South-Closed

South
3001 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica
310-828-9988

Personally, I hate the westside of Los Angeles-which includes areas/cities like West LA, Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Westchester, Marina Del Ray, because the people there are such pretentious assholes. They are all douchebags with Ed Hardy clothes. Ok, the women may look nice, but they are filled with silicon and botox. Who the hell wants to be around that?

Anyways, I heard about South- really it's a sports bar, that served up some good soul food. I was a bit hesitant to try soul food in Santa Monica, but figured why not? If worse came to worse, I can laugh at all the douchebag, pretentious, asshole people of the westside!!

I went to South, on a Sunday. So, it was packed with football fans. They had every game on and fans of every team were all over the bar. Honestly, there weren't that many douchebags at South. Maybe, they only show up at night.

While I was looking around for a seat, and I saw a gameday menu. I had looked at their online menu and knew what I wanted; fried chicken. But, I didn't see fried chicken on the gameday menu. So I asked the bouncer, if they served their full menu, he said yes.

A few minutes later, I found a seat, and when the server took my order, I wanted to make sure they served the full menu. She said "It depends on what you want." Huh? I said fried chicken, she said they could do that. Whatever, as long as I got the fried chicken, mac and cheese, and hush puppies, $16, it was fine.

A few minutes later, I got four small pieces of fried chicken, a huge helping of hush puppies and mac and cheese. I tried the white meat first. This was a small portion of the breast meat and it had a strong paprika taste, a pretty good crunchy, and it was pretty moist. Not the greatest fried chicken ever, but solid. The interesting part was none of the other pieces had the strong paprika taste. All other pieces; wing, leg, and thigh, were your regular fried chicken seasoning; salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. The wing and leg were ok, nothing special. But, the thigh was so moist and juicy. The $16 price tag is a bit high for four small pieces and I don't care that I got two sides, that were good sized portions.

The hush puppies were among the best I've ever had. Seasoned perfectly, cooked perfectly-a light golden brown, and just wonderful.

The mac and cheese was fairly bland and they could have used more cheese, but the macaroni was well cooked.

Service. Ok, I know it was crowded on Sundays during football season, but there was only one server for the entire back section!! Not good staffing by the manager. The server was nice, but the first time around taking orders, she missed me completely. It took her awhile to come back, since she had the entire back section. Then she finally took my order, but she never gave me my drink order. I had to ask the busboy for my ice tea. The tables didn't have any silverware and the busboy/runner, who brought me my food, didn't bring any silverware. Bad training by management. My food did arrive quickly, in fact a very quickly considering the number of people at South.

I'm cutting the server some slack, because she was working hard but she is just overwhelmed!! They need to add, at least, 2 more servers in that back area.

I may come back for the food, because I saw a waffle fried chicken sliders that looked very good.

Cassie's Soul Food Kitchen-Closed

Cassie's Soul Food Kitchen
200 E 1st St
Pomona
909-620-5601

David Allen mentioned Cassie's Soul Food Kitchen in one of his stories, and I was looking forward to Cassie's opening. It took about a month or so, from the time his story came out, until Cassie's opened. Located in the Antique Row of Pomona and right near the train tracks, Cassie's has been open for about two weeks. There is no inside seating, but they have a few tables outside. It's mainly a take out restaurant.



They had other tempting choices; smothered pork chops and shrimp and fries lunch. But, I decided on the short ribs lunch, $12 with fries and red beans and rice. Short ribs are beef ribs that are cut and then slowed cooked. The meat was falling off the bone, tender. But there was too much fat and gristle on the ribs. The BBQ sauce was slightly sweet. I thought the short ribs were just ok, nothing overwhelming.

The fries are steak fries and cooked to order, they were crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.

I wanted mac and cheese but they said it wouldn't be ready for another 15 minutes. So, I got the red beans and rice, which is fine.

Service is very good. The people are nice and friendly. But, what I didn't like about Cassie's is that they didn't seem ready for service at 1pm on a Saturday. They open at 11am and had Gumbo on the menu, which is served every third Saturday of the month. But, that meant some other items that are on the menu, were not being served. OK that's fine. But, why wasn't the mac and cheese ready? I would doubt you ran out after being opened for two hours.

I'm torn about whether or not I want to go back to Cassie's. Maybe if their entire menu is ready and served, I will go back. But, the short ribs were just average.

Bertha's Soul Food-Carson-Closed

Bertha's Soul Food
675 E University Dr
Carson
310-515-0050

I was surprised to find out that Bayou Grille, in Carson closed and replaced by Berth's Soul Food. I've been to the Bertha's in Los Angeles and really enjoyed the food. So I was looking forward to enjoying some soul food.




I got the half order of smothered steak, with mac and cheese and creamed corn; $8.23. The steak, itself, was so tender it melted in my mouth. There was very little fat or gristle on the meat. I'm guessing the cut of beef was a rib roast, but the meat was so tender and had good flavor, when I was able to take off the gravy.

But, the gravy was just way too salty. It ruined the taste of beef. The beef itself was great, but the gravy ruined it.

The mac and cheese was a bit undercooked. But, well seasoned, not salty and a good cheese to macaroni ratio. This would have been a very good dish, if the macaroni was cooked properly.



Creamed corn was the second side, and it was a bit too sweet for me taste. But the corn, itself was fine. But, what I didn't like was the creamed corn was just barely above cold. Creamed corn should be served hot, not warm. They need to check their warming trays.

Service was below average. When I walked in, there was a young girl sitting at a table and watching TV. I had no idea, she worked there, until I went to the counter and she said "Do you know what you want?" What a terrible way to greet customers. No, Hi, how are you? or Can I help you? She wasn't helpful or friendly at all.

I'm sad to say I was disappointed with the Bertha's in Carson. The food and service wasn't up to the quality of their LA restaurant. I may go back, but with one of my favorite soul food restaurants, R & R Soul Food, just a few blocks north, I'm in no hurry to come back to Bertha's.

Aunt Rosa Lee's Mississippi Soul Food

Aunt Rosa Lee's Mississippi Soul Food
2781 S Western Ave
Los Angeles
323-733-8586

I love soul food!! What I don't like is the fact, that there aren't many reviews of soul food restaurants in Los Angeles. Why? I think part of it, has to do with white people, not wanting to go into South Central and South LA, where many soul food restaurants are located. So I'm trying to go to more soul food restaurants in South Central and South LA.




BBQ Pork spare ribs, $10.99 with mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy. The spare ribs are not smoked. They are cooked in an oven and then drowned in a very sweet BBQ sauce. Not my type of BBQ, I prefer BBQ with smoke flavor, but some people find this acceptable.

The ribs were so mushy. Ribs should not be mushy, they should be slightly chewing. This was past the falling off the bone, that many have been brain washed into thinking is good. The ribs had no smoke flavor.

The BBQ sauce was so sweet, which I do not like.

Almost all soul food has nice bold flavors. But the mac and cheese was very bland. The thing I did like was the amount of cheese sauce, that really coated the macaroni.

Mashed potatoes seemed like it was made from a box. I wasn't impressed. The gravy was bland too.




Chicken breast, $3. When I first saw the chicken breast, I thought it was a mistake and they gave me half a chicken. This was huge!! But, soooo salty. The skin was nice and lightly batter which made for a nice crispy crunch. But it was so full of salt. The inside was very dry, not juicy at all. It was tender but I couldn't get over the dryness and saltiness.

Service was great. The young man was the only person working and he was great. I sat at the counter and I wasn't lacking for anything. There were a few take out orders and about three other tables had people.

I really do want to like Aunt Rosa Lee's, but somethings were bland and no flavor, others were too salty. I wouldn't come back because the food wasn't that good. But service is outstanding!!

Renee's Fish & Soulfood-Closed

Renee's Fish & Soulfood
15074 Foothill Blvd.
Fontana
909-349-1800

I'm rarely in Fontana. But, The Moving Wall is in Fontana, at the California Speedway, over the July 4th holiday and you know damn well, I'm going to be there. The Moving Wall is a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Washington D.C. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has over 58,000 names of Americans who died in the Vietnam War. It's a powerful, moving experience, something everybody should see.

One thing I want to mention, it is called the Vietnam VETERANS Memorial. It is NOT the Vietnam Memorial,it doesn't honor a country. It honors the men and women who died in the Vietnam War. Calling the Vietnam VETERANS Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, is disrespecting all the Vietnam VETERANS. We as a country, already disrespected the Vietnam VETERANS, enough, when those gutless, coward draft dodgers, spat on and yelled at, when they came home. Nice homecoming, you gutless coward draft dodgers.

While driving to The Moving Wall, I saw Renee's and saw the word BBQ. So I figured I would give them a try. I have been another restaurant in Fontana; Up N Smoke BBQ.



Mac and cheese was the side I got with my dinner. The mac and cheese was loaded, I mean loaded with black pepper. But there was little cheese and what cheese there was, didn't mix well with the macaroni. It was also very salty. Not a good example of mac and cheese.



Fried shrimp dinner, $10.95. The shrimp was coated with a cornmeal batter, but so salty, I needed gallons of water. The shrimp was a bit rubbery and didn't taste all that fresh. The cornmeal batter was crunchy but just way too salty. I'll give them good points for the large amount of shrimp, but when it's so salty, that's not a good thing.




BBQ pork spare ribs, $10.95. The bbq ribs are only served Fridays and Saturdays. I asked for the sauce on the side but got sauce on the ribs. I got five good sized ribs with the order. The ribs were tough and chewy, as they had been sitting in warmers for too long. They could have been good if the ribs had not been dried out.

Service was friendly but slow. I understand the restaurant was crowded but it took so long to get my to go order.

I would not go back to Renee's again. Up N Smoke BBQ is so much better.

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.

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!!

Sistahs Soul Food-Closed

Sistahs Soul Food
1782 W. Martin Luther King Ave.
Long Beach
562-591-7685

Does the address for Sistahs Soul Food, look familiar? Does the building look familiar? It should, because this is where LBQ used to be.

Right behind Pee & Gee Fish Market, Sistahs Soul Food, offers vegan friendly soul food, with a menu that changes daily. Let me explain. They do not use any salt for their cooking. Greens and beans are made without meat. Their gravies are turkey based. Sure there are items on the menu that aren't vegan friendly but if you're a meat eater and your SO, is a vegan you both can order from Sistahs!!

Call before you go to ask what is on their menu because their menu changes everyday. Saturday's is BBQ. It's not real BBQ, the meats aren't in a smoker but a grill. But they have BBQ ribs, sliced beef, and chicken. Smothered steak and chicken is a highlight for Thursday's menu.

Like LBQ, this is a take out only.



I got the lunch portion of the BBQ ribs, $7.50, with double mac and cheese. A lunch portion is three bones. Well I got way more than three bones. But a lot of the meat was overcooked and/or had been sitting in a warmer for too long. They were dry and tough.

But there were some pieces of ribs that were cooked just right. Tender, flavorful, and not much fat.

The mac and cheese was a bit dry, not a lot of cheese. But overall pretty good.

Service is great. The owner is very friendly and she wants you to enjoy your meal. She even offers you a free sampler plate, after you order. She asked me what I don't like and gave me a plate of BBQ chicken, beans and greens. Let me tell you the chicken was moist and flavorful. The beans were great, full of flavor, even though there was no meat used. The greens, which I don't usually like, was good, not bitter, tender and flavorful.

Some soul food places can make a good batch of BBQ ribs. Sistahs isn't one of them. So I won't be coming back for BBQ Saturdays. But I will come back for their soul food.

Chef Tim's with Spices-Closed

Chef Tim's with Spices
10431 Lemon Ave
Suite H
Rancho Cucamonga
909-466-8211

Anybody remember The New Diner's review of Gerald Willhite's Spices BBQ? About two years later Willhite's Spices was bought out and replaced with Chef Tim's with Spices. So I figured I would Chef Tim's a try. Chef Tim's is more a soul food restaurant than BBQ.



I wanted to get an order of pork spare ribs but they ran out. I later found out that the day's batch of pork spare ribs were overcooked and the owner didn't want serve customers bad ribs. I can understand that. I wasn't happy because, I drove out there just for pork ribs and it was late enough in the day that he could have smoked another batch of ribs.

So I did the next best thing, get an order of rib tips, $8.56, with hush puppies and steak fries. Rib tips come from spare ribs. The "tips" are cut off, usually after being smoked, and the long bones are then called St. Louis ribs.

The rib tips had a very heavy oak smoke flavor. Now, as a general rule, I don't like oak wood to be used for BBQ. Why? Oak can be overpowering and had an earthy flavor to the meat. The rib tips are going to be fatty, that's just the nature of the rips. But I wasn't impressed with the rib tips and I really doubt if I would like the ribs.

The hush puppies were great!!! Nice and crispy on the outside and warm, and flavorful on the inside. The steak fries were great too. Crispy on the outside, nice and soft on the inside!!

Service is very good. The people are friendly and helpful.

I wouldn't go back to Chef Tim's for the BBQ. Is Chef Time's better than Willhite's? Yes, but Willhite's is hardly a standard bearer. Would I go to Chef Tim's for soul food? Maybe. But, for me, unless the BBQ is done right, I just don't like BBQ smoked with oak wood.

Flossie's Southern Cuisine-Closed

Flossie's Southern Cuisine
3566 Redondo Beach Blvd
Torrance
310-352-4037

WOW the first restaurant in Torrance, that has been reviewed by The New Diner. I heard of Flossie's about five years ago. But since I'm rarely in the Torrance area, I didn't get a chance to try it. I decided to have dinner there tonight and now I'm hoping it won't be another five years before I go back to Flossie's.





I got the fried chicken dinner, $10.99 with double mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy with a drink, sweet tea, ice tea, Kool Aid, or water. They give you a choice of white or dark meat. They lady said the wait for white meat would be about 15 minutes, which was no problem for me. My order comes out and after taking pictures, I dig into the fried chicken. The breast piece was hot, juicy and moist like crazy. The skin was so crunchy, with a lot of seasoning. The meat was cooked to perfection and so moist. Just a wonderful wonderful fried chicken.

The wing piece, though had been sitting under heat lamps for a while. It was good but nothing beats fried chicken right out of the fryer.



The double mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy. The mac and cheese was creamy, cheesy and just great, cooked to perfection. One of the best mac and cheese, I've ever had.

The mashed potatoes were bland and lacked flavor. I'm leaning towards the mashed potatoes being made from a box but I'm not 100% sure. The next time I go to Flossie's I'm getting triple mac and cheese!!

Service is pretty good. Flossie's has a long row of steam tables and you tell them what you want. When I walked in and went to the counter, I wasn't greeted at all, like I was invisiable. I waited for about 3-4 minutes until the lady asked what I would like. It is not asking much to be greeted. A simple "Hi, we will be right with you." is fine.

Other than not being greeted, the service was good. The lady is very nice, she just has to greet people.

I would go back to Flossie's. I want to try their meatloaf, which looked so good.

Bayou Grille- Inglewood

Bayou Grille
1400 N La Brea Avenue
Inglewood
310-673-0824

Who Dat?? Who Dat?? Who Dat??

As most readers of The New Diner know, I love the BALTIMORE COLTS. The New Diner is named after the movie, Diner, where Eddie wouldn't marry is beloved, because she couldn't pass a test about the BALTIMORE COLTS. At the end of the movie the BALTIMORE COLTS fight song was being played at the wedding. I guess Eddie gave his belove a make up test. I loved the movie but Eddie is a douchebag, he should be like me and NOT marry the woman he loved because she failed the BALTIMORE COLTS test!!!!!

I hate with a passion that damn NFL team in Indy. And no, stupid people, it is not the same team or franchise. That beautiful horseshoe and blue uniforms belong to BALTIMORE!!!! Johnny Unitas didn't play in the village known as Indy, he played in BALTIMORE. The NFL Champions of 1958, the BALTIMORE COLTS made the NFL the TV giant it is now, didn't happen in the village known as Indy. How does the NFL repay BALTIMORE? Allowing a jerk drunk owner to buy the team. Then doing nothing when the drunk jerk owner STOLE the BALTIMORE COLTS in the middle of the night, like a common thief. Then screwing BALTIMORE out of an expansion team in 1993.

I was soooooooo damn happy to see the New Orleans Saints beat that NFL team in Indy and win the Super Bowl. Even though I was happy as hell for myself, I was happier for the people of New Orleans. After all the suffering the people in New Orleans went through after Hurricane Katrina, it was great to see that city rebuild and have something to cheer about. Oh, I have never seen a bigger idiot than Michael Brown, FEMA director, who was so damn clueless in his handling of the situation.

As my way to thank the New Orleans Saints for beating that damn NFL team in Indy in the Super Bowl, I wanted to go to a Cajun/Creole restaurant. A quick search lead to Bayou Grille in Inglewood, it also helped that the owner is from New Orleans. This Bayou Grille isn't related to the Bayou Grille in Carson.



I got the tiger shrimp po boy, $7.29, with lettuce, tomato and mayo. The shrimp were huge and there were plenty of them, nice cornmeal batter shrimp in every bite!!! The french bread was nice and soft, with a chewing texture. This was amazing. One of the best po boy's ever.



I also got a small jambalaya, $3.99, with chicken, crawfish, and Louisiana turkey sausage. The jambalaya came in a to go container, so hot, there was steaming coming out. But I put it on a plate and it got cold pretty fast. But this had a ton of tender chicken, crawfish and sausage. It was a bit underseasoned, when I think Cajun, I think tons of seasoning and flavor. It was good, not great.

Service was good. The young man taking my order was nice and friendly.

Bayou Grille has the best shrimp po boy in LA. It is the best best Cajun restaurant I've been to in LA, much better than Gumbo Pot, Uncle Darrow, and the Bayou Grille in Carson. My favorite BBQ place, Phillips in Inglewood, is only about a mile away!!! Who DAT!!!!!!

Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen

Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen
202 E Manchester Blvd
Inglewood
310-671-3345

A rainy night, I'm hungry, and I'm near LAX. What should I do? I decided instead of taking the 105 to LAX, I would go down Manchester and pass by the Forum. I loved the Forum because I saw the "Showtime" Lakers, not the Lackers of today who are lead by Kobe the Rapist. The Forum is now owned by a church and basically sits empty on most nights. As I drove away from The Forum towards La Brea, I saw a sign for Soul Food Kitchen. I said, I know where I'm going for dinner.

Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen is a cafeteria style soul food restaurant. There is nothing fancy about Dulan's, you order your food at the counter and then sit down or get your order to go. Dulan's is right next to a flower shop.

I got the smothered chicken, all white meat, with corn, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes with gravy, $11.99. After I paid, I was handed a bag and man it was heavy!!! Always a good sign. I opened the box and there was a lot of food.

There were two wings and a breast piece. But the smothered chicken was on top of the mashed potatoes, making this a mushy mess. The chicken was moist and tender but not much flavor. The gravy was also pretty bland. The mashed potatoes tasted like they were made from a box. Wasn't impressed. When I first got the box, I saw to my horror, okra with my corn. I hate okra bu I just ate the corn. The corn was sweet and tender. Very good. The mac and cheese was so gooey and cheesy with very tender macaroni.

Service was good. But I got there about dinner time and they were waiting on a lot of entrees. While it is always nice to get a hot meal, you wonder why they aren't more prepared for the dinner rush.

I wouldn't go back to Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen, again. The food is only average, though the portion size is huge.

Bill's Chicken-Closed

Bill's Chicken
2234 N Lincoln Ave.
Altadena CA, 91001
626-797-4119

I read about Bill's Chicken and decided to go there. But the address I was given had Bill's on Lake in Pasadena. But they moved to Altadena about a year ago, near Christmas Tree Lane. Bill's is more than a chicken restaurant, they serve soul food and some BBQ items.

I got the pork rib dinner, $10.95, with double mac and cheese. When I first saw the ribs, I was like man, oven cooked ribs. But as I was driving the wonderful smell of real BBQ filled my car. The ribs were smoked with red oak. But they were a bit dry and felt as though they had been in the warmer too long. The meat was pretty tender with very little fat. I would like to try this ribs when they are right out of the smoker.

Since Bill's is a chicken place, I tried the fried chicken breast, $2.75. The chicken was sitting under heat lamps. But this was very moist and flavorful!! The skin wasn't crunchy but who cares when the chicken is that moist and flavorful!!

Service was very good. When I called to get directions to their new location, they were very nice and helpful. I was greeted when I walked into the restaurant and everybody working there was nice and friendly.

I would go back to Bill's Chicken, if I'm in the area. I just hope next time, the ribs and chicken right out of the smoker and fryer.

Bayou Grille-Closed

Bayou Grille
675 E University Dr
Carson
310-527-4199

I took the day off from work. I was hungry. I wasn't in the mood for a cold sandwich on a cold day. The hottie that I went to Lucille's BBQ, with were texting back and forth and we decided to go for lunch.

I picked Bayou Grille in Carson, which is in the same shopping center as Bodacious Q. Billed as an authentic New Orlines taste, their spelling, not mine. I got their late because of a damn sig alert on the 91 freeway.

I wanted to try a bunch of things. So I got the 10 piece hot wings special, $5.89, that came with cajun fries, 4 piece order of Pacific red snapper, $5.00, and 4 small shrimp, $2.00.

The wings were on the small size. Is their steroids testing for chicken? Why are chicken wings so small? They weren't that spicy, pretty crispy and tender.

The 4 pieces of Pacific red snapper were huge!! Nice and crunch with a cornmeal batter, this was more than worth the $5 price tag.

Service was very good. The young lady was nice and helpful and the food came out quickly.

I would go back to Bayou Grille again. They have tons

Mr. G's BBQ-Closed

Mr. G's BBQ
8022 Limonite Ave
Riverside
951-681-1993

When I first read about Mr.G BBQ, I had some high hopes for finding some good BBQ pork spare ribs. But after doing some search, I got the feeling this was going to be an oven cooked ribs. I would classify Mr. G as a soul food restaurant, more than a BBQ restaurant.

I got the lunch pork spare ribs, $8.95, with mac and cheese and smothered potatoes and the 15 piece hot wings, $8.95. The owner was very kind to give me a free fried chicken wing.

The pork spare ribs were oven cooked, thin, and drowned in a sweet BBQ sauce. Not my kind of BBQ. But for those people who think BBQ is what is served at Chili's or Tony Roma's, then you'll love these ribs. Now don't get me, the ribs were good. There is nothing "wrong" with ribs being cooked in an oven. But I'm looking for REAL BBQ. Real BBQ is smoked at low temps and for long periods of times. Oven cooked ribs take a couple hours.

The hot wings were OK. They were crunchy but had little meat inside, even though they look big in the picture. There were some pieces that were too well done, not burnt just fried a bit too long.

The fried chicken wing was huge!! It had a nice crunch and great seasonings!! The meat inside was moist and tender. If the hot wings tasted like the fried wings, things would be great.

Service was great. The owners were nice and friendly. They brought your food to your table and refilled your drinks.

I would not go back to Mr.G's for the BBQ. But I would like to try some of the other soul food items.

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles-Hollywood

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles
1514 N. Gower St.
Hollywood
323-466-7453

I have already been to the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in Pasadena and didn't have a good experience. But I had the chance to go to the original Roscoe's in Hollywood. So I decided why not?

I got the breast and waffle, $8.50. The first thing I noticed was that the breast was just out of fryer, always a plus. The chicken was very good. The skin had nice seasonings, mostly pepper, and crunch. The inside was moist and tender. A good example of what fried chicken should be.

The waffles were also just out of the waffle maker. Light, fluffy, and crispy at the end. I really liked it.

Service was good. The server was attentive and nice.

I'm glad I went to the original Roscoe's because it was a much better experience than the Pasadena location. I wouldn't rush back but if I was in the area, I would have no problem going back.