there. No, it's not barbecue. No, there's no flavor in any of their food. It's kinda what I expect from an aunt or uncle who doesn't know how to cook but they want to shove food in your face. Yeah, that good. It think that its best competition is Roadhouse Grill. The chicken was tasteless, and gave my knife a fight. The chicken was splayed with that harder connective tissue or cartilage in the middle. The bread was undercooked, but I think they knew that and were trying to fix that problem.

However, it's not fair to say that everything was bad - because that's not true. If your server is Shannon, then you should be getting the best service in town. Always comes to you with a smile and even brought a second refill before I was done with the first, she was the best dinner help I've had since Tamara at Lucille's. So look out for that, there's always a gem.

Next time, I'm using my gut feeling - heck even Urbanspoon was telling me to go to Beach Pit Barbecue. So, stay tuned fellow Good Bro-ers

Rating: SOUTH

KC's BarBQ

Stowe Plaza
14077 Stowe Drive, Suite 107
Poway, CA 92064
(858) 391-1524

Now we haven't gone and started reviewing dim sum or french pastries just yet. Oh no, no, no... we're the Good Bros. dang it! So we were going incognito to a new place that opened up in San Diego. KC's in Poway is difficult to begin with because San Diego already has a KC and it's in downtown San Diego. Okay, so that one got grilled but they say they will be back - probably without the Top Gun memorabilia they once had. Hmm..... maybe they're gonna have to actually make good barbecue. Nah, you don't need good food to keep your doors open at all! Just take Lumpy's for instance...

Back on point, KC's in Poway was created to serve the many employees of the business park that surrounds it and the feeding frenzy that happens between 10:00 a.m. for slackers and 2:00 p.m. for workaholics. They are open longer Mon- Fri if you had any doubt.


From Brisket Salads to Chipotle Veggie Burgers and Smoked Ham Sandwiches, this place should satisfy a variety of needs so your coworkers who have to go to Chipotle EVERY day might even try it. But let me say, that if I brought my coworkers here... they better be good friends because they might not like you after. I certainly didn't like my Pulled Pork Sandwich! The pork had a sweet sauce on it that was reminiscent of a mango puree. Yes, it was orange. Did I mention that they had hot sauce too They did, and not like a hot barbecue sauce, but a hot sauce - like for rolled tacos! So bring your rolled taco here and enjoy them too!

Pork- texture resembling a mop, topped off with a soft, untoasted bun. After this incident I think I am no longer grading fries because all the fries in the San Diego area seem to come from the same location. Good Bro 2 had the Brisket and suffered the same consequences - this food sat in our stomachs for at least a day and a half. So if this is your idea of a good meal, have at it!

Bar-B-Que House

5025 Newport Ave
San Diego, CA 92107
(619) 222-4311


OK, it's not really a house, but they do serve BBQ. The great thing is that it's just a few flip-flop steps from the beach, which means that if your fishing trip out in the Pacific didn't turn up a worthwhile dinner catch, you can head over to the Bar-B-Que House and load up on some smoky beef, chicken, or pulled pork. Being so close to the beach, you might think that this store location would be better suited as a fish taco hut, surf shop, or a place selling unusual trinkets. You would change your mind about that pretty fast after seeing the constant flow of people coming in here craving another shot of that smoky beef and some good 'ole side dishes.

It's actually a pretty smart thing putting a BBQ place right in the center of crowds of people who have had enough smelling salty air and funky crustaceans. It's kind of like the time I decided to have some Chinese food when in Italy after eating Italian food all week. With BBQ being a tried and true food category, this was genius setting up shop here in OB.

The restaurant is what I would expect in a beachfront area, small and casual. They've got a see-through counter so you can actually watch them chopping, slicing, scooping and pouring when fixing your meal. OK, I'm ready to try this place out. Send some pulled pork my way bro.

Good Bro #1 decided to go with a beef sandwich with a side of onion rings. I went with the pulled pork sandwich with a side of BBQ beans. Usually I would have to try out the coleslaw, but they already piled that on my sandwich. When we got our food, I thought that Good Bro #1 made the right choice. The beef sandwich looked and smelled pretty good, and the onion rings were really making me hungry. I was happy to see that they had the better sense here of using real buns instead of BK buns like some places use. The BBQ beef sandwich here is pretty good. The pulled pork was OK, but was a little mushy and lacking a good smokiness to it. The onion rings are worth getting, but I was unsure of the beans. They were a little to sweet for me. It could be that my tongue was already being affected by the salty air and making things seem overly sweet. Maybe I'll have to try the beans again, but take it go and eat it up at Balboa Park.

So, when in OB and stomach calls for a food infusion, head on over to Bar-B-Que House and get in line. You won't have to wait too long before you hear "BBQ's ready!"

C

Baby Blues BBQ

444 Lincoln Bl.
Venice, CA
310 396-7675

Ah yes, BBQ has never been so hot. Here in this hipster, low key BBQ joint is one fun dining experience. Yes, the meat here is real and I've been here a few times now and I can say that when it's on - it's ON. Like anyplace, there are some off nights. But I'll tell you what's off the hizzay and that's the servers. Fit and beautiful they serve future beer-bellied patrons their portions of succulent smoked meats and prepared sides to everyone's delight. And by everyone, I just mean me, because I can only speak for myself on this.

Corn bread is present here, as are the collard greens and shrimp, ribs, mac and cheese, and what have you. The puled pork is a little too wet in my opinion although the flavor is good. Brisket is a little tough when I had some but again, good flavor. I had the Lasker Burger once and I respect them highly for using artisan bread for the bun. This place has some class and then it's got raunch - take the hot Porno Sauce for example.

If you make it here to Venice in the LA area, head over and check this out. There are plenty of barbecue places in LA but very few that are as fun as Baby Blues.

B-

Brett's BBQ: Revisited

10550 Craftsman Way #185
San Diego, Ca 92127

Back in July 2007 we reviewed a new place called: Brett's BBQ. We liked it, didn't like it, liked it, brought more people to it who liked it, and liked it a little more.

The bottom line is this: we gave them a C+ and B-, waffling back and forth. But here's the kicker, I find myself going back for more and that's saying something. So, to set the record straight we want to say this: These guys are the real deal. This is barbeque, people - and it's CERTIFIED.

Hogg's Beach BBQ

1158 West San Marcos Boulevard,Suite #104
San Marcos, CA. 92078
760-510-9254

One thing seemed completely wrong immediately when we heard of this place: it's called "Beach" BBQ and they are in San Marcos. To be completely honest, this location is actually the 2nd of 2 stores, the first one being in La Jolla - which is in fact a beach town. But I've done some due diligence and fount out that the restaurant formally known for BBQ is now known for pizza. Yes, apparently, someone took it over or this that and the other, and now the place is called Extreme Pizza or Z Pizza whatever - in any case, the guy on the phone says that they don't have BBQ anymore but the do carry BBQ pizza which is very good. I asked him that that was smoked and he said, "well, no."

So on to #2 and what we got was... well, #2. This review was the second of the day and the first had already done us in a little bit so we were a little queasy. We decided to take on a classic - the pulled pork sandwich. Yes, this little number will set you back about $6 and the guy behind the counter thought we were dumb for taking so long to decide but some things are worth the wait. I will let you know when I find out what that is. What the guy prepared for us was some toasted BK bun with some "meat" whose texture could be described as a wet mop with a touch of barbecue flavoring.

We trudged through this tragedy, downing some of the hot sauce that only provided heat but no comfort and walked outside to the car only to find that the sandwich had one more trick up it's sleeve. Yes, aftertaste. This was south in the mouth for sure and if I were to expound on my previous tirade, this sandwich would be succinctly described as a "DIRTY wet mop."

Franically looking for something tosave us from this torture I reached deep into the door pockets to find two old, hard pieces of peppermint gum - ah, salvation at last.

D+

Fat Ivor's

Valley Center Rd
Valley Center, CA 92082
(760) 749-0600

Sure, there's a restaurant called Fat's. There's even one called Ivor's. This one is both. Yup, we confirmed it does exist, it's doors are open, and they serve BBQ. Plug into GPS nav, aka "Magic Box", and let's hit the road Good Bros!

Magic Box was showing that we would find this place way out past fast food row. A sad site pretty common these days. Major streets littered with fast food restaurants and other unappetizing food fair. We don't want pre-cooked food served up in one minute or less. I have a microwave at home for that. We're looking for some low and slow, classic BBQ. Keep driving. Fat Ivor's ETA in 15 minutes.

We pulled into the parking lot and saw the BBQ smokers parked off to the side. Yup, this is the place. If you're a fan of nostalgic western artwork and photographs, this place will have you grinning from ear to ear. If you're a fan of "The Duke" - John Wayne, or maybe Ronald Reagan's cowboy adventures, you would probably enjoy coming here just to check out the pictures. Fat Ivor's apparently burned down in the past, but the owners strapped on their boots and rebuilt the place. We're ready to give it a shot.

We ordered up some BBQ chicken and a pulled pork sandwich with some coleslaw, beans, and steak fries. The pulled pork is a misnomer as it was actually "sliced Carl Budding luncheon meat pork" and didn't have a nice smoky aroma or flavor. The chicken was OK, but only because of the BBQ sauce. It didn't have much of a smoky flavor to it either. The steak fries were the best of the side dishes, but the coleslaw and beans were disappointing.

Fat Ivor's is an interesting little place and off the beaten path. The crew that works here are welcoming and the wall art worth a look. Just don't get your hopes up of having top notch BBQ.
Happy BBQ trails.

C-