Please give a big round of applause for Chilebrown’s premier BBQ Joint review here on Meathenge. I’ve never been and it’s nice to see some pictures of the food, gives me motivation to go have a look myself.
During the day Downtown Martinez is a fast and furious little town. There are a lot of people doing business with the Court House, numerous antique shops and other small businesses. As soon as the sun sets the town becomes a ghost town. There is a bright spot at 601 Main St. It is BULLDOG BBQ. It’s owner/propietor Chad Reichold is a Martinez native. He opened Bulldog in 2003 and has brought some real barbeque to the downtown area. Chad uses an “Ole Hickory” smoker made in Cape Girardeau Mo. This smoker if fueled with apple, almond and local fruit tree wood. It produces the smoky flavor that I crave.
Ms Goofy and I visited Bulldog a couple of months ago and had a good meal. It was time for a return visit. Walking into the restaraunt you will first notice the Huge flat screen T.V.
There are neon signs, sports stuff, and a way cool fish tank on the wall. There are about a dozen tables. It is a great place to have a beer and watch some sports. Our favorite sport was on that night. (The Iron Chef).
Bulldog has a typical barbeque menu. Ribs, links, brisket, pulled pork and full list of side dishes. Tonight I had 1/2 Slab Rib Platter with sides of Baked Beans and a Corn Muffin. Ms. Goofy had a Pulled Pork Sandwich w/ Macaroni and Cheese. The fist thing you will notice when you recieve your food is the beautiful smoke ring on the meat. This is a mecca for any barbeque enthusiest.
The meat on the ribs literally fell of the bones. I’ve had the brisket before and it is so tender it can be eaten with just a fork. Ms.Goofy could only raise her paw to exclaim the joy she was having eating her sandwich. The corn muffin was sweet and tasted like it just had come out of the oven. The beans were a little lackluster. Ms. Goofy’s mac and cheese was a little dry. This was not a set back because the meat was the treat. The sauce was served on the side like it should be.
Chad makes his own barbeque sauce. He calls it “Get Some”. He bottles it and sells it at the Bulldog. It is a very sweet, molasses and vinegar sauce. I asked Chad if he had any hotter sauce. He went in the back and brought out his secret sauce. Well he did not have to kill me, he actually shared his secret. He uses “The Source” from Original Juan. This sauce claims “Worlds Hottest Sauce Registered at 7.1 Million Scoville Units”
He uses 1/2 teaspoon to five gallons of his sauce. It’s still not for the faint of heart. He brought out some of his recently perfected beef sausage, makes it on the premises. It was a mild sausage that had that beautiful smoke ring when you sliced it. We thought it was a winner.
Bulldog BBQ is a place that I will be visiting again and again. Chad Reichold knows how to barbeque.
Bulldog BBQ
601 Main St
Martinez, CA. 94553
925 335-0170
Oh yeah! We (Mrs. Meathead & I) know the place well. We love Martinez and one time we even stopped in at the Ol’ Bulldog. The doors were wide open and we walked in. It was empty but it smelled like Heaven. We stared up at the menu long enough to decide what we wanted to order and someone from the kitchen peaked out at us and disappeared again. So we waited. Long enough to look at the menu again and change our minds three times.
When it became obvious we weren’t going to get waited on we left.
I checked the hours on the way out and *yep!* they were open for business hours but they weren’t makin’ business or something.
I gotta go there now!
Thanks to the review, my wife and I decided to spend a romantic Valentines day lunch at Bulldog.
The ribs are the best that I have had in a very, very long time. Full of flavor and meat. Amazingly good.
Disappointed with the links. Their flavor was…well…odd. They also had this ground beef texture that was unpleasant to both of us.
My biggest complaint was the lack of options on the sauce. I would have liked at least one option with some fire in it.
Bulldog good, not great. I echo Meathead’s review of the service. They need to work on that, BIG TIME.
As a friend says “Good one time, not two times.”
It’s worth a visit for those who like their Q sweet and tasty. I’m still looking for bay area BBQ that makes you sad you finished your meal.
Hey Mr. Ken,
Man, that sounds nice, getting out today.
BBQ Hot Links are usually beef and a course ground sausage that’s been slowly cooked may have that texture. Makes it nice for soaking up sauce.
And speaking of sauce, boy that’s a night’s conversation right there. What sauce is available to you is a direct reflection of the owner’s taste. Some enjoy the sauce and some don’t. If you visit Bo’s in Lafeyette you’ll get a thimble full. That right there tells you Bo don’t like no sauce on his meat. Whereas E&J’s give you 3 different heat levels.
As far as service and continuity goes, from what I’ve experienced and read, BBQ Joints are hands down the most flaky when it comes down to it. Some days you won’t be allowed in by a gruff waitress at the door and other times the owner will fawn all over you the entire time. One day the brisket is nasty left over rubber and the next could very easily win an award at a KCBS event!
What this has done for me, is I take the meal at face value. It is what it is today, tomorrow could be a different day.
Some day when I have the time, I’m going to do a review of a BBQ Joint and visit it every 3 or 4 hours during the entire time they’re open and see how the meat varies.
These are the things I think about.
Biggles
Bulldog BBQ is the MUTT’S NUTS!!! OutSTANDing Links!!! KILLER brisket!!! Sweet, tender, tasty ribs! This Dawg needs the Bulldog tonight!!!
Semper Fi
Rockdawg
its not that great and the prices suck. go to Kinders.
service sucks!you never know when their open.The employees don’t even know,when asked.Posted hours are a joke!I gave up.I”m now alternating between “KINDERS” and “BERTOLA’S” and lov’in it.
Hey Lori,
Yeah, not sure what Bulldog is up to. It don’t make no sense. Why would you do such things if you want to stay in business?
Biggles
went there to day 11/11/06 what a rip off!!!! got to my car it was so light i had to open it to see if anything was inside. . 5 slices of meet and a hand full of fries, for 9 bucks, sauce sucks. way over priced.
My wife & I went to Bull Dog’s BBQ last night for the first time AND loved it!!!!! The service was alittle slow but the place was packed and we were in no hurry, the waitress had her hands full. I had the beef brisket my wife pulled pork in a spinach wrap. Both of our meals were delicious, tender, sweet. I know we’ll be back as a matter of fact I’m working on getting the street together for this Sat. for a fun casual meal. We do that now & then & I think this would be a nice casual place to enjoy fellowship with our neighbors. As for the cost of the food my wife & I always no matter where we eat play Price Is Right about the amount, we both over bid by alot.
Wow!!! New owners, great food, and wonderful service. They now have Prime Rib on Friday and Saturday Nights. They slow smoke these Prime Ribs and do they taste great! From what I understand from the new owners Ralph and Gina Rangel, you can get the Prime Ribs to go for the holidays!!!
Very disappointed!!! I ordered Bulldog yesterday for my company at lunch. Seven of us ordered and seven of us were very upset. The meat was very tough and extremely fatty, even by BBQ standards. There wasn’t any BBQ sauce on any of our meals and none came on the side! No Sauce?! Then, on top of the food tasting badly, we were missing a whole lunch and part of another. I didn’t bother to check the order at the restaurant since I watched the cashier check it at the expo table. I called once I got back to work to report our problem and get it fixed and I had to spend 5 minutes arguing with whoever answered the phone because she refused to admit they made a mistake, nice customer service. All of this was after standing in line to get my pick up order for 20 minutes. I would forgive all the sins committed by the staff and give them one more try, but everyone of my employees and myself agree the food wasn’t good.
We’ve been going there for a few months – and we just love the fact that Martinez is “out of the way” and that Bulldog is friendly and homey and a great place to go to for an evening meal.
It’s a place where the “locals” go – couples, families, singles and takeout.
We “commute” all the way from the bustling metropolis of Crockett.
Very family oriented, with pictures of Ralph’s kids MX racing on the walls – A real “old time” neighborhood restaurant.
Food –
My favorites are the ribs –
It’s the first BBQ ribs that I actually prefer to get “sauceless”.
They are apple smoky flavored – not too dry and with nice texture.
I’ll dribble on a teeny bit of sauce – not enough to hide the apple wood smoke – just enough for a little “taste surprise”.
Their potato salad is the perfect match for the ribs – just like Aunt Betty used to make.
The cole slaw is refreshing and, well, just like mom used to make…
The only thing missing are some Kansas City style “burnt ends”. (We’ll see if Ralph reads this 🙂
As far as Max’s complaint that it’s “First of all, it’s way out in the middle of nowhere – Martinez”, lol! That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that ! 🙂
The “middle of nowhere” is technically 30 miles due east. There’s a little rock monument on the side of the road. 🙂
Bulldog’s just about 15 minutes west of the Concord Airport (Pleasant Hill), a straight shot off Hwy 4.
Since almost everybody had GPS in their phone, just plug in the address and drive – Park in the back or on the street.
So –
If you are looking for a good, tasty, neighborhood evening meal, hitch up the horses and make out for Bulldogs’ – The white wine’s cold, the hot ribs are lip smacking tasty and the potato salad is just like Aunt Betty’s – a great place for fillin’ up with some mighty fine vittles –
Marc and Cynthia