Both Meathenge and myself have come a long way over the past few years. Initially, when I put down my thoughts about my local lunch haunts I wasn’t necessarily thinking about anyone but myself. What journalistic ethics, if any, am I bound to? Which side of the fence do I lean to? Yeah well, I am NOT getting paid for Meathenge. Everything you see here is paid for by me. I’ve never received any cash money for my efforts and so, I figure, I’ll do what I want to and damned everyone else.
That being said, I think it only fair that if I put up a review that gives a restaurant a hard time for one reason or another, that I should return in the distant future to see if anything has changed. I could have showed up on a bad day, it happens.
Back in 2004, June 17th to be exact, I had lunch at Jones’ BBQ. I really tried to like it, but it fell short on some major points. Today’s review? You’ll just have to read on if you’re interested.
Looks good, huh? Packed VERY well.
I had a few errands to run in El Sobrante during lunch and as I drove through town saw that Jones’ was still there and had some big fancy black box van with their logo on it, plus it said “catering”, OooOoO. Business must be good, I figured. Still the lunch haunted me from the past and I drove past twice before I swung around and pulled in.
As I stepped out of my truck the sound of laughter was coming from inside, plus there was smoky goodness in the air. I felt pretty good about my choice and ordered the Spare Rib Sandwich, just under 9 bux. My order was filled and I was back on the road in less than 10 minutes.
I laid open the box for the photograph, hmmm. I was impressed with how well it was put together. Papers separating the potato salad from the saucy meat, from the bread, napkin and flatware. I picked up my first rib, that large one you saw at the beginning of the post, big sucker. 90% bone and the meat that was on there was chewy, old & dry. And once again, no damned smoky flavor! It was either a crusty end bit or they’d cooked the meat at too high a temperature and cooked the fat right out of it. Cause brother? Or sister, it was D R Y. There were some other ribs in there, mostly halves and bits. It was tough to get at them though because the rib area was full of sauce. I had to literally slosh around in the sauce to find the meat. The sauce was weird, kinda sweet with more vinegar and no spice or heat. It might have been passable as a dipping sauce, but when in this concentration left a foul vinegar burn lingering. I tried sopping some up with the bread, but the bread was getting stale and the sauce was just no fun. The potato salad was really quite good. Creamy with a nice little pickle zing. Would have liked some Tobasco on it though.
Check out the size of that rib bone compared to the fork, how dry it be. Also take note of the amount of sauce left AFTER I ate all the food and did a little sopping, SPLOOSH !!!
I don’t need to try the BBQ chicken, if it was cooked the same way with the same meat. Not interested, no sir.
Jones’ BBQ
3550 San Pablo Dam Road #B3
El Sobrante, CA 94803
510-758-9227
Good on you for giving Jones another shot, although it was as blowful as you remembered. I should go back and revisit Taqueria del Palmar again, though I’m sure it’ll break my heart again. Last night I had dinner next door to it at KrungThep and was not tempted at all.
Hey Dr.,
It might. The problem is you know what it was in the near past. Rworange from Chowhound has a list of slammin’ good places. But they’re all in Richmond and San Pablo, not the closest to El Cerrito. At that point you could hop Bart to SF and hit up Pancho Villas.
Dang that lunch was NASTY.
It looks good at least.
I had some great sweet potato soup this weekend, so I asked for the recipe. I screwed it up bad, but tonight it was just a test run. I’m going to make it again Saturday for real for a birthday party.
I only added one jalapeno (de-seeded) and it wasn’t spicey enough. And I didn’t run it through the blender long enough.
Want to check out the recipe and give me any advice? I can screw up a can of soup.
2 14 to 16 ounce cans vegetable broth (maybe for Saturday I’ll try to make my own)
2 pounds sweet potatos
2 red bell peppers
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Water or buttermilk (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Sour cream (optional)
Bring broth to a boil and add sweet potatos (1/2 inch thick peeled or not). Return to boild and simmer until tender (about 15 minutes).
Meanwhile, stem, seed and chop bell peppers and jalapeno. Chop coarsely since they’ll be blended later. Add ’em to the potatos as you prepare them. Add garlic and thyme and stir.
When potatos are tender, place mixture in a blender and blend until smooth. Do it in batches. Thin with water or buttermilk to the consistency you prefer. Season with salt and pepper. Top with a dollop of sour cream if you’d like.
I did this without sour cream and I added some buttermilk in the blender. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great like the stuff I tried last weekend.
It may be time for another barbeque crawl,East Bay Style. Bulldog barbeque in Martinez needs a checkin out. I am out of Everett&Jones BBQ sauce but I do not want to go back! Chilebrown.
Aww man, that e&j bbq sauce is the worst! Ingredients: crushed red peppers, ketchup, vinegar (I think). C’mon Paul I know you to be a man who likes good bbq.
Hey Dave,
Chile peppers vary in heat, maybe try a serrano or two, heh. Remember, most of the heat is in the membrane.
I would opt for roasting the sweet potatoes until they’re done. Boiling offers no flavor action.
I would also go for a pat of butter.
And maybe when you’re experimenting, with no one looking? Try the juice from half a lemon.
Biggles
Hey Dr. Five Pints,
Oh E&J’s sauce isn’t the worst. Jones’ is hands down the worst stuff I’ve had in a long time. I’d rather have Kraft’s.
Dr. Five Pints,
Hey, why don’t you make up a batch of your rib sauce? Let’s do some tasting, eh!
Dr. Five Pints,
I happen to like E&J sauce. The restaraunt in Jack London Square sucks. I will make you my signature Honey-Chipotle (w/homesmoked chipotles) barbeque sauce anytime. Chilebrown
That would be excellent. I can smell a rib-off coming soon.
Jones’ BBQ is so not about the BBQ. Its all about the fried chicken. I’ve had the BBQ there and its okay, sometimes even pretty good. But the fried chicken is what really kicks ass there. Really really really good. I noticed in your last visit’s review someone commented about the fried chicken too. Believe me, go back, but get the fried chicken. I can almost guarentee you will like it.
Hey Manny,
It’s a good thing I trust your taste. But you can see how I was lead astray? Jones’ BBQ is all about the fried chicken? Sigh, figures. Howabout Jones’ Soul Food or somethin’.
Just as I was about to go try it out, you sure did save me some extra cash for something better. That fancy catering truck was actually the lure that got me thinking of even trying that place! Thanks for the review!
Hey Ben,
Well, I hate to steer people away, doesn’t make me feel happy. But I tried them on 3 different days, months apart and still no smoky love.
Some day when you’re feeling lucky, you may want to stop by and see what YOU think.
Biggles
Hey Biggles,
I must say you must have had your taste buds burned off in a war or something. That or you’re use to that oh so tasty Mc rib. In my opinion and many people I’ve talked to, Jones’ is one of the better BBQ joints we’ve found. So if you’re not a fan, stay away and go back to eating from the litter box. You may enjoy that with your Krafts.
Hey Worth,
Well, that’s unkind.
This review covered June 2004 to October 2005. Today it’s November 2006. It’s been over a year since and they could be serving pizzas now for all I know. I wish them well and have done so in the past.
Biggles
As I stumbled across this blog I had to laugh at your continuous put down of Everett & Jones BBQ Sauce. I have to ask is there an agenda here? The success of Everett & Jones Sauce speaks for itself. It is fantastic tasting, by far one of, if not thee best BBQ sauce in the country!
Hey Valerie,
This is a review for Jones’ BBQ in El Sobrante. Completely independant of the E&J’s chain and/or sauce.
That being said, love E&J’s sauce!
Biggles
ps-no agenda for anything on this blog
I’ve been all over the country eating BBQ and these guys are right up there with the worst. EJs has nothing to brag about either. Only slightly better than jones bbq, service is much better though.
I hear Bo’s bbq in Lafayette is good, I’ll try there next.
Hey Ken,
While I haven’t been, I hear good things about Smokin’ Okies out in walnut creek or something.
Finding good, true, barbecue in this area is tough. The local laws about running smokers puts most out of business or at least produces some really nasty stuff.
Bo’s is far better than most, he uses real hardwood and uses high quality meats. I would definitely stop there and see what you think.
Biggles