Sauce Dog
Knows what a fatty is.
My buddy and I went to a BBQ place the other day on Ventura, which had some decent hype (Barrel & Ash). First thing I noticed was the valet parking, at which point we should have turned around there. I'll pause here and say this, I'm not often one to sh*t talk a restaurant, if I don't like it I just don't go back. I also don't own a restaurant, but have worked in them all my career, so know what to expect. In the case here, I even tried to check my "bbq snob" at the door.
We bellied up to the bar, ordered a beer and looked over the menu. Upon asking what the house specialty is, both bartenders highly recommended the brisket ($19 for 1/2 lb, no sides) and smoked wings, and then pretty much everything else on the menu. I then asked about the sauce situation since there was none on the tables, but just got a blank stare. I dug deeper, and asked if the meat can be served dry, what do they mean by "Carolina style sauce", etc. With no further help, we dove into the menu. We ordered brisket, pulled pork, wings, greens, hush puppies and the hoe cake.
The wings were the best part of the meal, followed by the hoe cake. The pork was complete mush, greens uber sweet, and the brisket...well, let's talk about the brisket. There were 4 slices, 2 thin & 2 thick. We each took a bite of the thin pieces and both of us cringed...insanely salty (and I enjoy salt). We forced another bite to finish the piece, but made the hard decision to send it back. After a quick apology, and a few minutes, someone brought back the dish...WITH THE SAME PIECES!! The exception was that the crust had been removed, and it was accompanied by a couple of tiny shavings of bark from another piece. We considered not saying anything, but it had to be done so we called them out on it. The bartender then said, "Yeah, the chef said they're too salty so they cut off the crust". I said, "Yeah, we know". And, that was the end of it. No new pieces, no manager follow-up, no discount (though to be fair she did send us a dessert), and worst of all - no attached bark. We were just dumbfounded, and certainly didn't want another salty piece, so just chalked it off to experience and ate our "roast beef".
The irony is that they auto-gratuity for everyone, and they split the tip pool with the back of the house. Basically, this system allows the owners to not have to pay a decent wage to the cooks (if they didn't want to), and simultaneously discourages a higher level of service (and food knowledge) for front of house staff, since they are essentially getting paid hourly. Yet, even for L.A. the prices were insanely high, service was mediocre (I'm being generous), management non-existent, kitchen integrity insulting, food quality - POOR...well, you get the point. Basically, nobody there gave a fark, so we paid our $100 and left.
Sorry if this thread comes across as negative, that's not my intent. I originally wasn't going to post it at all, but in actuality I feel obligated to. Not for the sake of the restaurant, I won't go back and will steer away others who ask about it. But for the sake of those Brethren, who like me, try to hold back their standards too much at times when dining. Being a lifer in the industry, I'm acutely conscience of the operations when I'm dining, and sometimes it's actually hard to enjoy the experience without taking a step back and relaxing. That said, this was a prime example of why we should maintain and demand those standards be met. Restaurant operations and food costs are expensive, but there's still parameters they need to keep the prices within. So, when they are at the top of the charts, then our expectations and standards should be as well. And we, as consumers, should demand that without reservations. It keeps them honest, and denies them the ability to dupe us out of money more than once. The BBQ trend is still going strong, which I think is great, but not everyone out there knows the difference between good and bad BBQ. Therefore, as Brethren, I think it's up to us who have the knowledge, experience, and taste buds for great Que to help others understand what it can, and should taste like, because who else is going to? In the end, we all win.
Rant over...thanks for listening, and keep those standards high!
We bellied up to the bar, ordered a beer and looked over the menu. Upon asking what the house specialty is, both bartenders highly recommended the brisket ($19 for 1/2 lb, no sides) and smoked wings, and then pretty much everything else on the menu. I then asked about the sauce situation since there was none on the tables, but just got a blank stare. I dug deeper, and asked if the meat can be served dry, what do they mean by "Carolina style sauce", etc. With no further help, we dove into the menu. We ordered brisket, pulled pork, wings, greens, hush puppies and the hoe cake.
The wings were the best part of the meal, followed by the hoe cake. The pork was complete mush, greens uber sweet, and the brisket...well, let's talk about the brisket. There were 4 slices, 2 thin & 2 thick. We each took a bite of the thin pieces and both of us cringed...insanely salty (and I enjoy salt). We forced another bite to finish the piece, but made the hard decision to send it back. After a quick apology, and a few minutes, someone brought back the dish...WITH THE SAME PIECES!! The exception was that the crust had been removed, and it was accompanied by a couple of tiny shavings of bark from another piece. We considered not saying anything, but it had to be done so we called them out on it. The bartender then said, "Yeah, the chef said they're too salty so they cut off the crust". I said, "Yeah, we know". And, that was the end of it. No new pieces, no manager follow-up, no discount (though to be fair she did send us a dessert), and worst of all - no attached bark. We were just dumbfounded, and certainly didn't want another salty piece, so just chalked it off to experience and ate our "roast beef".
The irony is that they auto-gratuity for everyone, and they split the tip pool with the back of the house. Basically, this system allows the owners to not have to pay a decent wage to the cooks (if they didn't want to), and simultaneously discourages a higher level of service (and food knowledge) for front of house staff, since they are essentially getting paid hourly. Yet, even for L.A. the prices were insanely high, service was mediocre (I'm being generous), management non-existent, kitchen integrity insulting, food quality - POOR...well, you get the point. Basically, nobody there gave a fark, so we paid our $100 and left.
Sorry if this thread comes across as negative, that's not my intent. I originally wasn't going to post it at all, but in actuality I feel obligated to. Not for the sake of the restaurant, I won't go back and will steer away others who ask about it. But for the sake of those Brethren, who like me, try to hold back their standards too much at times when dining. Being a lifer in the industry, I'm acutely conscience of the operations when I'm dining, and sometimes it's actually hard to enjoy the experience without taking a step back and relaxing. That said, this was a prime example of why we should maintain and demand those standards be met. Restaurant operations and food costs are expensive, but there's still parameters they need to keep the prices within. So, when they are at the top of the charts, then our expectations and standards should be as well. And we, as consumers, should demand that without reservations. It keeps them honest, and denies them the ability to dupe us out of money more than once. The BBQ trend is still going strong, which I think is great, but not everyone out there knows the difference between good and bad BBQ. Therefore, as Brethren, I think it's up to us who have the knowledge, experience, and taste buds for great Que to help others understand what it can, and should taste like, because who else is going to? In the end, we all win.
Rant over...thanks for listening, and keep those standards high!
