Brats Brothers-Closed

Brats Brothers
13456 1/2 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks
818-986-4020

Just little east on Ventura Blvd., from Boneyard Bistro, is Brats Brother. I guess they were on that show with the loudmouth jerk host, Diners, Drive ins, and Dives. I didn't see the episode but I wanted some hot dogs, so I dropped in.

They make their own mustard; try the hot and sweet wasabi mustard, what great flavor and texture. But they charge for toppings, 75 cents for onions. Come on now.



Frankfurter, $3.75, all beef. This frankfurter was grilled, with a nice char and a good snap. The bun is huge, almost overwhelms the frankfurter, but I love the texture and chewiness of the bun. It works very well with any brats, sausage or frankfurter on the menu. But this was way too bland, almost as if there was no seasoning. The size is good but was almost like eating, those overrated, Dodger Dogs.



Polish sausage-pork, $5.50. Whatever seasonings that was missing in the frankfurter, must have been put in the polish sausage. This is the best Polish sausage I have ever had. It was huge, I would say close to 1/4lb. The first bite and there was a ton of flavor bursting through. This is a mild flavor, not a spicy Polish, but it's great.

Service is good. The guy who took my order was nice and friendly. A great thing about Brats Brothers; BYOB!! Yes, you can bring your own beer.

I loved the Polish sausage and wouldn't have any issues coming back, but I do think Brats Brother is on the pricey side. I also do not like the fact they charge for toppings. I mean, 75 cents for onions???

Smoke City Market-Closed

Smoke City Market
5424 Van Nuys Blvd
Sherman Oaks
818-855-1280

Smoke City Market was suppose to open, at least according to an LA Eater story, back in September. That didn't happen.

Then according to their Facebook page, they were going to have a soft opening on October 28th. That didn't happen.

But, finally Smoke City opened on November 4th. A friend who lives nearby told me about the opening, and a group of us dropped in.

This is billed as a Texas style BBQ, mean brisket and beef are king. But the Texas BBQ I like, is smoked with mesquite. Smoke City meats are smoked with oak.

All meats are sold by the pound and are very pricey. $18/lb for beef ribs, $8.25/lb for brisket, and $8.50/lb for baby back ribs.




I'm all about pork ribs, I prefer spare ribs but baby backs are fine. This half rack of baby back ribs was dry, salty, and just overpowered with smoke. Smoke should enhance the flavor of the meat, not overwhelm it. There was very little to no rub, but the salt and pepper seasoning was too heavy on the salt. The ribs, actually all the meats, were dry because they had been sitting in a warmer for too long.

This was not worth the $8.50/lb price.




The beef ribs at $18/lb, must be the most overpriced BBQ meat I have ever had. The ribs were huge, I'll give them that. But otherwise, it was dry, fatty, and lacked flavor. I rib I got was slightly over a pound and not worth the roughly $20 price tag.



The brisket is the best meat, I had at Smoke City. They have three selections of brisket. Lean, moist, and cutter's choice. The cutter's choice is a mixture of the lean and moist brisket. The brisket was a bit fatty. Look, I know brisket has a lot of fat. But when the right pitmaster works on the a cut of meat, he can turn that fat into flavor. The moist brisket was more fatty, than the lean, but still too much fat. The lean brisket was dry, and while it didn't have as much fat, it was too dry.

But, for three people our bill came to $100!!! This was not worth $100, not even half that amount. Ok, I'll grant you, we didn't have to order the beef ribs at $18/lb. But even at that price, we got about 3lbs, that's still $40 for a lb of brisket and half rack of baby back ribs and a few sides, which I didn't touch. The last time I went to Dr. Hogly Wogly, I was able to get a brisket and beef rib combo, with two sides for about $20 and their brisket and beef ribs are much better than Smoke City.

Service was very good at the restaurant. The people are nice and friendly and they really want you to enjoy your dining experience. But, while their use of
Facebook is a good thing, what good is it, if you give the wrong information. They were suppose to have a soft opening on Oct. 28th, this is their post:

"Smoke City Market Hey Fans!!! We are ready!!! After all this time, effort, and research we will be opening our doors for a soft launch on Thursday, October 28th! Thank you all for your support and we can not wait to serve you!
October 24 at 9:51pm"

But that soft launch didn't happen. The food trucks are using Twitter and Facebook to get the word out. If the trucks tweeted they were going to be at a location at 7pm and didn't show, they wouldn't have many customers anymore. Thus it's important to have accurate information!! Look, I know it's a pain to get permits and other things. But at least inform the people by updating the Facebook page.

I wish Smoke City Market, success. I hope they do well. They are nice people in person. But the high prices, poor quality of BBQ, and not giving accurate information on social websites, are three strikes against them. I won't go back here and to be honest, I would be shocked if Smoke City is still open next November 4th.

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.

The Infield Hot Dog Stand-Closed

The Infield Hot Dog Stand 

14333 Ventura Blvd 

Sherman Oaks 

818-501-1850 

With about 70 days until Opening Day, I wanted to get back that baseball feeling. The rush of going to a game and seeing that beautiful green field for the first time. Eating hot dogs at the game. Why do hot dogs taste better at baseball games? So I found The Infield Hot Dog Stand in Sherman Oaks. This used to be a pastrami place, called The Dip. I thought about having a dip but I came out here for the hot dogs and got a hot dog. There is only patio seating. What great patio seating it is. The seats are actual seats from older stadiums.

 

Dodger Stadium seats, from the blue reserved level.

 

Exhibition Stadium seats, former home of the Toronto Blue Jays.

  Tiger Stadium seats, former home of the Detroit Tigers.

 

Sandy Koufax dog, $4, with regular mustard and raw onions. The hot dog is a 1/4 lb kosher, Hebrew National hot dog. Why is it named Sandy Koufax dog? Sandy Koufax is a legend and happens to be Jewish. Seriously, if you don't know who Sandy Koufax is, please do not read my blog. I love Hebrew National hot dogs, they don't have a snap because there are no casing, but they use quality meats and seasonings. The hot dog was steamed and tasted great. The onions were so fresh, just awesome. They could have put a little more mustard but overall it was good. October 6, 2010 will mark the 45th anniversary of Sandy Koufax, refusing to pitch in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series. Koufax took this stance, because Oct. 6, 1965, fell on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews. Koufax who was already revered, became a LA icon. If there was a Mt. Rushmmore for LA athletes, Sandy Koufax would be one of the four athletes picked. Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor would be the other three athletes on my Mt. Rushmore. I can't believe there are some younger Jewish kids in LA, who do NOT know who Sandy Koufax is!!!!!!! Rabbis need to teach these kids about the legend; Sandy Koufax.

 

The New Yorker, $3, with regular mustard, red onion sauce on a Sabrett hot dog. I liked the hot dog but they put a ton of red onion sauce that just overwhelmed the hot dog. The red onion sauce was sweet with a little hint of spice, served hot. They could have cut the amount of sauce in half and it would have been great. Sabrett hot dogs to me has a more mild seasoning than other hot dog, no casing, so no snap. Service was good. The guys taking orders are nice and friendly and helpful. I would go back to The Infield Hot Dog Stand. Monday nights, is 50 cent Dodger Dogs. I hate Dodger Dogs but at 50 cents, that's not a bad deal. I would like to try the pastrami sandwich.

Natas

Natas
13317 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks
818-788-8050

I found out about Natas from The Pleasure Palate. Natas is a Portuguese bakery. They have some great pastries, cakes, and cookies.

The first picture is a Folhado de Salscha - puff pastry filled chicken sausage. Awesome. Very flakey and tasty.

The second picture has Pasteis de Bacalhau, $2.00, which is cod cakes, rissois, creamy shrimp and crab, $2.00. Both are breaded and fried and damn tasty.

Service was good. They are helpful, they answered all my questions and friendly.

I was very impressed with the freshness and taste of the Portuguese pastries. I would go back anytime.

Rubin's Red Hot-Closed

Rubin's Red Hot
15322 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks
818-905-6515

Rubin's Red Hot is across Ventura Blvd from the Sherman Oaks Gallery. Rubin's was made from part of the L train from Chicago. When you're at Rubin's you almost feel like you're in Chicago.

I tried the Chicago Polish for $3.96. The polish is topped with mustard and kraut. First off the bun was an onion bun with some poppy seed. So not off to a good start. An onion bun? Come on, all poppy seed bun. The polish itself was lacking any flavor. The toppings were fresh, I really liked the sauerkraut. But the topping mean nothing when the polish is a bland piece of meat.

The service is good but the parking is terrible. The next time I go, I would park in the Gallery and walk to Rubin's. But I won't have to worry about that since I won't go back.

The Wiener Factory-Closed

The Wiener Factory
14917 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks
818-789-2676

The Wiener Factory is one of the best hot dog places around!!! The service is great. I ordered the all beef-mustard, relish, and onion dog for $2.75 and the chili cheese dog for $3.15.

WOW both of them were great. The hot dog itself has the right blend of spices and has a nice snap. The only think I didn't like is they use brown mustard instead of yellow mustard. Next time I'll remember to tell them to use yellow mustard. The toppings were all very fresh and I really enjoyed my first taste of a Wiener Factory Hot Dog.

The chili cheese dog is just overloaded with chili, cheese and onions, a steal at $3.15. The chili was a little bland, not spicy which is good for my tastes. The cheese and onions were nice and fresh.

I really enjoyed going to the Wiener Factory. Great service and great food. My favorite hot dog stop along Ventura Blvd!!!!

Mr Cecil's-Sherman Oaks-Closed

Mr. Cecil's
13625 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks 91423
818-905-8400

Mr. Cecil's in Sherman Oaks is the suburban BBQ. What is suburban BBQ? A place that thinks cooking a piece of meat in an oven and drowning it with BBQ sauce makes it BBQ.

I ordered the 1/3 rack of St. Louis Style Ribs for $9.69. Not worth it at all. The ribs lacked any kind of smoke flavor. The liquid smoke they used must have wore off. :) The ribs were tender. The bbq sauce was one of the best I've had, a nice blend of sweetness and spice. The 1/3 rack doesn't include any sides.

I would not go back to Mr. Cecil's though I will go to their West LA location on Pico and try it.