I’m a bad restaurant reviewer. So, I don’t do many. What’s my problem? I want to love every restaurant and meal, nearly to a fault. What do I mean?
When I dine at any time, at any restaurant I’m giddy. The look, smells, service and menus, I love it all. The images dance, no skip, through my mind with the greatest of glee. And after ordering my meal I wait for the love to pour. To this end I offer …
Pit Boss BBQ occupies the updated Alvarado Gardens and the old Bobby’s Back Door Cajun BBQ place in Richmond. Well, times have changed and the smoking equipment had been removed entirely. Pit Boss is starting fresh, new equipment with an unknown cook from the Carolinas. I should have ordered the pulled pork, eh? California is big on pork ribs, tri-tip and chicken. And since they’d sold out of pork ribs at 2:40 Friday afternoon, I opted for the chicken, catfish, beans, tater salad and cornbread. I should have ordered the pulled pork.
Pit Boss ain’t been here long, 2, 3, 4 months? So, they young and will come about. But am still thinking I should have had the pulled pork.
I left PB, late that Friday afternoon with my booty firmly in place. I’d finally scored something that’d been in my crosshairs for quite some time. I was ready, show me baby. The image above is my first glance. The only problem I had was the chicken had been finished with sauce. But that’s okay, the sauce was thinnish with a tomato base. I started with the beans, a new customer at the bar got a free sample and remarked he hadn’t had beans that good since Texas. These I wanted to have carnal knowledge of, like right now. Plastic spoon in, and … really good. Tart, sweet with a great beanie action. But why was they cooler than room temperature? Next up was the potato salad, plastic fork in. Damned, it was flavorful, had texture with a finish of green onions, perfection. No complaints here, loved it.
Okay, time for some Mississippi Free Range Catfish, deep fried! That right there? Is some good shit, brother man. Life size meaty chunks that were juicy, tender with a breading that was perfectly dry with cornmeal. It was rich, so you don’t need a lot, but damned it was a deep fried portion of heaven. Unfortunately, it was the only “warm” portion of the meal.
Off to the cornbread, got some cool lookin’ salsa action on top. Didn’t spend too much time disecting that, but it was pretty good. As many of you know, I’m exceptionally picky about my cornbread, thank you Meathead! My cornbread has no flour or sugar and 1/3 cup bacon drippin’s. Mine totally kicked this ‘cakes’ ASS. But that’s okay, it’s 3x better than you’d normally find. It was at this point I turned my attention to the leg & thigh, chicken that is! Cold and not ONE ounce of smoky flavor. The ‘mater based sauce was fine, for me. But the lack of any warmth whatsoever along with no smoky love? Fail. Totally reminds me of Jones’ BBQ in El Sobrante. BBQ without the smoke flavors.
Which sends me to wonder, what’s going on? The rumor I got was Jones was over-loading his smoker, not enough smoke to meat ratio. I know this can’t be the case with Pit Boss cause they ain’t doing any real volume, yet. This last Friday, was told, they smoked 7 slabs of ribs for the day. Aroo? I can eat half that myself! And what I mean by, “for the day”, is that they aren’t able to run the smoker during the day when people are awake. Or some such, thing (rumor), so they have to cook the morning before. California sucks.
To sum it all up, the beans tasted great initially. But the after tart/burn of the liquid smoke ruined them. The tater salad ruled, but that could change depending on who makes them when. The cornbread was fine, I’d eat it again. The catfish was unequaled, perfect and love on a plate. The chicken was juicy, moist, perfectly cooked, sauce was forgettable and the chicken was then completely tossable. The catfish was the only thing that was anywhere near warm. I left a portion of each thing out for 2 hours and it was the same temperature, gack.
We’ve clearly got a mixed bag here, I meant to return Saturday for lunch. I will go back probably 2 more times and talk to whomever is cooking for that or those times. I want to find out if serving nearly all food cold is standard and ‘baking’ the barbecue is standard.
I have questions, I hope they have answers. I’m willing to want and be kind.
xo, Biggles
Pit Boss Barbecue Company
12889 San Pablo Avenue
Richmond, CA 94805
510.237.1996
Salsa on cornbread? I’ll take your word for that. Cold chicken is inexcusable. Right now I am waiting in a pork-scented house for some righteous Italian vinegar-pepper-boneless country style ribs and I don’t like to think you didn’t love yours…………..Catfish. Yes. I would like that a lot, a lot, a lot. Used to frequent a backwoods place called Swamp Guinea (mentioned in Blue Highways) whenever I visited my mama and I long for crisp, cornmealy catfish. Send me the address.
Well, food that is supposed to be served hot, or warm, should definitely be served that way! Nothing wrong with cold chicken though, especially at a beach picnic, or any picnic, if it’s prepared properly in the first place. But, I agree with you, if a person is at a restaurant and ordering chicken, the palate expects that chicken to be toasty warm! But, it is evident Pit Boss BBQ & Co charmed you out of your socks! So, make friends; exchange thoughts and no doubt you will find out why the “heck” that cluck-cluck was served cold!
Sounds like if they gotta smoke on the sly, you gotta get in there then, while it’s hot. Otherwise, it’s gonna sit on a steam table or get tossed in the microwave or receive some other manky form of reheating. wtfo?
Can’t run the smoker while people are awake!
My God that would get them killed here in Texas! (Apparently not so in Oklahoma, where I was gonna review what looked like a great BBQ place in Ada, but there was no smokey love there either. Oh, thy smoked it… Sort of. Just not well)
On the whiteboard in the teachers’ lunchroom last week:
“Blessed be the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape!”
When I lived in Marlyand, I used to go to this rib place practically out in the woods. They had a real pit and used scrap lumber and old chairs or something, LOL! Their ribs were the best. Dixie Pig. Man, I loved that place. Doesn’t sound like this one is worth the drive for me. Keep us posted, though.
To b’gina and others: My daddy always said that you get the best cue from places you wouldn’t necessarily want to stay to eat in! That never kept me from hangin’ in some pretty weird old joints where you ate sliced white bread with your ribs and pulled pork, with sweet pickles on the side, shooing away the flies and wishing for a ceiling fan.
Amen on cornbread with NO sugar and lots of bacon grease!
If the Pit Boss guy is serving beans and tomato-based sauce already on the chicken, it don’t sound like Carolina barbecue to me. You probably didn’t miss much with the pulled pork.
But go back and eat the pulled pork anyway, just in case. Maybe you could take your own plate, so as not to have to eat styro-steamed.