Downtown BBQ Company-Closed

Downtown BBQ Company
11045 Downey Ave.
Downey
562-904-0447

On my way to Bob's Big Boy Broiler, I saw Downtown BBQ Company. But I wasn't sure if it was opened, the restaurant looked closed. But a quick search online, led me to a phone number and they are in fact opened. Sadly, though, that is the last good thing about Downtown BBQ Company.

When you combine bad service and overcooked BBQ, you get a bad BBQ experience.




I got the half rack of pork ribs, $10.95, with mac and cheese and onion rings. The ribs had no smoke ring or smoke flavor. These are the same type of ribs that you get from Chili's. But they were chewy, dry, tough, and fatty. Not good at all. These ribs were either cooked in an oven or under high heat on a grill. Either way, that is not real BBQ.

The BBQ sauce was pretty good, a sweeter tomato based sauce. But really nothing can save badly cooked ribs. The server wasn't helpful, I never heard the words "Thank you" and she was too busy talking to the other server. No wonder the restaurant is empty.

The mac and cheese was served cold, barely had any cheese, and lacked any seasoning. The onion rings were so salty and cold!!

Service was bad. When I walked in, a man was picking up his order and left. So I was the only customer in the restaurant.

I would never go back to this terrible BBQ restaurant again.

Bonnie B's Smokin BBQ

Bonnie B's Smokin
1280 N. Lake Ave
Pasadena
626-794-0132

Bonnie B's Smokin BBQ is the newest BBQ restaurant in Pasadena. Bonnie B's has been opened for about six months. I think it is more of a soul food restaurant, than BBQ. I would say Pasadena is an average BBQ city. Most BBQ restaurants are average at best. I like Robin's BBQ but they are inconsistent. Some other pretenders in Pasadena include Big Mama's, and Perdues BBQ.

I got the value portion of the spare ribs, $10.92, with mac and cheese and a green salad.



The garden salad was fresh iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese. The salad was standard, nothing special. But fresh and crispy.



I got four spare ribs with the value order. The spare ribs are smoked with oak wood. There is a slight hint of a bark, but it's nothing outstanding. The ribs were pretty tender and had a nice smoked flavor. But they were pretty fatty and not the best quality ribs.

The mac and cheese, I liked. The macaroni was welled cooked and the cheese was blended well together.

Service was great!!! I called because I didn't see the restaurant from Lake Ave. and the person on the phone was very nice and helpful. It just happened that the person also took my order, she continued to be nice and friendly. The owner or manager also came out to make sure everything was fine. You can tell they care about customer service.

The BBQ at Bonnie B's isn't the best but it's not bad. I wouldn't rush to go back or make a special trip, but I would go back if I'm in the area.

Raffi's Place Restaurant

Raffi's Place Restaurant
211 E Broadway
Glendale
818-240-7411

I have been to three Middle Eastern restaurants in Glendale; Shirazz, Carousel, and Elena's. I heard about Raffi's and decided to see it compares to the other three restuarants.

Raffi's is really in the patio area of two buildings. A nice setting for lunch. There is free 90 minute parking, just a few yards away.




I ordered the barg kebob, $17.99, then pieces of filet mignon. The first thing I noticed was the huge portions. The server brought what looked like a battleship sized, plate to our table. The piece of barg kebob was only about the size of half a cow!! I cut a piece off, with my fork and I knew it was going to be good; it was like a hot knife cutting butter. The beef was so tender and moist. The flavor wasn't as bold as the other restaurants, but it still had plenty of flavor.

But the rice was just great. So fluffy and flavorful. They use basmati rice and it was so good. Other restaurants use other type of rice or use a lesser quality basmati rice but this basmati rice was so good. Not greasy or oily, just full of flavor.

Service was friendly but a bit slow. The servers were nice but they took awhile to get our drinks and to refill our drinks. It wasn't bad but it wasn't the greatest either.

Raffi's is now my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant in Glendale. I love the quality of meat and the large portions.

Sam Han Korean BBQ-Closed

Sam Han Korean BBQ
1725 Nogales St
Rowland Heights
626-964-3389

Sam Han is the third Korean BBQ I have been to in Rowland Heights; after Feedable BBQ and Korea House.

Sam Han has recently been remodeled and while I haven't been there before, the remodel version looks very nice, with it's open concept.

All you can eat for $19.99 on weekends. So a little high but a friend was paying so I didn't care!!



In the back there was the buffet, filled with meats and sides dish and desserts. All the dishes were refilled quickly and they had people cleaning the area. Very good compared to Feedable, where the buffet line was mess at times.



As most readers of The New Diner know, I'm no a fan of the sides of Korean BBQ. But Julie, a very nice Yelper, (Yes, I know an oxymoron, since most Yelpers are punk kids who steal copyrighted photos.) called me out about Korean BBQ. So went to Sam Han with the intent of trying all the sides. But when I saw some of the items on the buffet table, I said forget those sides.

Since I found something great; a chowmein dish that was just awesome. Tender soft noodles lightly fried in a wok, some cabbage and soy sauce. The perfect compliment to grilled meat!! Hey Chinese-Korean fusion!!

I also liked the large amounts of fresh iceberg lettuce. I would top the grilled meats and make a protein style taco!!!




Beef short ribs and bugolgi. The best part of all you can eat Korean BBQ, is the all you can eat part. The worst part? Poor quality meat!! The bugolgi was one of the fattiest, toughest, chewiest pieces of beef I have ever eaten. Though there was pretty good seasonings and flavor.

The short ribs were full of fat and also chewing.






This was just labeled beef. This was the best example of beef at Sam Han. Not much fat, tender, flavorful.




If you like pork, Sam Han has some great pork. The reddish colored item is spicy pork chop. The other is just a seasoned pork chop.

The spicy pork chop wasn't too spicy but wasn't mild either. The seasoned pork chop just had salt and pepper.I loved both. They were good quality- tender, flavorful.




Bacon and brisket. These were like any other Korean BBQ, bacon-not seasoned or smoked. When cooked, very fatty, not flavorful.

Brisket, sliced thin but tough and chewy. Does this ring a bell?




Chicken and spicy chicken. The chicken was frozen!!! But it just meant, it would sit on the grill a bit longer. It was OK, kind of bland, lacking seasoning. Fairly tender.

The spicy chicken was marinated with the same spices as the spicy pork chop. I thought the spicy chicken was tender and flavorful.

Service was pretty good but a bit slow about refilling drinks. I was impressed with how quickly the meats were restocked on the buffet table and how clean they kept the buffet table.

I wouldn't rush back to Sam Han because of the poor quality of the beef. But I do like the sides they offer-loved the chow mein, and the pork chops.

President Thai-Closed

President Thai 1390 Fullerton Rd Ste 105 Rowland Heights 626-839-3340 President Thai is in the same shopping center as New Capitol Seafood. They had a $6.99 special that is valid all day. The special includes choice or salad or Tom Yum soup, rice, and fried wontons. So I decided to give one of their specials a try, along with an order of chicken satay and calamari. Tom Yum soup: This is the Thai version of hot and sour soup. This was pretty good. Not too spicy but you can taste some heat. A nice sour finish. Very pretty hot, not pippin hot but good starter. 3 Flavor shrimp and scallops, $6.99. I was very impressed with this dish. The shrimp and scallops are lightly breaded, then fried, placed on top of a bed of cabbage. Then a sweat and sour type sauce is poured over them. The scallops, which out numbered the shrimp, was cook perfectly, fresh, not chewy, and worked well with the sweet and sour sauce. The outside of the shrimp was cooked perfectly but the inside was a bit mushy. This was a wide assortment of textures and flavors. I did like the dish. If the shrimp wasn't mushy, I would have really liked the dish. Chicken satay, $8.95. They were grilled nicely but the actual chicken was very dry and rubbery. I wasn't impressed. I wouldn't order these again. Calamari: The calamari wasn't fresh, must have been frozen, because this was very chewy and rubbery. I have never had calamari topped with seasame seeds. Interesting. But not impressed with this dish. Service was pretty good, even though they were pretty busy. I do think the daily specials, there must be over 25 dishes, are a good deal. I did like my dish and I would go back to try other dishes. But I would stay away from the appetizers.

Old Fashioned Flavor BBQ-Closed

Old Fashioned Flavor BBQ
10510 S Western Ave
Los Angeles
323-418-0950

I made Get It N Go BBQ the first stop on my BBQ trip. So then I drove about three miles to Old Fashioned BBQ. I'm surprised I didn't hear about Old Fashioned sooner. I understand it has been opened for at least five year.

Again the best part of this trip was finding out that, Mom's Bar-B-Que, was still around.



Spare ribs with macaroni salad, $9.00. I saw the huge smokers sitting outside, going at full blast, so I figured they had some good turnover of meats. I soon found out that wasn't the case. The ribs I had were dry and chewy. They did have some smoke flavor but the smoke ring was gone because these ribs had been sitting around for too long.

The BBQ sauce was a ketchup like, sweet sauce. I wasn't impressed but I needed something to make the ribs moist.

Service was great. Very friendly and nice people. I was greeted as I walked in, addressed as Sir. There are times when I walk into a restaurant and I'm never greeted. Here, I'm greeted right away and addressed as Sir. Many restaurant workers, including those at chains could take lessons.

I know I said I would go back to Get It N Go BBQ, because of the great service. Now more than likely I will give Old Fashioned Flavor BBQ, another chance, but the risk is you the same poor quality ribs. I think the trouble is, with Mom's Bar-B-Que, so close, I would drive to Mom's first.

Get It 'N Go BBQ-Closed

Get It 'N Go BBQ
1958 W Florence Ave
Los Angeles
323-750-2227 (This is the correct phone number. The phone number on the sign, in the picture above, is wrong.)

I found out about two BBQ restaurants this week; Get It 'N Go BBQ and Old Fashioned Flavor BBQ While looking for directions to both restaurants, I found out they were about three miles apart. So I decided to do a BBQ taste test. I would order a lunch or small portion of pork spare ribs from both, Get It 'N Go BBQ and Old Fashioned.

The best part about this BBQ trip, though, was finding out that Mom's Bar-B-Que, is close by. I love that place.

Get It 'N Go BBQ, used to be a Smokee Joe's BBQ. But the owners of Get It N Go, a soul food restaurant, bought it and made it their BBQ restaurant. I will have to try the soul food at Get It N Go.



I got the lunch portion of the pork spare ribs, $8.69, with mac salad. There is a small table to eat outside, so I decided that would be the best place for me to eat. The ribs were very thin and small. They had a decent bark, nothing great. But they were tough, chewy, and dry. They did have a nice smoke flavor, they use oak wood to smoke their meats. But these three ribs had been sitting around for too long.

I think if they had a good turnover on the ribs, and you got a fresh batch, they would have been pretty good. But what I got was a older, dried out version.

The BBQ sauce, which I got a mixed version, was pretty good. It started out sweet but then a nice kick came along. But even good BBQ sauce could not help these dry ribs.

Service was great. The man, was very friendly during my entire visit. I was greeted right away, he was very helpful and just so welcoming. He even told me that there was an extra charge for some sides like mac and cheese. He wasn't trying to be sneaky like many restaurants.

The ribs here have potential. Because of the great service, I will come back to Get It 'N Go BBQ and give them another chance. But the small size, chewy, tough, and dry ribs, means it maybe awhile before I do make it back.

Les Sisters Southern Kitchen

Les Sisters Southern Kitchen
21818 Devonshire St
Chatsworth
818-998-0755

While I was enjoying dinner at Rosie's BBQ Kitchen, a couple of my dining companions told me that Les Sisters was very close by. I have known about Les Sisters for about four years but have never tried it.

Les Sisters is more of a soul/Southern restaurant, than a BBQ. But I wanted to try their ribs.



BBQ pork spare ribs, $7.95. Not impressed at all. These ribs were dry, flavorless, and pretty bad. There was no smoke flavor to speak of. Either these ribs were a couple days old or they do not know how to do BBQ. The BBQ sauce was pretty sweet and I don't like sweet BBQ sauce. But I needed something to make these ribs, moist.



Shrimp basket, $7.95, with one side; mac and cheese. But the shrimp was great!!! Lightly battered, in a spicy batter, these fried shrimp was among the best I've ever had. You get five shrimp in a lunch order. The shrimp was tender, flavorful and wonderful!!

The macaroni was tender and the cheese sauce just coated the macaroni, perfectly. But overall, it was too bland. Adding some seasonings would have made this mac and cheese very good.

Service was a bit slow, because they were short a server. But they were hard working and friendly.

I would go back to Les Sisters but I would only order the soul food items. I bet the fried chicken is awesome here, because they use the same batter on the chicken as the shrimp. It should go without saying, the shrimp Po' Boy, would be awesome too!!

Tlaquepaque Restaurant

Tlaquepaque Restaurant
101 W Santa Fe Ave
Placentia
714-528-0110
The last restaurant I ate at in Placentia, was atTaqueria De Anda. When I heard about Tlaquepaque Restaurant, have a 99 cents Taco Tuesday, I decided to see how Tlaquepaque compares to Taqueria De Anda.

I guess Tlaquepaque had been in Placentia for a long time but closed down about four years ago, but recently reopened.



I got the chicken and carnitas tacos. Tacos are filled with meat, cilantro, and onions.

Chicken taco: The chicken was a bit dry and you had to search for the chicken. There wasn't much flavor to the chicken either. They need to add some seasonings and spices!!

The carnitas was very good. Nice flavor, very tender, moist, exactly opposite of the chicken.



Carne asada and el pastor tacos. Again the tacos were topped with cilantro and onions.

Carne asada taco: Lots of carne asada, that was moist, tender, and flavorful. A good example of what carne asada should taste like.

El pastor taco: Not as impressed with the el pastor. Flavorful? Yes. Tender? Yes. But lots and lots of gristle and fat. If they used a better cut of pork, this could have been good.

Service was fast and friendly!! I was greeted as I walked into the restaurant. Then while waiting for the tacos, every server who walked by, asked if I was being helped!!! I have been to restaurants where the hostess didn't greet me, so it was so refreshing to be asked by 3-4 different servers if I had been helped.

So, which serves the better taco in Placentia? Taqueria De Anda or Tlaquepaque? I would have to say overall, the winner is Taqueria De Anda because I've never had a bad taco there. But the carne asada and carnitas tacos are about even at both places. Tlaquepaque comes up short because of the bland chicken and fatty el pastor tacos.

But for 99 cents, you can't really lose. So I would go back to Tlaquepaque anytime. I may give the el pastor another try but I would have to really think about the chicken.

Boneyard Bistro

Boneyard Bistro
13539 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks
818-906-7427

I have known about Boneyard Bistro for about three years. But I wasn't thrilled reading the reviews of Boneyard. The high prices, the average BBQ. I was thinking Boneyard Bistro was going to be like another BBQ place, that is close by; Mr. Cecil's, a place I have no interest in trying again. But I later learned, I was wrong about Boneyard Bistro.

The owner/chef at Boneyard Bistro is a trained chef. But BBQ isn't something you learn at a culinary school. It's an art that is perfected by trail and error. As most readers know, I'm not all about the pretentiousness when dining out, especially for BBQ.

But I have had good luck with another BBQ restaurant, where the chef was classically trained, The Smokin Joint BBQ. So I decided to finally try Boneyard Bistro.

Every Monday, Boneyard Bistro, offers a half priced beer special. The beers they have are high quality beer, some with huge alcohol content. So the half priced special is a great deal. Now, the high priced BBQ.





One thing I like about Boneyard Bistro is that, on the menu he mentions that some of the meats are GRILLED. Grilling is different than REAL BBQ. Grilling is taking that Weber and cooking at high heat. Sure putting some wood chips will give some smoke flavor but that's not real BBQ.

I got the half rack of St. Louis spare ribs, with fried mac and cheese and french fries, $22. Six big, meaty pieces of spare ribs come on my plate. All with that nice pink, smoke ring!!! Very good start. I take a bite from one of the ribs. Very tender, good smoke flavor, and very little fat. What does that mean? These ribs were cooked low and slow, which is REAL BBQ. Of the six ribs, five ribs were great. One rib had too much fat, which does happen. Oh, one other thing, while these are labeled as St. Louis spare ribs, a few bones had the rib tip, see the white pieces of cartilage on some of the bones. I actually prefer my ribs with the tips on there!!! So it's not a big deal.

The fried mac and cheese, was different and I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or not.

I got the fries well done, not knowing they were the thin shoestring fries. I figured they were regular sized fries. These fries would have been great but would have been better if just cooked regularly. I'll take blame for ordering the fries well done but maybe the server could have mentioned the fries were shoestring fries. But that's not a big deal. I go to a BBQ restaurant for the meat, not some fries.

Service was very good. The restaurant was pretty busy and I didn't lack for anything.

I was very impressed with Boneyard Bistro and would go back again. Yes, it is pricey but the BBQ is very good.

Hole In the Wall Deli BBQ-Closed

Hole In the Wall Deli
21162 S Western Ave
Torrance
310-328-7499

The good old South Bay area of LA. Suburbs galore. Chains restaurants galore. I don't expect much from this area in terms of BBQ. So I should have been leary about going to a liquor store/deli that serves up BBQ.

I walked in and saw the BBQ, just like Ward and June, had on Leave It to Beaver. It's a bigger backyard grill!!!. So what they used hardwood charcoal. This isn't real BBQ.

For people who think Chili's or Tony Roma's is BBQ, Hole in the Wall Deli BBQ, will be good. For others who want slow cooked meats, using the smoke (not the high heat) of hardwoods, go somewhere else.


I got the three pork rib dinner, $7.99, with corn and macaroni salad. The ribs, which were coated with a too much vinegar, tomato based BBQ sauce, were tough and chewy. These are spare ribs, so only cooking them for long periods of time, over low heat will make them tender. When using high heat, it's called GRILLING. They also could use better quality ribs. Very poor quality ribs.

The worst part? One of the ribs, was a four bone section of the tip!!! Come on man, give me a rib, not the tip!!

The corn on the cob, was small, pretty much drowned in butter, and just lacked any sweetness or tenderness.

I didn't touch the mac salad.

Service was below average. One word answers to question, not helpful, not friendly.

If you like Tony Roma's or Chili's, you will like this Deli BBQ. If you like real BBQ, keep driving.

Giuseppe's Pizza

Giuseppe's Pizza
2433 N Euclid Ave
Ste C
Upland
909-946-5979

For some reason, I've been craving kebobs, this weekend. I wanted to try a new place, and then I remembered David Allen's Review of Giuseppe's Pizza, and decided to go there.

Yes, a place called Giuseppe's, does serve kebobs. The owners are Iranians, who bought Giuseppe's Pizza and added Middle Eastern dishes.



Giuseppe's has a great view of the mountains, a wonderful setting for dinner.




Chicken kebob, $14.99, dinners come with grilled tomato, basmati rice, and pita bread but sadly no hummus. The chicken breast was grilled but lacked seasoning, very bland and worse it was dry.

I also didn't like the portion size. I thought for price, the portions were a bit small.

But the rice was awesome. Flavored with butter and maybe cooked in chicken stock, this was so fluffy and flavorful. Just great.



Beef shish kebob, $16.99, again with tomato, basmati rice and pita bread. The rice was the same great rice.

The beef was pretty good, grilled just right and had much more seasoning and flavor than the chicken. Pretty tender, I would say a tri tip cut.

I also liked the portion size, for the beef, much better than the portion size for the chicken. But overall I thought this was a bit pricey for the portion.

Service, for a to go order, was very good. A man, who I believe is the owner, took my order and was nice. A woman, who I believe is the owner's wife, gave me my order and was very nice.

I would like to go back to Giuseppe's Pizza and try the pizza and the lasagna, which looked great!! But I thought the Middle Eastern dishes were a bit overpriced.