10. LA BBQ Guy

You gotta blame it on something...

I was about to say something to the effect that – considering I hit truck #10 today in the rain – I am unstoppable. I am like the Post Office (except THEY didn’t deliver my mail on this recent, most absurd “holiday” we call Columbus Day). But, as Murphy’s Law does what it will, the power in my house just went out. I can still type as long as my laptop maintains battery power, but at some point I must concede to Mother Nature. Perhaps I can use that as an excuse to go and have a glass of wine out in the world, away from my canyon.

So there I was today, roaming the rain-slicked streets of our fair city, looking for lunch. I knew it would either be the LA FuXion truck or LA BBQ Guy (Spring Street Smokehouse). I am a little bit over the multi-cultural, food fusion thing at the moment and really wanted something hearty for my tummy on this über-autumnal day. And since I didn’t ever even SEE the fusion truck, the choice was made for me (which I always appreciate).

The young, chipper woman in the truck recommended that I order the brisket sandwich, which comes with slaw (on the sandwich), cornbread and a pickle ($7). She said the brisket had been smoked for over 18 hours and it was her favorite. She also suggested I tack on some baked beans to the whole affair ($1). I was feeling like $8 was a lot for a sandwich-lunch-from-a-truck, but when I saw the amount of food (not that I could even eat that much) it seemed to make more sense. Plus anything that requires an average of 20 hours to prepare is allowed to be a couple of bones more. So I trotted back to my car to avoid the rain, listened to Left, Right and Center and ate my lunch.

First of all, this was a majorly shambolic affair. And this reminds me; I really think it would be wise for all of the good people of the food truck-sphere, across the board, to provide its patrons with moist towelettes. But I suppose I should have known about this particular one. I mean it is bbq.

I realize that there are a few disparate bbq camps, and I seriously don’t want to alienate those who are not of mine. I was born and raised in the south and my bbq tastes remain there. I prefer the Carolina style: thin, tangy and vinegary, with a kick. Today’s sandwich was not only the opposite of that – sweet and brown sugary and very thick – but it was drowning in the stuff, to the level at which I have no idea what the actual meat was like. And that meat worked for so many hours to get itself into my hands! The slaw was actually just shredded cabbage, witch gave it little slawitude. The cornbread tasted as though it was from a mix and had been sitting under plastic wrap for the better part of a (moist) day. Actually, both the cornbread and the pickle were mostly inedible to me as they were also wading in the sauce that – more than – coated the bottom of the paper tray. The beans were also too sweet for my taste and, while not bad, were just uninspired.

I’m really sorry to have to report negatively on LA BBQ Guy. I have been really excited to try them and was even more anticipatory after I had such a yummy time at Barbie’s Q. They made me want to get my Q on this fall! I am perfectly comfortable with using the “I like a different style of bbq” line, and leaving it at that. However, the fact remains that there was far, far too much sauce, and the cornbread and beans really seemed to be treated as afterthoughts.

Perhaps we can simply blame it on the rain. We seem to do a lot of that here in LA anyway. Heck, I’ve never lived anywhere else where my power goes out each time there’s more than a hint of mist in the air and newscasters are reporting, LIVE! to deliver us the breaking news that it is in fact, raining.