la.foodblogging

Drive by JR’s Barbeque in Culver City and you will be assaulted with the delicious, smoky cloud billowing from the bright yellow building.

I recently read an article on my podcast that essentially demanded if a soul food restaurant didn’t greet you at the door, you should keep walking. JR’s greets you in the car and steers you into the parking lot. You don’t really have much of a choice.

The unassuming place stands sentinel over the corner where La Cienega splits off from Fairfax, is accessible and friendly. A large horseshoe counter greets you like a small town diner, and there is a second room crowded with tables so you could squeeze maybe 20 people in there like a fraternity prank.

Chances are, either Jeanie, the owner, or Robert, her son will be working the horseshoe, chatting with customers, or helping heave bags of primal meat over the counter for take out orders. It is a fast-paced environment but you never get the harried sense of being rushed. In fact, Jeanie makes it look easy with her said back style and friendly conversation.

Yet, JR’s is far from a delicate place. Although the menu proclaims the BBQ to be “Tender as Mother’s Love� –which is true- the flavors have punch and dense gravity.

I can’t give you an extensive review, because I always get the same thing: 3 meat combo, baby. Hot links, pork ribs and either brisket or chicken. Hot sauce on the side. BBQ Beans and potato salad. Lemonade. One day I’m going to have to expand my horizons, I’m too limited.

But why screw with a good thing? The pork ribs are meaty and spiced perfectly. The best part is on the rib tip, the part that clings to the pipe of cartilage. The fat gives it a rich, juicy chunk of meat capped with a hearty char.

I always order the sauce on the side, so I can adjust the taste –and heat- myself.

They have three grades of sauce, mild, medium and hot. Hot is a wily bitch. She teases you with a sensual sweetness, then smokiness emerges to coat your tongue. As it caresses your tastebuds it lulls you into a sense of luxurious rapture. Almost imperceptibly some heat slides into the equation, pushing aside the smoke, then bursting through the sweetness to incinerate a full blown assault against your mouth.

What the heat does for BBQ is prime your tongue for more subtle flavors. I take a chunk of the hot links and chew it pensively with no sauce. It is charred well on the interior, and the skin pops and snaps with crisp satisfaction. To cut the heat, I alternate between the baked beans and potato salad.

The beans? It’s more accurate to call them beans and bacon with sugar. I don’t like beans at all, but perfectly simmered baked beans are a delicious delicacy. When the brown sugar mixes with bacon and smoke, it makes a richly thick dish that is the perfect and standard compliment to barbeque.

Before I can take another bite, Robert comes up and asks how everything is. Perfect as always. Two guys come in and plop down looking over the menu. Asking nobody in particular, “What’s good here?�

Talk about a loaded question. Everyone starts answering at once.
Rib Tips.
You could try yourself some beef barbeque.
Links, get the links.
Save room for the Sock it to me cake.
Go for the combo. (that was me)

Jeanie has played this out a million times, and with precise interviewing and wit, extracts exactly what would fill these guys up. Of course, there is no wrong answer, the portions are large and the flavor kicks ass. I am a prodigious eater, but I rarely finish all the food given to me. This time I left with just a cup of sauce, I need to doctor up some food at home.

Jr’s Barbeque
3055 South La Cienega Blvd
310-837-6838

By Zteve (see more of his posts). You can find more of Zteve's writing at his own website Gastrologica