Pinkie's BBQ502 Pacific Coast Hwy
Hermosa Beach
310-379-0616
Oh the Westside/Southbay area of LA. Full of pretentious, jerk people. Their idea of BBQ is meat drowned in BBQ sauce. So it must be a huge shock for these people to come to a BBQ place like Pinkie's. Pinkie's is real BBQ, cooked low and slow with hickory wood. But Pinkie's does cater to it's customer because they only serve baby back ribs.
I got the rib basket, $7.50 with mac and cheese as the side. Three baby back ribs come with the basket. The ribs are well smoked, see the smoke ring, and had a nice bark. A good example of real BBQ meat. But the ribs were not that meaty and since they are baby backs they have little fat. I didn't think the portion size was worth the price. Maybe they could add another rib or at least give you ribs with more meat on the bone.
One thing I didn't like is how they were presented. The last picture is exactly how the ribs came to my table. I think ribs should come to the table with the bark end up, like the second picture. It just looks so much better. Or even with the smoke ring showing. Though I do understand that some people when they see pink, they think the meat isn't fully cooked.
I tried a little of the BBQ sauce and it had an overpowering vinegar taste. I am not a fan of any vinegar based sauce.
The mac and cheese was very good, though a tad salty for me taste, with the cheese and macaroni well mixed together. This portion could be bigger too.
Service was slow. The server was friendly and she was overwhelmed. She had to take care of about 12 people in the dining area, the 4-5 people ordering to go, and the 2-3 people at the counter. She was slow to get my ice tea, she was slow to get refills, the food took a bit longer than usual. But she was friendly and hard working. It wasn't as though she was sitting around doing nothing. While I didn't like it, I can understand why the service was slow.
I wouldn't rush back or I wouldn't make an special trip to Pinkie's. But this is one of the very few real BBQ places in the area. I understand Pinkie's used to be the second location of Skooby's one of my favorite hot dog places.
