Baby Blues BBQ

BBQ is a tricky thing. Good BBQ is even trickier. I can't say I'm a connoisseur of BBQ, but I heard great things about Baby Blues BBQ, in Venice, so as a test, I picked up a number of pulled pork sandwiches for my coworkers (since I live way closer to the westside) and we all tried it at the same time. I admit that I probably shouldn't judge too harshly, since by the time I got to taste my pulled pork sandwich, it was rather cold. Anyways, here's a picture of it.

The pulled pork sandwich, which came unsauced, and with a small coleslaw topping as the vegetable crunch. First off, the bun - which was really big for what I was expecting, more of a big unruly grilled on the bottom foccacia style roll thing, which was a lot of bread. I understand the necessity of adding your own bbq sauce right before consumption but since it had cooled, the bbq sauce did not coat everything evenly, like I would have liked, but I really can't blame Baby blues for that. The meat was tender enough, and even though I'm really not a fan of cole slaw, it went well as the crunchy vegetable texture to distract from just the meat.

Here's a slightly closer look...very unsauced. Huge amount of bread. I don't remember finishing all the bread.

Louisa got a bbq chicken sandwich, which really was the same deal as the pulled pork - same bread, just different meat. I remember her liking it.

And here's Louisa's mouth eating some mac and cheese. It was nice and cheesy but I think that it actually needed more seasoning - it needed to be more salty and less creamy. Still good though.

I'm going to give Baby blues another chance - perhaps their ribs - and to eat there next time, so I can get a better assessment of their famed bbq prowess. They were very efficient with my order, though, I had called a few hours beforehand and they had everything packed up and ready to go when I arrived.

Baby Blues BBQ
444 Lincoln Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
babybluesvenice.com

Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill

On a rare rainy day in LA during lunch, we headed over to Farmer's Market/The Grove to meet up with some other coworkers that were already eating at Chipotle. However, the place was full to bursting with people, and we decided to run to the other side of the parking lot and check out Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill. The place was pretty full, but we managed to get a booth pretty quickly.

The menu was pretty standard BBQ place fare - I'm assuming it's a chain, but it's not a chain I've been to or heard of other than this place, so it's new to me. We all decided on the lunch special, as the choices for their combos were reasonable and we all wanted soup, to warm us up.

A breadbasket arrived, with very delicious rolls. I think they had been coated in butter and herbs. These were still warm and fresh, and had a good crust to them.

We all got the clam chowder. Pretty decent, but nothing out of this world. Considering how hot it's been around LA, the thought of soup is almost too much right now! But on that day, the warm soup was perfect for the cold day outside.

My combo consisted of half of a BBQ beef sandwich, with au jus, and a loaded baked potato, with cheese, bacon bits, sour cream and chives and butter on the side. I liked the bread on this sandwich, and the au jus was a bit salty but good for dipping. I managed only a few bites of the baked potato and brought the rest of it home to share with Owen :)

Similarly, Annette and Grace chose half sandwiches (pretty much the same as mine), and Grace chose mashed potatoes, while Annette chose mac and cheese. It was good, but it was a lotta food.

This place was actually pretty okay. I usually have a dislike of most chain restaurants, but this was pretty good. I'd go again, but with so many choices at Farmer's Market, and Dupar's down the way, it might be awhile before I work my way back here.