116 N Vincent Ave
West Covina
626-339-6787
I went to Hungry Al's Bar-B-Que in 2005, when I first started The New Diner. I wasn't impressed and never went back. A few months ago, I drove past Hungry Al's and noticed, what I thought was a new sign. But, a closer look showed a new BBQ place that replaced Hungry Al's.
Holy Smokes Bar-B-Que opened in August, 2011. The owner of Hungry Al's retired and closed the restaurant in April 2011. Today, I finally got a chance to try the BBQ at Holy Smokes.
I got the lunch rib plate, $7.88, with macaroni salad. The lunch portion is served all day and has three spare ribs. The ribs include the tips, so they aren't St. Louis ribs, making them huge, these three ribs filled me up. The ribs had a decent bark, I tasted cumin and a nice smoke ring. But, when I bite into the ribs, they had a weird texture. I thought they may have been boiled before they were smoked, but the more I ate the ribs, I'm thinking they are grilled at high heat, which isn't BBQ, it's grilling!! For what they are, grilled, the ribs were pretty good. But, it's not the BBQ I was expecting. The BBQ sauce is a tomato based sauce with a strong cumin flavor. The macaroni salad tasted like it came out of a can.
Service is pretty good. The lady taking orders, who I believe is the owner or related to the owner, isn't really a people person, she is more reserved and not the friendly out going personality that is more suited for customer service. She is friendly, just not out going. It may bother people that the food was service to to go containers and utensils were plastic, but it's BBQ-which isn't gourmet.
While the ribs were huge and the prices very reasonable, I personally wouldn't go back. The ribs aren't smoked or the very least, they didn't do a good job of smoking the ribs.
