LOW AND SLOW
By Steve Coulter
For dineLA.com
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The secret to great BBQ just might be in the sauce.
There’s a certain unbelievable irony to a BBQ joint burning down, but that’s just what happened to beloved Johnny Rebs’ Southern Roadhouse in Long Beach last year. The restaurant just reopened in May to cheers from local carnivores who missed their slow-smoked meats and signature Atlanta-style BBQ sauce.
“Our sauce is really popular. It’s not too sweet, it’s not too hot — it just has a little bit of all of it,” said owner Cheryl Carter. “People are licking all the way from their fingers to their elbows when they try this stuff.”
Carter opened the original Long Beach Johnny Rebs’ 25 years ago after traveling around the South for a couple of months. It was on that fact-finding mission that she found the inspiration for her signature sauce, as well as the Carolina “dipping sauce” that is also on the menu.
Carolina BBQ sauces have been popular at LA restaurants the last few years, popping up on menus around town as a thinner alternative to the thick, tomato-filled concoctions associated with parts of Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The key ingredient in most Carolina sauces is the tart apple cider vinegar often mixed with ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce (among other variations) to create what Carter calls “red water.”
At Andre Guerrero’s popular “fast-casual” restaurant, The Oinkster in Eagle Rock, the Carolina BBQ sauce is offered as a squeeze bottle condiment alongside the pungent garlic aïoli. Guerrero also liberally ladles the elixir onto his perfect pulled pork sandwiches served with red cabbage slaw and caramelized onions.
A Carolina-style sauce also shows up on the menu at Zeke’s Smokehouse in Montrose, but it’s their spicy Texas-style brew that steals the show. Zeke’s specializes in traditional American barbecue with an emphasis on high-quality meats like the fleshy longhorn beef ribs and tender brisket.
The Swinging Door in North Hollywood offers a fierce four-pepper Texas sauce that packs a real wallop when it’s slathered on slow-smoked tri-tip. In the meantime, at Ribs U.S.A. in Burbank, the fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs are bathed in a thick and tangy Kansas City-style sauce that leaves you begging for a bib.
Big Mama’s Rib Shack in Pasadena serves a sweet Tennessee-style sauce that goes great with everything from chicken and beef to ham. The recipe has been in the family for more than 50 years. “The customers say it’s good enough to drink from a glass,” said co-owner Darron McWhorter. “It’s tangy, but with a little zip.”
If you don’t like buckets of sauce, both Woody’s and Phillip’s use their mild and hot tonics sparingly. This less-is-more approach has earned these down home establishments a strong reputation with diners who prefer the flavor of charred meat over spicy sauces.
Whatever your preference, LA has great barbecue of all kinds to satisfy your carnivorous cravings. So get your bib, chill some beer and get ready for the sauces of summer.
Big Mama’s Rib Shack, 1453 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena, 626.797.1792
Johnny Rebs’ Southern Roadhouse, 4663 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, 562.423.7327
Phillip’s Bar-B-Que, 4307 Leimert Blvd. Ste. 3, Los Angeles, 323.292.7613
Ribs U.S.A., 2711 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, 818.841.8872
The Oinkster, 2005 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, 323.255.6465
The Swinging Door, 11018 Van Owen St., North Hollywood, 818.763.8996
Woody’s Bar-B-Que, 3446 W. Slauson Ave., Los Angeles, 323.294.9443
Zeke’s Smokehouse BBQ, 2209 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, 818.237.9064
