Saturday night at Gus's Barbecue
Went to see a friend of ours in Ray Bradbury's stage adaptation of his "Fahrenheit 451", and since it runs for two hours we wanted somewhere nearby to eat after 10:30. A closing time of 11 wouldn't leave enough time, which pretty much meant Gus's was gonna be it - OK with us, since we'd been wanting to try their new incarnation anyway. We asked our friend and her SO to join us, and got there at about 10:40. Just in time, too, as it turns out the kitchen stops taking orders at 11 - it would be nice, I think, if they'd say something about that in their publicity.
Anyway, we were hungry and thirsty, and started off with a Key Lime martini (sic!) for Mrs. O, a Cosmopolitan for the actress, a Coke for the SO and a glass of very nice zinfandel (from the "BBQ Worthy Reds" block of the menu) for me. We all ordered sandwiches: in the same sequence as above, they were a pulled pork, a Cajun grilled fish, a Gus's Famous hamburger and a Beer Braised Texas brisket. I seem to recall that everyone else got the regular fries, but I had to try the sweet potato variety, which were very good. We'd finished off the drinks by the time the food arrived, so Mrs. O continued to blaspheme against the Holy Martini by ordering a pomegranate one, our friend another Cosmo, and I tried the carmenere - not so swell as the zin, but decent.
The sandwiches were very well received; I didn't get bites of anyone else's, but they were obviously being deeply enjoyed, as was mine. I love ciabatta buns for burgers and things anyway, and these were even better than the fine ones I get from Trader Joe's, with a somewhat crunchier crust, and a crumb that was both perfectly tender and resistant to soaking or sogginess. The brisket was remarkably tender, too, with a good beefy flavor and a not-too-sweet sauce, topped with a big layer of excellent coleslaw. We all agreed that the pickles that come with the sandwiches were unusually good, too.
The tab for the table was about $104, which our very friendly waitress then offered to split for us when she saw me doing arithmetic on a napkin. Our share, with a 20% tip, was $64 plus change, more than we usually spring for sandwiches but well worth it. The space and its amenities have been hugely improved without losing any soul in the process, the service was good if sometimes distracted - I had to go find our server to remind her about our request for water - and the fare was all better than satisfactory. Some people at an adjacent table had ordered regular meals, which came on great big and showy white plates and generous portions. We'll definitely want to be taking ourselves and some more friends there - the menu isn't huge, but it all looks really good.
Will Owen
May 19, 2008 01:51PM
Thanks for the report, Will.
Braised, Texas and brisket are three words I wouldn't normally string together on a menu but it sounds like it works.
How heavy do they go on the smoke, just curious? If Mr. Cecil's ranks as a 2 and Woody's is a 10, where does Gus rank?
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Didn't I also read somewhere that the pork is baked in an oven? I stopped by the other afternoon and had the pulled-pork sandwich, out of morbid curiosity. It was better than expected but nothing special.
The "Southern greens," however, would put you in jail anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line. Real Southern greens -- usually collards or turnip greens -- are long-cooked with a hamhock for flavor depth, and they're served with pot likker and pepper vinegar. But these were unpleasantly barely cooked and unflavored (but slightly improvable with numerous shakes of Tabasco and squeezes of lemon, which I had to request).
When I asked the waitress what kind of greens they used, she said, "Southern greens." I should have stopped there, but I got her to ask the kitchen, and she returned with the news that I had just eaten "Swedish greens," y'all. I believe they were trying to say that it was Swiss chard, which can be quite good when cooked at least to tenderness and served with an appropriate meal but which fail miserably as a pre-al-dente accompaniment to pulled pork, whether oven-baked or pit-smoked. How I yearned for the flavorful greens and hot hushpuppies at Johnny Reb's (now reopened down in Long Beach after a grease fire).
Gus's is a nice-looking place, and that waitress was friendly and mighty cute, so the meal was not a complete loss, but I'm still scratching my head over the Southern Swedish greens.
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I have never heard of Swedish Greens!! ;-)
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What makes it, in Gus's terms a Texas Brisket, was the beef from Texas, if it is braised it would not be BBQ'ed?
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I think what people need to keep in mind about Gus's is that even though it's called BBQ, the focus is more on being an all-round family restaurant with good drinks and plenty of choices of salads, burgers, etc. It's not about precision terms for barbecue, and it's not a church parking lot in South L.A. That said, the meat is flavorful and good quality, but this is not the kind of place to compare with Woody's, but rather with Boneyard or some place like that. Prices are commensurate with any new place that probably cost a million to renovate with a full bar -- moderately high, but lower than South Pasadena places like Mike and Anne's or Briganti.
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Good comparisons, Patty. Thanks for decoder ring.
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Patty,
Do you really think Gus's is on par with Boneyard -- quality wise?
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Actually, I haven't been to Boneyard -- I was just trying to compare it to a moderately upscale restaurant that happens to have barbecue, rather than some super-authentic smoke shack. It sounds like Boneyard has a more ambitious menu.
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Thanks for all the feedback, kids, especially about those greens - though I'm going to try them anyway, if only from morbid curiosity. In answer to the back-and-forth comparisons, I think those of us who'd been there years ago were mostly comparing it with what it had been before: a somewhat tired and seedy but comfy family eatery, with okay food IF you know what to order (and what not). Its current incarnation is a huge improvement, the menu is for the most part enticing, and while none of the "barbecue" spent the night next to smoldering hickory logs it's all pretty decent meat, not just something baked under a coating of goopy sauce.
To answer the good Professor as best I can, the smoke flavor (however it's applied) was present but not aggressive on my brisket, which is how I prefer it. I have no recent tastings to compare it to, however. I still need to try the pork, which I can compare at least with Oinkster's. Theirs was tender and porky, but much too light on the smoke for my taste. I understand Gus's is using a similar cooking method, so I'm reserving judgement until I try it. Which will be soon.
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Let me know if they're following my advice on how to cook greens Southern style. Also, would you tell the waitress I lost her phone number? ;-)
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maybe it was an off night for your greens. we've been thrice, had them all three times because it makes us feel less guilty when eating all those tasty sweet potato fries, and we definitely think it's better than the creamed corn. brisket good, pulled pork good, ribs outstanding. i'll try the greens at JOHNNY REB'S, but the BBQ at GUS'S is in my opinion much better. my best markers are from a cross Texas trip to every significant BBQ joint, our favorite being COOPER'S & CITY BBQ. we also smoke our own pulled pork and brisket. we're smoking a 14 pound brisket this weekend for 20 hours with a guiness brown sugar mop.
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