You know how much I love BBQ! From San Diego’s Phil’s to San Mateo’s Willy’s, whenever i travel, I’m on the look out for BBQ. But what abut at home? Don’t I have it covered. And when I’m in downtown LA, there’s always one spot I love to check out: Sprint Street Smokehouse BBQ.

The food is great, the locale is low key, and the beer is a perfect selection of local and far out brews that compliment the BBQ.

What makes Spring At unique, other than a BBQ spot in LA, is that its in actually Chinatown. At one point, downtown LA actually technically four BBQ spots. Besides Spring St, and sorry if I don’t remember the names, but there was Lee’s(?) on the corner of Figueroa and Sunset. The owner actually had a second satellite location on 7th street, and then there was a spot in Grand Central Market which closed years ago, but now a redesigned front space at GCM has been re-purposed as Horse Thief, a store front of sorts BBQ spot.

So that leaves Spring St. as the only place you can grab some ‘Bones and Brisket’ in a neat sit down spot with TV’s and music. Interestingly, they actually used to host a comedy night here, but no more.

What catches your eye as you enter is the selection of beers available. Of course they feature Angel City, the localest of breweries, but they also feature San Fernando Valley and Ventura County in addition to San Diego and San Marcos brews. But don’t worry, it you feel only foreigners make the good stuff, England, Belgium, Canada and New York are represented. Hey, they might as well be from another country – no one can understand that accent!

Although there are plenty of BBQ spots surrounding Spring St., I’m sorry, but Korean BBQ does not compare. Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, Brisket and Burnt Ends are what we mean when we say Barbeque!

And in no BBQ spot is worth its Salt Lick if they don’t have their own BBQ sauces to compliment the meat. I normally wait until about half way through the meat before I start adding extra sauce. That way I get to enjoy the flavor of the meat, and then BAM! I kick it up a notch!

And fear not, it’s not all meat. There are plenty of healthy dining options to join the meat elite. Their sides are just awesome! Slaw, mash, the mac and cheese is killer! And yes, the roasted veggies hold their own as a star with the chili being some of the best you’ll taste anywhere. Honestly, I’d order the chili over most menu items in other restaurants. But here, BBQ is king!

Spring Street Smokehouse

640 N. SPRING ST. 
LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
213.626.0535

Memphis Minnie’s stands out as a weird spot for a BBQ joint. In a residential neighborhood of drab gray and cream coloured, densely packed housing, here’s this bright red ‘Bar-B-Que joint’. But even more, Haight Street is famous for it’s hippies and vegan food culture. Good thing for me, that Haight Street is a mile or two up the road. The is lower Haight, low low lower Haight. And this is meat!

Inside the eye catching red is a meat factory of the highest order. Memphis Minnie’s has been in San Francisco for decades, written up all the time in the SF Chronicle mag and various other article about the other San Francsico treat: BBQ.

The meat here is simple, yet effective. The meat seems a little thin on the bone, but makes up for this in flavor. The smoke comes through clean and smooth, like a fine shot of Johnnie Walker Blue. I do like the fact that they offer classic BBQ sides: Collard Greens, Slaw, Fries and Mac and Cheese head the menu. Various other side are offered, but why?

You’re encouraged to eat on-site as this allows you to hand pick your sauces. Again, I like starting off with straight meat, and then work my way up the sauce chain. The Mustard and Texas Red were good choices. The Vinegar, not really my style, but not bad. The Beelzebob Breath is a jalapeno infused, and is more hot than flavorful. it detracts more than enhances. But it is fun with friends seeing who can put the most on the their meat.

The fun of the shop are the old school self promotion walls. This was all the rage back in the day, pictures, posters, magazine articles and City Hall certificates take up what ever space is not already filled with various t-shirts. Some are actual souvenir shirts, others just funny stuff from over the years, joined by a huge Memphis Minnie piggy picture. Good fun spot.

Memphis Minnie’s BBQ Joint and Smokehouse

576 Haight St,
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 864-7675

Smokestack Barbecue, which resides in the Magnolia Brewing Company building brings together my two favorite things: Beer and BBQ. Walking in you just know this is going to be a memorable spot. The place is done up in an old San Francisco warehouse. Full-on 1920s exposed mortar, aged support stacks that are holding up the 30 foot ceiling above us.

Bleached faded benches from a 1950s yard sale that were left out in the rain, the place oozes character and charm. It’s total retro throwback to a backyard garage, rusted and stained from years of good ole backyard BBQ use.

The bar is an interesting and fascinating set up. A mix between pre-prohibition saloon and an absinthe haberdashery, it is flooded with light from huge factory windows that are not at all conducive to nursing a hangover the next morning. This leans towards that comment about the shabby nobility in being drunk by mid afternoon.

As I’ve mentioned before, unfortunately, the food did not live up to the expectation. Although the menu is extensive, a little to foodie for barbecue spot in my opinion, my spare ribs seem to Dryden and on the verge of jerky. Granted this was one single visit in the middle the day in the middle of the week, so of course I must do right by them and visit again. Consider the arm twisted.

But as always in these matters, it’s the beer that saved the day. They’ve got a great menu, and my Midtown Amber Ale worked out just perfectly for this…meal. this was a launch as I would never combined barbecue and work for lunch. So next time I’m in San Francisco on oh cool spring evening, Smokehouse BBQ, here I come.