California might, quite literally, be the worst state for finding good Barbecue. I lived in Jacksonville, FL, Georgia, and Alabama, and I've done a BBQ tour of Austin, TX. All of these places have their BBQ merits. Conversely, I have not found a single BBQ place here in California that I would go back to a second time. I live in San Diego county, and have spent plenty of time sampling the food of LA. I often wonder why such an important niche has not been filled here in California. My friends, all locals, rave about one awful BBQ place or another, and it becomes clear to me that the average Californian has never actually had anything that I would consider BBQ. I suspect that most of them simply wouldn't know good BBQ from a hole in the ground (please, I mean no offense ... it's really not your fault).
... THAT IS ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE!
Zef (Hawaiian born and bred) began his venture as a grass-roots, backyard operation in Simi Valley, CA. When a writer and critic from eater.com sampled his food about a year ago, he enthusiastically sent thousands of followers in Zef's direction.
https://la.eater.com/2021/1/13/22217...new-california
Shortly afterward, he went from a back yard operation to a weekly drive-thru. Here's how the operation works: On Tuesday, Zef releases a menu for the week. On Wednesday at 10:00 AM, Online orders will go up. 30 seconds later, online orders will be sold out. On Friday, a (not so) super secret location in Simi Valley is disclosed, and the next morning the meats are ready. Orders are sold in hourly blocks. You show up during the block corresponding to your order, and you are served in your car. At 3:00, leftovers are sold to those unlucky enough to get an online order ... while supplies last. All leftover orders are cash-only. Be sure to bring plenty!
My wife discovered him a few weeks ago. Because my in-laws live only a few minutes away from one of his not-so-secret sites, we made a trip to Simi Valley under the guise of "let the grandparents see their grand kids". Here was our experience:
My wife arrived home at 9:55AM on Wednesday from an early morning appointment with our toddler. She ran inside grabbing her laptop and instructing me to "take care of the kids" (i.e. unload them from the car, change their diapers, and feed them breakfast). She began clicking like mad on each block to make an order, but as soon as she'd click on one, she was met with the words "sold out". Clicking on the next block yielded the same results, and the next, and the next. Defeated but still determined, she claimed that we might be able to get some leftovers if we went early and stood in line.
On Friday night, I got my second Pfizer vaccination, and by Saturday morning I was light-headed and weak from the side-effects. I could barely watch the little kids while my wife pursued what might be BBQ heaven right here in California. My wife left at 1:00 PM to the (not so) super secret Zef BBQ location on a cold, balmy afternoon and waited in her car. Hundreds of cars circled the industrial park as servers approached the cars Chik-Fil-A drive-thru style, passing a sign that said "WEAR YOUR DAMN MASK". Meanwhile, one of the servers, rib in one hand and customer orders in the other, kept pulling her mask down and licking her fingers as she consumed that precious smoked meat. Honestly, we couldn't blame her.
After about an hour, My wife saw 2 people line up in the grass. At this point, she sprang from her car, confirmed that this was the leftovers line, and took her place (3rd in line). Once the online orders had been filled and all of the cooking was done, Zef was delighted to talk to his customers, show them around the pit, and graciously thank everyone for their support. He called my wife by name. The first person in line shelled out a lot of cash to buy out all of his remaining ribs. Luckily, when my wife made her order, there was still brisket left. She ordered half a pound of lean brisket for herself, and she ordered a pound of fatty brisket for me. Zef was also serving his own version of red beans and rice, made with his homemade chicken andouille sausage and elk (that's right! ELK). They sliced the brisket in front of her, wrapped it up in aluminum foil, bagged it up, and she was on her way. The 4th person in line bought out all of his remaining stock, indiscriminately, brandishing a stack of cash. This is why you need to be at the front of the line.
After inquiring about the banana pudding, My wife was informed that a couple had flown in from Washington that morning just to have his BBQ. Incidentally, they pre-ordered the entire lot of banana pudding to take back with them. Here's their tweet:
So what's the verdict? When my wife got home, I was passed out with the kids unable to move. My wife greedily devoured her brisket and picked all of the elk out of the red beans and rice (leaving nary a single piece for me). When I awoke, I had a pound of fatty brisket that had been sitting in a ball of tinfoil for over an hour and a half. I pulled off a piece, threw it in my mouth, and was immediately in brisket heaven. I swear to everyone reading this post, this 2 hour old brisket was better than the freshly sliced brisket that I had at Franklin BBQ 2 years earlier. It was tender and dripping with collagen. It had a good bark, and had a superior seasoning inside and out. I proudly handed some to my 2 year old daughter who greedily wolfed down every piece (passing on good BBQ to one's prodigy is a father's duty). I had the few bites of the andouille sausage that were left which was spicy, unique, and much better than anything in the stores. The verdict then, is that we will be looking for excuses to go back to Simi Valley frequently from here on out. This is not only a top-level BBQ operation in terms of quality, but I'd go so far as to say that it's probably the best BBQ on the west coast (and I'm clearly not the only one). It's straight-up texas style cooking with some not-so conventional flavor combinations.
As for Zef, he seems to be ramping up his operations little by little every week, expanding as he has the cash to do so. I hope that one day soon he is able to create a brick-and-mortar home, opening his door every day offering such top-quality food. For now, his small operation affords him the flexibility of experimenting with his menu and offering some truly unique dishes as his menu changes from week to week to suit his fancy. I sincerely wish him well, and look forward to thanking him in person the next time that we are lucky enough to eat his food.
Here's to hoping that meathead and his crew are able to make the time to go out there, vouch for his BBQ, and add to his publicity.
Finally, here's some food porn:
... THAT IS ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE!
Zef (Hawaiian born and bred) began his venture as a grass-roots, backyard operation in Simi Valley, CA. When a writer and critic from eater.com sampled his food about a year ago, he enthusiastically sent thousands of followers in Zef's direction.
https://la.eater.com/2021/1/13/22217...new-california
Shortly afterward, he went from a back yard operation to a weekly drive-thru. Here's how the operation works: On Tuesday, Zef releases a menu for the week. On Wednesday at 10:00 AM, Online orders will go up. 30 seconds later, online orders will be sold out. On Friday, a (not so) super secret location in Simi Valley is disclosed, and the next morning the meats are ready. Orders are sold in hourly blocks. You show up during the block corresponding to your order, and you are served in your car. At 3:00, leftovers are sold to those unlucky enough to get an online order ... while supplies last. All leftover orders are cash-only. Be sure to bring plenty!
My wife discovered him a few weeks ago. Because my in-laws live only a few minutes away from one of his not-so-secret sites, we made a trip to Simi Valley under the guise of "let the grandparents see their grand kids". Here was our experience:
My wife arrived home at 9:55AM on Wednesday from an early morning appointment with our toddler. She ran inside grabbing her laptop and instructing me to "take care of the kids" (i.e. unload them from the car, change their diapers, and feed them breakfast). She began clicking like mad on each block to make an order, but as soon as she'd click on one, she was met with the words "sold out". Clicking on the next block yielded the same results, and the next, and the next. Defeated but still determined, she claimed that we might be able to get some leftovers if we went early and stood in line.
On Friday night, I got my second Pfizer vaccination, and by Saturday morning I was light-headed and weak from the side-effects. I could barely watch the little kids while my wife pursued what might be BBQ heaven right here in California. My wife left at 1:00 PM to the (not so) super secret Zef BBQ location on a cold, balmy afternoon and waited in her car. Hundreds of cars circled the industrial park as servers approached the cars Chik-Fil-A drive-thru style, passing a sign that said "WEAR YOUR DAMN MASK". Meanwhile, one of the servers, rib in one hand and customer orders in the other, kept pulling her mask down and licking her fingers as she consumed that precious smoked meat. Honestly, we couldn't blame her.
After about an hour, My wife saw 2 people line up in the grass. At this point, she sprang from her car, confirmed that this was the leftovers line, and took her place (3rd in line). Once the online orders had been filled and all of the cooking was done, Zef was delighted to talk to his customers, show them around the pit, and graciously thank everyone for their support. He called my wife by name. The first person in line shelled out a lot of cash to buy out all of his remaining ribs. Luckily, when my wife made her order, there was still brisket left. She ordered half a pound of lean brisket for herself, and she ordered a pound of fatty brisket for me. Zef was also serving his own version of red beans and rice, made with his homemade chicken andouille sausage and elk (that's right! ELK). They sliced the brisket in front of her, wrapped it up in aluminum foil, bagged it up, and she was on her way. The 4th person in line bought out all of his remaining stock, indiscriminately, brandishing a stack of cash. This is why you need to be at the front of the line.
After inquiring about the banana pudding, My wife was informed that a couple had flown in from Washington that morning just to have his BBQ. Incidentally, they pre-ordered the entire lot of banana pudding to take back with them. Here's their tweet:
So what's the verdict? When my wife got home, I was passed out with the kids unable to move. My wife greedily devoured her brisket and picked all of the elk out of the red beans and rice (leaving nary a single piece for me). When I awoke, I had a pound of fatty brisket that had been sitting in a ball of tinfoil for over an hour and a half. I pulled off a piece, threw it in my mouth, and was immediately in brisket heaven. I swear to everyone reading this post, this 2 hour old brisket was better than the freshly sliced brisket that I had at Franklin BBQ 2 years earlier. It was tender and dripping with collagen. It had a good bark, and had a superior seasoning inside and out. I proudly handed some to my 2 year old daughter who greedily wolfed down every piece (passing on good BBQ to one's prodigy is a father's duty). I had the few bites of the andouille sausage that were left which was spicy, unique, and much better than anything in the stores. The verdict then, is that we will be looking for excuses to go back to Simi Valley frequently from here on out. This is not only a top-level BBQ operation in terms of quality, but I'd go so far as to say that it's probably the best BBQ on the west coast (and I'm clearly not the only one). It's straight-up texas style cooking with some not-so conventional flavor combinations.
As for Zef, he seems to be ramping up his operations little by little every week, expanding as he has the cash to do so. I hope that one day soon he is able to create a brick-and-mortar home, opening his door every day offering such top-quality food. For now, his small operation affords him the flexibility of experimenting with his menu and offering some truly unique dishes as his menu changes from week to week to suit his fancy. I sincerely wish him well, and look forward to thanking him in person the next time that we are lucky enough to eat his food.
Here's to hoping that meathead and his crew are able to make the time to go out there, vouch for his BBQ, and add to his publicity.
Finally, here's some food porn:
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