Hambone's BBQ and Po'Boy Sandwiches

Hambone's BBQ and Po'Boy Sandwiches
9342 Alondra Blvd
Bellflower
562-920-1090

After watching the BBQ episode of Top Chef Texas, I wanted some BBQ. I recently found out about a new BBQ restaurant in Bellflower, called Hambone's, so I called a friend and we got ourselves some BBQ. Opened for about a year, Hambone's has been serving BBQ, po boy sandwiches and soul food. The restaurant has a small indoor dining area with a couple tables and counter space, and a good sized covered patio with about 6-8 tables.

I got the 3 baby back ribs with mac and cheese, $5.98, #18 on their menu. As readers of The New Diner know, I'm not a fan of baby back ribs. I got the baby backs because they do not offer spare ribs. Many place make the mistake of too much smoke on baby backs. Hambone's does a very good job of smoke their ribs. The baby backs were very good, with lots of meat and good smoke flavor. Baby back ribs are pretty tender to start with, so not much smoking is needed. I really like the quality of the ribs, good flavor, meaty. They use good quality ribs.

The mac and cheese was fantastic!! Perfectly cooked macaroni, covered with a gooey cheese sauce that was well seasoned and flavorful. They use a good roux that coats all the macaroni with that cheesey goodness.

Service was very good. They are friendly and helpful, which was good to see because they were a bit abrupt.

It's been awhile since I've had good BBQ and I'm glad I've tried Hambones. But, if I have one complaint it would be the high prices of their dinners and plates; half ($21.99) and full rack ($24.99) of baby backs with two sides. They did have a five baby back ribs for $11.50, which is a good price, but I'm not willing to spend a lot of money anymore for bad BBQ, so I got the 3 baby back ribs combo. Luckily Hambone's serves up very good BBQ. I will be back get that and try a po boy sandwich, $11.99.

Grandma's Broasted Chicken

Grandma's Broasted Chicken
9886 Alondra Blvd
Bellflower
562-920-1797

I thought I've been to most of the broasted chicken places in the LA area. But somebody sent a nice email, telling me about Grandma's Broasted Chicken. I noticed that Grandma's Broasted Chicken wasn't far from Treasure Pot. So I figured I would stop by and get some broasted chicken. In addition to chicken, Grandma's also has fish and shrimp.





I got two breast pieces, $1.89 and 5 jumbo shrimp, $5.99. The broasted chicken was cooked to order. It was pretty good. A crispy outside and very juicy inside. It wasn't the best broasted chicken but solid.

The jumbo shrimp were covered with a cornmeal batter, which made them crunchy. But the shrimp were a bit overcooked, tough and chewy. I didn't like the shrimp and didn't think it was worth the $5.99 price tag.

Service is OK. But the owner is a bit of a wise guy, making jokes he thinks is funny. I was ordering and after getting the shrimp and chicken, he said that's enough for you, don't order anymore. Ok fine, if you don't want me to spend more money at your restaurant, why the hell should I.

Broaster Kitchen is still my favorite broasted chicken restaurant. But I wouldn't mind coming back to Grandma's Broasted Chicken. Oh, this Grandma's is different that Grandma's Chicken House.

I has been brought to my attention, that in my reviews of Grandma's Chicken House and Broaster Kitchen, I said Grandma's Chicken House was better. But, in subsequent visits to Broaster Kitchen, I have found the chicken to be so much better than my first visit. Maybe they used better chicken or the first time I went, the cookers weren't working that well. But whatever the reason, Broaster Kitchen is my favorite. But maybe I should go back to Grandma's Chicken House, again.

Rib Factory # 1-Closed

Rib Factory #1
10113 Artesia Blvd.
Bellflower, CA 90706
(562) 866-0223

Rib Factory claims to be the #1 ribs in Southern California. I don't think they are even the #1 ribs on Artesia Blvd. Chris and Pitts is a couple blocks down the Artesia and the ribs there are better than the ribs I got at Rib Factory.

Rib Factory opened in 1977 by somebody named Norm Calvin, who was from Texas. I never went to Rib Factory when Mr. Calvin owned it but the new/current owners have no clue about ribs.

Pictured is the lunch portion of the pork ribs with hush puppies, for $6.40. They normally serve lunch portions from 11-3 but they were nice enough to serve it to me. So I'll give them some props for that. The ribs were so small and thin. Some parts were burnt and very tough. They lacked any kind of smoke flavor and most of the ribs were fat.

The hush puppies were served cold as was the Texas toast. The toast was pretty good but would have been much better served hot. The hush puppies were not crunchy at all and seemed as they have been sitting around forever.

Not impressed at all by the Rib Factory. I wouldn't go back and like I said Chris and Pitts would have been a much better option.