Blake’s Place - Anaheim
Another day another short review. Blake’s Place in Anaheim is one of the best BBQ spots in Orange County. I work down the street and am able to visit there a couple times a month and every meal is just about top notch. Lunch, dinner, ribs, sandwiches, salads, everything is good.
If you like your BBQ smoked Blake’s is the place to get it and the amazing thing is I don’t think most people know they exist and even if they do, they have a hard time locating it because of them being in an unassuming industrial location. It is worth the drive and adventuring to get some of the best smoked meat in the OC.
I actually took pictures on two separate occasions but forgot to download them from my iPhone before I did firmware updates, that’s part of the reason as to why this review had been sitting around for me to complete. I promise to do a more professional review soon!
(Multiple visits for both lunch and dinner throughout August and September)
Rating: 
Blake’s Place
2901 E Miraloma Ave
Anaheim, CA, 92806
(714) 630-8574
Burrell’s BBQ (Review #2) - Santa Ana
Burrell's BBQ Inside
Ah beautiful Santa Ana, California, the sun, the breeze, the Burrell’s BBQ?!?! Barbeque isn’t normally the first type of food that anyone thinks of in Santa Ana, it’s not normally the first food on the mind when you speak about California, but that doesn’t mean Californians can’t do BBQ. Tucked away deep inside Santa Ana is Burrell’s BBQ. Hidden inside a neighborhood, and disguised as a house, Burrell’s is quite unassuming, except for the 3 or 4 catering vans, the smokers in the driveway and the cuts of wood on the side. After playing nearly 2 hours of racquetball I wanted to reward myself for getting back into the swing of exercise with the reward of completely healthy all American BBQ. Ok maybe the healthy part is a stretch, but I think most Americans agree that BBQ is right up there with apple pie.
I arrived right at opening; in fact I even helped the lady running the counter put out one of the rugs. After she had everything situated I asked her what was good today, and she laughed and said everything. I went on to tell her I had the tri-tip my previous visit and that I liked baby back ribs, she said the baby backs are good and juicy, which sold me.
Burrell's BBQ Lunch Plate
Being that I’m a food connoisseur and that I have to appease my adoring fans (actually I think only the voices in my head really read my reviews) I decided to not only get a lunch plate of baby back ribs ($8.95), with macaroni and cheese and a slice of cornbread, but I also toughed it out and got a side of collard greens ($2.00). The lunch plate consisted of ½ rack of ribs that were deliciously smoked and then smothered with a sweet sugary BBQ sauce. This is where Mr. Burrell and I will agree to disagree. I’m much more of a fan of the slightly sweet with a good amount of spice BBQ sauce, while Mr. Burrell coming from the Carolina’s appears to prefer a couple more cups of sugar then what I’m used to. It’s not to say that the sauce is bad, it’s just in BBQ there are so many differences of philosophies as to what’s the best.
Burrells BBQ Juicy
I think next time I’ll get something without the sauce and just appreciate good smoked meat. But for someone who really likes SWEET BBQ sauce it’s not bad. Another thing there was a pool of watery liquid that formed under the ribs, I’m unsure if that was from the sauce or just condensation. On to the sides! The macaroni and cheese was just as good as it was my last visit months ago, elbow macaroni puffed up and surrounded by gobs of cheese, my favorite part was the slight dried crunch that the top of the dish gets because of it being baked. The cornbread was ok, I love cornbread, but it was a bit dry unfortunately. Lastly the collard greens… Being born and raised in Orange County my whole life the only collards I knew were the ones on my shirts, and the only greens we ate were of the canned or frozen green bean varieties. I really want to like collard greens, in fact I think for the most part I do, they really are a southern specialty and I want to keep trying different recipes till I find one I really like, Burrell’s were ok, but not the best I’ve had.
Burrells BBQ Pit
So there you have it, Burrell’s BBQ in Santa Ana, a Santa Ana mainstay for nearly thirty years. Order yourself some food, have a picnic, and enjoy some fresh air.
Rating: 
Burrell’s BBQ
305 N Hesperian Street
Santa Ana, CA 92703
(714) 547-7441
Beach Pit BBQ - Tustin
Little did I know when we walked into Beach Pit BBQ that I was walking into an establishment created by Tim DeCinces, a former baseball player whose father I cheered on for the California Angels in the 80’s. I didn’t catch wind of this information till today when I researching some information for my review.
Our visit to Beach Pit BBQ was on Monday, May 12, 2008. As we walked up it appeared pretty busy, we quickly found out there was some type of benefit going on for the daughter of a local man that passed away recently. We were told later by one of the wait staff that it wasn’t normally that loud. It didn’t really matter to us we just wanted good food! So we walked up to the counter and ordered our food; that’s right this isn’t a place where you are seated and have the wait staff take your order, you place your order and then take your seat. I did have one question about this type of set up, since you are ordering and paying for your meal before you sit (just like a fast food place) does that mean you are not expected to tip? The only reason I ask this is because all the staff did was bring my order, we did everything else ourselves, including get and replenish our drinks. Either way, that being the case we placed our order. I ordered the BBQ Baby Back Ribs dinner with beans and macaroni and cheese, while Mrs. DanGarion ordered the BBQ Chicken with beans and potato salad.
We took our seat in a secondary area near what would normally be called the front of the building. This section was walled off from the primary seating area. There were a lot of families with children, and many of the children walking and running around. Don’t get me wrong I like kids but when I was a child my parents had strict rules that I had to sit at the table with my family when we went out to dinner. But I’m getting off track; it’s not the businesses fault that parents aren’t respectful of the other patrons.
So we took our seat in the area that no one else was sitting and watched the traffic pass by in the quiet Old Town area of Tustin. After about 15 minutes our food came out. Everything looked good and piping hot! My wife said the chicken was really good, it was moist and had a lot of flavor, she was afraid that it was a little pink, but I explained to her that smoking will cause that with chicken. She wasn’t a big fan of the potato salad; it was bland and had big chunks of potatoes. My ribs were great; they fell off the bone with a little bit of work and were very flavorful. The ribs were lightly covered with their mild BBQ sauce which actually still had a bit of spicy kick to it. I loved the taste of the sauce so I covered them with even more as I worked on finishing off half of my full rack. The macaroni and cheese was good, it had a faint taste of sour cream in the background, I wasn’t sure if it’s a baked Mac’n'cheese, which is normally my favorite because I like to have some of the crusty part that was on top from the baking, but it was good nonetheless. We both agreed that the BBQ beans seemed sort of like a sweet version of chili, and although we thought they were good, they just weren’t something we would recommend to most people. I sort of wish they had done a more traditional BBQ bean with just their BBQ sauce and some pieces of meat. Overall the meal was good, and we do plan on going back and trying other items on the menu. I think our new visit will be for lunch so we can try some of their BBQ sandwich items, a Tri-Tip sandwich is always a good item to try, especially with the temperatures getting hotter nothing is better than having some BBQ in summer.
The pricing of items is about normal for BBQ, my rib dinner was $24, the chicken was $16, along with drinks our bill was approx. $45.
Overall we were pleased with our visit to Beach Pit BBQ. Our visit was fun, our food was good, and it proved itself a worthy leftover as I took the other half of my ribs with me to work the following day.
Rating:
Beach Pit BBQ
560 El Camino Real
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 929-7427
Johnny Rebs’ - Orange
This is one of our favorite places to go for breakfast. They have a great selection of breakfast to choose from and so far we have never been disappointed. My wife loves the sausage biscuit sandwich, which is made with a delicious homemade style sausage and probably the best biscuit you can get in any restaurant in Orange County. I always get something different every time we go there. Last time I got eggs and bacon.
As for dinner they serve some great BBQ. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone there for dinner but I’ve had a couple different dinners and all of them were great. One of my favorites is their sweet potato fries! They are so tasty and sweet and a delicious alternative to having regular old french fries.
Rating:
Johnny Rebs’
2940 E. Chapman Avenue
Orange, CA 92869
(714) 633-3369
Burrell’s BBQ - Santa Ana
Really good food so far. I went here for the first time today and was impressed. Granted it’s not the best BBQ I’ve ever had but it’s good stuff. I love the atmosphere of the place because it’s so small and hole in the wall looking. You can have a nice picnic out on their lawn and enjoy the day as you get your BBQ on.
I ordered the beef tri-tip lunch with mac and cheese and it didn’t disappoint. The beef had a very good flavor and was soft and juicy. The mac and cheese was good especially since I got some of the crunch top and side parts that I love the most. The cornbread was good, not to dry and not to soft, with just enough sweetness.
This is one of Orange County’s gems, I’m glad I finally found it!
Rating:
Burrell’s BBQ
305 N Hesperian Street
Santa Ana, CA 92703
(714) 547-7441
- Subscribe to Eat In OC Click Below!
-
Recent Comments
Creative Commons
jen on 
DanGarion on 
-
Proudly Hosted By...
