Where else should I turn to find the best BBQ places in the triangle of Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Las Vegas? Me and my family will travel to America for a holiday during easter and I'd love to soon real BBQ!
So hit me!
I am somewhat familiar with the areas you have mentioned. To start, in Los Angeles, there are a couple places that I have tried and would recommend-
Maple Block Meat Co- 3973 Sepulveda Blvd
Culver City, CA 90230
Bludsoes BBQ609 N La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Not sure if you have a strict itenerary, but San Diego is an excellent place to visit! And it also happens to be the home of my personal favorite BBQ spot on the West Coast-
Grand Ole BBQ Y Asado-302 32nd St
San Diego, CA 92104 b/t Thorn St & Upas St
North Park
grandolebbq.com
They are open wednesday - saturday and have two shifts (lunch and dinner). On sunday, they do an Argentinian style Asado at 12pm for lunch
Their Brisket is as close as you'll get to Texas style at a restaurant on the west coast. They sell out of brisket and short ribs fairly quickly so make sure you get there when they open. There's always a line!
Check their website facebook and twitter accounts out as they give updates on when they sell out etc
San Diego is a couple hours from LA. Being from California, I much prefer San Diego for a vacation over Los Angeles (I am familiar and have lived in most areas around southern California).
I know there are some pit members from Las Vegas, but I personally have not heard of any to die for BBQ restaurants in Vegas. There are places like Lucille's smokehouse which I would say is decent for a chain, but not knock-your-socks-off good. A website/app that you can use to check into restaurants is Yelp (www.yelp.com). Not all reviews are reliable (some people love to complain and are never happy), but you can get a general idea of the type of food a restaurant serves and some of the recommended dishes.
Palm Springs- No good BBQ joints to my knowledge in that area, although they do have some great BBQ competitions there. None that i know of while youre visiting
A couple other novel ideas for you-
If you are here on the 6th of April, there is a BBQ comp at Santa Anita (not far from Los Angeles), where you can try samples of competition BBQ. They also have horse races at the Santa Anita Park that day, its a pretty fun event! Admission is reasonable (about $25 but you may have to buy more tasting tickets than what's included with the admission package).
Although it's expensive ($400 USD) my highest recommendation would be to take a BBQ class while you're here in California from Harry Soo in Diamond Bar, CA (about 30 mins outside LA). Harry is a wonderful guy and his class is excellent to learn some great tips to step your BBQ game up (I have taken the class twice). Not only that, but you will try some insanely good BBQ during the class! You can independently look for reviews to validate my claim but there are a few others that can vouch for Harry's class and people do travel from all around the world to take the class!) They are held on Saturday mornings. He hasn't yet posted his April date but you should definitely try to make that class happen if you can afford it and if it works into your schedule.
Wow! Thank you! Much more than what I hoped for! San Diego sounds good.
And what do you know! It looks like I am gonna be there the 6th of April! Excited to say the least!
Grand Ole BBQ's North Park location is currently closed for renovation, They're close, but they've been close for some time now. They have another location in Flinn Springs which is about 20 miles east of San Diego. It's much larger with an expanded menu, large outdoor seating area and live music. There's also Coop's West Texas BBQ in Lemon Grove, about 10 miles east of downtown, Really legit.
Last edited by mnavarre; February 2, 2020, 02:25 PM.
Equipment:
Brinkman Gas/Charcoal duo with offset firebox
Pit Barrel Cooker
Maverick Remote Temperature Gizmo with Pit and meat probes
Thermopen Instant thermo
Interesting smokinfatties ! The space occupied by Maple Block used to be a family owned Italian restaurant that had been there for YEARS. I lamented their closing! I live close to this place and now I'm going to have to stop in and take a taste test. It's rare to find a place that turns out great BBQ here in LA IMHO. I mean, there are places, it's just that what I've been turning out thanks to this amazing site is typically a dang sight better and FAR less expensive.
I 100% agree! Maple block is good, but not knock your socks off, and I think most of the stuff I make at home would rival what they make. The only place that I think is better than what I make is Grand Ole BBQ Y Asado. I am pretty proud of my brisket but theirs is amazing!
Think we have an advantage because we're not trying to make mass quantities! Where in the city are you located? I've always though it would be fun to have an LA group get together...
Thank you all - but my plans for the trip have changed... First off I will land at LAX, LA on the evening of the 6th of april, will stay in LA until Saturday when we will travel to Palm Springs where we will stay most of the time, a three day trip to Las Vegas is also planned.
So tips for great BBQ places in LA, Palm Springs and Las Vegas is greatly appreciated. And of course if there are places near the road of an hour from Palm Springs.
Wow, Gus's is still there? I went there a few times when I was going to college down there in the early 80's, and they looked like they'd been around for quite a while back then. Are they still on Fair Oaks in South Pas?
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