• Hi,

    In November I am travelling to California for a week and driving with my son and the Domestic Manager from LA to San Fran with a side trip to Reno.

    The Reno bit is to satisfy my 17 year olds want to shoot a Machine gun.

    My questions are:

    is there any great Q places on that trip that I should be making a stop at ?
    Is there any good Q stores I can drop in at to look for GMG accessories to bring home ?

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Enjoy your "Q"
    James

    Primo XL, GMG Davy Crockett, Char-Broil Grill2go, Akorn Jr and Weber Baby Q.

  • If you are anywhere near Long Beach, I highly recommend my buddy Neil's place. If you do go, say hi from me to him and Phyllis!

    BigMista's

    Most GMG stuff is at dealers and they are everywhere...Just about any BBQ Galore.

    And this is the only other one I would recommend...and I will leave you with the very long comments we all made on the BBQ Crawl we did in 2011! Keep in mind, these comment are from BBQ Competition cooks...Not your average punter! (See I am getting it!)

    Fall 2011 SoCal Pelletheads.com BBQ Crawl
    Comments of the Various BBQ Joints


    Smoke City BBQ – Sherman Oaks
    5242 Van Nuys Blvd
    Sherman Oaks, California 91401


    All meat was served with no sauced applied. Sauce was available at the table. They cook on two old Hickories, using White Oak. They consider themselves to be Texas bbq, so no pulled pork. The place is an order at the front, take your meal to the table kind of place. Everything is served on brown butcher’s paper, no plates. You sit at picnic tables, with “no back” benches. A pretty standard bbq joint, not a restaurant. We were allowed to go back and view the smokers and talked with the pitmasters. Nice, friendly place. Music a little loud, although they did have football on the various TVs. You could eat inside or outside The following are comments from those attending:
    .
    Brisket
    ** Moist, really tender (probably a bit over cooked) but great flavor.
    ** Very tender, pulled apart real easy, would make sandwich.
    ** Brisket cooked well, moist good flavor
    ** Brisket was tender, average flavor & moisture. Slightly over cooked.
    ** The point was moist & tender, very good.
    ** Enjoyed the point. Nice pepper/salt flavor & moist . Brisket was bland and on the border of dry.
    ** Tender, like it thin


    Ribs (spares)
    ** Tender.
    ** Overcooked in that it was “fall off the bone tender” but good flavor. I did not add sauce.
    ** Ribs cooked well, would like more flavor
    ** Over cooked, more “fall off the bone”. Fair flavor.
    ** The rib was slightly over cooked, but the meat was flavorful. I could recommend folks eating them.
    ** Wanted more flavor, but was good flavor, I liked them. Wanted more.
    ** The ribs came off the bone easier than comp ribs, yet I really enjoyed them.


    Chicken
    ** White meat a little dry, but dark meat good.
    ** Moist, cooked well, flavorful ,paper thin skin.
    ** Very moist, not over the top flavor but again well cooked. I had a leg.
    ** I had breast meat. Moist but not too flavorful.
    ** Skin had a nice buttery flavor. Breast was dry, not smokey.
    ** Dry white, dark ok.
    ** Dark meat was very moist and tender, but not a lot of flavor without sauce.


    Jalepeno Cheddar Sausage
    ** Very good but peppery.
    ** To much heat that lingers.
    ** Spicy, good texture, moist.
    ** Good sausage, nice hint of heat, back of the throat, my favorite meat at Smoke City Market.
    ** Good sausage, a little to hot for me.
    ** Liked it, nice heat & flavor. Looked and tasted homemade.
    ** Too hot for me!


    Sides—Texas Caviar and Cabbage & Apple


    TX Caviar(black-eyed peas)
    ** Ok if you like black eyed peas.
    ** I love black eyed peas, but these were served cold & way to much vinegar in the sauce for me!
    ** Not bad, just did not love the flavor profile.
    ** Bland, vinegary taste only.
    ** Did not care for the caviar.
    ** Only thing good was the jalapeño.
    ** No, would not order again.


    Slaw
    ** Very normal, would try different side next visit.
    ** Nothing special, average.
    ** Flat, like I make.
    ** From Vons?
    ** Very, very ordinary.
    ** Where were the apples? My blue cheese pecan is much better!


    Sauce
    ** The hot vinegar sauce was very vinegary.
    ** Very vinegary, not my cup of tea. Tomato based sauce was much better, had that fruity tinge that I do not care for, but a sauce I could recommend.
    ** Vinegary without much blend (?) fair.
    ** Meh!


    Overall Comments Smoke City BBQ
    ** One of the better commercial BBQ Joints I have eaten at.
    ** Next!
    ** Good commercial place, I would recommend it to folks.

    "‘One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off.’”

  • If you find cheap down drafts get 2. I’ll even pay you before you leave.

    My Toys.....GMG DB, Weber Family Q, Weber Baby Q, Weber Kettle, Weber GA, Cobb

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