Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que Tustin, Orange County, CA

I will start off with stating that I usually avoid chain restaurants. I have nothing against them, except for the fact that by the time they get big the cookie cutter economics and business style that comes with big chains will usually lower the quality of the food. Thankfully there are exceptions to this rule, and I'm happy to say the Lucille's is one of them.

So it was sunny Sunday around noon. I was visiting my folks up in the OC and trying to think of something that we all could eat. My parents have gotten more adventuresome as they've aged but getting them to go somewhere new can still be a bit of a hassle. For example, you will never find my mother in a little taqueria down in Santa Ana, no matter how great the food might be, a restaurant has to be clean looking both inside and out for her to approach it. My father on the other hand loves meat, so that takes out a lot of the places where meat is not the centerpiece of the meal, and don't you dare try to feed him tofu. My sister is still nursing a sensitive stomach so anything with too much heat is out, but she is flexible and not shy about asking the chef to change a dish to suit her tastes. So with this group I had to be sly and smart and practical. I finally settled on something very all American, simple, and tasty, Bar-B-Que.

Any way you spell it barbeque is the cornerstone of American eating. Good barbeque takes time and passion to create. Finding barbeque is easy, everybody has their little hole in the wall, or style they like, but finding something everyone can agree on is hard at the best of times. Thankfully a good friend of mine introduced me to Lucille's at one, or two or three of his birthday parties. I was instantly intrigued by the premise, and the giant smoker kept onside, inside the main eating hall, but I digress.

We made our way to the Lucille's in Tustin. The place had the feel of a slightly upscale TGIF, but underneath that there was something more. I didn't notice it until we sat down but the people were happy. After taking our drink orders our server said, "If you need anything just stop somebody we all share the (workload or tips)". I've heard of the idea before, even been to a restaurant that did it in theory, but I saw here that they really meant it, and that smile. It wasn't the regular, "Hey I got to work here, I'll do my best, what can I get you?" It was more, I am surprised by the fact I enjoy working here. The food is pretty good and I really do hope you enjoy yourself smile. Then came the biscuits.

Big, really big, buttermilk biscuits with a side of maple butter. It took all my willpower to only wolf down one biscuit. Everyone else had at least two. My fiance who loves biscuits, gets them every time we go anywhere that offers them, said they are the best she has ever had, and that wasn't even an appetizer. That is just what they offer when you first sit down. We did wind up getting three appetizers, a half order of Onion Straws. These are basically incredibly thin strips of onion deep fried in buttermilk. Perfect if you don't really like onions, because they are 90% batter anyway, so of course they were delicious. We also ordered some Fried Green Tomatoes because, well you have to order that in a southern restaurant. They were thick, breaded slabs of tomato battered in corn meal and deep fried, atop a slightly spicy red pepper cream sauce. Not hot but with just a hint of kick and a lot of flavor (sorry about the picture, everyone grabbed some before I could get a good picture of it, which just goes to show how tasty they are). Finally my sister and fiance split a plate of Flame Roasted Artichoke. Not my favorite dish, but I managed to snag a piece of artichoke heart and dip it in the very garlicky dip, which turned out to be pretty tasty. The piece of artichoke heart, I should add, was all that was left when they were done.

Trying not to gorge myself on the Onion Straws I waited and watched as the rest of my family ordered a second round of biscuits. You see I'd been to Lucille's before so I knew just how much food we were going to be getting. A short time later the food arrived. Giant slabs of food brought out by three people and gingerly placed before us. I had ordered the Beef Ribs, seven gigantic meat covered pieces of bone and some of the best Beef Ribs I've ever had short of Phil's, but believe me it is close. Of course that came with two sides so I got a little thing of Mac and Cheese and after a few moments of hesitation decided on the Fresh Vegetables. The vegetables were you basic fair (carrots, squash, a corn or two, and bits of red pepper) sounds healthy, but then slather it in oil, butter, and pepper and it is slightly less so, but still delicious. The Mac and Cheese were gooey concoctions of cheese and macaroni heaped into a bowl. Steering away from creamy this Mac and cheese is a bit on the heavy side, and just a bit chewy but only with the cheese, not the mac. The macaroni was cooked perfectly. Definitely one of the better bowls of Mac and Cheese I've ever gotten.

My dad surprised me by ordering the Jambalaya. I thought for sure he would order a rack of something. Still I understand as the Jambalaya has a nice little kick to it, and he does love a bit of spice in his food. I stole a bit and remembered just how much I liked the Jambalaya when I'd gotten it. It is definitely my go to if I don't feel up to having mounds of meat at Lucille's. The rice was cooked just right though I've had better "dirty" rice before, the chicken, hot links, and shrimp were also good, and I think Lucille's does a pretty good job with the piquante tomato sauce they pour over everything. Could do without the garnish though, looked a bit like a toupee made of grass to me.




My mom got a lunch special, the Ribs and Tri-Tip, she also got a side of roasted Vegetables. She settled on the pork ribs, which while I do enjoy them I prefer Phil's. As for the Tri-Tip it they are one of my mom's favorites. I've had them before and while I will always prefer ribs those of you who like slow cooked meat that comes as soft and flavorful then you will not be disappointed.

My sister, the one with the somewhat sensitive stomach, also got a lunch special, the BBQ Chicken Sandwich, hold the BBQ, which blew my mind a bit. I took a small bite, and while I think the Chicken could have been more flavorful, even without the BBQ sauce it was still moist. It also didn't hurt that it was covered in melted cheddar and stacked high with onion straws.



My fiance, and soon to be wife, also got a sandwich. Being a lover of tri-tip she ordered the BBQ Tri-Tip Sandwich with a side of cheese grits. She really loved the sandwich, enough so that I didn't even get to steal a bite, but the cheese grits were a bit below what she was expecting. I managed to sneak a taste and while good they weren't as smooth as the ones her family makes, though they certainly were cheesy.

After a 20-30 minutes of contented eating we were all stuffed. I, having exercised a good two hours before coming so I could eat my fill, managed to make my way to the smoker, where the chef working it was nice enough to let me have a peak inside. Yes, there is an entire smoker inside of the restaurant.















We left, after grabbing a lollipop or two from the Flying Pig Lounge, and stumbled out to our car to go home and do what all great families do after eating tons of BBQ, take a nap. As for Lucille's the place feels comforting, the people are happy, and the food is plentiful. I would go back there any time.

Lucille's (Multiple Locations)
The District at Tustin
2550 Park Ave
Tustin, CA 92782
(714) 259-1227
http://www.lucillesbbq.com/

Rockin Crepes, Huntington Beach, CA

So I just turned... a year older, and I wanted to do something special for my birthday, but I wanted it to be different from the usual birthday feast that accompany me and my friends' passing of one more year. You see my friends birthdays are almost always an excuse to eat massive amounts of food. Good food, always good food, but I'm just waiting for, well one of them in particular to ask us all to go over to Home Town Buffet and eat until we pass out. Yeah, you know who you are. After years of eating mounds of beef at Korean BBQ's (calculating how many plates of meat you would have to eat to make up for how much you paid), or Dim Sum (stick to stuff you recognize, or bring along a native speaker), or Southern BBQ (of which I tend to gnaw on the bones afterwards, but that's another review), I wanted to go somewhere with an air of class, sophistication, where flavor and texture was valued over quantity, but not so nice or they wouldn't let me or my friends in. I finally settled on a little place a few blocks away from the Huntington Beach, Rockin Crepes.

We arrived around two, my girlfriend and a few close friends of mine, to a strip mall off Atlanta Ave. We strolled into a dimly lit room with a long row of tables each emblazoned with a different Metal or Hair Band. I was surprised to realize that I recognized most of them. From Anthrax to Aerosmith each table was a homage to the wild 70's, 80's and 90's of Metal. Every conceivable image of the band from concert pictures to guest appearances on the Simpsons was used. My friends and I went towards the back and choose the Metallica table. I think my seat may have been decorated with the Master of Puppets album cover, but at that point I was starving looking forward to the food too much to give it a second glance. As the waitress took our orders I looked round at the walls, a garish blend of black and orange paint with speaker box designs and rockesque sayings, I'll let your imagination take it from there. I looked around and I thought "This color scheme in here should be making me sick to my stomach, but it isn't". The design actually worked towards adding a much needed bit of grunge to the place, which was somewhat difficult in that nice a section of Orange County.

Finally, I pulled out a menu and was assaulted by a parade of sweet and savory crepes with names such as Alice Cooper and Def Leppard, followed by a brief description, and then a lyric, “Schools Out!”, and, “Pour some sugar on me!” Behind that they listed the amount of calories for each item, a strange addition considering the theme, but I guess even rock stars have to watch their weight. After spending way too much time reading the menu I finally settled on the Motorhead, partly beause I had that song in my head, The Ace of Spades, and partly because it had Cholula. My girlfriend got the Van Halen, and to be honest I forgot just what my friends got. I believe one of them got the Soundgarden (the one band I personally question being on the menu), and someone got a ZZ Top with a smoothie. I’m pretty positive it was The Randy Rhodes, and I’ll be honest I have no idea who that is. Finally my sister got a Cinderella. I won’t list the ingredients, just go to their web page, it is worth it to read the descriptions of the food if only for interesting use of lyrics in their description.

It was a bit of a wait, but not bad considering they had to make five crepes. The finished product was exactly what I had been expecting. Each crepe was well made, and had a light drizzle of sauce on the top. The insides were warm, fresh, and filling. Which was pretty amazing considering the highest calorie count for the crepes on the table was 395. That was mine of course. Not that I count calories, but getting something really tasty and filling while not eating a ton of food kept that warm feeling in my belly from spreading to my heart. The only sour note was my girlfriends Van Halen, the chicken in it was a bit dry. So the next time we will get what we got the first time we were there, The Pantera. It is the equivalent of a pepperoni pizza crepe, and it is even better than it sounds. The rest of us enjoyed our food so much we ended up splitting two desert crepes, The White Zombie, and the Iron Maiden. Both delicious, though not as good as the savory crepes, and both gone pretty quickly. Satisfied with our food, we stumbled out the front door, ready to Rock and Roll that night, or at least party for the rest of the day.

Rockin Crepes

8943 Atlantic Ave.

Huntington Beach, CA 92646

http://www.rockincrepeshb.com/

Phil's BBQ, Point Loma, San Diego, CA

It was another beautiful Saturday in San Diego and my sister had just dropped in to visit me. After commenting on the variety of great places I’d eaten since moving here she finally told me to choose a place for us to have lunch. A burning desire to eat BBQ chicken had been nagging me for the last couple of days so I asked my girlfriend, who felt too ill to join us, what the best BBQ place in the city was, and she replied without hesitation Phil’s. Now, this was not my first San Diego BBQ joint, and my past attempts at finding good BBQ were met with mixed results, some really good but not great, others downright horrible, but with BBQ sometimes you have to roll the dice. So after looking up the directions my sister and I departed on what was to become my favorite BBQ joint, ever.

A few wrong turns later we finally arrived at the Sports Arena, and to a very, very long line rounding the corner of Phil’s. We had seen the line before, via a web cam on the Phil’s BBQ website. In fact it was that line that convinced me to go there in the first place, because no place with bad BBQ would have such a long line of diners waiting to get in. It just defied the law of BBQ economics, where-in BBQ can be bought, made, and found in many places, some not necessarily BBQ specific locals, so a line that long could only exist at an exceptional BBQ joint, but I digress.
After a twenty minute wait we made our way to the front of the line. Once there a very friendly server, a trait which I found among all of the staff at Phil’s, explained the procedure for getting our food, a seat, and our eat on. First you order, then you find a seat, difficult but not impossible. In fact there is even a sort of maitre’d whose job was solely to find seats for people. In addition a large group in front of us, six or so, were found a seat ahead of ordering. So even before I sat down the place was already impressing me with their business model.

When we finally got to the counter my sis and I had come to an agreement as to what we would order. As we were both a fan of BBQ chicken, but wanted to try everything we ordered the “Best of Both.” I ended up getting the sweet baked beans and fries with baby back ribs and a half chicken, while my sis got the steamed veggies with Beef Ribs and four boneless chicken chunks, and we split a side of onion rings. While we waited for our food we found a seat in the corner, and got drinks, which they had ranging from the usual self serve soda fountain variety to sweet and non-sweet tea.
Now comes the part that impresses me the most. After being buzzed I went to get our food, only to be confronted by three giant platters. Without a second thought the server on the other side of the counter calls for someone to help me get my food to my seat. I know that may not sound all that amazing, but after sitting in some very nice restaurants with snooty waiters, and hole in the wall places where they wanted you out as soon as you started eating, it was a nice change of pace to have a staff that made it apparent they really cared about the people they were serving.

As for the food, it was amazing. Even the beef ribs, which a majority of BBQ joints seem to overcook or don’t offer at all, were great. The meat on the baby back ribs and the chicken slid off the bone, and was delicious. The sweet baked beans were dripping with sauce, and the fries were just the right amount of crispy. Even my sister’s steamed veggies were tasty. The amount of food was bordering on just right to excessive. Phil’s definitely does not scrip on the serving size. As you can see in the pictures I got about seven baby back ribs, and my sister got 3 gigantic beef ribs, and we both got a fair amount of chicken. All that along with the sides were more than enough to fill me up, though we did get a full rack of baby back for later, I mean for my girlfriend for when she was feeling better. Yeah that’s right. Love you baby.
So, Phil’s now ranks at the top of my BBQ focused restaurants through a combination of customer service, food, and portions. I would highly recommend it to anybody down in San Diego looking for a great BBQ at a great price. Only be prepared, word got out and relatives I haven't even heard of popping in for a visit, popping in, and they all want to stop off at Phil’s.

Phil's BBQ
3750 Sports Arena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
(619)226-6333
http://www.philsbbq.net/

Thanks to all the people at Phil's who made my visit so great. Also thanks to Yelp and whoever took the pic of the front of Phil's, because I forgot to. Finally you'll notice that there is a big ol' bite taken out of the chicken on one of the plates in the picture. Yeah, that's mine. The food smelled so good I couldn't wait.